Willoughby Quilt - The Upsized Version

Hearing that my nephew Will was coming to stay the night this week was just the deadline I needed to finally baste, quilt, and bind this Willoughby Quilt top that my Mum and I made last year! It feels good to finish something! And it feels great to give it away.

Will, like my son Tully, is 14. I've made a quilt for each of his 3 sisters at the request of their mum, but I kept waiting with this one. Waiting for the right mix of design and prints that would suit a teenager into adulthood. I wanted the quilt to be mostly EPP because that suited my work flow, but also for the blocks to finish square so I could machine sew it together because it's big enough for his bed. 

I wanted a simple design that suited scrappy, because I just find myself leaning towards simple, scrappy blocks, rather than blocks with 3 or more steps. So, Willoughby Quilt was born. 

I feel like this design ticked all the boxes. It looks interesting, and maybe even a little complex, but it's actually just a simple, 8 point star block. I just love how much this sparkles, don't you? I love how as I move my eye around it, different shapes and patterns come in and out of focus. 

I used 2 1/2" diamonds and half square triangles for this quilt, and quickly decided while making it that while it was a great size for a single bed quilt, when I made a pattern for it, I'd prefer smaller shapes. I've been working on that version for the last month or so and hope to have it finished and kitted up soon! (Update: You can now find the Willoughby Quilt PDF pattern, EPP kit, and acrylic templates in the shop here!)

See that black square in the top corner (below)? I was so sure I'd made enough blocks! I don't know how many times I counted them to make sure, so I couldn't bring myself to make a replacement, and put that square there as a place holder, figuring I'd find it by the time I got around to quilting. Well, I never found it! And so, the fun black cats stayed, and I like it. 

I sewed all the stars, and my mum added the triangle borders. It took us a year of working on it here and there to finish the quilt top, and just 2 days to finish it off this week. And now Will has a beautiful quilt made by his Auntie and Nanna. Isn't that special?

You can find the quilt pattern, EPP kit, and acrylic templates to make your own Willoughby Quilt by clicking the link below!