My sister, who was the mother of 2 energetic boys, welcomed an adorable little girl to their family… last year. And being on top of things like I am, I just finished her baby quilt! Except since it took so long, mom requested a quilt big enough to go on a toddler bed 😉

One of the reasons I took so long to make this quilt is because I just couldn’t find the right fabric anywhere. Plenty of beautiful and cute and fun options out there, but nothing felt quite right for this little girl… until I saw the On Trend fabric line by My Mind’s Eye for Riley Blake. It’s shimmers of gold, modern take on a vintage floral, fun colors and bits of lettering… It was a match made in heaven. I grabbed a bundle and then…

It sat.

I had the fabric, but not the pattern! Argh! I drew some up in my design program, but didn’t think any of them worked quite right… until I saw a Flowering Snowball quilt on Instagram and I knew that was it! I had pinned a Shieldmaiden pattern from Sew Scatterbrained forever ago (so long ago, it’s no longer available!), so I pulled it up and got to work. Her tutorial used really modern, scrappy fabrics, and while it is amazing, I knew this one needed to be more dainty and organized, so I used a consistent solid background. I also took out several blocks from the tutorial so it would be the size I needed; this one is about 48″ x 60″.

I was nervous at first to try this block, it always looked so complicated with templates and little pieces and curves… but then I thought, “You like curves! Templates make it easy! Stop being a dork about it!” so I made some templates with backer board (I used those to package my prints back when I sold physical copies, they are heavy and sturdy- perfect for templates!), and it was SO EASY. The subtle curves were so forgiving, and since you were matching seams halfway, it made it even easier to gauge the sewing along that curve.

Even as I sewed the top together, I knew I wanted Orange Peel quilting on this. Kelli from Simply MackBeth did an awesome job, I love it soooo much! I have had this hanging up for a few days now, eventually it will come down and I’ll get it to its new owner. I just love it so much! I definitely see another Flowering Snowball quilt in my future.