Lindsay Bigelow married Sean Ball on Friday, July 26th, 2013 in the Portland, Oregon temple. They started dating early this year and when I heard that he went with Lindsay and her mother and all of her four sisters (by car) to Lindsay's graduation from BYU, I knew he was smitten. Lindsay has been friends with Annie for forever and knows about my crazy quilt making hobby. When she announced her engagement I asked Annie if she thought Lindsay would want me to make her a quilt. Of course she would. Who wouldn't, right? And I wanted to make one for her.
I wanted to use another pattern from the book "Schnibbles Times Two" by Carrie Nelson. It has several cute and simple patterns that I like and it's always nice to use more than one pattern from a book. Makes me feel like I got my money's worth. Heidi's wedding quilt was a variation of another pattern from this same book. I asked Annie to look them over and her favorite was "X-Rated". I wasn't thrilled with it until I read that it was the author's favorite quilt in the book because it looks good in every fabric and it's fun to make. Exactly what I wanted.
The fabric is from the newest collection by Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts called "Avalon". It was so new that when I bought the fabric they didn't even have it on the bolt yet. There were only some precuts available (jelly rolls, charm squares, etc.) but not the layer cakes (stack of 10" squares) which is what this quilt called for. I could have ordered them online but I didn't have time to wait. What they did have at my local quilt shop was a bundle of 40 fat quarters with every fabric in the collection, so that is what I purchased, plus the white pin dot for the background. I have lots of fat quarters left over but that's okay. Just means I get to make another quilt from my stash sometime in the future.
When you look at this quilt you can't help but see all the X's and perhaps you thought, like I did at first, that this is the block, made 49 times. Nope. Not so. Instead, you cut out two 3 1/2" squares and one 3 1/2" by 9 1/2" rectangle for each X and lay the entire quilt out before sewing a stitch. Annie helped me lay it out. We first decided on which color would go where and spread them out into their X shape, added the white squares (and triangles on the edges) and then picked up the diagonal rows. I started sewing from the top left hand corner.
After the rows were all sewn together I laid out the border. This type of border is called "piano keys" because it sort of looks like piano keys I guess (if you use your imagination) and is great for using up little bits and pieces. I have used this type of border before and it can be a challenge to get it to fit properly. I often need to adjust seams here and there to get it to fit perfectly. But it's worth a little extra effort. The finished quilt is 69" square.
After the top was completely done I took it with me to the quilt shop to choose fabric for the back. The staff at Hollyhill knew exactly which pattern it was because they had just finished making one to hang as a shop sample. They all oohed and aahed . Theirs is not in the same fabric but it's nice. (Lindsay's is cuter - just saying). I made the top in two weeks and by then, the collection was available by the yard so this is what I purchased for the back along with the green polka dot for the binding. I sent it to June at Quiltmasters and she quilted it up lickety split using the pattern "Merrily" and I had it bound in time to give it to Lindsay at her bridal shower. (I wanted to watch her open it).
Annie and I hosted the shower at our home on July 9th. Annie made three different banners like the one above and we had lots of fun planning the refreshments and making it a party we could hardly wait to attend.
I made the lemon yogurt cake and Annie made the "Too Much Chocolate" cake. It was all very tasty.
There are probably some better (less fuzzy) pictures out there, but this is Lindsay opening her quilt and reading her card. It tells Lindsay how much I appreciate her friendship with Annie. And I do.
Lindsay and Sean held their reception in the garden of her grandparents home, Floyd and Francis Severson in Sherwood. It was a lovely gathering and the perfect celebration for this fabulous couple.
And Sean, the quilt is for you, too.
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