Today I have a little modern baby quilt pattern that presented itself accidentally .
Have you ever made a quilt design error that turned out to be a good thing?
I had cut out most of a baby quilt way back in March but set it aside for some reason…I really can’t remember why.
This was supposed be a snowball quilt but I incorrectly cut all my corner squares too large.
It’s possible I realised this back in March and that’s why I set it aside – thinking to fix it up later. I should have left myself a note because when I picked it back up 7 months later I completely forgot and just forged on ahead with the wrong sized squares.
I should have noticed something wasn’t right while I was sewing, but let’s be honest, the past few days have been very distracting!
When I ironed back the corners on that first orange block I quickly realised I’d made a mistake.
Oops. This is what it should look like:
And this is what I made:
Instead of snowballs I made…lollies? I don’t really know what this shape is, but I decided I quite liked it!
The fabrics used in this baby quilt are from Alison Glass’ Chroma line. Like most of Alison’s fabrics, the beautifully saturated colours make such a lovely rainbow (you can find similar happy bundles on Etsy* or at the Fat Quarter Shop*).
The fabrics used in my quilt were left over from this Gemology quilt:
I had quite a few left over red and yellow fabrics from my FQ bundle so my blocks are on the warm side of the colour spectrum. (I previously used some of the cooler colours in this mini quilt.)
When it came time to lay out the blocks I chose to have the colours change across the quilt from left to right. I started with maroon on the left, then moved to the reds, orange, yellow and then a couple of blue/greens.
I think the layout makes the most of a somewhat odd group of leftover fabrics.
Gah, I just get up on the ladder and then the wind decides to come through.
This was a good quilt to whip up fairly quickly. I think it works well with medium size prints as well, as there aren’t any seams in the lollies.
What do you think – do you like this more modern baby quilt pattern? Or would you’ve preferred this with the traditional snowball blocks?
Cheers,
Kirsty
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I love your mistake better. It seems more modern.
Thank you!
I love the lollies quilt. Happy mishap. Interestingly I have some lollie fabric that I had carefully cut into five inch strips an then subcut some of the better matching strips in to 5 inch squares for a project. The leftover strips go well together and I think would look great made up this way. So I hope you turn this into a pattern. I used to hate having scraps left over. I get very excited when I can create a nice quilt or project from my leftover fabric. I envision two projects now: A lollie’s lollie quilt and an HST project probably to use as pat of the backing. I always keep by cut off corners (castoff HST’s). Sometimes I just need to sew but can’t decide which project to work on so I will just sit and sew up my castoff HST’s. It is always surprising the endless arrangements of HST blocks and how big a quilt I can often create from these castoff HST. I think you mistake turned out the way it was suppose to.
I prefer this design over the original plan too. Like others have said, I’ve never been a fan of snowball blocks either. Your accident turned into something truly terriric.
I like your variation very much!
Also, I rode my bike into everything as a kid, and so did my daughter. My sister, at 15, even rode her bike into a canal. No reason. Just made an abrupt right turn off the path, down the bank, and into the canal. Our dad had to go in and fish her out.
I LOVE your accident quilt. I would love a pattern for this. It would be an adorable baby quilt for sure!!
I ,too love your mistake. When can we expect a pattern?
In mid December, Jessie!
I love your “accident” pattern, which I have used many times to make placemats. It is so easy, and is perfect for using up left-over pieces of fabrics. I am inspired to use this pattern for last-minute baby quilts. Thank you, Kristy, for sharing the picture of your quilt with us!!
Great idea for placemats, Margaret! Thanks :)
Love your “mistake” definately looks like a rainbow of jelly lollies.
Je trouve que cette “erreur” est une bénédiction: c’est superbe et ça donne beaucoup de modernité!
I love this! Never really liked snowballs, but your design “mistake” is beautiful!
I like the “mistake” blocks better than normal snowball blocks. The rounded squares remind of an old hard candy in the US called Charms. They came in rainbow colors. I don’t know if they were here in OZ. I’d call the quilt Rainbow Charms.
I love this quilt for sure so darn cute where can I get the pattern for it?
I love your Lollies quilt. Doing it with 10″ squares could give lots of small HSTs to play with, too, if you do the double row of stitching before trimming off the corners. Remember the pre-supermarket days when the butcher, baker etc mad home deliveries in vans, or even horse-drawn carts? My claim to bicycle fame was when I was riding to school with my head down so my school hat wouldn’t blow off, and I rode straight into the back steps of the open veggie van, and while my buckled bike remained on the steps, I ended up in a crate of carrots. I walked to school after that.
Clever mistake! I like your new quilt and look forward to seeing the pattern. Hope you and your son are healing quickly!
I really like this quilt – not a fan of snowball quilts. Heal!!
