My friend Ms. M got me hooked on quilting about three and a half years ago. She lured me in by forcing me to buy fabrics in my favorite color (purple) and then she dropped a Turning Twenty pattern on me. She walked me through each step and I quickly progressed from that gateway experience to more hard-core (if imperfectly executed) techniques.

While Ms M was bringing me over to the dark side, I knew that Cindy was also a fabric user, as is Ms. M’s sister. The two other sisters suggested that we make mini quilts from blocks that we could make and swap with one another. They had the perfect book: Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler from Elm Creek Quilts. I was enthralled with this book! It had so many interesting traditional blocks and easy to follow directions. The four of us each selected four blocks to make and then we went fabric shopping. It was fun but stressful as we each tried to find fabrics that appealed to us, but that also worked with the color palettes of the other three.

Did I mention that all of this occurred about 3 years ago? Well, last night I finally finished the binding for my Sylvia mini quilt. Cindy had to step in and take over the addition of  the mitered borders — thanks Cindy. But this project helped me master paper piecing. It also got me out of my color comfort zone. I like how brave I was to add some variety and color to my background fabrics.

Today I finally hung Sylvia in my office at work. I know our younger sister in Florida really wants this quilt for her living room, but I think I need to enjoy it for a few weeks before I send it south.