the jen quilt

First of all, can you guys believe it's 12/12/12?  How crazy is that?  Second of all, here is the Jen quilt!  This baby has been a long time in the making, let me tell you.  The fabric line is "Salt Air" by Moda, and I remember impatiently waiting for this line to make its debut in March 2012.  When it finally arrived, I bought charm packs and yardage, not quilt sure what design I wanted to try.  Well, I stumbled upon this "spinning pinwheel" pattern (not even sure if that's the technical name for this pattern), and I loved how it would showcase the fabrics.

Well, I started in on this last spring and the whole project just got pushed to the side after half of the blocks were completed.  I liked the pattern, I loved the fabric, but I just wasn't feeling gung-ho about the whole process, and honestly I was a little burned out on quilts bigger than a baby quilt.  Each quilt is such a time investment (for instance, this one took about 20 hours from start to finish) that I just wanted a project that was easy.

But then, as luck would have it, my friend Jen emailed me and asked if I would make her a snuggly quilt.  Instantly I thought of this quilt.  And when she said she was redecorating her living room in oranges and greys, I knew this quilt would coordinate, but not be so matchy-matchy.  Then it hit me.  The reason I couldn't get going on the quilt before is that it was waiting on an owner, and that owner wasn't me.  Once the quilt had an owner, finishing it was not a long drawn-out process anymore.  In fact, it was relaxing and easy.

A close-up of one of the stars and the free-motion quilting, done in my oh-so-favorite loopy loops.  And a glimpse of the whale tail fabric and waves fabric.

Target was having a sale on their nice bedsheets, so I got this grey sheet for only $11!  No way could I get material for that little, and the sheet means I don't have to piece the back together.  I was originally planning on doing the quilting in white thread for the front and blue for the back (to give it interest).  But I couldn't get my sewing machine set to where the blue wouldn't show up on the front.  So I gave in and did all the quilting in white.  I like how it shows up on the back, but isn't too much.

When I free motion quilt, I sneak in a hidden heart.  Except in Memaw's Swoon quilt, which got Mickey Mouse ears instead (see quilt here).  I told Jen about the hidden heart, but I never said where she could find it!  Now it's like "Where's Waldo?" over at her house!  Hopefully this picture gives her a good hint as to which fabric to check.

The binding is the "cabana stripe" of the collection, and ya'll know how I love my striped bindings!

I got it finished up last week, and mailed it out this weekend.  Jen got it two days later (only because I insured it and tracked it - if I hadn't, the package would be lost right now) and immediately let me know she had received her surprise and would be commencing the non-stop snuggling right away!  Hopefully she loves it forever and lets her kids use it or picnics or forts, because the best way to break in a quilt is to use the heck out of it.