Sent and Received II

Wow! This one was fun. I signed up for a summer-themed doll quilt swap back in June, and here's what arrived in the mail from Julie:

Argh, Blogger is rotating my photos without permission again! Anyways, this is such a cheery, summer-y mini quilt! The fabrics that Julie chose are all so incredibly perfect for the theme - watermelons, ladybugs, bright cheerful plaid! and I cannot begin to describe to you how technically flawless this quilt is. The quilting is unbelievably even and straight. As someone who always, always has difficulty getting things to line up, I am in awe. Thank you so much Julie! This one will be highly treasured especially during Boston's long winters!!!

It took me a really long time to figure out what to make for this swap. I don't know, summer is a hard one for me. After admiring Blair's value quilt for a long time, I thought I might try out the design in a mini format. It continues the scrapbusting theme, and I really love the way that value works to create pattern in this quilt. My initial blocks were 3" by 3", and after all the cutting and sewing and such, 6 blocks across measures just over 12". This is as close to a traditional patten as I think I can get, and the closest you'll get me to triangles in quilts.

Admission: I am running REALLY late sending this out to my partner. School has just caught me off guard, plus my brother was visiting last week and I'm only finally starting to feel back on track. Don't get me wrong -- I adore my brother. He's one of my closest friends. But as a result, I may have spent a tad more time chilling with the bro, and a tad less time reading, than I should have. But! I have big plans to send this out in the next 2 days. Swap partner, I am really REALLY sorry!!! I don't know where the midterms came from ...