As I mentioned, I’ve been catching up on some of the baby quilts in the family. The request for this one was Noah’s Ark in ideally non-brights. Fortunately I was able to find this adorable Noah’s Ark line from Moda Fabrics. And I was even able to find some yardage of the blue animals for the backing! This line is out of print from what I can tell, so I had to try a couple different stores to make it happen.
For the pattern I used a layer cake and cut each square across the diagonal. Then I randomized the pairs and stitched them together. There’s a faster way to do this where you sew 2 squares at once by laying a full square on top of another, stitching on either side of the diagonal, and then cutting. I’m not a fan of that method for a large scale quilt like this because then you end up doubling up on pairs of patterns in the square. I like more randomness, more variety.
Then I played around for a while on what would be pleasing. I wanted a spread the colors and the lights and darks. I didn’t want any of the same pattern touching itself. And then I also played around with the placement of the diagonals. I ultimately settled on this pattern which gave zig zags that I liked.
For the quilting, I followed the zig zag pattern of the diagonals, alternating the width between. I kept the quilting light-ish. Enough to give strength and makes sure the batting didn’t drift, but loose enough that the quilt would be snuggly and floppy. It’s a fine line with quilting to make sure it adds strength, but doesn’t turn the quilt into a mattress pad.
For the binding, I had enough of the backing fabric leftover to make it happen. It visually blends and I like the more seamless look on the back. Overall really happy with how cheerful and in theme this one turned out!
Mama has already gotten it and loves it as well. She says she’s going to give it to the little guy for Christmas to open and I can’t wait to see the photos. Wish I could be there in person!
