Let's take a look at my first Barrett Quilt and see how it came to be! And you can grab the Barrett Quilt Pattern now!
Isn't she just sublime?! I shared about our newest pattern here. This informational blogpost gives information on the design process, my original idea, the structure of the pattern and sneak peeks of our samples.
But today, we are diving into my first Barrett quilt using my stash. I knew I wanted to make this quilt for a friend of mine who just had a baby girl this past year. The mom's favorite colors are green and I felt like this would be a great time to test out the pattern and make a gift!
Here is the mock up I made that gave me the general color guidelines for pulling fabric.
And here is how the fabric is divided in the 5 Color Design Option:
So for this quilt here is how I divided my colors:
Fabric A - lighter green
Fabric B - darker green
Fabric C - peaches/light pinks
Fabric D - minty blue
Fabric E - a neutral color
Now since I was using my stash, I have quite a wide range of "lighter greens" and "darker greens" that make up these 2 color families. And there is a mix of prints, solids, linens and quilting cottons. This creates such amazing depth in the quilt that I love.
You can see in the photo above that my green stacks are divided in the middle. The darker starry fabric and below are the dark greens and the brighter floral green to the top of the stack are my lighter greens. Then you can see the light pinks/peaches and the minty dusty blues. I didn't pick my Fabric E (border) fabric until the end.
At this point, I cut all my fabrics out before I sewed anything together. And I just had my pen written math to follow, no charts, no computer diagrams. And this is how I always work the first round. Pen and paper and notes and scribbles and I really enjoy the puzzling of this process.
Here are the stripes of the dark greens. And because I used my stash, I had to piece some of the strips together. You just make do with what you have on hand!
And here are the lighter green fabric stripes.
And the lighter green larger squares for the snowballs.
And the darker green small squares for the snowball blocks too.
These fabrics are just for the nine patches and snowball fabrics. I wanted to make sure my math was right before starting on the next steps - flying geese.
And now it was time to chain piece and I did this at home this past summer in my guest room.
As you can see, there is such a variation in colors and tones but you can see a distinct dark and light aspect to the nine patches. I love the tiny pops of pink and red throughout the fabrics. And it was a joy to sew together into their final blocks.
There is a playfulness to these fabrics. We have animals, flowers, linens, stripes, grids, small geometric designs, stars, etc. I love the random collection of prints but all within the two main colors I chose.
Next I decided to work on my flying geese fabrics. I cut them out and assembled them together rather quickly.
Also, this blue and cream quilt, was made by my great grandmother and is a family heirloom!
And once I had my flying geese made, I put everything I had ready up on my design wall.
The nine patches and snowballs get sewn into rows and essentially this quilt gets assembled inside out.
And now here it is all together!
I brought this into the studio to get photos of the finished quilt top and boy is it pretty. This is our Small Throw which finishes at 54" x 60". The Fabric E (border) fabric was yardage I had on hand in Neon Pink Speckled.
Since I knew this quilt was going to a baby girl and I wanted the quilting to be a bit playful and leaning more towards pink colors. Also, I love pink and green combinations. So I choose a neon pink thread and then a loopy all over floral design.
I bound the quilt in a small green gingham which I love because it doesn't feel harsh with the whiter border fabric and it obviously matches the main nine patches and snowballs well.
I love how this quilt turned out. The depth of the color is so delicious and it makes me really proud and happy of this scrappy quilt.
During our quilt photoshoots, I always try to pop into some photos because it really captures who I was in this moment of time. So much of what I make is wrapped up in what I am experiencing while making it. And for this one, in August, I was severely depressed and just needing to use my hands to help me move about my day. And now, when we photographed it, I am medicated and calm and settled. And I have my new glasses. There is a quiet ease about me in these photos and I love being able to capture it.
We backed this quilt in a floral green gingham and it is the perfect compliment to the entire quilt. And seeing the bright neon floral thread is YUM.
And there we go! Our first Barrett sample is done and I am ready to gift it to my friend and her new baby.
You can grab the Barrett PDF here and the Barrett Printed Pattern here.