The Coral Strippy HST Quilt

 A fast finish...

This started out as a trial of my Strippy HST concept using light feature fabrics and dark strips, the opposite of the other Strippy HST quilts I made. I wanted a controlled palette, not totally random, so I searched my stash for what I had on hand that could work. I pulled a selection of light prints with color in them, not typical low volumes.  Most of them were bargains or swaps or from the free table at guild, so there was a pretty random selection. I narrowed it down to the 12 prints used. Then I pulled all my corals, oranges, pinks, and a few reds, edited them, and cut strips. The palette ended up having a cheerful vibe but also pink for breast cancer, so I figured I'd send this quilt to Happy Chemo for Hands2Help along with the other quilt I sent. 

I love the way the colors turned out, especially the little pops of robin's egg blue in some of the prints, and touches of chocolate brown in a couple of them. Cheerful, positive, but not too sugary.

While I was piecing this, my neighbor encouraged me to expand my FMQ skills and I learned to stitch hearts, so I included them in the quilting here. Yes, they're wonky, but I think that only adds to their charm.

I showed my neighbor my FMQ progress and mentioned that this is intended as a donation quilt. She told me of a need in the neighborhood. So instead of mailing it off, tomorrow several of us neighbors are getting together for brunch and this quilt will be given to one of them. 

For a fast little finish, this quilt feels pretty special to me. The palette, the new quilting skill, and especially that something I made can give a quilty hug to a new neighbor. A pretty good feeling! 

Link ups: Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Alycia Quilts, Wendy's Quilts and More