I made Ko Ko to show off the chocolate Shweshwe prints at the Nashville show. I did not originally plan to develop a pattern too. Probably because I couldn't envision getting the pattern finished before the show. I cut out the quilt around July 15 and finished the binding on August 16, the day before Elizabeth left for Nashville. That might not sound too remarkable, but I had to go to work 5 days a week. (Employers are so demanding, aren't they?)
There was a lot of interest in the quilt so after the show I started thinking about what could be included in the pattern to make it have value.
The block in this quilt is great because it is made of 16 half-square triangles assembled in a pleasing manner. It doesn't take much work to make a block that is "pleasing" because the Shweshwe itself is interesting and striking. The block does not involve complicated piecing. Make the half-square triangles, arrange them, make the rows, and sew the 4 rows together. Move on to the next block.
Each 8" block has 32 pieces and a lot of seams - some a bit on the bulky side. I think pressing effectively is the biggest challenge with this quilt. So I made the pressing instructions in the pattern very specific.
I didn't have a name for the quilt immediately, but it was named while I was still piecing. The name comes from the Ladies Detectives books by Alexander McCall Smith. (The name is explained on the back cover.) I love those books. Once I started thinking of the quilt as Ko Ko, it reminded me of the books and that made me happy. Ko Ko and I had bonded.
