Once upon a time, way back in 2013, one Jelly Roll began it’s transformation into a very special quilt.

The start of the story was easy – each Jelly Roll was cut into trapezoids which were in turn sewn together to make a friendship braid. The design was based on a friendship braid from one of Pam and Nicky Lintott’s Jelly Roll books. The braids flew together so quickly – I totally loved Jenn Ski’s 50s and 60s Mod Century fabrics and their vibrant and zingy effect that couldn’t fail to warm you up even on the coldest winter day.

It was once the braids were finished that the friendship quilt really began to live up to its name as its design became influenced and guided by our beautiful blogging community.

As you may remember, some of you liked the braids whole, others preferred them cut and rejigged. Some readers suggested narrowing or changing the white borders, others suggested trying a different background. Check out The Quilting Quandary and Mod Century posts if you want to read more!

So how did our Friendship Braid Quilt turn out? Would you like to see?

I hope you like it.

All your comments and ideas created this beautiful effect. If you look closely you will see:

• The braids were kept whole;
• Each individual braid was highlighted with a narrow white border;
• A multi colour polka dot spot fabric was sourced for the main border;
• The quilt top was framed with a red border.

 The quilting was completed on my sewing machine – by rolling the layers up tightly I somehow managed to squeeze it in! To keep the retro vibe alive an awesome vintage sheet was used for the backing.

To secure the layers each braid was outlined by “Stitching-in-the-ditch”.

I then had great fun with free motion / style embroidery in the borders.

Each braid was defined with a cross hatch pattern to make the prints stand out.

So as we begin a new year, I would like to thank you all for taking the time to read, like  and post comments on my pages. Together we have created and designed a quilt of blogging friendship that will truly have a special place in my heart.