The Girl Who Quilts cute gift quilt...

QuiltyGirl from "The Girl Who Quilts" made this darling quilt for her step brother. Be sure to see her blog, she has some great tutorials, I like her straight line quilting on a short arm tutorial. These are her Scrap projects, love these! Make sure to check her out and say "Hi!"

This is a new finish, and one that I'm especially proud of. My step brother recently got married in Phoenix, AZ. As soon as I found out that he was engaged, I starting thinking about quilt designs. I initially thought of using some cute camper fabric to make him and his (now) wife a quilt to keep in their vintage Streamline  camper. But it seemed too kitschy for them, so at the last minute I decided on a color stack of Aviary 2 by Joel Dewberry.

I had less than a month to make the quilt, plus pack up our house for a cross-country move! So I quickly got started on the design, even before the fabric arrived.

My first thought was to make a square-in-a-square quilt, as the set of solids and prints work well for that design. But then my mind drifted to a brick layout. Soon I had combined the two ideas, only to realize that 10 fat quarters were not going to stretch very far. That's when I started to envision a brick path, with solid on either side. What better style for a wedding quilt, than a path?!?

And that is how "What Lies Ahead" was born!
(The quilt is wrinkled and wonky in the photos because it was packed in my luggage for nearly a week before I shot these pics.)

 The solids are Free Spirit solids. Having only worked with Kona solids in the past, I was excited to give these a try. I really liked working with them! I love the almost dusty appearance in the coloring, and they are very soft.

 I intended to use the cream solid for the background, but I couldn't find enough yardage online. I ended up using the Camel color, and I'm really glad that I did.

 For quilting, I went with simple straight lines using a thread that matched the Camel solid almost perfectly. (Total coincidence, that's what I had on hand!)

 Gifting a quilt always makes me nervous, and this was no exception. I had never been to Phoenix before the wedding, nor did I know what my step brother's town home was like. Had I known much about the culture or his home, I don't think I would have considered gifting a quilt! The Phoenix area doesn't seem to have embraced handmade goodness like other parts of the country, and my step brother's house is very modern.

I'm happy to say that they loved the quilt, though! They even commented that it looked like something straight out of Anthropologie. That I will take as a compliment. ;)