Progressive quilts continued

*Are you looking for the Orange Peel QAL Final Linky Party? Link up your quilts, tops, and minis here until Sept. 8!*

This past month I had the honor to work on Laura's quilt for our bee. We extended the first round for a few reasons and now we are finishing up two quilts. I can't wait to meet all of these ladies at QuiltCon and hopefully we'll bring our quilts (and get a big group picture)!

Laura sent along the gorgeous low volume words: "Life is a luminous halo." Here's the original quote by Virginia Woolf: "Life is a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us from the beginning of consciousness to the end." It's from her essay titled "Modern Fiction." Laura encouraged us to use the "uglies" for our low volume - fabric that isn't calm and doesn't just *fit* right in. Somehow this crazy chaos just works!

"Luminous" and a flower Laura made didn't fit on my design wall! She sent along the line of wonky stars - and I thought it appropriate to make a large scrappy cross (tutorial by The Long Thread), some wonky crosses, and a "halo" (the octagonal orb block by Elizabeth Hartman, which was very time and scrap consuming but worth it!).

The pluses were fun and relatively quick - I "made fabric" with mine and Laura's low volume scraps by stitching them together and cutting them down into a square. I cut an angle through the square and sewed a strip of fabric through. I made another angled cut the opposite way and sewed another strip, which made the plus (basically, this was a "slice and insert" technique"). They were fun and perfect, I thought, for the sunkissed and scrappy vibe Laura is looking for. I didn't worry about everything matching up perfectly; I just had fun.

My signature block... it's smaller than it looks (6"x6")

There's something freeing but also stressful about progressive quilts. On one hand, all of us have given the others free reign - so if there's something you want to try (like the blocks I made for this one), you can just try it! I also feel pressure on myself to create something amazing and fabulous because the ladies I'm working with are so spectacular (wait until you see Renee's quilt!!!). I love that we push each other to do our best work. These ladies are so important to me! Speaking of progressive quilts, I still need to get mine basted... but first comes Renee's!