Quilting: Heather Ross's Mendocino Line and Gentle Waves

While organizing my fabrics, I came upon the "swimming mermaids, seahorses, octopi both large and small, kelp and schools of fish" in Heather Ross's whimsical collection of fabrics called "Mendocino," inspired by her growing up along the rugged coast of Northern California. I love this line and likewise wanted to sew the fabrics into an ocean-inspired blanket. But it had to be minimalist in order to highlight the patterns in the fabric, so no blocks, not even a giant sailboat block surrounded by swimming mermaids. Nothing geometric or abstract, I decided. I also wanted to cut up the least amount of fabric, but plain, broad, straight strips just weren't gonna cut it either for me. The quilt needed to look organic and graceful like the shapes you'd find in nature. I looked at all kinds of quilts using Ross's fabrics and most just weren't to my liking though I was drawn to a giant block of them surrounded by turquoise fabric. But no. And while looking for quilts reminiscent of the ocean, I found a quilter's blog where she cuts and sews improvised free hand curves. Perfect. I plan on cutting the strips as wide as possible, maybe just in half long-side and still look curvy and sinuous, and I've solid fabric in the analogous colors of pink and orange and mustard brown to add additional skinny strips. And I think there is enough yardage to make the back and practice more improvised, free hand curves as well.