Preppy the Whale

Don't Panic!  I have to admit the first time I read through Oh, Fransson's adorable Preppy the Whale pattern I wondered what I'd gotten myself in to... each whale is made up of 16 different sized pieces.  When you add in sashing and borders there are 462 pieces required to make the child sized version.

Fortunately, the directions are clearly written and once the cutting is done this goes together very quickly.  It is just challenging enough to be interesting and the whales are so cute you just love seeing them come together!  Sewing with this view also might have made things go together a bit easier:-)

For the quilting I wanted something fast and easy that wouldn't compete with cuteness of the whales.  This was my first try at wavy organic lines and I LOVED it!!!  I was able to quilt the entire top in an evening while drinking wine.

It was this close but for once I did NOT have a thread emergency that had me banging on the door at Quilter's Way first thing in the morning.

For the back I made one more whale as a label and pieced in the navy stripe (22 additional pieces) so I could get away with only using one length of this adorable anchor fabric.

A huge thank you to the lovely Elizabeth Hartman for letting my test this pattern!  It was a pleasure every step of the way:-)

Linking up to the fabulous Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 47" x 50"
Pattern: Preppy the Whale by the fabulous Elizabeth Hartman of Oh, Fransson!
Fabrics: Kona: Carnation, Buttercup, Sour Apple, Bright Pink, Nautical.  FSDS: Hummingbird, Bleached White. Unknown Aqua from stash.  Quilter's Linen in Platinum.  Backing: Dear Stella Anchors Green.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient Bamboo
Thread: Aurifil  50wt Iceberg (2846)