I had a different pattern and different fabric picked out for this baby quilt that I just couldn't get to work together. As often happens with my quilts, it took on a life of its own. I grabbed a pile of fabric and had my sister help pick colors. I settled on a wonky block design and started sewing. I really wasn't sure how it would turn out until I made 30 blocks and placed them on my design floor. Behold! Except for a few adjustments on four blocks, they worked well together. I liked the overall effect.
Randomizing is always more difficult than it sounds. But stitching them together was easy, since they all cut to the same size. Sure I groused about some of the blocks, but this quilt was so much easier to assemble than the tree quilt. Wonderful!
I bought backing and pondered quilting designs. I wanted something simple and rounded. At first I considered doing a raindrop-like pattern like I had for String Theory. Then I found a neat wavy design I decided to copy. I made a paper pattern to follow before I realized the nested waves require equal crests and troughs. Duh - it was so obvious when it hit me. I had stitched about six rows before I figured that out. I managed to adjust without ripping out what I had done and the paper template was still very handy. It became rough guideline and I pinned the wave, adjusting each row.
I love the waves. I'm kind of bummed out I couldn't get a sharp photo of the front to really show it off. The curves compliment the squares and are so appropriate for the fish backing.
I had a lovely fabric in my stash: black background with large orange/gold flowers, little Persian blue flowers and bright green leaves. It was so cheery; I tried several times to work it into the quilt. However, it was too colorful and too high contrast - everything paired with it got lost in a wonky block. But it was terrific for binding! The large pattern vanished, but the random orange/yellow/blue/green/black goes well with all of the colors on the quilt.
Blurred out name, birth date and weight |
I finished the quilt in plenty time to gift, but after our last good day of sunshine and stillness this week. Of course, it was a beautiful bright sunny still day on Sunday. Ah, too bad. I would have liked to have taken some photographs in bright sunlight. But even in the cloudy weather, I'm sure you get a feel for how bright and cheery this quilt is.
Sharing with Linky Tuesday and Scraptastic Tuesday.
What a perfectly wonder-full gift! I love the way blocks keep your eye moving - great colors and placement - and I love the fabric and stitching on the back! Three cheers for the quilter :)
ReplyDeleteLove the quilting! It really shows well on the other side as I can't say the back. What a fun quilt and I'm sure it will help the recipient have fun adventures. Thanks for linking up to #scraptastictuesday
ReplyDeleteI think quilts do take on a life of their own.
ReplyDeleteI had cavies for many years - so much fun but a lot of work to keep their cages clean.
The name is perfect. And I love how the wave quilting adds contrast to the squares - and its soooo perfect for that lovely backing fabric. I am sure baby will cherrish the quilt!
ReplyDeleteWell done on the waves! They look perfect on this quilt. :-)
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