First top of the new year is done. Virginia gave me a charm pack of some lovely Liberty Lifestyle (the Stile collection) for xmas, and I fell so head over heels that I needed to do something with them right away. I had been craving a project like this for a while – something that was a no-brainer (sewing a bunch of plus signs & piecing them together = super easy and satisfying) but also something to sort of cleanse the palette, a project for the pure pleasure of sewing. It was delightful to play with such pretty prints. Florals are a departure from my usual tastes, so it was doubly fun to use prints I would have probably never picked up on my own but absolutely love love love.

Instead of machine-quilting this, I decided to hand-quilt. I think it keeps with the prettiness of the top, and it allows me to more easily stitch echo lines around each individual plus sign in a contrasting color specific to each print. I have been jonesing to do some hand-stitching for a while now, so I am enjoying this process immensely, even though I haven’t gotten much further along than you see here. I’d say I am maybe 1/8 of the way there. Not that I’m rushing myself with this. I like being able to savor the process.