I was late to the Instagram game, but have completely fallen in love with the community spirit on this media platform.  Who knew there were so many other sewists out there….like me?!?  You follow people, start to “heart” posts, then make comments.  All of a sudden you are asked by one of your IG friends to be part of a “Traveling Quilt” group.  And this is where I am today.

To be perfectly honest, I had never heard of a “Traveling Quilt” until I was asked (or maybe I was tagged) by the hostess.  Of course, I “Googled” it before committing and am so glad I did.  Have any of you been a part of a group like this or something similar?

It is a group of quilters who start off making one block per person.  It then gets shipped off to another member and you in return, receive one that you add upon.  This happens every month on a rotation until you have a completed quilt top.  The size of each block depends on the number in your group (11 in mine) and what size quilt you ultimately want in the end (a throw.)

After seeing inspiration posts (#EpicTravelingQuilt2016) and what my group started to work on, I knew I needed something good.  I quickly realized that my first block needed to be REALLY good and well thought out because it was going to set the tone for everyone else to follow.  So…I pushed it off…

Many time inspiration just strikes at me and I will know what to do in that lightning flash.  That’s pretty much what happened…and the pressure of being a week off from ship time 😉  I decided to use one of JeliQuilts patterns (again!) but this time it was Juicy Goosey.  At first, I wanted to use something different, but then there was a reason I’m always so drawn to these circles of flying geese….they’re my style and that needs to be represented in this first block!

I used many of my favorite designers with bright saturated colors.  This was not only because the fabrics are SO pretty, but I wanted to give all my group members something for which to work.  I’d rather the focus be on the effort and design rather than having to go out and order new fabric just for my quilt.  We only have a month turnaround for each block, so I thought it was pretty important to have my inspiration block be easily companioned….or so I hope!

This is just the start of a year-long process and I’m happy to know that I will be touching and adding to 10 people’s quilts along the way.  This will be lots of fun and I hope to update you periodically on the progress.  Wish me luck!

Stitchin’ It Real,

Cristy