Remembering Tophlos!


My friend Lori made a wonderful quilt that was called Blindman's Fancy. Here's a link to Lori's blog, but not to that particular post. Lori's taste runs to Civil War repros, so you can just imagine how beautiful her quilt was. I was instantly smitten, and not just because of the quilt blocks.

Many years ago, when I was in Seminary, the first class we endured had was Koine Greek.We met from about 9 each morning until about 5 each afternoon and there were optional sessions from 7 until 9 each evening. For an entire month. It was hard work, but we bonded as a class and at the end some of us had a pretty good understanding of Koine Greek and could actually do some of the translation that the next class required.

Early on we learned the word tophlos, the blind man, and we learned the word anablepso, to receive one's sight. Whenever tophlos would appear in a sentence, we'd heave a small sigh of relief because he only ever did one thing: received his sight. The challenge would be to figure out just when this happened -- just now, a while back, or sometime in the future.I've always had a  fondness for tophlos and seeing Lori's quilt brought back  memories. I had to have a Blindman's Fancy quilt.

My turn as Queen Bee was December. In November I made packets with the instructions for the block (all 81 pieces of it, some of which were 1-13/16 of an inch as a couple of participants pointed out with vigor), fabric for the center square and solid fabric for the HSTs in the first round. I asked them to add fabrics in colors that they selected from the center square. My bee mates rose to the occasion. Above is a picture of all twenty-five blocks. They each finish at fifteen inches. Each is unique; each is nothing short of absolutely gorgeous.

Now comes the fun of putting them together. Lori's recipe calls for flying geese lattice with four-patch cornerstones. I think a small square-in-a-square would be better for the cornerstones. I struggled the other evening with my box of fabrics, auditioning possibilities. I think I'm pretty well settled on the colors I want. Next challenge will be to find those colors in the shop, because I only have FQs on hand. But there's no rush. When tophlos finally does anablepso, he's in for an amazing sight to behold!

Comments

Janet O. said…
I love everything about this story--the inspiration from Lori, the Greek reference, the number of pieces in the blocks, the 13/16ths of an inch, the idea for square-in-a-square cornerstones, right down to the very last (and very clever) line!
BTW, for those interested, this is the URL for the finish on Lori's quilt that inspired you. Includes a photo from a book of the antique quilt that inspired her, and a link to instructions for the block.
http://humblequilts.blogspot.com/2012/03/blind-mans-fancy-finale.html
Karen said…
Beautiful blocks! Love the connection to the NT story.
Barbara Anne said…
DB went to seminary and had the challenge of Greek and Hebrew. We both survived!

What utterly delightful and joy-joy blocks your friends made for you as Queen Bee. WOW! Love your idea for square-in-a-square cornerstones, but methinks I'd be tempted to go with TOT lattice rather than Flying Geese so the blocks would shine. Perhaps I should use the link Janet O. posted to see Lori's quilt to see what her lattice looks like.

No doubt, your Blindman's Fancy quilt will be a wonderful sight to behold.

Hugs!
Anonymous said…
Your quilt is going to be a magnificent stunner!! I adore it already.
wow...such a beautiful quilt...i'd say the bee girls did a fantastic job!
Denise in PA said…
So happy that I was able to participate in what is going to be an absolutely stunning quilt! Nancy, you stretched me and I learned a lot (most of all, that "I can do it!"). Thank you for the opportunity!!
Lori said…
WOW! I can't believe you asked them to make this block and they did it! They must be a committed group. The quilt is absolutely fabulous!
LizA. said…
Wow! what a happy confluence of blocks and color.