a quilt for Avery Jean by the RI Modern Quilt Guild

I'm excited to share this quilt that the members of the RI Modern Quilt Guild made for our former president, Carole Ann. Carole Ann and her husband were preparing for the arrival of their first baby so of course we had to make her a quilt! I suggested it to our current president, another Tara, and asked if I could take the lead on the project, and once she gave me the go ahead I set about finding a block for our members to make. I settled on these wonky plus blocks and began pulling fabric from my stash to make a few blocks. I was inspired by Riley Blake's cathedral window print from the Fly a Kite line (now out of print) and gathered a bunch of scraps that coordinated. I had a blast creating some colorful pluses against gray and white backgrounds, thinking that most people would have those neutrals in their stashes as I wanted the blocks to be easy for the guild members. I gave all the members of our guild an info sheet with instructions, including some images of the cathedral window print and one of my completed blocks as a color guide. I asked everyone to use shades of white and gray for the background fabric and colors from the cathedral windows print for the plus signs, concentrating on blues, yellows, pinks, and greens. 

Of course, our guild rose to the occasion and created some gorgeous blocks for Carole Ann's quilt! I had a lot of fun arranging the blocks on my design wall and decided to alternate blocks with white and gray backgrounds, randomizing the colors of the plus signs. There were a lot of yellow so I made many attempts at spacing them out and I think I succeeded. My favorite blocks are the two made with Heather Ross's Briar Rose fabric. I just love those sweet bees and strawberries! I can't remember if Leslie or Becky made them...

Anyway, I had enough blocks to piece a strip on the back and we used the one in the corner as a label. Once the top and back were pieced my mom, who's also a guild member, pressed and sandwiched it. I quilted it on either side of the horizontal and vertical seam lines, and then gave it back to my mom to bind, only she decided it needed more quilting (ha, mothers!) and added some to echo some of the plus signs. When it was finished I brought a fabric marker to the next monthly meeting so everyone who contributed blocks could add their names. In addition to the women I referenced above (my mom, Tina, Tara, Leslie, and Becky) some of the ladies who made blocks are Jenn, Charity, Jen, Celine, Rachel, and Mary. Chime in if I missed linking to you, guild friends!

Carole Ann had a sweet baby girl about a month later and I visited soon after to deliver the quilt and a batch of cookies :)  

And here she is, already enjoying the quilt! I'm so happy to have been able to help coordinate the construction of this quilt and hope Avery and her parents will enjoy it for years to come!