A legacy of the Age of Enlightenment, the motto “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité” first appeared during the French Revolution.
This quilt was inspired by many ideas that have been swirling in my head during the last couple of years. The applique in the center is formed by joining several fleurs di lis and surrounded by the French words. The Fleurs di lis are hand appliqued and the letters are machine appliqued. One of the inspirations was seeing the many buildings that have the French motto emblazoned on the front when traveling through France.
In the last few years I have been doing some family genealogy. Through the process, I have traced one line of my family back to the Loire Valley in France. They were wine growers and did water transport on the Loire River. They were French Huguenots. In the mid 1600’s, Louis Quatorze, the Sun King, rescinded the Edict of Nantes, which had given French protestants citizenship. At that time, my family left France and settled in America along the James River, where they continued to ply their family trade. I added the outside border of the quilt to symbolize the reason that my family ended up coming to America.
The quilt is 54″x54″. It is hand quilted and has both hand and machine applique.
quiltingquandary 
Nan, what a fabulous quilt: it is beautiful. And what a great story!
Congratulations on designing a quilt that is both beautiful and meaningful.