I’m truly at a loss for words to talk about this quilt. All I want to do is play this video when I think about it. This song will probably get stuck in your head.
Apparently, that is a dark song. I was just thinking more of the Sail Away with me part. A customer asked for a nautical themed baby quilt. The vision of the quilt immediately came to me. Deep in my scraps were some leftover triangles from a previous quilt in red, gray and navy.
Design
My vision had these triangles looking like pendants or flags along with a minimal design. The design challenge came when trying to find the right background fabric. I wanted a light blue polka dot on white and just couldn’t find what I truly wanted. Do you ever have that challenge? Luckily, I did find a print that worked with my vision.
Laying out the fabrics beside the coordinating prints was really helpful. Plus, the ladies at the quilt store gave me some valuable feedback. The polka dot is great, but it would drown out the white prints sprinkled in. The lighter blue print still showed off the navy and the white prints. Done! Designing the rest of the top was pretty easy.
The backing is a Lotta Jansdotter print I stocked up on a few months ago. Doesn’t it look like fish scales?
Adding the sailboat was the customer’s idea and it really pulls simple quilt together. I was able to complete the top, put the sailboat on, press the back, baste the quilt, and start quilting quickly with this project. For the quilting I went with waves. I marked the quilt on the edges every couple of inches. This trick really helped keep my wavy lines straight across the quilt. Then I filled in more lines along the way.
The texture the wavy lines created is perfect. For the binding, I went with the remainder of the top print. Doesn’t provide a frame of the quilt, but gives and infinity edge.
My smaller Brother machine decided to have electrical issues right before making this quilt. The sailboat is just sewn on with straight stitches, I would have preferred zig zag. The quilt is currently at it’s new home enjoying snuggles.
