A Friendly Swap

The best thing about a quilt show in the near future is that I get to quilt some of my own tops.  This one was created from a 4-patch swap that I did with friends in 2015.  We all bought the same neutral fabric, and then made 3" 4-patches out of any fabric we chose - no regards to theme or style.  A great way to use up scraps.  This pattern is "Four Patch X" from Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville, and finishes at 80 x 92

I had all of the fabrics in my stash - things I had bought and never used.  The solid red I have had for years - waiting for just the right project.  It's a nice rich red, and it gets the focus here.

The 4-patches in the block create an X, with red and cheddar setting triangles

I did all straight line quilting.  The 4-patches were simple straight lines creating a cross-hatch effect.  I kept the block quilting simple as I wanted the focus on the sashings.  I used a cheddar thread throughout as I wanted the quilting lines to show.

The red corners come together to create a churn dash block

The cheddar side triangles create a square with the grey sashing running through it.

The borders game me some room for more straight line quilting:

The only fabric I had to buy was a couple of print pieces for the backing.  The rest of the backing fabrics are leftovers from the front: