Need Ideas, Please for Fabric

[kimrkb]

Hi All: I have been reading the forum for over a year now, but this is my first post. I am stumped on my latest project. A good friend of mine gave me two pieces of cotton fabric and asked me to make her something. One piece is 1 yard (bears/umbrellas), the other is 2 yards (underwater scene). They are juvenile prints she thought were cute that she picked up on vacation. She wants me to sew them together and basically give her back a large, double sided square. I'm struggling with doing this - I just don't think it's an effective use of her fabric, and what will she do with it? It's not really big enough for a throw. She doesn't want a pillow or pillow case or tote bag. Is there some sort of blanket or basic quilt I can make with it? I might be able to convince her to let me add some white fabric. In my mind, they don't really look good together, but I think I'm stuck using them together. Do you have any creative ideas for me? Thanks!WIN_20160705_202953.jpg

[Kelly V.]

Re: Need Ideas, Please for Fabric

Maybe one of those "tied" quilts, like they sell in kits at Joann's. ????

[Hulamoon]

Re: Need Ideas, Please for Fabric

Self binding blanket is all I can think of. They don't go together even if you do use white.It reminds me of the tourists that come here wearing aloha shirts and plaid shorts. I think you need a talk with her. lol

And don't hide out

[Sylvia H]

Re: Need Ideas, Please for Fabric

I see a connection between the bears - on the beach - and the underwater scene. You could do a strip of bears on the beach, then a strip of the underwater scene, and then a strip of sky (have to add additional material). You could applique a few larger palm trees from the beach and over the water background. If possible, you could make two sets of these strips to make the quilt long enough. Some kind of border that highlights some of the colors will also make the quilt larger.

[Hulamoon]

Re: Need Ideas, Please for Fabric

I see a connection between the bears - on the beach - and the underwater scene. You could do a strip of bears on the beach, then a strip of the underwater scene, and then a strip of sky (have to add additional material). You could applique a few larger palm trees from the beach and over the water background. If possible, you could make two sets of these strips to make the quilt long enough. Some kind of border that highlights some of the colors will also make the quilt larger.

Like this maybe?

http://www.psiquilt.com/2012/12/the-one-with-easiest-baby-quilt-ever.html

[JCY]

Re: Need Ideas, Please for Fabric

That striped quilt is cute. But she used 10 different fabrics. You'd need to put something with those 2 you have on hand.

[bakermom]

Re: Need Ideas, Please for Fabric

I am thinking add white or maybe the orangey-color(to tie the two pieces together) and make a 9 patch or D9P.

[AlohaSandy]

Re: Need Ideas, Please for Fabric

Self binding blanket is all I can think of. They don't go together even if you do use white.It reminds me of the tourists that come here wearing aloha shirts and plaid shorts. I think you need a talk with her. lol

And don't hide out

That is so funny and so true lol

[Murphy224]

Re: Need Ideas, Please for Fabric

The first thing I think of is use the 1 yd bears and umbrellas as the center panel, trim to 36 by 36 or whatever size you can get and use the other as borders around the square. You could use a solid white, red, navy or other coordinating color as a smaller border before and after the underwater borders. That would increase the size, keep her fabric in one piece, use them together as she wants, and make it into a usable size throw. You would still need batting and a backing but it might turn out ok. You could use any leftovers as part of the backing. Good luck.

[kimrkb]

Re: Need Ideas, Please for Fabric

Thank you so much, everyone! I really appreciate the validation and these ideas. Lots of good ones here.

Self binding blanket is all I can think of. They don't go together even if you do use white.It reminds me of the tourists that come here wearing aloha shirts and plaid shorts. I think you need a talk with her. lol

And don't hide out

Ha, Hulamoon! You hit the nail on the head. She picked this fabric up while in Oahu last year. I already made her a quilt of the other Hawaiian fabric she selected, which actually turned out cute for my first quilt. But this fabric she thought I should just "throw together" for her. Not only do I want her to have something she will be happy with, I don't want my name on something that ends up looking terrible.

[cathym]

Re: Need Ideas, Please for Fabric

I agree that the fabric needs more fabric to make it something you'd want your name on. Go WITH her to a fabric shop and choose. . It could be as simple as one other fabric for each fabric she brought. You could then make two simple tops and use one for front and one for back. It could be as simple as cutting them into charm squares for a simple quilt or with just a bit more effort, you could make a giant star. It would be a reversible small quilt.
Also, you might be able to find two blenders you like with both, you could cut all in charm size and make a decent quilt using many layouts. Jenny has videos.

[DramaMama]

Re: Need Ideas, Please for Fabric

Give her what she asked for --- especially since she declined your other suggestions.