Elate

By now you likely know that I joined Carolyn Friedlander's quilt-along to make her Elate quilt pattern, using her new fabric collection, Memento. And I have to say, working with those new CF fabrics was just a delight. The trio of blocks comprising the quilt design were quick and easy to piece, and I really liked how they were designed to mix together in a final layout.

There were cut-offs from making all the blocks, so of course, they were the beginning of a pieced quilt back. Luckily, a few years ago, I'd stashed several yards of Carolyn's Architextures Ledger, as I couldn't see my quilting world without it. It was bittersweet to use most of it here, but then again, it felt pretty perfect.

I went easy with the quilting by doing a 2" grid with Aurifil 50wt 2479 [Medium Orchid] from Carolyn's Color Pop collection. A unique choice, I know, but it just felt fun.

It was  a bit difficult when it came time to choose a binding, but I finally settled on the Memento print, Explore in Altitude. And, as expected, my Elate finished at 60" x 72", a nice generous lap quilt.

Elate was a nice bit of precision piecing after all the improv I've been doing, but I was reminded that I enjoy piecing blocks a lot more than I do putting rows and columns together. But it was all worth it to use that Memento, and I was again in awe of Carolyn's sense of color and pattern. I enjoyed working with those fabrics very much, and I'm happy to have a quilt just full of them.

Linking up with Quilting JETgirl's Favorite Quilt Finish {September 2026}.

Elate Quilt Top

So I dug into my fat-quarter bundle of Carolyn Friedlander's new Memento, and chose some fabric pairings for my ELATE quilt. I second-guessed myself a lot, but finally got serious about making blocks, and overall, I'm really happy with my fabric choices. 

The pattern consisted of three block styles, all 12.5" unfinished. They could be laid out horizontally, vertically, or mixed, but I went with horizontal, like the cover quilt I first saw and admired. I have some block trimmings that I'm planning on using as the beginnings of a pieced quilt back, but that'll have to wait, as I really need to get back to my Bee Sewcial courthouse steps quilt back first. But it feels good to have kept up with the quilt along thus far, and at least I have a top to show for it.

Elate Quilt Along

So it's finally time to cut into my Memento fat-quarter bundle, Carolyn Friedlander's new line with Ruby Star Society! As I mentioned in my August Fabric Usage post, I purchased a yard extra of some of my favorite prints, so ignore those at the bottom of the photo below. Totally didn't think of taking a picture of just the fat quarters!

But when I saw Carolyn's announcement that she was having an Elate quilt along featuring her Elate quilt pattern, I figured it would be a fun first thing to do with this delightful fabric. The pattern offers several sizes, and I'm going with the lap-sized Medium, 60" x 72", which uses 18 fat-quarters.

So I've already spent a little time sorting through the fabrics, and deciding what I want to pair with what. Of course that could change somewhat as I start getting blocks up on the design wall, but at least it's a start. And I did decide to do a test run of all three block styles, and I'm loving how they turned out.

And then I was able to squeeze in a few more blocks earlier this week, and hopefully can make a few more every day or so. At least they are pretty quick blocks to sew up.

So according to the qal schedule, September 3-16 we should be cutting and sewing blocks and sewing rows together. We'll see if that schedule works for me, but at least I've got a start.