Last night Elora slept under her new quilt for the very first time. She was so eager to have it finished and on her bed! You know she had to lay down to test it out as soon as we finished taking pictures, the cutie. Bonus - this morning she made her bed all by herself! Let’s just imagine that lasts, haha.

Heart quilt on Elora's bed. Stitched in Color.jpg

Overhang bed quilt. Stitched in Color.jpg

Did you notice that this quilt did not turn out at all like I had planned? I got as far as piecing the rows for the original checkerboard layout when I realized I was disappointed with the effect.

Joining patchwork checkerboard. Stitched in Color.jpg

The fabrics are pretty, but the pink/white checkerboard layout had more contrast that I wanted. It wasn’t so much a pink quilt anymore. That realization first alighted in my consciousness when Elora showed our progress to daddy. He said, “So much pink!” She happily agreed and then added, “So much white!”

Checkboard hearts. Stitched in Color.jpg

I thought, “What, so much white? Oops.”

It’s normal to have doubts in the process of creating. The tricky thing is to know when to press on despite your doubts and when to alter course. Midway into joining blocks in the checkerboard layout, I jumped up from the sewing machine and quickly rearranged what was left on my design wall. The just-hearts layout struck me as an immediate improvement. It felt sweeter, richer and definitely PINKER!

Using the design wall. Stitched in Color.jpg

Still, I wasn’t keen on the idea of sewing a bunch more hearts to take the place of all those white floral squares. Instead I added a wide border so that the heart portion would land on the top of her bed and the border would fall at the edges.

Heart quilt close. Stitched in Color.jpg

The border is mostly solid pinks and a pretty diamond print flannel by Anna Maria Horner. The flannel is scraps leftover from making Aria flannel pajamas ten years ago! I love it when fabrics make memory circles like that. My hope is that the flannel around the edges feels cozy as Elora pulls the quilt up at night.

By the way, I was specifically intending not to quilt this with hearts, just to keep from going completely overboard. But then I realized that when you’re four and you wish for a pink heart quilt, it may be that going overboard is precisely the point.

Finished heart quilt. Stitched in Color.jpg

Anyway, this swoopy heart quilting pattern seemed perfect. I don’t regret it one bit! It’s left the quilt soft and cuddly, and created a nice sense of motion as well.