Celtic Crossing 2.0 Quilt Pattern is now available! In case you missed it, I released my new and improved Celtic Crossing pattern this week. It's similar to the old version, except that it now has 4 sizes, ombre layouts and instructions for precuts! You can read about the pattern changes in this blog post. When I was planning out what versions of the pattern I wanted to make for this re-release, I knew that I was going to need help. Beginner Quilting Academy was underway, and I had a lot going on! (It was a great problem to have!) Thankfully one of my pattern testers, Katie (@katesmakesandcreates) stepped up and offered to make this quilt for me! It was a HUGE help, and honestly, she did such an incredible job! She even print-matched the backing seam! I started off by sending her our Wintery Mix 20 piece fat quarter bundle. I curated this bundle a few months ago and I wanted it to have all of the wintery vibes. Flannel plaid, hot cocoa, snowflakes, little winter cottages.....it was so much fun to put together! . . . . . . . What I love about this bundle is that there is a mix of various textures. Theres are quilting cottons, yarn dyed wovens, fabrics with metallic accents....it's a fun group! . I played around with a digital mock-up of what I wanted the quilt to look like, then I sent it to Katie and she made it happen! For this version of Celtic Crossing, since it's a rectangle (Large Throw), I created an ombre gradient horizontally instead of diagonally. Most of the other Celtic Crossing quilts that I've made are square and have a diagonal gradient, which makes sense. But with a rectangle, it was looking a little funky and asymmetrical and I just couldn't seem to make it work. I also wanted to point out that the Large Throw technically only needs 13 fat quarters, and we used 20 for this quilt. This just means that we had more variety within the quilt and some extra fabric leftover. :) I mentioned this earlier, but she meticulously pieced this thing! All of the directional fabrics are going the same directions, there are even some areas where the prints line up seamlessly! Once the quilt was pieced, I had Katie sent it to Tawny Oland for quilting. She *just* released her new pantograph called Chunky Knit (long-armers, you can purchase it here!) and the moment that I saw it, I KNEW that I had to use if for this quilt! It adds that perfect knitted, handmade touch, that is the icing on the cake! . . . . For the binding, I decided to use Art Gallery Fabrics Magnetism (my go-to) because it really outlines the quilt well and is such a good neutral fabric. It goes with everything! . . . . For the backing, I used Snow Crystals Ash from Art Gallery fabrics. It is such a fun and dainty print....I love how it feels artsy and vintage! . . . . . . . . Overall, I think it turned out better than I envisioned! I don't sew with a lot of blues and teals, so I'm always a little nervous to go out side my comfort zone, but the end result was worth it! And while it's practically almost Spring (in North Carolina at least), I still really enjoyed creating a winter-themed quilt! If you want to make this exact quilt, we have a small number of kits in our shop! I've also listed this quilt for sale here! . . LINKS Celtic Crossing 2.0 - Cover Quilt blog post Celtic Crossing 2.0 - PDF Celtic Crossing 2.0 - PRINTED Celtic Crossing 2.0 - Pattern Tester blog post Quilt Kits