Saturday, June 22, 2019

Beothuk, Baby!


Today's little finish is Beothuk Baby, a gift for my nephew and niece-in-law. They are expecting their first child, a little boy, and the family is very excited!

This pattern is called Beothuk Star, and was designed by Sandra of Musings of a Menopausal Melon fame. She's the daughter of a famous Canadian, and her design honors the aboriginal people of Newfoundland. The family who will receive this quilt are also Canadian, which is a nice connection all around, don't you think?


Sandra published this pattern as a generous, free quilt along. I selected gray, teal and aqua as my colors since they are my niece's favorites. The four corner stars feature fabrics with balloons, birds, flowers, mushrooms, and pseudo-scientific scribbles. I knew a secondary pattern would produce the center star, so I chose a rich, dark teal batik so it would really pop.


The gray background fabric is Essex linen, a cotton blend with really nice texture. While it does tend to fray a bit, it quilts like a dream. 


For the backing, my DH Sean chose this super fun nautical print. It's rare to find power boats represented in fabric, much less submarines, so when I found 7 yards of this on sale, I snapped them up.


This little purple-hulled tug boat is the closest in shape and capability to our own boat, Vector. I like how the hook-swirl quilting motif looks like waves, especially in turquoise thread.


I took a variety of boaty glamour shots for this quilt, in keeping with that cool background fabric. Here is Beothuk Baby in front of our life raft and next to our dinghy.


And here it is hung over the back of the flybridge settee and in front of the EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radiobeacon.) We don't just sit around sipping cocktails in swimsuits here on Vector, you know. We do take our safety equipment seriously.


The binding fabric is a fun plaid in blues, greens and a bit of red. You can see a little of the binding in this shot of the quilt all rolled up and sitting on the seat of my scooter. That's Leopold, my new scooter mascot. He is named after Leopold Stokowski, who had similar wild, white hair.

Many thanks to Sandra for putting together such a great pattern! I had fun during the quilt along, and even got halfway though making a second quilt in the pattern with very different fabrics. That one will get finished eventually, but meanwhile I'm linking to the final Parade of Finishes. Go check out all the other fun interpretations of this pattern!

22 comments:

  1. Great quilt and I love the story that goes with it and the glamour shots on the boat! an all round fun post with the bonus of a lovely bit of sewing...
    Hugz

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  2. What a gorgeous version! I love the grey with blues, and the quilt on the boat and the boats on the quilt. The ferry we take has colors similar to one of those boats! Great finish - congratulations.

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  3. Your Beothuk Baby is wonderful, Louise! I love all the special fabrics and especially the backing. You really did a great job emphasizing that center star - that is something I wish I had done differently on mine. This is such a perfect gift for the new baby coming along!

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  4. Oh that centre star just SINGS!! The whole quilt is wonderful, colours, backing and quilting! I just love the shots on the boat, that backing, the Erie Canal waters, ahhh, the 'we just don't sit around sipping cocktails' quip...it's all splendid! AND that it's going to a Canadian family to boot, and the Beothuk lived on an island and fished the ocean....all ties together so very well. Thank you for joining in with the QAL again; that is three for you too right, four if you count the Postcard one I hosted with Helen. :-) Thank you so much!

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  5. What a gorgeous quilt! And I love the Canadian connection.

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  6. I too love the center-star treatment! It really spices up the whole quilt.

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  7. Absolutely delightful! You’ve done Sandra proud and your nephew and NIL will be over the moon! What a lovely way to celebrate a brand new baby. I just love your fabric choices and placement. You have such foresight!

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  8. Wonderful quilt finish. I love all your glamour shots and the story to go with them! The pattern is great !

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  9. I love that you chose a really dark for that center star, it really shines bright! As always I love seeing views of your boat and water:)

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  10. Oh my goodness, is this a beautiful little quilt or what!?! I love it, with that center star bursting forth! What a great gift. And the backing is just right. The quilting looks great. How fun. Great finish, Louise!

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  11. Wow, I love your version of Beothuk Baby! The colors are beautiful and the backing is so fun. It’s a perfect gift.

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  12. Louise, great connections going on in this quilt! I love the center star. That backing--I can see why your heart skipped a beat to get that on sale! A great way to congrat your new family member!

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  13. What a wonderful baby quilt the the upcoming baby. He's going to love and appreciate it. Your DH did a fantastic job on picking the backing fabric. It's absolutely perfect! That center star just pops right out with beauty. Glamour shots are always fun to see & it looks like Leopold is happy to be a part of the action.

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  14. Louise, love this quilt and the backing is perfect. Glad you were able to buy a bunch. Your quilting looks so good and the swirls are perfect for both the front and back. Great beauty shots also.

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  15. The 3D effect of the star behind the lattice is amazing. To me it represents the night sky after sunset, when the stars come out gradually. I love all of the boats, so colorful and perfect for a little boy to learn about his family heritage.

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  16. Congratulations! On your finish and for the newest member of your family! The fabrics look wonderful together, love the blue centre star!

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  17. That is a great quilt. Thanks for giving the source. I may have to go check it out. Love the backing fabric. Yep, when I see unusual fabrics on sale I do tend to snap them up. But, really, I only get a yard which explains why I never have backings. Love your scooter mascot. Having the scooter on board makes it easy to get around where ever you land, right? (dock? tie up?)

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  18. Another terrific finish! Wonderful for a new baby.

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  19. This is one of the prettiest Beothuk Star quilts I've seen! I'm sure it will be well loved when your nephew's baby arrives!

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  20. A wonderful interpretation of Sandra’s pattern, I really like the dark blue centre and the way it pops in the quilt. Lovely backing fabric and reflects the givers, a great touch. Congratulations on another wonderful finish.

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  21. Love the colors and that center star. Congrats on another beautiful finish. Hope you've been having very smooth sailing so far this summer.

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  22. how did I miss this? A great version of a great quilt pattern. And I just love the backing, and a new baby! It all fits together. I made mine for a new baby too

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