The inspiration for this quilt came to us in the spring of 1984 when our group had a bus trip to the Bicentennial Quilt Symposium at McMaster University, Hamilton, ON. At this wonderful show with many exciting and flamboyant quilts, the one that caught our eye and beckoned us back for yet another look, was the stately, elegant "Whispering Leaves" made by the Iris Quilters Guild of Lennoxville, PQ. It was the talk of the bus on the way back; we had to make one.

The search was on for the pattern. Eventually, it was found in the Mountain Mist Catalogue. Then, to our delight, Margaret Rhodes discovered a copy printed on the back of an old Mountain Mist quilt batt cover.

This project was launched in April '85 with a workshop on curved piecing. We utilized the leftover print from the back of the Tea Leaf quilt, and some off-white ecology cloth, from a bolt that we had, then found complementary blue for the leaves. The curved piecing technique proved to be a great leveler. Some of our skilled piecers had problems with it, while others, less adept at straight piecing seemed to handle it with ease.

What a hilarious time we had piecing the "cocker spaniel" and "bunny rabbit" units, tags used to differentiate between identical pieces, some needing leaves (ears) at the top, while others needed them at the bottom. It sounds silly, but we had to ensure that the one way print would always be right side up, and it worked.

We chose to use a stripped border, rather than the scalloped one given in the original pattern. The biscuit coloured quilting thread matches the print on the back of the quilt. The blue of the leaves was used for our traditional corded edge.

Whispering Leaves was entered into the C.N.E. Handcraft Competition, 1988, where it placed First in its Class, earning 99 out of 100 points. It was shown at Kingston Heirloom Quilters' Festival of Quilts II.

This gorgeous quilt with its aura of quiet elegance was sold within the K.H.Q. membership in the same manner as was Buds and Blossoms.

For a more detailed picture, click on quilt.

Send questions and comments to: khq at quiltskingston.org
Last modified by dhh: January 20, 2006