A White Elephant Quilt Swap

My most recent project has taken me more time to complete than I initially anticipated. I’ve been participating in the White Elephant Quilt Swap 2019 hosted by Janelle from @tinyquiltswaps

It’s a genius swap project though up by Janelle where you make a mini-quilt (note here I said “mini”) that you want to make and everyone votes at the end for their favourites, and that helps to determine who gets each quilt.

I decided that this was my opportunity to finally make the 'Lady in Red' pattern byNessie505, and I already had purchased the fabric and knew I wanted to make her in some purple-blue Tula fabrics. I shrunk the pattern to 75% of its original size so that my finished pattern would be 18” x 36”. I could have gone 12”x 24” but decided against it as one of the fabrics I had chosen was The Hypnotizer from Tula Pink’s 2015 “Chipper” collection and I felt the scale of the print deserved to be a bit bigger, so my quilt ended up being a bit bigger than a “mini”.

It was pointed out after I started that it would be a great swap to use some existing orphan blocks up, something I have plenty of as you probably know from reading my other posts, but by this time I had already started my new quilt, posted photos and was committed.

So why did it take me so long? Well, first I may have been a bit over-ambitious with my quilting. I really stretched my skills with this one, while the end result was definitely worth the effort, I did have a finished quilt that wasn’t quite square and needed fixing.

I am also sewing-time poor at the moment, as since moving my 2-year-old has decided that his day-sleep is optional and therefore I don’t get the same amount of time to spend designing and creating until he starts kindy next year. I also have several other secret projects happening in the background and a long list of custom-order pattern designs to create as well. Plus I’m gearing up for the Spring Fling Sew Along next year. Nevertheless, I did get my quilt finished before the deadline and also added a zipper at the back to make it a pillow cover for whoever ends up getting her (that’s still a secret that hasn’t been decided).

I'm sure whoever receives her will love her, and I am super excited to vote for my favourites (there are some awesome quilts and you can see them here on Instagram) and find out which one I will be receiving!

I really enjoyed making 'Lady in Red' and highly recommend it for anyone who knows how to foundation piece. The pattern is available from ByNessie505’s Etsy store.

Happy piecing!

RJ