Simple I-Spy Rainbow Border for Quilt Panels

Dress up a basic quilt panel with an easy patchwork border to make this easy quilt.  I'm teaming up with Fairfield World to bring you this bright and cheerful quilt.  The full tutorial for this Simple Patchwork Border is available on the Farifield site here.  However, I wanted to share more of the personal story behind it here on my blog.

My long-time readers will know that I LOVE I-Spy charm squares and am always looking for new ways to use them.  (I host I-Spy Square Swaps about once a year and also sell I-Spy charm sets in my Etsy Shop.)  You wouldn't necessarily need to use I-Spy squares.  Lots of quilt shops sell charm square packs where you can get a few squares from each fabric in a favorite fabric line.

Last year a dear family friend lost her battle with cancer.  While visiting her family, they let me choose some fabric from her stash.  She was an artist and LOVED color, so I chose this bright rainbow zebra to make a quilt for her grand-baby who was born a few months later.



Some of the I-Spy Squares are just fun bright cheery squares that filled out the colors needed for a rainbow border, but about half of them where specifically chosen because they reminded me of hers and her children's interests...camping, outdoors, flowers, healthy food, pugs, computers, and more.

I'm not sure of the age or designer of the fabric panel, but it has an almost vintage feel.  I'm guessing 80's or 90's.  (Does that count as vintage?)  It's not quite as soft as most current quilting fabrics, so I softened up the back with some Shannon Fabrics Cuddle® Fabric.  I chose  Alotta Dots Cuddle® in Multi.  I thought the white background calmed down all the color on the front, while the rainbow polka dots still helped it match.  The quilt also has a layer of my favorite super soft Nature-Fil™ Bamboo Blend Batting to make it extra plush and soft.

The full tutorial for this Simple Patchwork Border is available on the Farifield site here.  

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