Swimming Upstream

My plate is very full at the moment. In between prepping for classes, teaching classes, crafting birthday presents, and doing various and sundry other things not quilt-related, I’ve been working on this sweet baby quilt, made mostly from Into the Deep, Patty Sloniger’s new line of fabrics for Michael Miller:

baby quilt blocks

The blocks finish at 9″ so at this point the top measured 45½” square. I felt it needed a light colored containment border to offset the intense turquoise in the sea waves blocks, and I wanted the border to be green to further highlight the green blocks containing those dapper little seahorses sporting bowties:

dapper seahorse
I added a 1″ border of a pale green Fairy Frost (also by Michael Miller), then dived into my stash (sorry, couldn’t resist) for this P&B blender, which reminds me of seaweed:

baby quilt blender
Do you ever audition a fabric you think is perfect but then are surprised to find it isn’t? That was my experience here. The seaweed fabric looked too dark and heavy, and I didn’t much care for the three other options I tried:

baby quilt border options

Actually, the seahorse fabric might have worked but I would have wanted to fussy cut it and I didn’t have enough.

Then it dawned on me: this quilt top is just fine with its narrow 1″ border!

baby quilt final choice

It will finish at 47″, already on the large side for a baby quilt. I have just enough Fairy Frost left to bind the quilt.

Now all I need to do is piece the back. I’m going to use this wonderful fabric from the same fabric line:

baby quilt backing fabric

No doubt about it: this is the perfect backing fabric.

 

 

 

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11 Responses to Swimming Upstream

  1. Charlie says:

    Your swimming stroke must be very good, as there’s lots of progress upstream.

  2. Diane says:

    Wow! The back of this quilt, though not pieced, rivals the front. You have succeeded in making a truly reversible quilt, i.e. hard for Mommy to decide which side to showcase!!

  3. Carol Sutton says:

    Thanks for the notes in regards to making this quilt. Like the comments about auditioning fabric for the borders. I experiment with different fabrics for the borders and binding. Sometimes a different colorway brings out the best in the quilt. Absolutely love the backing. Is it available?

  4. Vickie says:

    Kudos to you for showing restraint and not rushing out to buy a “special” fabric for another border. Love everything about this sweet quilt. Continue diving in and using from your stash.

  5. Jeanne says:

    What a fun backing fabric!

  6. Colleen says:

    I agree with Charlie – you are making great progress swimming upstream! This has to be at least baby quilt #3 to tick off your list.

  7. Beautiful results! And the pattern looks super easy, and super fast to put together, but it charms with your fabric selections for sure! I may have missed an earlier comment about the pattern – did you come up with your own measurements? I am thinking I could make a cool race car theme blanket this summer when the Disney Cars theme fabric comes out. I have a neighbor that would really like it. Thanks for sharing!!

    • Dawn says:

      Jen, I used the pattern “Just Can’t Cut It” by All Washed Up Quilts but resized the blocks from 12″ to 9″ because I liked the smaller scale better for a baby quilt.

  8. Char says:

    Totally cute!

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