Vintage Modern Marmalade Baby Quilt

Have you ever gone through a period of time where you want to sew, but nothing you are currently working on excites you? That was me around late-February, early-March this year. I was also feeling like my stash was getting a little stale, so I decided to make a little room by using up two charm packs that I had been holding onto for years: Vintage Modern and Marmalade, both by Bonnie & Camille. Honestly, they coordinate so well, it was like one fabric line was an extension of the other, with is kinda fun.

I wanted something quick and simple that involved controlled scrappiness. Inspired by the “scrap therapy” quilts of teaginny and Emily Cier’s book Scrap Republic, I cut 72 charms in half, then sorted them into color groups. At this point, a design wall would have come in very handy. Initially, I mixed the low volume prints with the neutral prints, but when I sewed together the columns, it just looked all wrong. As a rule, I am loathe to break out the seam ripper, but in this case, it was warranted. I like the end result so much better after I tore it apart and reassembled it with all the low volume prints in the right color group.

Going along with the stash busting theme, I used a coordinating stripe from one of the lines for the binding, and my favorite Pearl Bracelets for the backing. This quilt is roughly 36” by 36” and I only had a yard of the backing. In the end, it worked out, but I  definitely learned why it’s a good idea to allow a few extra inches of backing all around. (The sides of the quilt are just a little skinnier than originally planned, due to some necessary but regrettable trimming.)

For the quilting, I reinforced the horizontal lines of the quilt by quilting ½” from each horizontal seam with my walking foot. I used Aurifil thread #2000, which is slightly off-white. Thanks to the luxury of a sewing day with my mom, I was able to complete the quilting the same day I started!

I finished this quilt at the most recent Seattle Modern Quilt Guild sew-in. Between the stimulating company and the glow of a finish, I feel creatively revitalized, like a garden in springtime.