Hugs and Kisses

Today is Jen's 40th birthday and I finished her quilt a day early. Actually, I finished it four days early because we are taking it to her on Saturday. Three cheers for me!!!

I *love* the Heirloom fabric! I have wanted to use it since I first spotted it and knew that this would be the perfect project for it. This was actually the first time I used a pattern, not just a tutorial online. I bought this pattern, mainly because it is called Hugs and Kisses. Silly reason to pick a pattern, but it just seemed perfect for my sister! I used some scraps from the front, plus one of mom's sheets for the back. 

Definitely the most challenging quilt I have completed thus far. It was the first time I worked with piecing together non-square pieces. It resulted in finished blocks that were smaller than they should have been, but the quilt is still a good lap size. I also quilted *a lot* on this quilt. I quilted double lines along each diagonal on the quilt and quilted diamonds in the white portions. Lots of work, but totally worth it.

The best part of the quilt is that these two were my helpers. From the very beginning of this project, from ordering fabric to when I was taking the pictures, they knew that this was Auntie Jen's quilt. They even helped me quilt! They sat next to me and they even took turns "working that pedal", as they called it. It was a bit stressful with them in control of the speed, which led to more than a few wonky lines, but I am pretty sure Auntie Jen won't mind:)

**linking up to crazy mom quilts***