Have a Minty Day & Pre-K Quilts

Serendipity is one of my most popular posts/tutorials.  Therefore, it is a crying shame that I have not used those blocks in any quilt.

That changes right now. Meet "Have a Minty Day"

Have a Minty Day!

I wanted to use some of the blocks from the original tutorial in a quilt. How do I pick which ones to use and which ones to save?  Eventually, I decided to pick out the non-blues. Just so the quilt was gender-neutral.

On the Design Wall

I used some of the fat quarters from the Horizons FQ bundle to add prints/interest.
It is amazing how closely these colors match.

Pieced!!!

The Serendipity blocks are on the bias and that was a bit of a challenge. Starch helped and squaring helped some more. But there are no seams to match!!! And that is why this pattern is a winner!!!

In the end, I love how these colors, prints and solids, all play so beautifully with each other.  It had a very summery feel to it but I was at a loss for a name. Paul came to the rescue.  He said that it looked like mints. Hence, I chose the name - "Have a Minty Day"

Quilted and Bound

The fall fabric was leftover from Curry Favor and I have been very protective of it.  With summer on the front, I was ready to put fall on the back.

For quilting, I used a serpentine stitch over the seams.  Since the blocks were about 6", I added some diagonal lines that also emphasized the Serendipity blocks.

Summer & Fall - Together

The black/white dotty binding works well with both the front and the back.  The finished quilt is about 42" square.

Labelled

Have a Minty Day is Quilt#12 from the Sugarland Series, and it is still available.  If you want it, please send me an email - sewpreetiquilts@gmail.com.


Remember Playschool?
This was just such a simple concept (random 9-patch blocks) that had amazing possibilities. I wanted to replicate that concept with a little more pizzaz.

Meet Pre-K.

Pre-K

More animals, objects, themes etc. Scraps from themed/novelty fabrics was the perfect choice. Some were cut from yardage and some from FQs.  Some came from remnants, but all from my stash.

Bees, Puppies and Monsters!

Giraffe, Pumpkins and a Hot Air Balloon

 The blocks finish at 9" and the sashing is 1".

Kites, Stripes and Swirls!

When I was putting together the 9-patch blocks, I made sure that all fabrics in the 9-patch were different. In the quilt layout, I agonized over distributing the blocks, so that same fabrics were not adjacent to each other.

Rich, Dark and Bright!!!

The borders are 1.5".  Yes, the borders are on the skinny side.  Because I did not want the quilt to be wider than 42". Any wider than 42" would require a pieced backing.

Pieced backings add interest but they also add time. I was still trying to make 14 quilts in 4 weeks.

Look at this Owls backing fabric.  Isn't it cute?

In my opinion, the pretty fabric makes a gorgeous quilt and I take all the credit :-D

I chose two orange fabrics for the scrappy binding. There is definitely a Halloween touch to it!!!

Orange Binding

And here is the label!!!  You can see the second orange fabric in the binding below.

Labelled!!!

Pre-K can definitely be an I-Spy quilt. Making Pre-K was a lot of fun and I could keep it. 

And yet, the best part was giving it to Nancy for she is going to be a grandma in March!!! YAY!!!

When I get pictures of the baby + quilt, I will surely come back and update this post!!!  For now, here is one more picture.

I will be linking with all of my favorite linky parties.  

Pretty Fabric+Simple Patterns = Gorgeous Quilts. That is my mantra.

What is yours?  I'd love to hear from you!!!