Fences and Ferns was published in the May 1999 issue of McCall's Quilting Quick Quilts. Here's for happy thoughts--I made this quilt in the throes of my divorce, while staying at the home of my quilt-shop-owner-boss and dear friend Beth. I was doing a lot of soul searching back then, so several of the quilts were inspired by Bible verses, as in this one, as well as in the "light and darkness" quilt.

I fell in love with the border fabric for this one too--the colors in the fern print weren't typical for our shop, but we did have all of these fabrics in the shop, so either I was choosing very selectively or we had more variety than I remember.

I used seven fabrics in the fence blocks--the lightest was white, then a light pink, rose, light and dark muted eggplant, then a taupe and brown branchy print.


As for the verse, it was Psalms 37:7: Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him." I was trying desperately to be patient at this time in my life. Truth is, patience hasn't ever been one of my predominant traits, so this verse often comes to mind. If anyone has any tips on becoming more patient, let me know!