A nephew and his wife have a new baby, and she is perfectly perfect! Her name is “Nora.”
A few weeks ago I started planning a quilt for her to feature this fabric.
Well, “planning” is too strong of a word, because as far as I got in the process was pulling other corals and peaches and yellows from my stash. There was no concept to create a plan around.
And then one day, a fellow Stashbuster linked the pattern for this quilt in a comment.
I like quilts with blocks of multiple sizes, one more reason I like medallions. This one is made in a 4 x 5 layout of 21″ blocks, for a total size of 84″ x 105″. It has five stars of four sizes per big block. It’s easier to see when you look at just one block.
Yes! That is one block! And there are 91 patches in it! Though it is complex, it actually isn’t hard. The hardest part was figuring out the sizes of the units. As mentioned, each big block finishes at 21″. Two blocks across is 42″, perfectly sized for a baby quilt. I gleaned enough from cutting instructions to fill in the rest. Here are my notes:
My original thinking was to use those peaches and yellows, but I decided to broaden the palette some. One of the reasons was this cute fabric with carrots, which I’ve had for years.
That made adding greens easy. Another small quilt in my past added turquoises, so I tried them and they helped brighten the scheme. Besides the plaid above, you might also notice other gridded fabrics in the mix. The lattices tie the theme together even more. Using the speckled fabric in the background, rather than pale yellow, completed the plan.
Stars for Nora. 42″ square. August 2016. Photo by Jim Ruebush.
This was the third of four quilts I completed in August. September has other things going on, so it was nice to finish a few things. (And if I am slow in responding to your comments, have patience! I’ll check in as soon as I can!)
Catbird Quilt Studio 
Your numbers are finished sizes right? Complicated! Worked out well, though. Nice.
Thanks. It was … not exactly hard. But it wasn’t exactly easy, either. 🙂
Adore the color scheme. Those blues really help all the other colors pop, especially the oranges and greens and yellows. Using the dotted background was the perfect choice, as it not only adds another layer of random colors, but quietly creates the backdrop for those gorgeous stars. Of course, the bunnies are adorable, too. Truly lovely! Very nicely done. 🙂
Thanks so much. I do think the speckles make a nice background. I wondered at first if it would work, as the blue in the speckles is really a pale blue, not turquoisy. But I decided to ignore that and just go on. Glad I did! Thanks again. Hope you are doing well.
What a sweet little quilt!
Thanks, Randi!
I like stars…both in the heavens and these.
Very cool and creative!
Thanks! I can only take credit for the combination of fabrics on this one. 🙂
The blue of your binding makes me happy. It sets off the stars (and bunnies) beautifully.
Thank you. I wished for more of the coral/salmon/peach color, but did not have enough. As it turns out, I’m glad of that, too. The blue-turquoise brightens it much more than the coral would have.
Lucky baby! This is just so perfect–that carrot fabric is such fun.
Aren’t the carrots fun? I’ve used a little over all these years, but it doesn’t really suit most projects I’ve made! There is still a bit left, so we’ll see where it ends up.
I really like the stars Melanie. They’re so bright and cheerful x
Aren’t they cheery? Thanks for stopping, Lucie.
(Shaking head in disbelief…) 91 patches in just one block! Such a beautiful design, but if I sat down and worked it out like that I’d never start 🙂 Still, for a baby quilt, where you don’t have to make too many of them, it’s a wonderful design. Love that bunny print!
I think it would be pretty made in reds on solid white. If doing that, it could be a puttery, long-term project. Then it would just be a matter of making one star at a time and filling in the spaces later. But I STILL wouldn’t make it as the big-bed quilt! 🙂
Thank you so much for this share. Perfect for a quilt I’ve been contemplating.
Neame
If you make something like it, please share! Thank you.
Lovely use of all those fabrics. Really great baby quilt that will get used well beyond the baby year I’m sure!
I always hope my quilts are used, and I think this will be. Thanks!
What a fun pattern! I love your quilt 🙂
Thanks, Mary!
Love what you did with this pattern and fabrics. Great choices!
Thanks. I love bunny fabric but don’t have chances to use it often. This was a good opportunity.