Quilt for a Gift

I made this quilt for a girl in our family because the her mother's house partially burned and most of her stuff was smoke damaged and some burned. So, she still has some stuff, but I thought it would be nice to make this for her. Also, I really thought that she would like it. <3

I used 5" squares for the middle 1.5" strips for the black and 4.5' strips for the blue. It's a fairly easy pattern and some older quilters have told me that I could use a tube method to do what they called 'streak of lightening' I didn't know how to do that so I did it the way I know how to do it. I sewed all the squares together one at a time. I had to do it this way because I only had a limited number of squares and 1 more yard of each of the colors. Plus, for 2 of the colors I had an extra 2 yards each.  I had 8 colors to work with for this. I made a pattern on paper and figured out how big I could make it. It wasn't going to be enough with the amount of fabrics that I had available to me. I also bought this awhile back ago in another state so I couldn't get any more of the fabric. 

Working with what I had was difficult and fun at the same time. I wish I would have started this earlier too, but meh. I finished it literally the night before I was to give it to her. 

This is the pattern that I decided on and the colors I used. Honestly, it looks red in the pictures but it is pink. The batiks I used here are really pretty and pictures do not do them justice at all. 

I had to expand the quilt middle a little bit here. I love how this worked up and it is SO colorful! Perfect for a teenage girl. 

This is me putting the black around the middle squares. I thought it would help break up the colors in the middle from the border of blue on the outside and the pink binding. 

It worked out beautifully. 

 This is the finished top, sandwiched and quilted. I had to bind it, wash it, tag it and gift it still.

Some detailing on the quilted surface. This is her name on it. She has a lot of siblings and sometimes having something that is just yours is really nice in a large house. 

Close up of the borders and binding. 

The finished quilt. I was very pleased with it and she loved it! I was most pleased that I made something that some one liked. The rest of the family was amazed at my 'talents'. I don't really feel like I am that talented, but I took the complement. I'm still working on my quilting skills, but it did make me feel good that others acknowledged my hard work. 

I hope that you had a great Christmas. Did you give any handmade gifts this year?