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31 July 2014

Boats! Baby Quilt


Boats, boats, boats!  That's pretty much what a coastal Maine summer becomes if you have anybody even slightly nautical in your life :)

This little quilt is a celebration of a new baby who will certainly (especially now) grow up to be a boat lover!




With 20 red, teal, apple green, navy, and aqua sailboats cruising along it, this quilt measures up at about 42 x 54 inches.  I deliberately used many different fabrics for a scrappy look but stuck closely to each boat's color for contrast against the white.


The inspiration for this quilt was a specific request for the design, and a bit outside my usual quilting repertoire, so I looked at as many sailboat quilts as I could to figure out the layout and placement.  Mine are made of 2-inch (finished) HSTs and squares, so that each boat creates an 8-inch (finished) block.  I added 1-inch sashing between each boat, and a 3.5-inch (I think) outer white border to give the blocks some space.


The backing is a cheater print from Birch Fabric's Set Sail, and was a starting point when I was picking colors from the front. Such a fantastic palette for a boy, but would work equally well for a girl! When it came to quilting, I stitched simple straight lines along the "patchwork" of the backing to give it some structure while keeping it soft, too.


Finally, for binding I chose a half-inch red stripe, in keeping with the nautical feel, of course! I love it, especially all rolled up into a squishy package!

6 comments:

  1. This is super cute and I love the cheater fabric on the back.

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  2. Cuteness! And fabulous backing too

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  3. Fabulous quilt! Love the scrappy sailboats!

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  4. As cute as it possible can get. :-)
    Thanks for showing, an the idea.

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  5. Very special. Another great stashbuster!! I just finished a sailboat quilt, too, for a new baby's nautical themed room. Such fun. I hail originally from Cape Eliz.! Pass through Maine twice a year now, to visit family, friends, and go birding.

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