Primary Colors +1

I made and gave this challah cover to Mark and Marissa earlier this week -- a combined wedding and housewarming present. The blue, yellow, red, and green strips looked really good together in my scrap collection, and I decided I needed to find a way to use them together. The bright colors seemed like a perfect fit for a couple who is always enjoyable to spend time with and welcomes me into their home no matter where or how permanent it is.

I strip-pieced several rows of those fabrics and then cut them into squares on the diagonal to create the 12 squares in the center.


Once I cut the squares, I laid them out by alternating the orientation of the square with "horizontal" and "vertical" stripes -- or the diagonal version thereof. I find that different colors pop out at me depending how long I look at it. I finished the challah cover with a red border (that I also used for the backing) and yellow binding.

For those just starting to quilt, I highly recommend making challah covers. They are versatile -- any design can work -- and yield finished products much more quickly than big quilts. I really learned how to bind by making challah covers, and also began experimenting with free-motion quilting because the smaller surface area made it a much more manageable project.