This week's project

Finally, a Marmalade layer cake showed up at a local fabric store.  I had been waiting for months!  Earlier this year I began a quilt for granddaughter Ruby using a Ruby layer cake from Bonnie & Camille.  When I learned that Marmalade was in the works also by Bonnie & Camille, I decided to do another for Ruby's sister Sadie using Marmalade.  They share a room so it could be the same but different with both quilts fitting into their bedroom's current color scheme.

I must admit that about the time I learned of Marmalade, I also saw a picture of a flower quilt made from that line and designed by Camille.  It inspired me as a great way to use the layer cake with all the fabric line included.

I set down with graph paper and my colored pencils and came up with my own version for Ruby's quilt and now for Sadie's using a layer cake and additional fabric left over from Ruby's for corner triangles, corner squares, and sashing but in reverse, aqua dots for sashing and white with red dots for corner blocks.  Each block takes:

1 center 5 1/2 inch square
8 "flower petal" 3 inch squares
4 "leaf" 3 inch squares
8 "center fabric" 1 1/2 squares for half triangles
16 "sashing colored" 1 1/2 squares for half triangles between leaves and petals

I divided up my layer cake into three piles before starting to cut.  Pile one - good prints for centers, Pile 2 - good prints for contrasting petals, Pile 3 - good prints for leaves (used mostly greens and aquas.)  You can easily get the 5 1/2 inch square and 8 small squares from your 10 inch layer slice with fabric to spare.  One layer slice cut in 3 inch squares provides 8 petals with one left over. I also cut 9 of the 3 inch leaves from a layer slice which made enough for two blocks with one square left over.  The layer cake makes 15 blocks of  10 1/2 inches. The finished top will be 3 x 5 blocks sashed and with an stop border and outer border (additional fabric needed.)

Yesterday I went to use my 20% of coupon for backing fabric.  There was a pattern for the flower quilt sitting next to the fabric line.  I opened it up to see the dimensions.  Much larger blocks then my version and not easily cut from a layer cake.  Even with mine, I dipped into leftover bits of Ruby to make Marmalade work with two more sets of petal blocks.  I didn't use five slices of the layer cake.  They were super large flower prints and I thought they might be too much a focal point.

The sweet helper at the quilt store always asks what I am working on.  I told her about Ruby and wanting her to have a piece of every fabric in the Ruby line, thus the adventure with the layer cake.  She thought that Sadie and Marmalade went well together, too, and then asked if Sadie liked jam.  I admitted that she loves sweets so I guess it was meant to be!