Wheel of Time Quilt: History & Inspiration

History of the WoT Quilt:

On May 2, 2019 Christine Wessling posted in the JordanCon Costumers Facebook group asking if there was an interest in doing a group quilt for the Charity auction. She had experience with similar projects and wanted to give back to JordanCon after being embraced by the Con’s people. Within hours there was a flood of comments and interest.  Three days later Christine and Natalie Gehling had developed a plan for the quilt.  Each block was to be a book cover using the Tall Tales Quilt Block, but enlarged by 100%. By the end of the following week, all the blocks had been claimed by a JordanCon enthusiast and Joy Allen had agreed to take on the dauting task of quilting the blanket together.

All blocks were turned in by December 31, 2019 so the quilt could be ready for the April 2020 convention.  Some blocks were claimed by new people as life hit others. Thankfully all the books were claimed, and a piece was finished for each in time. Then 2020 hit everyone. Allen had finished the quilt, but it was decided the quilt should be held for the 2021 convention when more of the participants would have a chance of seeing the finished work in-person.

Now everyone can enjoy seeing the finished quilt as a preview prior to the July convention.  The makers hope many people will appreciate the work put into creating the piece. It was a labor of love by many different people.

Good luck to the winner of the Wheel of Time quilt auction!  May it bring you much joy and comfort as you read many books curled up under the quilt.
The bidding will be on Friday and Saturday of JordanCon 2021.

Note on the care of the quilt: Machine wash cold, delicate cycle. Line or lay flat to dry. DO NOT put this in a dryer!!

Full Quilt in all its glory:

 

 

Below are words written by the creators about what inspired their blocks and a close up image of each.
Please note, there are spoilers for the whole Wheel of Time series in the block descriptions.

Inspiration for the WoT quilt blocks:
Given by those who helped make each block and put the entire quilt together, they share what inspired them to make their portions in the way they did. Minor changes to grammar were made.

New Spring, Antoinette Goosetree: I chose New Spring because I am a Blue Aes Sedai. As I see New Spring is about Moiraine’s journey, I made an excellent, more blue background with her head jewel and the crest of Lan as her bond mate.

 

 

Eye of the World, Alix Panayotopulos: Because I have always loved the green man.

 

 

 

The Great Hunt, Stephanie Jackson: (Did not respond in time.)
Description: Silhouette of three fighters inside a golden horn.

 

 

 

The Dragon Reborn, Heather Nathanson: (Per Facebook post) Inspired to make a gold Callandor against red dragon scales. Was nervous to not mess it up.

 

 

 

 

The Shadow Rising, David Reynolds-Grier: (Did not respond in time.)
Description: Nine “Glass Columns” made of beads around a Chora tree at sunrise.

 

 

 

 

The Fires of Heaven, Kate Larson:

I really enjoyed how this installment let us learn so much more of Tel’aran’rhiod and its workings. It brought Birgitte, one of my favorite characters, into the spotlight. Her iconic golden braid was something that always fascinated me, so I focused on trying to recreate its complexity in my quilt square.

 

 

 

 

Lord of Chaos, Natalie Gheling: I chose a black Asha’man coat with a Dedicated’s silver sword pin because Rand founded the Black Tower in Lord of Chaos. I chose red with gold flecks for my background to represent the flames and destruction at Dumai’s Wells.

 

 

 

 

 

A Crown of Swords, Brenna Goode: I was asked, as a substitute, to step in and do the block for A Crown of Swords. I had read the books years ago and loved them so was happy to help. Unfortunately, since I’d stepped in late, I didn’t have time to do a more detailed cover, so elected to try some new-to-me techniques to make the block, including printing on the fabric. I chose an image that was a fairly literal representation of the title, trying to make it stylistically appropriate to the books themselves and the rest of the quilt. It was a pleasure to be part of this collaboration!

 

 

 

The Path of Daggers, Billie Pierce:
Aside from the Bowl of the Winds, there is no great triumph for the Light in The Path of Daggers. However, Rand’s failure to use Callandor against the Seanchan army was a pivotal moment for me as a reader, and I believe he needed this defeat to overcome his hubris and realize that he cannot wield tremendous power without the help and support of others. Ultimately, I decided on a detailed appliqué of Rand’s dragon banner, inspired by the original Darrell K Sweet cover, as an homage to this battle and a symbol of the united sense of purpose that begins to emerge in the series as key players take their first steps toward becoming the powerful people who will defeat the Dark One at the last battle.

 

 

 

 

Winter’s Heart, Christine Wessling: I picked book nine because it was actually the first book of the series I found… AND it has the cleansing of Saidin, which is just a phenomenal turning point for the men of the series.

 

 

Crossroads of Twilight, Tina Pierce: I chose to recreate the ebook cover, majestically created by Greg Ruth. Perrin has always been a favorite of mine. His crossroad shown on the cover is a major point in his character’s growth. This was his first paper piece work I had done, and it was a great learning experience.

