This is the second quilt pattern that I have tested for Kelly Renay. The first one was a block test only and I have been slowly working on finishing it completely. I'm about halfway done with it. This time, I signed up to do a throw size and I actually finished it completely before the pattern release date! This is the Nanette Quilt!
When I went to select fabric for this quilt, I wanted to use the Natures Treasure design by Laura Van Horne for Robert Kaufman Fabrics. I had bought this colorful print years ago in the Dallas fabric district. The print reminded me of beautiful agates and I have waited for just the right project for it for way too long. I now know that you never know what the "perfect" project is and you should just use the fabric instead of staring at it on a shelf.
Since I really wanted that beautiful fabric to shine, I paired it with some subtle prints. I'm not a huge fan of solids and love to go wild mixing and matching prints. First I knew I wanted to use this mustard print to pull out the mustard tones in the print. Then I saw that this navy with reddish pink polka dots that I bought at Jo-Ann's would look great as the background. This was a discount find, and at $3 a yard - I bought all they had left and have zero regrets. Then as I scanned my shelves for a fourth and final fabric, I saw this blood red fabric with a subtle scattered dot print. I liked that all my prints had dots or a circular pattern in them and just knew they would be perfect together.
This pattern looks complicated, but was not hard to assemble at all. There is a lot of strip piecing and cutting involved. You definitely have to be extremely consistent with your 1/4" seams or you will have issues. I did have to redo one part because I forgot to move my needle to the spot I normally have it in to get the perfect 1/4" seam. The end result is so worth the extra effort. The Nanette is truly stunning. I didn't really see how beautiful it really was until I had the top finished and you then see the pattern that is created by the alternating blocks.
There were 5 Saturdays in January and I had just finished my Nanette. I picked up 2 wide quilt backs from Urban Spools. Both quilt backs were Ruby Star Society Speckled - one in Navy and one in Turquoise. The Navy looked so good with my Nanette that I quilted it that day. I didn't do a fancy quilting. I just did some simple straight-line quilting with my walking foot. I quilted it using my trusty yellow thread and love how it pops on the back.
I decided to do the binding in the golden yellow print. I wanted to do the Natures Treasure design, but didn't have enough. I happened to make a post on Instagram about looking for more of the print and wishing I had bought more. Laura Van Horne commented and offered to send me digital files to print the fabric at Spoonflower! I got the files from her, but did not have the one for this exact fabric. But I am so excite to now be able to print fabric that is very similar. I got my proofs already from Spoonflower and need to tweak the size a bit and then will order a few yards for a future quilt.
Be sure to grab a copy of the Nanette Quilt. It's available as a PDF or printed copy. Also, sign up for Kelly Renay's newsletter to get a freebie quilt pattern.
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