Finish it Friday; Fabric Panels

This week for “Finish it Friday,” we’re chatting about working with Fabric Panels. I recently finished a few simple quilt projects using panels and thought I’d share a bit about my experience.

It’s time for another “Finish it Friday.” This year, if you’re new, I’m trying to finish several WIP’s and share them with you here, on the blog on Fridays! My goal is for 2 #FinishItFridays a month.

hand holding stack of colorful folded fabrics

My newest fabric collection, Ahoy! Mermaids features 2 fabric panels. In my head, I have “big” plans for these panels. So far, I haven’t found the time to execute those plans yet. I’ve been wanting to show off the panels but was holding back until I could get those projects done. Then I decided I was overthinking it and decided to create two simple baby quilt projects instead.

Mermaid Baby Quilt

The first project is literally just the panel quilted. The panel features several “beachy” phrases and illustrations. I designed it to be used as a baby quilt or chopped up into smaller pieces and turned into quilt blocks, zip bags, or pillows.

The squares on the inside of the panel are 8″ x 8″, making them just the right size for the center of my Star Bright Quilt Pattern.

sketch of a quilt pattern
The Star Bright Quilt Pattern by Melissa Mortenson of polkadotchair.com - a fun Sawtooth Star Quilt pattern that is a great way to show off novelty print fabric. A fun quilt for fussy cut blocks

My quilt panel is quilted right “off the bolt” I made no changes to the panel’s size or any of the images. It’s not pieced at all. I did make sure when the panel was quilted that the squares are outlined with quilting stitches. I think this helps to give it a more “pieced” look.

Clamshell Baby Quilt

The second panel for the line is one that I’m particularly excited about. It’s a clamshell cheater print. It features several of the prints from the collection in a clamshell pattern. The best part! The gold sparkle outline on the clamshells.

This panel is designed so that you can sew it together to create a larger quilt. If you sew 4 panels together (2 across by 2 down), you can create a twin-sized quilt. The pattern matches up top and bottom and side to side.

I created and quilted a simple baby quilt with the panel. I added a 4″ border of navy and white stripe around the perimeter of the panel. Then quilted it and bound it. I had a large scrap of gray minke leftover from another project, so I used it for the backing.

All the Project Details

  • Fabric Collection: Ahoy! Mermaids by Melissa Mortenson for Riley Blake Designs.
  • Quilt Pattern: None. One panel is sewn without alterations, and the other has a 4″ border added.
  • Long Arm Pantograph: Baptist Heart Clams by 627handworks.
  • Backing Fabric: White Minke, and Gray Minke.
  • Baby Quilt Sizes: Mermaids quilt is 36″ x 41″. The Clamshell quilt is 43″ x 48″.
  • Binding: Mermaid quilt: Navy & White Stripe. Clamshell Quilt, Green Bow print from the Derby Day Fabric Collection.

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