A hexagon quilt for Rowan

I'm sharing a project today that has been in the works for a YEAR.  Last summer my family relocated from California to Michigan.  On the way we stopped to see lots of family and friends, and would often spend several days at each place.  I decided I wanted a project to work on during my down time, so I hit the fabric store while visiting a brother and gathered fabrics for a baby quilt for my youngest.

 

This quilt from the Blueberry Park blog had made a splash on Pinterest and I was immediately in love. 

 

The hexagons, the colors, the patterns on the fabrics, the pop of yellow on the border-- I LOVED it!!  So I basically set out to copy it.  :)  If I could have gotten my hands on the EXACT SAME fabrics she used, I totally would have.  LOVE.

 

By the time we got to Ann Arbor I'd gotten all of my pieces cut, then laid them out in a pattern I liked.

Then it sat in a bag in a closet for many months while I summoned the courage to sew them together.  I was just so afraid that it wouldn't work!  A couple of months ago I decided to just go for it and held my breath that it would turn out.

 

I stitched each little half hexagon to the one beside it, making long narrow strips.

Those strips were then sewn together forming - GLORY BE!- full hexagons!

I decided I wanted to add more interest to the front, so I purchased some of this magnificent faux bois print fabric from my friend at HBFabrics on Etsy, and it was just what I was looking for!

I bought a piece of natural cotton batting, sewed up a backing using some more of the Faux Bois and a cute aqua oval fabric (also from HBFabrics), and brought it along on our trip to Virginia over Spring Break so I'd have something to do in the car.  I've come to really love hand quilting.  It's so relaxing to hand stitch, don't you think?

Joann Fabric carries a lovely mustard colored linen, which became the perfect binding.

This quilt has been done for a little while now, I just kept forgetting to share the finished product!

I mainly quilted on the solid colored hexagons so the stitching would stand out, and chose a different kind of design for each color. 

The strips of Faux Bois on the back were a happy accident, as I forgot to account for shrinkage and didn't buy a big enough piece of the aqua backing fabric.  But I'm so glad it happened this way!

See how I cheated and rounded the corners so I wouldn't have to miter them?  I. AM. A GENIUS!!  Seriously, though, I don't think I'll ever make a square-cornered quilt again.  I love it!!

I have to say, I really REALLY love this quilt.  I get compliments on it whenever it goes out with us.

 

And now this little mister has a Mama-made quilt of his very own.