My son and I designed this Mariner’s Compass Quilt with Fan Border in Electric Quilt for his graduation from Chrysalis High School. We had a great, creative time together designing and placing the blocks on a computer screen. We could audition colors instantly, save several versions of the quilt, then compare our options. To make this a meaningful memory quilt, friends and family wrote messages on the green squares that I included in the king size quilt. (My son is 6 ft. 3.) I ironed freezer paper on the back of each square to make the fabric stable to write on and furnished pens with acid-free pigment ink.
He chose red and indigo Japanese fabrics for the interlocking blocks. I constructed the snail’s trail mariner’s compass medallion and fan border with foundation paper piecing and completed all the sewing (including free-motion machine quilting with wool batting) on my trusty Bernina. I finally finished the Mariner’s Compass Quilt several years after the graduation. In the role of Vanna White is the late Ty Beanie.
Quilting the king-size quilt on a Bernina 730 – a tight fit, but it worked!
This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners. Your purchases via these links may benefit Create Whimsy. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.
Quilting is done – it’s finally ready for binding!
Finished quilt border with glamour shot of Ty Beanie.
The finished quilt – love how it turned out – and so does my son!
Check out all of the quilts and quilting projects on Create Whimsy.