Stone Soup

Do you know the European folktale called "Stone Soup"? Some hungry strangers come to a village and propose they make stone soup for supper. They'll contribute the stone. Everyone else can just contribute whatever they have on hand: carrots, onions, an old chicken carcass, whatever. Soon they are all feasting on stone soup. Yum.

I feel I just made a stone soup quilt.

It all began with this stone:

I found this applique project from a few years ago, and set out to make a grace quilt (see post) with it at the center as a medallion. I found an old decorator fabric sample I thought would match, and quickly gathered other fabrics from my "B" stash: periwinkle, brown, raspberry, and started cutting biggish blocks and surrounding the medallion.

After a while, I noticed that the spiral "stone" wasn't working well as a medallion. A medallion element has to be strong. It wasn't really holding up.

But then, I noticed the greeny blue  in the print in the medallion. I noticed the 3 or so yards of "verdigris" on my shelf. And I remembered that verdigris, or sea green, just happened to be my old friend's new favorite color... The same friend who had said the last quilt I had given her (about 8 years ago) was worn out from everyday use. Those kinds of friends get priority.

I replaced the medallion with a solid-color medallion. Continued to add blocks, including verdigris blocks. And Voila! A tasty quilt for my friend.

I'll hang on to the stone, just in case,