WIP - Going Swimmingly

Isn't it funny how a tiny scrap can send you off on a creative adventure?

This time it was those bright blue anchors. I found them whilst digging through a pile of scraps passed on by one of Himself's co-workers. His wife is the force behind Me and Mommy Purses and Accessories. I love that whale print... DT has a burp cloth made from it! And the crabs from Miss L's quilt. And some wee blue fishies I snagged at a MMQG yard sale.

But as I kept pulling sea creatures, a funny thing happened. All the royal blue bits got scrapped (hee hee hee. See what I did there?)They just didn't fit the colour scheme that formed as I worked.

To the left in the above pic is my trusty design notebook. If I'm making notes about a quilt, it goes in here! That way, I never have to go looking for a random post-it. I think I'm up to my third one. They're handy to have around when you want to go back to a past project for fabric info or measurements.

I started out with a 5 inch block in mind and then bumped it up to 6 inch. But when I tested out the two block sizes, the bigger one just looked too darn clunky. I guess I'll be diving back into do some more fussy cutting!Pictured below is the centre area of the block. I'll be adding 2½ inch strips all the way around. I'm thinking scrappy, but within my colour scheme.

Can you tell I design by trial and error? I originally planned a narrow white border for the darker prints, but then my eyes fell on the pile of Kona Silver in my Glamp pile. Game over for White!

The lighter prints will get Kona Nautical borders. I'm kind of digging the Nautical since using it for the borders on Miss L's quilt, Not Quite a Thousand Pyramids.

There's no way I could fussy cut these bad boys into 2½ inch squares. They'll make some awesome blocks nonetheless! I fell in love with these Cotton + Steel octopi, but just couldn't figure out where they should live. Under the sea, obviously!

I'm very excited to have gotten a start on this quilt. There's another wee one on the way in our extended family and his room is apparently an ocean-y theme. I hope these fabrics work as well as the ones I chose for his big sister's quilt, Alice in Woodsy-land! The due date is February 22nd, so I better get a wriggle on!

I'm linking up today with Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts, as well as Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication. Pop on over and see what others are sewing up this week! And I hope you'll come on back and link-up on Friday when I host this week's edition of TGIFF!

J