Throwing In the Towel

2025

86" x 86"

One day, I came home from a trip with a pretty souvenir tea towel - too pretty to actually use.  It was soon joined by a partner after another excursion. Of course, once people find out you have started a collection, they are more than happy to add to it… Before I knew it I had a collection of 36 (!) too-pretty-to-use tea towels. Something had to be done. They had to be USED.

The Throwing In the Towel Quilt was made as a utility quilt - that is, a quilt that is meant to be used and washed and dried on repeat, so a strict adherence to quality quilt standards and techniques is somewhat relaxed. My original plan called for cutting the towels into variously sized patches that fit into one of six different block settings. 

I admit that there is a LOT of chaos in this quilt. The designs on three dozen souvenir tea towels are not meant to “go” together, so any attention paid to colors, values, scales, and textures of fabrics went out the window. I tried to contain the chaos by separating the block components with rick-rack strips of various colors and widths. Quilt-As-You-Go technique was chosen to ease the heavy amount of quilting that was advisable to try to stabilize the differing stretchiness of the towels; the strips used to connect the 18” blocks were also chosen to try to contain the chaos…or add to the fun depending on your point of view. 

The towels commemorate places, events, and memories: Locales include states (New York, Virginia, Maryland, Alaska), countries (England, France, Italy, Portugal, Kenya, Japan, Falkland Islands), cities (Washington DC, Boston, London, Milan), Harry and Meghan’s wedding, wedding present towels for me and my husband, and vintage-looking animal embroideries. And I shouldn’t forget one Blue Bird flour sack from the Hubbell Trading Post in Arizona.

Most of the  backing fabrics for the blocks came from my friend Cindy who generously gave me a fat-quarter collection of the Vivid fabric line from Jason Yenter. The remainder of the backing fabrics came from a fun Kaffe Fassett fish fabric. 

Considering the towels, the rick rack, the considerable amount of quilting, and the QAYG strips on the front and the back, this quilt weighs a TON. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! But the slightest breeze was too much for our quilt frame.

My husband doesn't get thanked enough for being my videographer! One-Take Wonder Fred is forever supportive of my quilting addiction.

All DONE! And to all friends and family: the souvenir tea towel collection has been DISCONTINUED. Still accepting any and all jewelry, however!