Big Kiss quilt

I started this quilt in May when I saw the sew-along announced by the pattern creator @SelfSewn.  It was a free tutorial and I just loved the bold design of it. Straight away I knew I wanted to use some of my Leah Duncan fabrics which I'd been saving, unsure of what to use them for. I also knew I wanted to make this for my brother and his family, as they live abroad and, at that point, I hadn't seen them in 6 months.  I sewed the quilt top together during the sew-along and had hoped I'd be able to see them during the summer and gift it then but when that became more unlikely I felt a bit too sad to quilt it somehow.  I decided it would be perfect to send though as, what better way to send your love to someone than in something you've created yourself. Especially when you can't give them your love in person.

Self Sewn gave really good instructions on how to use a photo of the fabric laid out in stripes, to create an image of how it would look made up. That's what you can see above.  I tried a few different layouts of fabric this way and it was great to be able to get a real idea of how it would look sewn up.  There are 3 Leah Duncan prints here, the two botanical ones and the blue one, which features flamingoes.  It also contains some pink floral Liberty twill which was leftover from a dress I made myself years ago.  Likewise, the blue cross-hatch is leftover from a skirt I made.  

The backing fabric is mostly an orange IKEA duvet cover that I bought new to make scrubs bags for a family member, and friends, during the summer. With another scrap of Leah Duncan flamingos added in.  I had initially intended this as a picnic blanket quilt, which is why I used the IKEA fabric on the back as it seemed quite hard-wearing.  However, as I didn't send it till the winter it's currently a blanket on the couch!

I just did some simple straight line quilting either side of the seams. I love how this looks and I didn't want to make the quilt too stiff.  

2020 was a hard year for so many and I don't have the adequate words to describe it.  I found sewing really helped me at so many points this year but it was usually smaller more manageable projects that I wanted to make, like cushion covers, pencil cases and little bags. I hope you all found some ways to make 2020 more bearable and here's hoping 2021 brings us all more time with family and friends when it's safe to do so.