Now that Christmas is over, I can share the Spinnaker Quilt that I made for my dad.
This summer I went to visit my parents and Grandmother in Wisconsin. While I was there, my dad described a skirt he had seen and asked if I could recreate a quilt like it. He wanted a quilt made up of rectangles about 2 inches by 8 inches in yellow, red, and green with some white in there to calm it down a bit. His major descriptor was that he wanted it to be bright and cheerful. Later, the request was modified somewhat as he said it reminded him of the colorful spinnaker sails at a sailboat regatta.
I had already pulled some nautical fabrics before the spinnaker theme was requested, so I knew I was going in the right direction. My dad grew up around boats, and had a boat most of his life. Some of my fondest memories growing up are from sailing down the Columbia River at dusk.
Each of the 238 rectangles in this quilt measure 2.5 inches by 8 inches prior to sewing.
My trimmings turned out quite pretty, at least more so than usual.
The layout is 34 rectangles vertically and 7 rectangles wide. The top photo is prior to being sewn together – it was a risk to use the design floor with baby and dog around.
The back is pieced – I didn’t have enough of the one main fabric, so I pieced in the linen and anchor fabric as a design choice. Plus, I think pieced backs are kind of fun.
I chose to quilt it with a new panto – rounded rectangles. I wanted something masculine, yet the rounded edges helped to soften the design. I think a sharp quilting design would have been too much for this quilt.
I debated about the binding, but after getting some confirmation from instagram friends, I went with the gray binding. It fit the nautical theme much better.
And now for the stream of finished pictures… The quilt had been finished for several days before I finally had a sunny day to take them!
I had trouble taking pictures of the back thanks to my helpers – my two girls. First, the dog wanted to see what was going on outside.
After I closed the window, the daughter walked over trying to figure out why she couldn’t see outside.
It’s a very large throw, which made it a little difficult to get a photo of the entire thing inside my dry house. I don’t risk quilts outside when it is wet.
Lastly, the roll shows the binding color the best.
My dad loved it! Below is my dad’s view of the quilt being shown off Christmas morning. So much so that he said it was too nice to use and that he wanted to just hang it up. Luckily, my mom (who crochets, and therefore understands that things are made to be used) told him it was too nice not to use and that he has to use it. A successful Christmas quilt!
Linking up to: Quilt Story, You Flew Tuesdays at Feather’s Flights, Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts, Friday Favs Party at Nap Time Crafters, Anything Goes Mondays at Stitch by Stitch, and while not quite a work in progress (because I couldn’t share it during the progress) Work in Progress Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.
Very nice! I love the grey binding.
Thank you! I am excited to be the Stash Bee with you, I’ve already enjoyed doing some back reading of your blog.
That is a great quilt!
Thank you so much!
That is really cool! You chose your fabrics brilliantly! Great work!
Thank you for your kind words! By the way, I am totally jealous of you living on the south island of New Zealand. I visited several years ago, and loved it!
I love your quilt and the rounded rectangles quilting is really neat! Lucky dad! The colours are wonderful!
Thank you! I’m so happy that you like the quilting design. I take a lot of time to attempt to find each quilt’s best design.
A beautiful quilt!!! Now wonder your Dad really likes it. Came over from Feather’s Flights.
Thank you for following the link over. I loved your latest post about link parties, great information.
Your quilt design is perfect for the nautical theme, and the colors are wonderful with the boat, and the daylight streaming in. Love it!!! And, your stacked rectangles organized in the zip lock bag is better than a jelly roll. uhmm…better not ooh and ahh too much over it, since it will probably be the next thing on the precut market. Wonderful color selection for a guy quilt and so glad your Dad loves it.
Thanks! And I promise if Moda comes calling for the rights to rectangle precut idea, I’ll share if I get first dibs on all new precuts 🙂
Oh its so beautiful! I love all the colors and it has so much meaning and love behind it!
He’ll treasure it forever!
And thank you for your link party!
I LOVE this! The colors are gorgeous and the simple design is perfect. Lucky dad, getting such a great gift!
Thank you 🙂
This quilt looks great! That rounded rectangle panto was perfect for the quilt, and I loved the picture with the boat.
Thank you! I was trying to be artsy or more like the “cool” bloggers and stage my photo, so I’m glad it worked and you liked it 🙂
Love the colors in this quilt! Also love the quilting!
Thank you!
I love the quilting. Definitely a good combination of manly and soft.
Thank you!
Great quilt. It’s unusual for a man to give instruction for the colour scheme he would like!
Especially if you knew my dad! That was why I had to make it for him. He had never asked for anything like this before in his entire life.
This looks great and I agree with the grey binding choice. I love the rounded rectangles quilting! I might have to do that for the project I’m currently working on. It has so many sharp lines/shapes that I feel like I need to soften it with quilting.
Kim
http://tiesthatbindquilting.wordpress.com/
It would probably work with the purple quilt you are doing, but something more round even – like circles might be good too…
It is a gorgeous quilt! Now wonder your father loves it!
Esther
Thank You!
Beautiful Finish! I love the FMQ you did on this and the binding is wonderful with those fabrics!
Thank you, although I do have the help of a long arm for my FMQ 🙂
Great quilt! I have no doubt your dad will treasure it for a long time.
Thank you so much!
What great fabric choices for this one. Perfect for your dad!
Thank You 🙂
What a fabulous quilt! And yeah – that gray binding is perfect. 🙂
Thank you, and I’m going to have to join in your BoM party soon, as I am finally starting the one I was supposed to do last year.
Heather, this quilt is awesome! Your quilting is great, and I agree–I like the rounded edges! I’m sure your dad is going to treasure this quit! 🙂
I am giving away a $50 gift certificate on my blog this week! Would love for you to stop by and enter!
Fort Worth Fabric Studio Giveaway
Thanks for checking out my quilt, and I am pretty sure I have purchased fabric from you before. I spread the wealth on fabric purchases!