What a neat new quilt pattern!

Earlier this summer, my blogging friend Melissa from Sew Bittersweet Designs, put out a call for pattern testers.  She had designed a quilt top pattern for publication and wanted input on how the quilt works up.

Intrigued by the process, I wrote and asked if I could do a lap quilt version of her newest pattern. You can find her sneak peak of the Quilt Without A Name here. Well, maybe it has a name, but I guess at this point it's a yet-to-be-named gem. She only picked four testers, and I was one, so I was tickled!

Here is what I came up with:

The quilt measures 52 inches square and is easy to put together. Oops - there is a stray thread showing in the photo below - go figure. 

Turning the camera gives you a different focal point to look at it.  I love the simply symmetry of her design!

 

Making this quilt was a joy because Melissa's instruction were easy to follow and right on target. No goof ups with yardage or cuts. 

It came together very quickly, and would make a nice bed-sized quilt as well as this lap quilt.

I also like it because the amount of negative space on this quilt allows a lot of leeway for quilting design.  I quilted it with swirls and leaves on the main body of the quilt, and then in the outer border and inner sashing white border, I quilted with a little flower that mimics the flower patterns in the fabric. The orange-red borders have a simple meander with the variegated thread.

In the dark blue blocks, I outlined quilted the flowers and leaves with a variegated thread that had all the colors of the fabric in it, giving it a great poofy look.  I wish I had done that on the blocks with the light blue, but I had already freehand quilted flowers in there and I didn't want to rip them out. You know the drill:  it takes a minute to put the stitches in and FOREVER to rip them out!

Here is a sneak at the fabric I used on the back of the quilt.  The orangish red stripes and the light blue floral blocks are from the Gallery Fiori Collection for P&B Textiles, the dark blue blocks are Gypsy Vine from Laura Gunn's Garden Wall Collection for Michael Miller, the backing is from Laura Gunn's Poppy Collection for Michael Miller, and I used Kona Snow for the background. So it was a mixture of sweet fabrics that I already had in my stash (gotta love my stash!)

I can't wait for Melissa to have this pattern ready for publication. It would make such a neat wedding gift, a baby quilt, a snugly lap quilt for yourself or a fantastic bed quilt.  Or, in my case, I am going to attach a casing to the back so I can hang it in our living room. After moving into our new home this spring, I still have lots of empty wall space I need to fill up. This will do quite nicely!!!

Quilt with a smile,
Barb

I'm linking up to Linky Tuesday and Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday.