Mendocino Tidepools {lap quilt}

The quilt that started it all. My first fabric obsession was with Heather Ross's Mendocino.
I fell especially hard for the prints in the blue/orange color-way. The sweet and simple designs, the mermaids and swimming girls, the bright orange octopi - they all had my heart. Way back when, I didn't know what to do with this fabric but didn't think I should buy it without a plan in mind. And so I found quilting. I could make a quilt using each of the prints I loved. Not to worry that I hadn't ever made a quilt before - back in 2009, the online modern quilting community was just taking off.

I found a pattern I liked, but it was for a queen sized bed and I thought that was more adventurous than I should be for a first quilting project. So, I made my own blocks and design with that quilt as inspiration. Doing my own math for each of the blocks - 1/4" seams mean add 1/2" to the finished dimensions! I had fun working on the fabric placement for each block to get equal distribution between the prints and have each block be mixed of different ones.

Picking the backing fabric online was a slight fail as it came much brighter than I was anticipating. But in the end I loved how loud it was. The binding was another print who's colors had my heart. (I even used similar colors as the scheme for our wedding in 2010.) And it pays to hang onto things... I used the salvage from that binding fabric as a tag on the back of this Itty Bitty Dress. The quilting was done to mimic a kelp forrest - though I did mean for it to go bottom to top instead of side to side. In the end, I still think it works and looks more liked rippling water which makes me happy.

This just might be the worlds longest time between finished quilt and blog post. The quilt was started in 2009 and finished in 2010. And I was hooked on quilting. I loved the design process. Cutting into the fabrics was only a little bit terrifying. Choosing the binding and designing the back were fun too. I learned as I went and it never once crossed my mind that this wasn't something I could do. To heck with self-imposed beginner limitations.

And wouldn't you know it, this coming spring the fabric that brought me to quilting is being re-released. To those non-quilters/non-fabric lovers, a fabric is only made for so long before it is retired. Poplar fabrics that have been retired shoot way up in price and are sold like the hot commodities that they are. Re-release means the fabric is being printed again and won't require hunting skills to procure. So far, because I don't have a specific project in mind, I have resisted placing a pre-order. But oh! I'm not sure how long that will last.

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Pattern :: my own design inspired by a pattern I'd seen

Fabrics

:: FreeSpirit - Mendocino by Heather Ross

:: Westminster - Love Sunspots by Amy Buttler

:: backing - Kona Cotton

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The last lingering signs of summer.