Friendship X and + Block Exchange: The Big Reveal

This all started back in October of last year. Has it really been nearly a whole year? Carla (Lollyquiltz) and Susan (Patchwork and Play) came up with a plan for a block swap that sounded like too much fun.

It involved choosing a partner and between the two of you, choosing a palette of colors to work with and then swapping  x and + blocks--we used the tutorial by Badskirt Amy.  I barely had finished reading the guidelines when I quickly sent an email to Carla (Grace and Favour) and she agreed to partner up with me. Together we chose this palette:

Every month we each made a set of blocks for ourselves and an identical set for our swap partner. We decided on a total of 64 blocks. This was my first set--four for me, and an identical set for Carla.

It was so much fun to choose the fabrics for the blocks each month, and to open that package from Carla to see what fabric choices she had made.

At some point she showed a peek at the fabric she was going to use for the backing. It was a simple texty print with all the months of the year--perfect. I ordered the same thing! ("8 days a week" by Ampersand Design Studio for Windham Fabrics, in case you are curious).

Last weekend I worked on the machine quilting, something I am not proficient at, and at this point, straight line quilting is the only thing in my arsenal. I was so anxious to get it completed by today's deadline so there was no way I was going to attempt to try something else.

By mid week I was ready to finish the binding, a step of the process that I really enjoy.

So are you ready for the unveiling?I'm so happy with this quilt. Working in tandem with a friend whose work I admire so much has been a wonderful connection and we are already talking about another project. I alternated the blocks in each row, so each of my blocks is sharing a seam with one made by Carla. That thought makes me happy.

Here is the back, which I just love.

When I was getting ready to piece the backing, I decided that I needed to match up the words and make is seem, well, seamless. It's right about in the center of this portion of the quilt back, a vertical seam. Can't see it?  Even close up, I have a hard time finding it myself.

Thankfully, it actually has started to feel like fall here in central California. We even had quite a breeze when I took these pictures.

The final closing shot.

Carla, thank you so much for saying yes to that email last year. This will always be a very special quilt.

I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and TGIFF.