Finished in 2013: Bear Paw BFF Quilt

If it's possible for a quilt to steal your heart, this one has stolen mine.

I made this quilt top the last week of January/first week of February. I gathered all my treasured pink fabrics for something ultra sweet for myself...but with a little bit of a soft graphic edge. And traditional. I love traditional. Nothing is more traditional than a bear paw block. But with a different sort of twist.

My fabrics came from so many friends, so many that I've been hoarding and some that I searched high and low for!

Tracey helped me find the background fabric online. She's a pro at finding fabrics online. Seriously. Keen eyes will notice that I used this fabric alternating with Farmer's Wife Blocks. It's a Sweetwater subtle gray zigzag. I can't for the life of me remember it's actual name but I did buy 7 (!!!) yards of it off eBay. First time in my life I've ever purchased that much continuous yardage. I'm going to be crushed the day I use up all my scraps.
Karyn sent me the feathers and the Japanese center block fabric (it's a little rabbit who's gardening with some radishes-I should have taken a close up photo!). She's the best.
Pam sent me some of her dots that I'm totally obsessed with. She sent me three colors- bright pink, light pink and a taupe. I have only the tiniest squares left. It's *that* good.
Sudi-Laura sent me the William Morris fabric. O M G. I had bought a fq quarter in Sacramento years ago, uncovered it while cleaning and decided I needed more. And wow. I vastly underestimated how popular Barbara Brackman fabric is. Like, I called easily 20+ fabric shops, searched online for hours, finally turned to instagram friends and BAM! Sudi-Laura sent me some. I may have did a little dance when I opened the package!
Heather Ross. Ok, I'm not actually BFF's with Heather Ross, she has no idea I even exist but without her- no quilt! I used Mendocino, FFA3, Nursery Versery. I've been quilting a mediumly long time and I think without Heather & Lizzy, I wouldn't bother quilting that much. Seriously. Their fabrics keep me sewing because they just make me gleeful. Don't get me wrong, there are a ton of amazing fabric designers but I truly love fabrics that are narrative & tell a story! And those two ladies get me without even knowing me! The backing is lightning bugs in jars and a pretty Anna Maria Horner from field study.

And of course! This quilt couldn't be possible without Lindsay! The quilt was fine but nothing special when I sent it to her. When I got it back? Amazing. Brilliant. Perfect. She used this incredible new thread that is a shiny pale pink and helped me pick this quilting design. When in doubt, I always let her pick. She just *knows* and gets me. I love that. She also uses my favorite batting ever, Quilter's Dream Wool! This stuff has the best texture, warmth and loft. I debated ironing the quilt for these photos but nope, you can see it with all of it's wrinkly goodness. Also, let's face it, I'm too lazy to iron a quilt. ;)

Thanks friends for helping me make this pretty quilt! I can't wait for winter so I can use it on a regular basis instead of just a background for knitting projects, lol!

(ps: thanks handsome assistant for helping me wrangle quilts and making sure I don't get run over by a train! love you Chop!)