This is a simple project that brought me a disproportionate amount of happiness. :-)
Last summer I picked up a baby quilt at an antique shop. It was just a lot of squares pieced together randomly, and hand quilted. I hung it over my baby's crib and enjoyed picking out my favorite 1930s prints while I rocked the baby.
I realized there are a lot of possible patterns that could be made just by color placement in a simple patchwork design like this, so when I saw Riley Blake Design's new Rose & Violet's Garden fabric in its dreamy pastels and romantic florals, I knew exactly what I wanted to make.
I cut out a bunch of easy 2 1/2" squares. I had quarter yard cuts to use, but of course a precut 2 1/2" strip bundle would work for this perfectly. (For those interested in the details, I ended up using 35 pink squares, and 95 other colors to make a runner 14" x 36".)
Then I laid out just the pinkest squares in an Irish Chain design, filling in the rest with the other colors. It was very relaxing and simple! No complicated blocks or pressing headaches...I would lay out 3 rows at a time, not even stressing out about directional prints or thinking too much about print placement, then chain piece them and join them in short rows.
It grew quickly, even with working on it only ten minutes or so at a time.
Once it was large enough (and the design was finished out), I gave it a good press and quilted it just like my inspiration quilt - in crosshatch diagonal lines across the squares.
I just eyeballed it, and didn't even bother switching to my walking foot. Perfection was not the goal - rather just fun sewing. I had recently finished a more complicated quilt top and was feeling a little burnt out, so this more mindless pleasure quilting was exactly what I needed.
And I was so pleased with the result! The pink design is subtle, and all the fabric prints are so lovely. I usually gravitate toward brighter fabric, but when I first saw this collection coming out, I was captivated entirely by it and wanted so badly to make something with it, especially since it is the exact right color palette for my baby girl's room. Thanks to Riley Blake that dream came true!
All those gorgeous toiles, polka dots, handwriting, roses, colors...just perfection! Reminds me of Victorian gardens.
It goes so perfectly on her vintage 1950s pink ripple-front dresser!
The original inspiration and my version. I used larger squares as you can see.
More projects for the nursery out of this fabric line will be upcoming, I'm sure...but for now this runner makes me smile every time I walk past. And it's a great reminder that you don't always have to make something elaborate. Sometimes simple is best (and more enjoyable) after all.
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