Almost Sudoku

I made this quilt this winter and took the pictures in April, with the wildflowers in full bloom (the one time of year the front yard looks nice sans help). And now that my courier transported it to a shower miles away from my present locale, I can show it here. The quilt is for the daughter of grad school friends who is expected to arrive in July -- a fine, fine month in which to be born. I'm confident that Sara and Gene will be awesome parents, of the caring yet irreverent, hilarious and fun to be around sort; I'm equally confident that their offspring will surpass my pop cultural and musical knowledge after approximately one day on earth.

Inspired by Heather's Autumn Canary quilt, I wanted to make a quilt whose design showcased some favorite fabrics. I had about a half-yard of the Berry Charms fabric (by Pat Bravo) that I wanted to showcase and selected fun prints from my stash to complement it. I also wanted each 9-patch section to be different, and it struck me that Sudoku puzzles offered the perfect template (+ some logic fun). Mind you, I'm not actually very good at Sudoku (or lack the patience to become good), but it seemed like a fine idea: I assigned each fabric a number and got to work. I made 6 Sudoku puzzles and, after some scribbling and erasing, filled them out. (Later I realized I could have just trolled the internets and found myself some answer keys but what would be the fun in that?) All was well. I laid out my fabric and started sewing 5" blocks together. And it was good. Until I managed to turn some pieces around, not realize I had done so, finish the quilt top, and find out that my perfect puzzle layouts no longer existed. I decided it was okay, and "Almost Sudoku" came into being.

The pieced back combines another Pat Bravo print, Daylight Pond (from her Paradise Collection), with pink flowers and a milk chocolate-y solid from my stash. The free-motion quilting blends in and helped it crinkle up perfectly. I didn't measure it after I pulled the quilt from the dryer, but I think it's about 45" square. I used the last remaining yardage of the pink flower print for the binding (previously used to bind this quilt too). 

Folded up like this, the quilt doesn't read pink! which is one of the things I really like about it. I'm not a pink person and don't think baby quilts, especially girl baby quilts, need to or should be pink. But I have slowly allowed pink fabric to creep into my stash because, in the right tones and design, I even like it. And since I have it, I'm going to use it. And in this case, it's there, but in combination with the browns, peaches, yellows, and aquas on the front becomes fun and colorful. In fact, I think it's the peach print that makes the quilt zing.