Knitted Blooms - the Driftwood version
During our last quilt-along, I made another version of our Knitted Blooms pattern. If you were following along, you’ve already caught plenty of glimpses of this beauty. Now that it’s been quilted up, I’m excited to show off the finished product…and to tell you all about how this quilt came to be!
The Knitted Blooms quilt pattern
This is actually the fifth Knitted Blooms quilt we’ve showcased! We started off with the Cover Quilt, of course, showed off the four-color option with the Hydrangea version, made a modern Christmasy holiday version, and most recently I experimented with a double-sided version.
I love how different each version looks, from the retro cover version to the classic double-sided quilt. But I realized there was something I hadn’t tried yet with Knitted Blooms…prints! So this fifth version was born.
I know that at first glance Knitted Blooms doesn’t seem like the best pattern for showing off prints. As you can tell, it has lots of little pieces, which doesn’t scream “prints.” But I’d previously used prints on the Love, Cupid version of Knitted Bloom’s sister pattern, Knitted Star. And I loved how that quilt turned out! So I knew Knitted Blooms could shine with prints too. I just had to find the right fabrics. And y’all…I think we nailed it!
Knitted Blooms-Driftwood version
I made the Driftwood quilt in a throw size (57” x 76”), and I knew I wanted to use the fat quarter-friendly Modern colorway. That meant I’d have 12 different blooms, so I could use 12 different prints.
THE FABRICS
I was inspired by the look of Art Gallery Fabrics’s A Year in Petals collection by Bonnie Christine, with all its blue and yellows…but I wanted to throw in some pinks too to warm things up a little. So in the end, I only used one fabric from A Year in Petals, and the rest came from other AGF collections. Here’s the full list:
- Aerial Clay
- Apple Bites
- Blooming Brook Moon
- Flower Glory Morning
- Free Spirit Lilac
- Garden Sonnet Dawn
- Gentle Petals
- Glorias Back Porch
- Joy Crossroads Azure
- Labyrinth in Five
- Rooting For You
- Terrain Overlook
As you can see, I went with a mix of small- and large-scale florals, and even some geometric prints! I wanted that variety so you could see how the different prints work with the Knitted Blooms pattern. It was a fun experiment…and even though some of the prints do get chopped up a bit, we ended up with a super beautiful and interesting quilt!
(But if you have larger prints that you don’t want to get chopped up, our Celtic Crossing, Metamorphosis, and Summer Pop use big pieces and may be a better fit.)
I knew from experience that AGF prints tend to shift while sewing, since they’re so soft with such a high thread count. I didn’t want that shifting, since Knitted Blooms requires a super precise scant ¼” seam allowance. Each block has lots of pieces, which means lots of seams…so a wonky seam allowance really adds up! To keep things precise, I made sure to use lots of starch and pins for this pattern/fabric combo.
I wanted a neutral background to balance with all those prints, but it couldn’t be anything bland or forgettable. It needed to hold its own! I landed on Art Gallery Fabric’s Driftwood, since it’s such a nice, dark neutral with a slight hint of warmth.
Ruby Sue made her first photoshoot appearance and it melted my heart. 🥹
I just love how all the prints and colors work together. So yes, we have Driftwood Knitted Blooms kits!
THE QUILTING
We sent this version over to Megan at Blue Ridge Quilt Co. for longarm quilting. (She quilted three of the other four Knitted Blooms samples!) As always, she did a spectacular job. We used a misty blue thread, which helps the quilting stand out. And because a flower pattern with flower fabrics wasn’t enough flowers, we used the Daisy Tiles panto by Piece and Joy Quilting Company. 🌼 It’s the ultimate floral quilt!
I went with 80/20 batting (a basic, versatile choice, as explained in our guide to quilt batting).
Then for the backing, I used Meadow Clear Skies. It’s one of my favorite prints from Bonnie Christine’s A Year in Petals collection (which, as I already mentioned, helped inspire this quilt!).
We topped things off with Blooming Brook Sol for a bright, cheerful binding.
Ruby Sue wanted some attention during our little photo-shoot for this quilt and she really knows how to work a camera, doesn't she? 😆 It's hard to believe that she'll be 6 months old soon!
Make your own Knitted Blooms quilt
If you want to make our own Knitted Blooms quilt, I have good news! We just wrapped up our Knitted Blooms Quilt-along, so you can get all my tips and tricks for this quilt pattern. I loveeee talking about seams allowances, and it's super important for this quilt. Make sure you perfect your seam allowance before sewing up your blocks! Knitted Blooms really does need that ¼-inch seam.
QUILT KITS
If you want to recreate this quilt, grab a Driftwood Knitted Blooms kit. You can pick from top fabric only, or you can add on that gorgeous backing and binding!
We have several other options too, like the Knitted Blooms cover quilt kit, the two-color Ivory & Charcoal kit, and the vibrant Holiday Knitted Blooms kit.
DESIGN YOUR OWN
Of course, I always love seeing the fabric pulls you come up with! To help you plan your quilt, you can color Knitted Blooms on PreQuilt. We’ve added modern, traditional, and four-color variations, so you design the perfect Knitted Blooms for you!
You can also find Knitted Blooms on our page of free quilt coloring pages.
Whether this version inspires you to add some prints or you stick with solids, I can’t wait to see your take on Knitted Blooms! Happy sewing!
In case you missed it…
