Marimekko Surprise

You may wonder how I decide which quilts to post about next. It's pretty random, really. I use those I can get my family to photograph. Allowing for factors like timing, lighting, setting, mood (of the photographer) and how much groveling I need to do, there can be quite a wait for quality quilt photos.

Today's quilt is up next simply because the pictures are already on my computer. Be forewarned! It's not my usual style or color palette.

It began with a shopping bag left on my doorstep, brimful of Marimekko fabric. These contemporary, decorator weight designs come from Finland and are sold at Crate and Barrel stores. A good friend who worked at C&B left them for me as a surprise!

Who can resist free fabric, even when it veers wildly from your usual style? This print became my theme, mostly because there was enough to use as a border. Let's see, day-glow squares on vibrant orange... What quilt block might work well with that? Four Patch? Nine Patch? Both seemed too ordinary, too predictable.


For the unexpected, I turned to the cover of Kaffe Fassett’s Glorious Patchwork. Based on the colors in his quilt, my wacky orange fabric might read as a neutral!

I made 3”, 6”, 9”, and 12" blocks from some of the brightest colors I'd ever seen. The challenge was to balance both color and block sizes throughout the quilt. I sewed until every square inch of fabric was gone!

The finished quilt was given to the fabric gifter herself, just in time for her 17th birthday. She absolutely loved it!