A Serendipity Quilt

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I have three very blond haired little boys. I absolutely love some of the newer fabrics with some appropriate prints for boys (like this pirate print), but some of my all time favorite fabrics are the sweet girls frolicking in the fields of wild flowers. Do you remember Aneela Hoey’s Posy fabric? I made a simple quilt with it, and I kind of still regret selling it. That fabric was precious.

A couple months ago I found Minki Kim’s account on Instagram. Her new line called Serendipity caught my eye. Cassie at Sew Stitching Happy just stocked her shop with all the Serendipity fabrics. I love these fabrics.

After making three quilts to gift for Christmas last year, I decided this would be my year to finish my works in progress destined to settle in our own home.

Then I took a custom order. That delayed my plan a bit, but I loved making that quilt.

Then I saw this fabric. We have some friends that are so well suited for this fabric that I decided, yet again, to depart ways from my schedule and sew a quilt for some family friends.

I didn’t buy every fabric in the Serendipity line, but I bought the whimsical strawberry print and the adorable little girls enjoying a picnic under the tree.

I tend to drift away from buying an entire line. I’ve learned I’m always drawn to a scrappier mismatched look.

This quilt is a very simple quilt. I started by cutting six inch blocks. I usually cut smaller blocks but because of the size of the scene of the girls under the tree, I went with six inch blocks.

I cut into a variety of fabrics that all somewhat coordinate. Overall, I’d consider this quilt quite low volume in color.

The cursive print you see to the top right is one of the Bee Backgrounds by Lori Holt. I’ve used that print over and over. It’s been great for adding to so many of my quilts, including this Chamomile quilt.

The print above on graphing paper is Architextures in gray by Carolyn Friedlander. It’s been another one of my go-to prints this last year.

I’m constructing this quilt into nine patch blocks. Instead of laying out all my rows and then sewing my rows together, I’ve learned that nine patch blocks are easier for me to manage.

You can see my nine patch above. I have a row of three fabrics. Then I have a row of three more with a four patch in the middle. Then I have another row of solid fabrics. As long as I am intentional about balance of color in my nine patch blocks, I am guaranteed balance of color in my finished quilt.

Above is another look at a nine patch block. Keep in mind these are rather large blocks since my original squares are six inches in size.

You can see that the middle square is a four patch. Since I find a bit of scrappiness appealing in quilts, I decided to break down a few of my blocks into four patch blocks. These are perfect for fussy cutting.

Those are made with four blocks each 3 1/4 inches in size.

I plan on sewing four sets of nine across and five sets of nine down. This should end up a sizeable quilt finishing at 66 by 82 inches. Thankfully the squares are big and this quilt is coming together quickly.

As for the backing, I’m torn.

What do you think?

Should I use a vintage sheet? (The one pictured below with a blue flower and strawberries…)

Should I back it with Essex linen in a light gray? or light blue chambray?

Or should I use a dainty dandelion print from the Serendipity line?

Thoughts?

It’s been fun cutting up this stack of fabrics and sewing them back together again. I definitely find plenty of joy in sewing when the plan is to gift a quilt hoping it blesses a family.

I’ll keep you posted as this quilt progresses. I’m hoping to have it finished up by the end of next month!