 

 

 

 

 

Knife of Dreams, Maureen Carr: My name is Maureen, but I also go by Mashiara and am an administrator for Dragonmount.com. As my chosen name implies, Land and Nynaeve are my favorite characters within the Wheel of Time series. I first read the novels in 1999 as a sophomore in high school, and Lan’s cool calm and amazing abilities won me over instantly. Once it became clear that Nynaeve was his love interest, I latched onto her as well.

When picking a book within the series to sum up my love of Lan and Nynaeve, there were several contenders. The most notable, though, came in Knife of Dreams. I don’t think any fan had dry eyes after reading about Nynaeve’s trek to the borderlands to secure her husband an army. Hearing the phrase, “The Golden Crane flies for Tarmon Gai’don,” is enough to make me weepy still!

I chose to represent this cry to battle by showing the golden crane and lance on a field of blue, like the Malkier flag. For the spine fabric, I chose the fabric I used to construct my own Warder’s cloak. I put so much of myself into this series and into this quilt piece. I am so happy to be included with so many other fans in this amazing project!

 

 

 

The Gathering Storm, Edward Pena: I chose the scene from the Seanchan attack on the White Tower. I feel like it is a pivotal moment in the Wheel of Time, not only for Egwene and the White Tower, but also for the whole world in the lead up to the Last Battle. Plus, it’s just a kick butt scene!

 

 

 

 

 

Towers of Midnight, Drew Osburn: Hi! I chose the imagery based loosely on the cover of the book where we can see Mat drawing the triangle on the tower to enter. To jazz it up a little I chose to embroider the chapter art from the chapters set in the tower rather than just the plain triangle. It’s my favorite piece of chapter art, so much so that I have it as a tattoo.

 

 

A Memory of Light, Deana Whitney: I picked late and was rather nervous about having to represent the final book in the series. There are so many moments worthy of depiction; some, to be honest, were beyond my ability to represent in a quilt block. However, the moment Moraine walks into the tent—causing Rand and Egwene to stop fighting—is a pivotal early moment. I remember crying when reading the scene for the first time. I wanted to show the moment from the outside so I could show the trees. I love the Ogier and felt showing the great trees returning to the land honored them as well.

 

 

 

 

Fang and Flame, Natalie Gheling: The ancient Aes Sedai symbol was fun to create, with its sinuous line separating the white and black halves. Surrounding the symbol each blade represents an ajah color of the White Tower. The math to figure out each blade’s angle was a challenge!

Quilt top assembly, Natalie Gheling: My favorite part of being involved in this project was getting to see the blocks in person as each maker mailed their creation to me. I got to hand embroider six other blocks’ titles, and it was fun to use different fonts and colors based on each block. I had the pleasure of sewing the blocks to one another to assemble the face of the quilt, and I am so blessed that everyone involved trusted me with their hard work.

Note: Natalie put a huge amount of time into finishing up the quilt top. As in, at least two full weeks of her quilt business was donated to this process. The hand stitching is gorgeous, and her piecing is literally perfect. I’m actually devastated that she can’t see the final work in person; she put SO much time into it. -Joy

Hand quilting, binding, Joy Allen: This project was a huge undertaking. I didn’t actually do any work on it until after everyone else had finished. I felt like a cheerleader for about 6 months, encouraging, giving advice, and sending out so many reminders. From pictures, I could tell that many of the contributors had put an amazing amount of skill and labor into this project, and when I finally got to see the top with my own eyes, I was still blown away. Literal tears of amazement came at being able to add to what so many had already given. I have never been part of a quilt making like this, and I feel very blessed and honored to have been able to work on it.

For the quilting, I did a minimal amount within each block to highlight the best features of each. And in the generous amount of white space Natalie gave me, I added in my own favorite chapter icons from the books. Each main group/character is represented, Aes Sedai and Asha’man, Andor, Cairhein, Aiel, Sea Folk, and more, along with the main icons for the major characters. Trying to get the details right and convey the meanings in a different medium was a huge challenge and, to be honest, I was afraid every day that I would mess the whole thing up and it would be ruined. I think, though, that the entire quilt came together more perfectly than any of us could have imagined. And I had a dozen or more cheerleaders encouraging me every step of the 6 weeks that I worked on the quilt.

The binding in ajah colors really ties the entire quilt together and the quilt reverse (where you can see the stitching the best) might be my favorite part. The binding is machine stitched on the front and hand stitched on the back. The finished look is nice and clean.

If you want to learn some of the hand quilting techniques Joy Allen used on the WoT Quilt, join her workshop at the July 2021 convention on Saturday.

Care instructions for quilt: Machine wash cold, delicate cycle. Line or lay flat to dry.
DO NOT put this in a dryer!!  It will damage some of the special threads and 3D pieces on the quilt.

Article Compiled by Joy Allen and Deana Whitney

Photos: Copyright by Calista Perazzo Photography, 2021