Modern Quilt Guild Miniquilt Swap

My mini quilt has finally arrived in Atlanta!  I didn't want to post before Pam received it so as not to spoil the surprise but now I'm in the clear!

After signing up for the swap, I was nearly immediately totally overwhelmed and freaked out.  My assigned partner was the fabulous Pam.  She is VP of the Atlanta Modern Quilt Guild, author of Hip to Be a A Square blog and host of Hip to Be a Square podcast.  Oh wow I'm in WAY over my head now.  She's an extraordinary quilter and I was really worried that my skills would not compare to hers.  She's a master piecer, fab at appliqué and has been giving classes on FMQ.  What could I make that avoided any of those talents?  I needed to find something unique....

I thought of the Portholes class I took in London at the Fat Quarterly Retreat.  That could be something new for Pam!

What fabric will I use?  Well, Pam is a fan of Star Wars.  What if I used a space theme?  I wanted to make a quilt that was her view out the window of the Millennium Falcon.  I decided to use Ash as a background (isn't the inside of every air plane Ash colored?) with batiks that were vibrant, but looked like the swirling surface of a planet.  Come on...any of these planets or moons could be made of batik fabric.  Of course, I didn't have any brown batiks (!!!) but I had vibrant oranges, yellows, reds, etc.  Now we're onto something...

Borrowed from msnbc.com

And then, of course, I had to add in a few space ships and satellites.  Right?  I found this print from Hoffman.  Brilliant.  What would be better than 3D space ships!?!?

The only problem was that I couldn't get this print anywhere in Ireland or the UK.  It had to come from the US.  But then the shipping over to Ireland was out of this world (har har)!  Enter the fabulous Rhonda.  I emailed Rhonda and asked for her help.  She could get the fabric sent to her house, then send it onto mine for a fraction of the price.  She's the best EVER!  Thank you, Rhonda!

Once the fabric arrived, I started stitching little portholes...  

Until I had a finished little mini quilt.  It is about 16 inches square and much less wonky than it looks in the photos.  Or so I tell myself.

It's backed with the Hoffman 3D print so you can get the full effect of its 3D-ness.

It was packed up and sent onto Pam with two pair of these:

If you haven't already seen the quilt that Pam sent to me, have a look here to meet Moxie!