Linky Love pattern (+giveaway)

I got it all done!  And published!  And everything! :-D

I'm really proud of this pattern, and happy with how it turned out.  It is fun to piece together, because of how the pieces link together, and a great design for showing off a favorite color scheme.

When I have a new quilt design in mind, I usually give it a nickname, so I have a place to organize all the diagrams and what-not as I'm working on it.  This one, I nick-named "Linky Love."  I wasn't sure if that name would stick or not, and I auditioned a few others, but went back to this.  Cheesy?  Absolutely.  But catchy too. :)

Included with the pattern are all the instructions to make this quilt in three different sizes.

There's the 56" square "throw" size, which is what I've made here:

The 72" square "Cover" size... which has a layout like this:

(see what I mean about a favorite color combo?  I just liked this one)
This size also perfectly uses a Moda Jelly Roll.

And a Queen size that measures 88" x 96" and looks something like this:

(If I was going to make this quilt for our bed, I'd need to go with a background color like this).

You'll also get a nifty coloring page (yea!) to help you plan your color scheme and lay-out.  (I'm not going to lie -- I really enjoyed getting out my colored pencils and coloring my page in when I was planning this quilt).  The quilt is planned with five color groups in mind, but I also included diagrams for using four or seven colorways.

Kelly is currently working on the cover version (in Birds & Bees fabric), and Lindsey already has a throw size quilt top almost completed using the Simply Color ombre jelly roll strips (yes, the ombre does create a really cool effect).

__________________________

The inspiration for this quilt was two-fold.  

Please meet my cosmetics pouch that doubles as a sewing notions holder.
I have stared at this thing sitting in my sewing area for a couple years, and always thought it would make a great quilt design.  But the piecing baffled me.  

Then... Jay (my hubs) asked me one night if I would do him a favor and make a quilt for his friend's wife who was recently diagnosed with cancer, and ended up in the ICU with a really scary infection (and whole mess of complications).  He has known the guy for a while, in the online, MMORPG universe known as EVE.  They're in a "corp" together.  They have meetings, with chat rooms and all sorts of craziness -- so they've gotten to know each other pretty well (though they still refer to one another as Kubert and Raven for the most part, rather than their real-life, less entertaining names).

Hearing about what Raven's wife was going through really upset Jay.  And he wanted to do something.  

He thought sending ISK (the fake online currency of the EVE world) wouldn't be as appreciated as a quilt.

I told Jay to ask Raven what his wife liked.  She apparently is a big University of Michigan fan.  So borrowing their colors of blue and gold, I pulled some fabrics, got out my graph paper, figured out how to make these links connect, and Linky Love was made.  

Jay told me that Raven's wife (whose name is Heidi) cried when she saw the picture of her quilt (which is in the mail).  That made me cry.  So I stuck with the name "Linky Love." (and yes, I put Jay's EVE name on the label).

I already showed you, but here's the back I made to go with the front:

___________________________

So thank you for listening to my ramblings. 

I can't wait to show you more versions of this quilt, as well as see yours!

And I hope you like this pattern as much as I do. 

It will always remind me personally that sometimes those online friends are just as linked as the ones who live closer...

♥

Giveaway of the pattern!
To enter -- leave a comment telling me something you love about your online friends -- or a color scheme/fabric line you'd like to use to make this... or something. :)
If you buy it, and then win -- I'll refund your money, or send you another pattern gratis.

P.S. you have until the 10th to link up for our Just Three goals! :)

The year of why not.

I've been thinking about resolutions since before the new year, and I think I finally picked mine.

"Why not?"

I think it suits me. It's positive and optimistic, but also not too overly zealous or committal. It isn't too scary for the part of me that over-thinks, and finds decision making (at times) excruciating.

I'm not sure exactly how this will play out in my real life, but I have a few ideas.

It was helpful today:

"I should get on the elliptical and exercise..."

(inner voice response: "why not?"...

we won't get in to the fact that I could have probably come up with many reasons at that point, but I didn't.)

So I did.

I should quilt that little top I started long ago. I should do a flower design.

Hmmmm... why not?

So I did.

I should cut all the pieces so I can finally finish my Rouenneries quilt.

OK. Why not?

So I did (finished pictures coming tomorrow I hope).

I should get all the laundry folded and put away.

See... here's where things got tricky. But there's always tomorrow. :)

The top is finished!

Yea for Steiger's quilt-top!

I finally sewed on the sashing last night.

Now I'm trying to decide whether or not:

- to quilt it myself, or take it to a long-arm

- to use batting with my minky backing

- to use a dark or light thread

- to use the same design edge to edge, or change it up within the blocks

- to pebble, stipple, straight line or something else...

So many decisions left to be made.

But I like it. :)

And I think he does too.

Here are some closer up shots.

For inquiring minds, most of the fabric is from Robert Kaufman's Forest Fun, with a few Animal Party and random tonal solids. Sashing is Kona Cotton in Chocolate Brown. I modified this pattern (Box Step) for the design.

WIP Wednesday - baby shower

So, I've decided a couple things:

1- I hate sashing. I like how it looks when it's done, but the process is boring to me. Particularly when using thin strips. I have all Steiger's blocks sewn in to rows, but I haven't done the long sashing yet. I need to get on that!

2 - Baby quilts are great. You feel like you've made so much progress, and in not a lot of time.

This is the one I will be quilting as soon as I get myself to the store to get some basting spray, or break down and use safety pins.

It's for Jay's step-sister's new boy arriving next month.

Slightly wonkified log-cabinish blocks. They look like little frames.

The focal fabric, Frolic, has little owls, raccoons, birds and squirrels.

I added some kona solids (chocolate and some others). There's a little bit of Love U in there too.

I'm hoping the chocolate minky shows up in the mail today, so I can get this finished!

Here are a couple close-ups of the blocks.

Fun to make...

I've also started on Julie's wonky mini wall quilt with orange. I tried to stick to my stash... but just couldn't. So I added a few half-yards of fabric I've been eyeing... I hope she likes it. :)