Last April we fulfilled a lifelong goal of buying a second home in Rangeley, Maine. I’ve been going there since I was a toddler, and Maddie, Rob, and a bunch of my friends have gotten on the Rangeley bandwagon. When our offer was accepted, the first thing we did was plan a renovation. That included turning the first floor of the chalet style home into a bunk room for when we rent it to vacationers. And obviously, that included quilts!

We had about three weeks from the time we came to a deal with the former owners and closing. We planned the bunk room to keep the queen size murphy bed that was there, but added two sets of twin over full bunk beds. Rangeley is a four season community – skiing and snowboarding in the winter; hiking and early fishing in spring; boating, hiking, lake activities all summer long; and hiking and leaf peeping in fall. That gave me the idea to do a buffalo check / plaid quilt for every season, and a fifth that celebrated all four seasons. And given the timeline (two weeks by the time I had a plan) I was so lucky that Peggy jumped in to help.

Each quilt was based off of a fabric from Lewis and Irene’s Whatever the Weather Line that featured small scale icons of each season on a different colored back. The tops are a buffalo check featuring Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton Solids. There are two twin quilts, two full quilts, and one queen. Here they are, and how to make them if you like any of them.

This is the Winter quilt, which finished to 78″ x 84″.

To make this quilt you need:
2 yards Kona Cotton Mediterranean – cut into (10) 6.5″ strips
3.25 yards Kona Cotton Robin Egg – cut into (18) 6.5″ strips
1.33 yards Kona Cotton White – cut into her (7) 6.5” strips
5 yards backing – use leftover backing for binding. We used Whatever the Weather, Winter.

All of these quilts were quilted on my Handi Quilter longarms with Pro-Stitcher robotic quilting. The quilting for this quilt was Deb’s Snowflake Meander from Urban Elementz and the thread was King Tut Paradise. You’ll see a theme of my using King Tut – I am pretty exclusive with Superior Threads for my long arming, with King Tut being my favorite. It is 40 wt Egyptian cotton variegated thread that adds another dimension to your quilting with low lint and all the colors you need.

Here’s the Spring quilt, also a full sized quilt.

To make this quilt you need:
2 yards Kona Cotton Berry – cut into (10) 6.5″ strips
3.25 yards Kona Cotton Pansy – cut into (18) 6.5″ strips
1.33 yards Kona Cotton White – cut into her (7) 6.5” strips
5 yards backing – use leftover backing for binding. We used Whatever the Weather, Spring.

The quilting on this one was a daisy design that came with my Pro-Stitcher software and i think the thread was King Tut Heather, but I can’t be sure.

Here’s the Autumn quilt, which finished to 66″ x 84″.

To make this quilt you need:
1.333 yards Kona Cotton Terra Cotta – cut into (7) 6.5″ strips
2.25 yards Kona Cotton Ice Peach – cut into (12) 6.5″ strips
1.125 yards Kona Cotton White – cut into her (6) 6.5” strips
4.5 yards backing – use leftover backing for binding. We used Whatever the Weather, Autumn.

The quilting for this one was Curly Maple by Urban Elementz and the thread was King Tut Dessert Dawn.

Here’s the Summer quilt, which also finished to 66″ x 84″.

To make this quilt you need:
1.333 yards Kona Cotton Jade Green – cut into (7) 6.5″ strips
2.25 yards Kona Cotton Aqua – cut into (12) 6.5″ strips
1.125 yards Kona Cotton White – cut into her (6) 6.5” strips
4.5 yards backing – use leftover backing for binding. We used Whatever the Weather, Summer.

The quilting for this one was Seafoam by Urban Elementz and the thread was King Tut DeNile.

Here’s the Four Seasons quilt, which was a Queen sized quilt and finished at 84″ x 90″

To make this quilt you need:
2.25 yards Kona Cotton Banana – cut into (12) 6.5″ strips
3 yards Kona Cotton Meringue – cut into (17) 6.5″ strips
1.75 yards Kona Cotton White – cut into her (9) 6.5” strips
6 yards backing – use leftover backing for binding. We used Whatever the Weather, Bright, which featured icons from all four seasons.

The quilting for this one was Pine Tree Meander by Urban Elementz. I picked this design because Pine Trees hold their color all year long. The thread was King Tut Soft Sunshine which is a variegated yellow, pale blue and pale green.

These quilts are so much fun to make. You can cut 6.5″ squares and piece your rows, or, you can strip piece dark and light, and light and white, then create your rows. I’ve done dozens of them as baby quilts, but this was even more fun to create five that are used in the same room to bring the four seasons to life. They would have been even more fun if we had more than two weeks to make them – I just checked…. we started on March 29 and closed on April 9. LOL…. Peggy, couldn’t have gotten them done without you! And thanks to Katy and Jane for helping me take the photos this morning.