The original pattern in the book calls for 25 petunias, which makes a quilt 68" x 68". I choose to only make a portion of the quilt, one of my many techniques for altering a pattern to suit my size needs. With 13 petunia blocks, this quilt measures 49" x 49".
Here's closeup pics before the story of why this quilt is Petunia Patch #1.
Check out that pink backing, from the stash!
Now for the story: this quilt comes with some things I like and some I don't. First, the good.
- It was easy to make - though repetitious - chain stitching the petals and using my Stacked Trimming technique helped.
- Pink fat quarters worked great to give a variety of petunias.
- It's an overall adorable quilt, no matter what the size!
And now for the bad, which is my perception and in no way any fault of the pattern.
- It's larger than I'd like for a baby quilt, which is totally my mistake for not doing the quilt math before starting in on making the blocks. I like baby quilts around 40" x 40", and at 49" x 49", this one is big.
- The block size is more appropriate for the large quilt. In this modified version, the petunias look like they would eat up any baby laying on it!
There really is something to be said for scale.
Notice the bad is all a size issue. So, what to do? Since this is a commissioned quilt, I talked with the grandma, explaining the outcome and my desire to remake the quilt on a smaller scale. She agreed, which means I'm off again to chain stitch and stack trim. And fortunately, I have enough of the fabrics left, so no issue there. Petunia Patch #2 coming up, hopefully, with a more pleasing size - time to get to work.
May you have a great day quilting!
oh its too cute! and size.... hmm a baby quilt and a toddler bed quilt???
ReplyDeleteSometimes even when I do do the math, I don't actually visualize size discrepancies.
ReplyDeleteToo large or not it is a gorgeous quilt for a precious little one.
ReplyDeleteIt looks great. That is a bit big for a baby quilt, but you can save it for a toddler.
ReplyDeleteHow nice of you to offer to downsize the pattern for your commission. More work for you, but a learning experience (or a good reminder to check the math) for you.
ReplyDeletePat
It's very cute. Block Lotto did a similar patter a few years ago, but the centers were yellow. It was such a fun pattern. I'll look forward to seeing the smaller version.
ReplyDelete