Through The Looking Glass FREE Quilt Pattern

through-the-looking-glass-free-quilt-pattern

I read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll when I was very young – much too young to know at all what was going on. But Through The Looking Glass, Alice’s second adventure, only crossed my path in early adulthood.

I had just graduated from college (2008), the economy had bottomed out and I began that sad and overwhelming quest to find myself in a world much larger than I had previously known. Lured by the bright city lights and the love of a boy, I moved from small town Missouri to Wicker Park Chicago with a handful of friends. I think we were all equally lost, but decided to have enough fun that those confused and uncertain feelings got pushed to the back – at least until work again on Monday morning.

One Sunday night in November, when I was listlessly lying in bed thinking about the commute to my cubicle the next day, I reached for a small book halfway hidden in an unpacked box.

Alice in Wonderland

Get this free quilt pattern inspired by the Adventures of Alice in Wonderland! A modern quilt pattern created through piecing rows. suzyquilts.com

Leading up to this moment, I had been furiously reading Keroac, Steinbeck, Eggers and Bukowski trying to grasp my place in this new, volatile, post-college life. I wanted raw grit and passion and Truth! (guys, if you think I’m a drama queen now. HA! You should have known me at 22!).

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I scoffed for a moment before picking up that small children’s book. I was 20-freakin-2! I needed to be expanding my mind with deep character-building issues! Definitely no time for a little blonde prancing around with a rabbit! How did this book even get here anyway?

Uhhhhh. With a huuuuge sigh and a quick turn of the lock on my door (the roommates didn’t need to know) I flipped to the first page….and quickly discovered that Lewis Carroll (aka Charles Dodgson...aka the Dodo bird from the story (he based the Dodo bird character on himself because he had a bit of a stammer and would sometimes introduce himself as Dodo-Dodgson. Look it up!)) had definitely been on drugs.

Get this free quilt pattern inspired by the Adventures of Alice in Wonderland! A modern quilt pattern created through piecing rows. suzyquilts.com

“ok ok OK!” My very mature 22 year old self thought. “19th century drug use...this could get interesting!”

With that thought in mind, I dove down the rabbit hole, remembered why the Mad Hatter is one of the best characters ever written and re-discovered my loving adoration for the Queen of Hearts – OFF WITH HER HEAD!​

Alice was back with Dinah, safe and sound, before I had a moment to realized I was crawling through the looking glass and we were on to a new series of adventures. Through The Looking Glass ends with a poem...below are the last two stanzas...

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream –
Lingering in the golden gleam –
Life, what is it but a dream?

Get this free quilt pattern inspired by the Adventures of Alice in Wonderland! A modern quilt pattern created through piecing rows. suzyquilts.com

And you know what Alice taught me that Bukowski couldn’t? To quote Carroll/The Dodo:

And here I wish I could tell you half the things Alice used to say, beginning with her favourite phrase ‘Let’s pretend.’

I was slowly learning that to grow up you don’t always have to be Real and Raw and True and Seeeerious! There’s room to pretend and imagine and play! Looking back, it’s a little heartbreaking to remember that I forgot that for a while in my quest to be an adult. I was so angsty it's embarrassing!

Get this free quilt pattern inspired by the Adventures of Alice in Wonderland! A modern quilt pattern created through piecing rows. suzyquilts.com

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland begins with a poem. In that poem, there is this line that I believe to be all of it – a journey, a truth, something real, something whimsical and above all, how I want to experience the world…

The dream-child moving through a land
Of wonders wild and new,
In friendly chat with bird or beast –
And half believe it true.

Get this free quilt pattern inspired by the Adventures of Alice in Wonderland! A modern quilt pattern created through piecing rows. suzyquilts.com

Oh my goodness, can you even believe I just made you wade through memory lane to get to the free pattern? ACK! Deepest apologies. Sometimes I can’t help myself! Also, it’s my blog and I’m just gonna do whatever I want. 😉

HERE is the link to the FREE PDF Through The Looking Glass quilt pattern.

Buy the kit HERE if you would like to make a quilt just like mine! The fabric is a beautiful line called Wonderland by Emily Isabella.

Get this free quilt pattern inspired by the Adventures of Alice in Wonderland! A modern quilt pattern created through piecing rows. suzyquilts.com

Have you done a search for Alice in Wonderland books? There are SO MANY beauuuutiful variations out there! I will probably have to treat myself to another copy....

7 thoughts on “Through The Looking Glass FREE Quilt Pattern

  1. Susan Stanton says:

    Enjoyed your blog post today about Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland! Made me get out my old, dusty copy and stroll though a few pages myself. Your quilt is lovely and bright! Thanks for sharing.

  2. RWTreasure says:

    Loved your memory walk! I also love books that are 100-ish (mote or less) old. Children’s books then were much more complex than now, and full of things for any adults reading them. Like old cartoons, entertaing adults with things that go right over the kids’ heads!
    I particularly like this quilt pattern, AND that you gave glimpses of what looks like some rather intricate quilting! Thank you for all three of these things.
    Esp. nice to see a new piecing pattern!!

  3. Robyn says:

    Suzy, is this quilt hand- or machine- quilted? The variations in stitching and texture are eye catching! It’s always inspiring looking at your creations!

  4. Mary Gregory says:

    I was referred to this blog today from a FB post, in reply to my reach out for a pattern for the new Alice fabric line. Love your thoughts! Funny to look back on the angst of our younger selves.

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