Blogger’s Quilt Festival - Friendship Quilt

Its time for the 2014 Blogger's Quilt Festival, and though I'm a little terrified, I've decided to participate this year. Link ups are open until May 23rd (this Friday) and then voting is open from May 24th (Saturday) to May 29th (Thursday) with winners announced on May 30th and 31st.

If you follow my blog, you've seen these quilts before.  I was inspired to make them after being asked to make two larger versions for one of my hive mates in the We Bee Learning bee.  She asked for wonky pinwheel blocks (using this tutorial) in green and aqua with accents of grey and yellow.  I loved the colors and the look of them so much that I decided to make a mini version for myself.  When I got all the blocks done, I didn't like how big it all was and decided to split the blocks up into two matched mini quilts instead.

These quilts measure 20" x 12" and were made entirely using scraps from my scrap bucket, with the exception of the solid white background.  Since I was on a role, I decided to dive in and try my hand (pun intended) at hand quilting.  I picked up some aqua and lime pearl cottons and dove right in.  Granted it's not perfect but I couldn't be happier with the final products.  The hand quilting adds just the right amount of texture to them and really helps ground the otherwise free-spirited pattern.

The backs are pieced using larger pieces of fabric I had left over from the front of the quilt.  I love the little added interest it gives them.  The one on the right is bound in solid, light green of unknown origin, and the one on the left is bound in a citron/chartreuse print on white.  And my absolute favorite part is that these were the first quilts I got to sign with my married name.  

I called these quilts Friendship Quilt 1 and Friendship Quilt 2 because the matched set reminded me of the matching friendship bracelets we used to make and exchange with our best friends when I was in grade school.  One of these quilts went to live with my good friend Jenn and the other one resides on the wall above my sewing machine.  It serves as a little bit of eye candy inspiration for when I'm feeling uninspired.  I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane!  Be sure to check out all of the other entries for the 2014 Bloggers Quilt Festival.  You'll find these two in the mini quilt category.

You can read more about these quilts here, here and here.  Happy Quilting!!