I saw the grand piano quilt in Magaret & Slusser’s 1995 book, Watercolor Impressions. I immediately knew I wanted to make it to honor my mother, Emilie Marie Lydia Doring Lau, who was an excellent pianist. Unfortunately, when she emigrated from Germany in 1952 with my two siblings in order to join our father who was already in the United States, she could not bring her piano. Tragically she died in 1959 and could not fulfill her dream of once again owning a piano.
 
Although Magaret & Slusser described the watercolor technique, they did not provide patterns. I studied Slusser’s example and an example by Elaine Lewis, which is pictured in the book, That Perfect Stitch by Rosanne McElroy. Using graph paper, I planned Lydia. 
 
For several years while we were RVing across the United States, I collected and cut floral fabrics. Each fabric was cut into 2 1/4 in squares which finished at 1 3/4 in. Each time I purchased fabric, I cut an ample supply of squares, and thus, built up an inventory to work from.
 
The floral body of the quilt is made of 32 columns across and 38 rows to make the length (1,216 squares). I started laying out and sewing the piano in 1999 and intermittently worked on it for the next 20 years, finally finishing it in October 2019. The wide black border sets off the piece and the backing is a music score print. I free motion quilted Lydia on my longarm, creating hand guided designs that include music notes and treble clefs. My husband  Robert Lee Simmons made and mounted wooden quilt clips to the wall and the piece hangs in our home.
 
Lydia was entered in the 2/24 - 24/2024  quilt show, There’s No Place Like Home. The show is hosted by the Palo Verde Patchers, a 250+ member quilt club in the retirement community of Sun City West, AZ. Held at the Palm Ridge Recreation Center, the show had 199 quilts on display, including the prize winners from the last show and the extensive work of our Featured Quilter. 
 
Lydia was entered in the Large Traditional Pieced Quilt Category. Cathy Erickson, a Nationally Certified Judge, provided the following comments in her evaluation:
 
Best Features of the Quilt Are:
     •Fabrics are well chosen for the colorwash design.
     •Blending is well handled.
     •Quilting design is appropriate.
     •Binding is good.
Areas that Need Improvement:
     •All intersections should be precise.

The quilt did not win a category ribbon but, as is traditional, attendees were invited to vote for a “Viewer’s Choice” quilt. Over 1,700 people attended the show and Lydia was selected with a vote count that was “head and shoulders” above the number of votes for any other quilt. The ribbon was presented to me at the first club meeting after the quilt show by club president Kathleen McCulloch.

Click here to see the evaluation.