Modern Courthouse Quilt | featuring navy Pistachios

I can't get enough of the Modern Courthouse Baby quilt pattern. This is the fourth I have made. Someone needs to stop me. The pattern is just so perfect for highlighting a hand-printed panel while maintaining a minimal aesthetic.

modern minimal Courthouse Baby Quilt in grey and navy | Lovely and Enough
modern minimal Courthouse Baby Quilt in grey and navy | Lovely and Enough

This little guy was happy to be my quilt model while we were hanging out one afternoon. I mean, who wouldn't rather lay on a quilt on a warm fall day than go car shopping with mom and dad? And how perfect that he was wearing such a fun citron diaper, since I didn't manage to sneak any citron into this quilt. Pudgy thighs, stylish cloth diaper, quilt to be photographed: it was a match made in quilting heaven.

modern minimal Courthouse Baby Quilt in grey and navy | Lovely and Enough
modern minimal Courthouse Baby Quilt in grey and navy | Lovely and Enough
denim binding on a modern baby quilt | Lovely and Enough

Sometimes picking out binding and backing can prove tricky, but with my hand-dandy quilt consultant (aka boyfriend) along, it went very smoothly. First, he pulled this lovely lightweight denim off the shelf at Joann that matched perfectly. Navy with a bit of a fleck, I could not have chosen better myself. Then when I sliced it up, I realized the fabric is automatically on the bias. That is what I call WINNING in the binding fabric department.

For the back, I was hoping for a grey or navy lowkey print or solid. When the quilt consultant suggested robot for his nephew's quilt, I was rather skeptical. Robots? For a minimal modern quilt? However, after circling the store a second time, I started to appreciate the minimal nature of the robots he had chosen. As you can see below, robots won.

flannel robots for the back of a modern baby quilt | Lovely and Enough

This quilt should have arrived at is new home last week! I hope that the second little guy who gets to lie on it likes it just as much as the first.

modern minimal Courthouse Baby Quilt in grey and navy | Lovely and Enough

Check out the other versions of the Modern Courthouse Baby Quilt (named by their centers):

Minty Long-legged

Citron Hortensia

Navy and Citron Hortensia

Follow the progress of this quilt with the links below:

Piecing

Whole Cloth Quilt Collaboration with Salty Oat

Last Spring while trolling Instagram, I stumbled upon Caitlin Topham: the quilter and curator behind Salty Oat. Miracle of all miracles, she actually lived near me in North Carolina! Inspired by her gorgeous quilting and crisp modern embroidery, I reached out to her and we met up for coffee. If you mostly live with quilter's only via Instagram and the web, I cannot emphasize enough how amazing it is to spend time with quilty friends in person. We sipped lattes and chatted about fabric design and quilting. Both of us geeked out a bit, and nobody was bored or thought the other was odd!

Caitlin shared with me her current exploration of whole cloth quilts and then asked if I would be interested in designing a quilt for her. Of course, I said yes! And here is the result many months later. To read more about the design process and to check out the other curated whole cloth quilts in her series, head on over to the Salty Oat blog.

Backed in Carolyn Friedlander goodness and machine-bound to perfection, this modern gender-neutral baby quilt is the perfect gift for those modern expecting parents in your life.

Find it in her shop!

Test Print Day 6.2 // Pistachios

Sometimes I have to bargain with myself to keep going on test print days.

Chai tea latte in my mint mug. Test print. Chips and queso break. Test print. Gossip Girl. Two test prints. Rainymood.com. Test print. Surprise "inspirational Arnold Palmer" from my lovely sister. Three test prints.

But these days are so exciting too! A simple screen can become my next favorite fabric and potentially a whole set of quilts. Just check my coral hydrangeas and my senior show! The hydrangeas, however, have held my attention long enough. Today was a Pistachio day.

Inspired by Blueberry Park, I prepped with a whole stack of solid panels and then went to town. Karen (the mind and hands of Blueberry Park and an inspiration to me as she manages her own hand-printed fabric business) prints mostly white on solids, and they all look gorgeous and modern and classic, so I thought I would give it a try. My favorite is white pistachios on light grey. My sister votes for white on mint. What's your favorite of the bunch?