With an impending addition to the family of friends of mine, I needed gifts. I asked them what they wouldn’t mind receiving that I could make and they said a box quilt. So I set to work on the planning stages, while making a lot of other things too. I have no self-control I guess.
I’d acquired a bunch of nautical themed fabrics ages ago, when I was online shopping for my cute animals quilt. I figured nautical would fit because my friend was already creating a whale toy at the time. So I set off to find a pattern on the internet. Eventually I came across the ‘Babe in the Woods quilt, 42 x 50″, free pattern at Maywood Studio‘, and decided that I liked it a lot. To fit the theme, I replaced the three animals with more aquatic versions from shutterstock, where I amended the whale to be a little cuter. I got some suplemental fabrics from the local market and set to work.
Whale 
Seal 
Octopus
The pattern was first scaled a little further down to create an end format of around 100x80cm. Apart from that I followed the pattern pretty exactly. The appliques were made with a sticky cotton that was stitched down. Not sure that was the right choice because it does look a little Jack Skellington. I sewed the whole thing together on the treadle. For the back, I chose a yellow whale-fabric because whales. It was a little thin though, so I fused some of the same cotton that formed the animals to the back.
Front 
Back
The edging was one of the squares from the quilt pattern, I just happened to choose a fabric with tiny stripes. This turned out to be very handy because that meant I could achieve a very constant distance between my stitches without having to pay much attention. Now, when it was finished, I was afraid that it would be a little dark and not to their taste. Soon up, the other one I made..
Party whales!
