Secret Project Reveal!

If you follow along on Facebook you might recall reading bits about a super-secret project between Jodi Robinson and myself.  It had everyone very curious... people wanted to know why Jodi was sending a quilt to me for quilting - they couldn't figure out what we were up to!

It was only kept secret because it was a surprise for Shandi at Gammill -- she was expecting.  I say was, because her beautiful baby girl is here already!  Anyway, we created a beautiful baby quilt for Shandi.  Jodi did the design and piecing and I did the quilting and binding.  I'm so glad Jodi agreed to the piecing part -- if I were piecing it, we'd all still be waiting - seriously!  The pattern is from the book Applique for Modern Beginners - which Jodi just happened to co-author along with Eva Birch and Nancy Gano.  For all those interested, here is a link to the book on Jodi's blog:  https://jrdesigns.wordpress.com/applique-for-modern-beginners-book/  I haven't yet seen the book but, knowing two of these three I'm sure it is awesome!

I must admit, the quilt has been finished for a little while now - well, except for the attachment of the label, I almost forgot about it!  Back at the end of August Jodi and I were supposed to have a quick trip to Gammill HQ (aka the mothership) which also happened to be the time Shandi was heading out for her maternity leave and we really wanted to hand deliver the quilt to her.  With multiple scheduling conflicts our visit has been postponed so we had to ship the quilt off -- bummer, right?

But we didn't miss out - here's a little tidbit I grabbed from Shandi's Facebook page:

I think Marat looks quite pleased with her new quilt!

Big City Brights!

Holy stitches I've finished a quilt for me!
Okay, I should rephrase and say I've quilted a quilt for me!  My bestie, Natalie, actually pieced the quilt top.  A few months back I rescued it from her never-gonna-get-quilted UFO pile.  I loved all the colors and the illusion of tall city buildings...hence the name, Big City Brights!  Regarding the pattern name... well, it was awhile ago and Natalie can't quite remember.  She does remember it was in a magazine - I know, not much help, right?  It is essentially a square in a square and two rectangles.  The color placement is what creates the illusion.

So, even though I managed to save it from Natalie's pile, it sat here in a new pile.  Not because I didn't want to quilt it, I did, very much so.  My pile was due to lack of time -- btw, someone really needs to work on that, creating more time!  Fast forward a wee bit, Janet-Lee (of MQX fame) posted that there was a need for edge-to-edge quilts at MQX Midwest.  Knowing I had this awesome quilt top just sitting there waiting for stitching I thought I could certainly help out.  So I squeezed (and boy do I mean squeezed) this throw-size quilt into my schedule.  It's stitched in my usual eclectic-whatever-comes-out-of-the-needle style and I absolutely love it!  It will be at MQX Midwest, and I doubt it will ribbon - it wasn't planned as a competition piece at all -- but, I hope others like it as well.

Here's a pic of the finished quilt as well as a detail pic: