QuiltCon Together: Class #4 and the Mini Swap

Once I got started on my "Put a Ring On It" quilt (one of my classes at QuiltCon), I just wanted to keep sewing until I finished the quilt top.  I sewed while I listened to panel discussions and some of the lectures.  I have to admit that trying to do two things at once led to a few mistakes which meant my trusty seam ripper saw some action this week...  Here is my finished quilt top.  I need to pick out some backing from my stash and figure out how I am going to quilt this wallhanging. 

 My 4th class was taught by Sarah Bond. My mini swap partner last year was a fan of Sarah Bond and I had not heard of her before then.  I jumped at the opportunity to take her Chainlink Diamond class at QuiltCon. I purchased a jelly roll for this class and used some yellow Hashdots fabric from my stash for this project. I don't usually buy precuts. 

I only had enough of the yellow fabric for a lap sized quilts so I picked out the blue and green strips for my quilt. I will do another lap quilt, likely with the same pattern, with the yellow, orange and white strips and another background fabric. I sewed my strips together and cut these:

Here are the first few blocks. 

More blocks are being sewn and perhaps by next week, there will be a quilt layout to show to you.

Every year, prior to QuiltCon, members of the Modern Quilt Guild are given the opportunity to sign up for a Mini quilt swap.  I have participated in the swap for the last three years.  When signing up, you can give a few ideas to your swap partner about your likes and dislikes.  This year, I asked my swap partner to make something that tells me about where they live.  My swap partner was Molly W from Houston, TX.  She told me that she likes curves. I received some new drunkard's path rulers for Christmas so I decided to use them to make Molly's mini quilt.   I dug through my stash and found some fun fabrics to use. I drew a design out on paper and coloured it in so use as my pattern. 

Next up, cutting all the pieces I would need:

I tried out my original layout after sewing each of the units together, but I did not like it.  

I tried turning the smaller units, but still was not thrilled with the result.  By this time, it was bedtime so I decided to sleep on it. 

At 4am the next morning, I woke up with another idea, and headed down to the sewing room to rearrange my blocks.  I went back to bed and sewed everything together the next day, much happier with the final layout. 

Lucky for me, the inspiration for the quilting came to me as soon as I figured out the design.  I had some 28 wt Aurifil thread in orange and turquoise in my thread drawer --the perfect colours for my walking foot quilting. 

I have wanted to try facing a quilt for a while so this seemed to be a great opportunity to try it out.  I watched a video on YouTube and I was off to the races. 

The corner triangles can be used to hang the quilt with a piece of dowelling.  The white corner is the label as well. 

And here is the finished quilt, just before I put it in the padded envelope to mail it to Molly. 

Here is the quilt that Molly sent to me:

Here is part of what Molly wrote about in her letter to me:

"Houston is the 4th largest city in the country, but because of how Houston was built, the suburbs are very close to the city. Once you get outside the suburbs, there is nothing, just grassland, dirt and livestock... With all of the space between the cities in Texas, it is relatively easy to get outside of the major light pollution and see some beautiful stars.  To represent all of this, I have made you a night time version, looking at Houston from the outside. Beaded constellations shine down on the Houston skyline with a longhorn looking in on the city."

Molly also included some fun facts about Houston, a city I have never visited.   Thanks, Molly, for a wonderful mini quilt and your letter!  I look forward to signing up for next year's swap as well. 

For my slow stitching this week, I worked on Love Birds, finishing the second large blue flower and starting on the leaves for the next stem of flowers. (the picture was taken before the leaves were stitched.) 

My daughter has had a busy week at work so only had a little bit of time for stitching this week.  She added some details to these flowers and some tassel flowers as well. 

Finn, as usual, has been very helpful, closely inspecting her work for any mistakes. (or perhaps there was something good to eat just beyond the computer...)

The weather has warmed up a bit over the last week so the snow is starting to melt.  I caught a few drips in mid-drop this week...

I will link up with Kathy in the morning for the weekly Slow Sunday Stitching catch up.