Hi Kristy, I really like your “mistake” could even call it “My favorite mistake”! Borrowed from the pop song by Sheryl Crow. I love snowballs and I really love your lollies too. I hope everyone heals up quickly. I fell off my friend’s bike when I was 8. I had a road burn on the entire left side of my face. I started 3rd grade the very next day. My wonderful teacher Mrs. Lingram kept me from scratching my face as it healed by gently reminding me (like 20x a day) to the point of having me sit on my hands. To this day I know it was her gentle patience that kept me from having a hideous scar. I have no lasting scar other than a very tiny mark in my lip line that only I notice. I wish she was still around to thank her. Somehow I think she knows.
Hi, Glad your son wasn’t hurt. Sometimes even quite professional riders do this (with fatal results) because they are looking down to avoid getting too much wind in their faces. Perhaps he could take to wearing a scarf around the lower part of his face or just something to encourage him to look up.
I like the pattern. I also like the way you have layed out the colors. Looks great!
I love your newsletter and quilt ideas! Are lollies what we refer to in the U.S. as lollipops? I can envision making the vertical strips between the blocks is a darker fabric to enhance the effect. What do you think?
I enjoy reading of your family’s adventures and seeing your internet picks, which expand a good liberal arts education. I imagined a box of chocolates in your mistake quilt!
Don’t hate me, but I actually prefer this happy accident to the snowball quilt. (It’s not your specific pattern- I just don’t like the snowball block.) It’s all beautiful!
I like this one. It’s unexpected– a happy mistake.
I’ve always loved snowball quilts, but this is a fresh take, accidental or not. Love it. Oh, maybe accidental is not the best choice of words in light of your recent misadventures. I’m glad everyone is okay, but that did make for rather entertaining reading!
Your newsletters are always so entertaining! Sorry about your son – I, too, always worry first about the teeth. Glad he’s ok. And frogs! I love them! Did a paper in college last year about why they are disappearing (yes I was a 61 year old university student). And finally, I love the quilt!! Good reason to carry on when you make a mistake because you never know what it will create. Have a great week and hope your ankle is already feeling better.
I love the ‘mistake’! I’ve never been a big fan of snowball blocks …maybe because we do have snow here….but I do like this new, improved shape. It would be great with a large print fabric or a fabric you could fussy cut (I spy?)
Hope you and your son heal quickly!
Cheers!
Love, love your mistake! Please do a pattern. I have baby quilts I need to make for the new year. Hope you and your son mend quickly.
I thought my daughter was the only one to ride her bike into a parked car! Unfortunately, she broke her front tooth and had to have major dental work at age eight. She claimed the accident was my fault, as she was riding with and talking to a friend. I had told her that she should always look at someone when she was talking to them, so she had her head turned to the side. Now that she is a mom herself, her kids will occasionally blame her for something, and I tease her, saying “It’s always the mom’s fault.”
Hope you will design a larger When You Wish.
Our neighbor’s daughter ran into a car but she broke her leg.
I think it is a beautiful mistake quilt. I would love a pattern of it.
Sometimes mistakes happen for a reason. Absolutely LOVE this quilt. Hoping to see a pattern for it!
I really love this quilt! Looks easy and fast to make. I have a layer cake waiting for a nice pattern and this could be the one! It enhances the beauty of the prints! A released pattern would be nice!! Even though it can be done with random measurements, it would take a few attempts to obtain the same beautiful lollies shape! Lollies quilt is the perfect name for a perfect illuminated mistake! Thanks for sharing…
A layer cake might be just right for larger blocks, say for queen/king sizes. I’ll look into it!
I do remember the embarrassment of running into a parked car on my bicycle, luckily neither me nor the car were hurt, front wheel was buckled though. Dad just banged it back into shape.
I really like the “mistake” quilt, would love a pattern for it.
As for frog counting, been there, done that, now I just listen to them.
I’m glad to hear we aren’t the only family afflicted with parked cars! And luckily, the bike wasn’t hurt, phew.
A very serendipitous error. I think it looks fabulous. I tried to think of an Australian name to suggest for it since snowballs are pretty rare here, but failed to think of one. Also I am a huge fan of Alison Glass’ saturated coloured fabrics. Tula Pink and Kaffe Fasset/Brandon Mably feature strongly in my stash too.
I am always looking for names – it’s the hardest part of making a quilt pattern! Probably the closest thing we have are sandballs (thrown at the beach!).
I LOVE this quilt! I just can’t figure how you made the squares. They look like little lunch boxes from my childhood! Only more colors!
That sounds like a pretty cool lunch box! I might have to do up a pattern for this one
I do apologize for laughing (out loud) about your adventures. And yes I have, my daughter has and if he was actually able to remember that far back – so has my husband run into parked cars. They are quite unforgiving. Glad your son is okay. Frogs, hmm. Not many of those left here in Chicago either.
But back on topic the new quilt is a must do very soon – after the autumn one, finish putting up the last 200 of 11,000 lights, setting out the village, you know, the usual! Quilters are universal over-doers I think.
Thanks for the new pattern. Looks like we are looking into a secret garden!
I’m glad the newsletter gave you a chuckle :) It sounds like your family is a parked car’s worst nightmare!
I love your description of the secret garden – it does have that kind of lattice fence look to it, doesn’t it.