Soulshine and Daydreams Quilt

I made this quilt for a work display and I am so happy with how it turned out!

It started with the Soulshine and Daydreams fabric collection; we got the big central panel and three of the coordinates in at Treadle and I was immediately smitten. I looked for a pattern online - usually fabric companies release a pattern when they have panels like this - and found Beautiful Dreamer on the Benartex website.

I am really glad I found a pattern I liked, because making stuff up from scratch is not my strong point, especially in quilting. Since we didn't have every single fabric in the collection, I added a few others from the store and a few from my stash.

There's a Kaffe Fassett print and an Anna Maria Horner print that are both current at Treadle, and a lot of my stash pieces came from my trip to Gruber's a few years ago.

I did have Quilting Math Problems, probably because of the changes I made. Around the central panel, I modified the dimensions a bit, so I had to take in the side pieced units a tad, and add an extra square to each top & bottom pieced unit. 

I free-motion quilted it myself on a regular machine. Most of it I did in a curlicue pattern, but I wanted to give the face a little more attention. Spirals in the cheeks, a defined nose and brow, and more details and curls in the hair. 

The backing is an organic cotton print from Treadle. It has a blue tone in the leaves that's darker/cooler than anything in the quilt top, so it's not a perfect match, but I really love it and I am trying to tell myself it's close enough.

I do like the scale of the backing with the quilt, and the floral motifs, and the pinks and yellows. I wish the teal green came through a bit more.

I could not decide on a binding fabric so I just pieced all my scraps. 

I don't think I have ever made a quilt this fast! I wanted to get it done to hang up in the store. I can't wait to take it home, though! It's going to live on my living room chair and be all for ME!