You might remember that I bought a bag of scrap at garage sale earlier this summer. Â This is part of the bag I bought.
I sorted through it all and put two baby quilt tops together. Â There has been a rush of babies and I was hoping to have a couple girl quilts on hand. Â These pastel batiks seemed perfect for girl baby quilts…and best yet, the project is already started.
Here’s the first one-finished!
I debated a long time on the border. Â I almost made more blocks and had no border but decided against that as the quilt would have had to been so much bigger because it has to have an odd number of rows and columns to make it work. Â I have VERY little yardage of batiks so my options were really limited when it came time to put a border on.
If you follow me on Instagram, you would have had the chance to chime in on which border was best. Â Overwhelmingly, pink won.
I think it was the right choice.
Here’s what I ended up doing with the backing. Â It’s not my very favorite but I think it looks okay. Â The fabric was a thrift store find. Â I would have preferred a softer batik. Â This is fun and girly though.
I had started out intending on binding it in blue. Â I had the fabric selected and the quilt along with the fabric was sitting on the kitchen island while I was doing childcare. Â I Â had the intention of cutting the binding strips if I got a chance over nap time. Â Well being the quilt was bunched up a bit I saw the backing and the blue looked horrible together. Â After childcare I dug through my batiks…no purple. Â I pulled the purple box of regular fabric and there was the piece I picked. Â I think it’s perfect for binding…it looks good with the front and the back.
Th original pieces that were in the garage sale bag were so light of a pastel. Â I really didn’t have any that light so went a step deeper in color…I think that was a good choice too. Â It make the quilt brighter. Â The larger triangles of each block are the pieces of my fabric.
I did run into a problem as I was laying out the blocks.
Five of blocks were light background and had pinwheels clockwise and five more like background blocks had pinwheels counter clockwise…the same was true of the dark background blocks. Â I fretted as in reality I have five blocks of four different designs. Â UGH.
I ended up deciding not to care.
Unless I would have said something, you likely wouldn’t have noticed that the pinwheels all go in different directions….right?
I did have to make 5 more blocks in the end to have enough for the quilt. Â My real challenge was matching the white background fabric. Â All whites are not created equal. Â I think I did okay…
The quilting thread was white on front and back.
Sorry…there is no Ruby picture today. Â She doesn’t sit the best as her tail is sore yet….and she’s sleeping now as I’m writing this. Â Every day she seems to get a little better but in this case, I’m letting the sleeping dog lie. If you missed the Ruby story scroll back and see the post from last night.
I’m so excited that this is done…quilt top two is done and is in line to get on the quilting frame but I have to stop and make a boy quilt…I’m not sure what the design will be. Â I’m sure something will come to me.
I like the way this quilt came together. I like the pink border and the floral back matches nicely! I didn’t notice some of the pin wheels were opposite.
I’m happy to hear Ruby is feeling better this morning. I’m sure she’s much relieved to not be hurting as she was.
I sure didn’t notice the pinwheels going different directions. You did a great job making the new blocks needed. The backing is beautiful, who doesn’t like lovely flowers.
Great quilt. Admittedly, pictures aren’t the same as real life, but I like that back. The back makes it reversible with a completely different feel. Nice job.
Beautiful! You are absolutely right, the pinwheels aren’t noticeable at all. I’m thinking that if I had noticed, I might have assumed it was supposed to be that way! The backing looks great too. I’ve been told that because batiks are more tightly woven, sometimes it can be harder to quilt if you have them on the front and the back. But, some say it doesn’t matter. Thanks for the update on Ruby. I was hoping we’d hear how she’s doing! I was worried about her!
Such a pretty quilt; nice and bright! Yeah, I wouldn’t have noticed the way the pinwheels turned if you hadn’t pointed it out. Unless I was the one making it, of course. Then it would have driven me crazy! I’m glad Ruby’s getting better.
This is great! The pinwheels in different directions adds uniqueness to the quilt. Your quilting is very nice as it seems like it is a ribbon or heart design. Lovely and maybe easy to do? Hope again that ruby will feel better today with rest. Did the vet give you or suggest any pain medication for her? You could ask if you feel that would help her.
That’s a lovely quilt! I’m sure people will think the pinwheels are great whichever way the turn. Such a pretty quilt for a lovely baby girl.
I’m glad to hear Ruby is improving. She is such a trooper!
I love it it! You did a great job on your choices! Such a fun girly quilt!
Love pinwheels. And look what you did with someone’s leftovers. Amazing. Some girl will be very happy to received such a happy quilt.
If I had to find the different directions the pinwheels go, it would give me a headache! It’s bright and lovely!
Love the pink border, it contains all the whirling pinwheels, whatever their direction. How pretty the quilt you made from someones scraps. Sorry for Ruby’s troubles, hope she is on the mend.
Good to hear that Ruby is doing better. Personally, I like it sometimes when the backing is a bit different from the front. Now the user can be in a pastel mood, or a brighter mood. And the purple makes it fit for a queen!
Love the quilt Jo! It’s so girly and happy!!!!
What an awesome garage sale find! And you turned those scraps into a beautiful quilt – well done! I’ll agree, the pink border looks great!
Not sure if it is just me, but I can never see the “direction” a pinwheel is turning. I always just see the pinwheel, which makes me happy & reminds me of the ones we got as a child that turned in the breeze. Whenever people say their pinwheels are turned in wrong direction, I can never see that, only the cute pinwheel itself. I, too am happy to hear that Ruby is improving. I don’t think it’s wrong for the child care kids to know that some things are off limits, especially if they are not playing nicely!
This looks great. The brighter fabric, the backing, the binding and the border were all great choices to add zip to the quilt. I think pinwheels are supposed to go different directions, depending on which way the wind is blowing.
Wonderful quilt Jo!
Love that quilt, Jo. I just read about Ruby. So sorry to hear about her ailments. I have a dog and I understand your love and concern for her.
I just love your baby quilt! I have been looking for a fresh idea!
Cute quilt!
I agree with everyone else on how great the quilt turned out! I LOVE how the pinwheels add interest because they don’t ALL turn I the same direction! The child will think it’s on purpose!
About Ruby: glad she’s on the mend.