Quilting the 52 Hike Challenge

The idea came to me on New Year’s Day, 2024 when I saw a social media post for the 52 Hike Challenge: “A challenge where you gain physical fitness, mental well-being, make new friends, explore new places and connect with friends, family, and yourself through nature.“

The program encouraged one hike a week (described as any walk outdoors for a mile or more) for 52 weeks. After conferring with husband Ed, I signed us up. The challenge was on!

The inspiration…

As a writer, I planned to track my hikes through journaling, but wanted a visual record as well. What if I sewed something? A quilt or small wall hanging? I could use a color or pattern for each type of hike, or maybe select a fabric to represent each experience. The pattern would be random, patchwork, but yes! This could work!

The plan…

Full disclosure: I’m a sewist, but not a quilter. I would need some help. I called on a friend , who just happens to be a quilter and a mathematician. Over lunch, she drew a series of squares and measurements on a scrap of paper while we ate our sandwiches: 

“Triangles make an interesting pattern. Let’s see… 52 triangles would make 26 squares. If you added two accent squares you could do a small quilt with 7 columns and 4 rows. It would make a nice wall hanging.”

Yikes. Lots of math but I had a plan.

The Fabric

At the Cactus Quilt Shop in Tucson,  I spent a glorious morning picking out fabric. With a color scheme in mind—desert hues of rust, gold, umber, sage, with splashes of turquoise—I filled my basket with bits of prints and solids, sunbursts and tiny cacti, abstract lines and dots. I couldn’t resist buying a fat quarter (a pre-cut quarter yard) of whimsical black fabric with wild suns, and lizards. For accent borders and backing material, I purchased two yards of cotton in a rich shade of cinnamon.

Measure twice, cut once

A rule for carpenters, it works for quilters as well. Back at my friends house, I measured and cut the fabric into 4.5 inch squares, then cut them diagonally into triangles. Interior border strips were cut in 1.5 inch widths, outer border in 2.5 inch strips. I also decided to add accent squares in a neutral beige leaf pattern. I cut these in 1.5 inch squares.

Construction

At the completion of every 2 hikes, I used my machine to sew a pair of triangles together (using a quarter-inch seam) to make a square. As our hiking year progressed, it was satisfying to see the patterns of squares and triangles emerge. To make the math come out even, I made two additional squares using the “badge” I’d earned from the 52 Hike Challenge, and a small embroidery piece I stitched up from a kit. Once we had completed all 52 hikes ( no small task, mind you and that’s a story for another day), I laid the squares out in various configurations with the borders and accent squares until I found the design I wanted, then began to stitch the quit top together. With the help of a YouTube video, I assembled the finished top, batting, and backing using the “envelope method.”

Finishing touches

To finish the quilt, I top-stitched the edges of the border with my sewing machine. Since this was a small project, I decided to “tie” the quilt by sewing a vintage button onto each accent square.

Ta-da!

I’m happy with how the quilt turned out! I have a few ideas on where to display it in my home. We’ll see where it wants to live. But wherever it ends up, it will be a beautiful reminder of the year we hiked.

More to the story?

As I stitched my quilt together, I was also piecing together the stories that each hike had to tell. Like the hikes themselves, this work is taking me to unexpected places. A third book? Hmmm…