I’ll let you in on a little secret. Most of the time when I start a new quilt, I have no idea what it’s going to look like. Before I know the pattern, I start with finding really fabulous fabric. A beautiful quilt has beautiful fabric. From there, the inspiration just comes to me.
I have been collecting fabric since I started quilting seven years ago, so I’m at borderline hoarding status. And that stuff is expensive, not to mention I love ALL of it, and so I’ve been hankering to make a scrap quilt from pieces of my previous quilts. To me, there’s a piece of every loved one I’ve quilted for in this quilt – it’s my version of looking back and reminiscing over an old photo album. This one reminds me of being pregnant, this one reminds me of my mom, this one reminds me of a niece or nephew… and this reminds me of sweet Wrenn. It’s all there. 
For this quilt, I simply raided my stash, started cutting rectangles, and then made up a pattern with what I had. It changed as I went – originally I as going to do stripes of scraps and then stripes of solid white fabric, but Mr. Right reminded me that I have done a lot of quilting white borders lately, and suggested I do something that’s pure color. For once I listened, and I love how it turned out. So crazy. So colorful. So cheerful.
Even the navy binding came from my stash… already cut to size and ironed. Apparently I miscalculated how much I would need on a previous project (Bethe + math don’t really go together… I misjudged by about 20 feet of binding), so it was ready to just pop on.
I imagine the caption for this photo would probably say: “Move over Wrenn. Stop touching the quilt Wrenn. Mommy needs to get a picture, Wrenn!” (PS – Wrenn LOVES to climb up in my lap while I’m at my sewing machine and watch me quilt and touch the fabric and admire all of the pretty colors. I can’t wait for her sewing lesson!)
I love all my quilts… they’re kind of like children, it’s hard to choose favorites. But this one is one of my very favorites. I found about 10 feet of this vintage mango striped fabric in my stash that was perfect for the back (I just love the contrast of the bright mango with the dark navy), and because I have so much leftover, you’ll probably be seeing a lot more of this fabric in the future. 
And the best part – when I was finished, off it went to a friend who has a baby in the NICU. This quilt made me feel so cheerful, I felt like it was my way to share a little ray of sunshine during a stressful time. I love making quilts, but I love giving them away even more.
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