Several years ago one of my knitting besties, Ana, knit a ton of colorwork sweaters. Or rather she found a pattern she loved, that required 4 skeins in different colors, and knit it over and over. On her 4th sweater she stopped halfway through the project and remarked that it was really more my colors than hers. She finished it and it came to live with me.

We’ve been friends almost 2 decades and when I received the sweater I knew that one day I would make her something in return. I just needed to be patient and wait for a project to present itself.

Back in June Rashida Coleman Hale of Ruby Star Society released her Salutations Collection. This fabric is full of pens, paperclips, washi tape, stamps and all the things a stationery nerd desires. It was perfect for someone who runs a blog called The Well Appointed Desk, no? I wanted something that was classic and a little vintage, while also able to handle a colorful fabric collection. I settled on Star Pop II by Emily Dennis.

This was really my first time making a quilt from pattern. In the past I’ve chopped up layer cake squares and put them back together, but this was really the first time I had to cut all my fabric, and put it together in steps. The pattern was excellently written and I found it easy to follow and achieve. It took several weekends for me to end up with a finished top, but I was thrilled when I had it done.

I decided for this quilt, since it was larger than anything I’d made previously, to send it out to be long armed. Months ago Ana had actually met a longarmer through a Facebook marketplace transaction and had sent me her card. It felt like just the right connection.

I finished the binding this last week and yesterday I gave it to her. I’m in love with the quilt and I hope she will be too!