Today, my sewing room is clean(ish)! I'm sure all you quilters and sewers in general know what I mean when I say it's a rare occasion! 

It's nice to see my fabric on display, but it won't last long!! I've already started making a new mess...

Camille Roskelley's Surfside pattern from Pat Sloan's The Sweet Life + Bella Solids' Sunshine yardage

I just love the way the yellow looks so light and pastel with Pat's darker hues.

I've also been working on a cancer quilt for a loved one, and the backing just arrived today. I'm excited to get it finished, and the batting is relaxing right now. 

If you haven't heard of cancer quilts, they're designed to be warm and the length and width that will be most comfortable for cancer patients during chemotherapy. 

Suggested dimensions are 44-48" and 68-72" long so they can cover up completely while sitting in the chairs. Some people use minky or flannel to back the quilts to keep them warm during treatment.

I chose to use Quilter's Dream Orient Bamboo batting, because no matter how cold I've ever been it keeps me warm.

Since this needed to be a quick quilt, I used Missouri Star Quilt Company's Double Slice video on YouTube, and luckily I had the layer cake on-hand! I spent probably 2-3 hours putting this pretty top together and adjusted the block positioning to what I needed.

I also chose light colors and Moda fabric because the quilt will need to frequently be washed in hot water. The collection I chose is Sandy Gervais' Chance of Flowers because I love its warm springy look. 

I'm planning on using a panel from the collection as part of the back, so that she has something to look at no matter which side she chooses. 

I think this quick, fun quilt and pretty fabric will be just what she needs.

One of my recent finishes was a hexie quilt I worked on for 3 years with Bonnie & Camille's April Showers collection. I ran into so many snags along the way, I was beginning to think I would never finish.

It took 3 years and 3 continents, but I finished!

Incidentally, this is also the first quilt I ever added a border to and tore off. I thought it would look great, but any border I added was just terrible. I ended up leaving it off altogether.

I made all my hexies in North Carolina and cut out all my fabric strips in Congo. Somehow in the move to Congo some of my hexies disappeared and I didn't realize it until we moved to Laos. So I had the "pleasure" of having to remake 60! out of 210 hexies. 

Not only did this make me sad, I had to use a charm pack I had stashed for accent pieces and some of the aforementioned terrible border/beautiful fabric for the hexies. As such, I didn't make them the exact same way, so they didn't fit together quite right.

The zigzag stitching around the hexie represents the hexie snag

While I still mourn my adorable stitching I had planned, I think the zigzags give it nice character. That said, my advice is to never start something this darn complicated after only quilting for 2 years! 

Last, but not least, with much sadness I report I seem to have had an issue with my photos. I promised you photos of quilt stores I had been to around the world, but the phone I took them on seems to have lost them. 

I will continue to see how I might find these photos for you, as I have been to some pretty great places! If I don't have any luck, rest assured, I promise to keep visiting places and will take new photos :-)

So tell me, have you ever made a quilt that was over your skill level at the time? How did you feel when you finally finished?