"Celebration"

This pattern is by Marilyn Foreman of Quilt Moments.

Sample quilt constructed and quilted by

When Barb revealed that we were going to make the ‘Celebration’ Quilt for the 2012 retreat I was really excited!  I loved everything about this quilt – the design, the BIG blocks, the fun *tweaks* Barb had made to the original pattern.  I knew this was going to be great. 

We were encouraged to pick out our main, inspiration fabric first, start in the middle and work our way out picking the accent fabrics as we go.  I am making my quilt before the retreat so I can be a  helper to others for deciding on their fabrics – one of my favorite parts of the quilt making process. 

Too Muchery Panel in Multi by  Helen Dardnik found at Hawthorne Threads

Soon after the retreat I was at a LQS and I saw this fun, whimsical Too Muchery Panel.  I knew instantly that I just had to use this for my retreat quilt.  The possibilities with this piece were endless and it was going to be a ton of fun to work with.

The next step was picking out my accent fabrics.  Another fun task.  I headed over to my mother-in-law’s and went through her amazing collection of hand-dyes.  Here’s the stack I came up with to start with.  The first step in the process was to put together the center of this quilt.  I put my options up on my design wall, stepped back to decide what was going to work and what wasn’t.   

Here is what my first 9 blocks ended up looking like.  Stay tuned for the next round decisions!