A few months ago, a friend asked me to make a quilt for a baby shower she would be attending. The parents, she explained, were water enthusiasts and she knew they would like a baby quilt with a nautical theme. She left the design up to me but gave me a few parameters. She wanted it to be blue, red, and white and she wanted whales included. At one point she said ‘I’m picturing red and white strips somewhere in it.’

What I decided to do was design sailboats for the front and put flannel whales on the back. I found this great piece of flannel which I cleared with her before ordering it and she loved it:

Then for the quilt. I decided to have 12 sailboats, 6 blue boats with red sails and 6 red boats with blue sails. After sketching my simple layout (4 rows of sailboats, 3 in each row, with sashing and a border), I went through my stash and to my favorite online fabric stores and settled on these fabrics:

I searched the web for a free sailboat pattern and ended up designing one using parts of several patterns and making up the rest! I then began cutting fabric and assembled 12 small and 12 large sails, backgrounds (white), 6 boats, and 6 masts.

Once I attached the boats and completed 12 blocks, I laid them out and tried out borders for the blocks. Fortunately, I had a piece of blue that gave the impression of water. I obviously needed something between the blocks so I added a narrow navy blue sashing.

I tried out a red outer border but it demanded too much attention so I changed to a navy fabric with lighter blue dots to compliment the ‘water.’

And here is the finished quilt (approx 38″x48″) with flannel whales on the back:

I had forgotten about the ‘red and white stripe’ my friend had mentioned so you can see where it ended up! She loved the quilt and the new parents were delighted!

The Quilting Cozy series

Book sales have continued to be good despite my long absence from blogging and otherwise spreading the word. But C&T Publishing has continued to plug away with marketing and keeping the word out there for all of its authors.

Do you have all the books in The Quilting Cozy series?

It looks like this will remain a 12-book series. I stopped writing during the pandemic and just haven’t been inspired to write more. For those who have read the whole series including the most recent book, Frayed Edges, you know that all our characters (who have become friends to most of us) were left in good places.

For those of you who have not read the series, I encourage you to start with #1 (Tie Died) so you will be able to follow the relationships as they develop. The mystery is always there but sometimes what goes on between these delightful characters is even better. The series offers great winter reading if you live where the snow falls and my friends in Australia will be enjoying them as relaxing summer reading.

Purchase books from Amazon here

My very best wishes to all my followers. I would love to hear from you. Please leave a message under COMMENTS below or go to my CONTACT ME page and leave me a note. You can also email me directly at QuiltingCozy@gmail.com. Please excuse my long absence from blogging. I’m sure you understand. It’s been an unusual year. Prayers for 2022.

I value all my followers, readers, and friends.

Blessings,

Carol