Round Trip Quilts - First Round!

Well, I've survived the first round of our round robin-style bee. This is turning into a really fun experience because it's really pushing me creatively - and we've only gone through one cycle!

I first received Heather of QA Creations center. Her theme is beautiful: wishes for her daughter. She included a great paper pieced sail boat and some phrases that she'd like for us to incorporate as we are able to.

Photo from Heather's Blog.

I knew that the idea of incorporating the phrases and the paper pieced block would allow me a bit of leeway regarding adding borders. I could be asymmetric! I looked through the phrases and 'care' jumped out at me.

My initial sketch. I pretty much stayed true to it!

As I was thinking about wishes, I thought about wishing upon a star, and how whimsical wonky stars can be. I also saw that Heather mentioned the Wee Wander collection, and thought that the fireflies would make excellent centers for wonky stars to wish upon!

Star light, star bright...

I was feeling like I had too many 'masculine' colors in the quilt. Although my favorite (and I'm sure many other women also have this favorite) color is blue, I know that traditional quilts for girls have warmer colors. So, I wanted to try and get some bright, fun colors in. I went with some nice pinks and had them transition from the water using snail trail blocks because they reminded me of waves. I drafted them myself to get the 4" blocks, but somehow the last section's seam allowance was off and I couldn't figure any solution. It adds to the movement of the water, I hope!

Snail trails, 4" square. Fun, and tricky, to make. 

I added in some purple beneath the snail trail waves, and some low volumes to fill out the top section with the 'care' message, and voila, my work was done. 

All together now!

Hopefully the quilt is moving in the right direction. So far my favorite addition is the golden star in the bottom right (that's right, metallic gold! Every little girl's dream come true!) I can't wait to see what Jennifer does with it, and I'm looking forward to seeing what I get next. I like the challenge of this style bee, and I like that we've given ourselves 6 weeks for each round!

If you want to see what the others are up to check out my RTQ page for updated links to everyone's progress!