Playing with Oh Captain by Bec Williams

Hello Friends!

I have been a pretty terrible blogger recently, and not because I have had a lack of wonderful things to share. More that the dreaded writers block hit me hard and I just couldn’t form the words I needed. This has happened to me in varying degrees over the years and I put it down the creative brain and how easily I can overwhelm myself. I have learnt the best thing I can do is just not force it and wait for the words to come and the good news is at some point this week as I buried myself in my ridiculous to do list they all came flooding back. Hopefully they hang around for a while this time so I can share all the beautiful things I have been working on.

It seemed fitting to end my (unintended) blogging hiatus with one of my favourite ranges of 2019 – Oh Captain by Bec Williams distributed through the fabric powerhouse Hawthorne Supply Co. I am a sucker for nautical prints and they can be incredibly hard to find especially in a modern style. This beautiful range has it all – stars, whales, octopi and, my favourite, stripes! To make this range even more special the art is drawn by Bec herself and the detail is incredible, she is such a talent. As well as the gorgeous fabrics you can also buy a panel to make your own whale cushion and Oh Captain pennant which adds the perfect finishing touch.

Now bear with me a bit because I had so much fun with this range I ended up making THREE quilts and as you can imagine with three quilts comes a rather large amount of photos. The good news is that two of them will be part of my next quilt pattern, aptly named Oh Captain, and are fast sews that are beginner friendly. More info in that in an upcoming blog post but for now lets look at some pretty pictures ….

The first quilt is a modern chevron design and was my first thought for the range. I love a classic modern look and it worked perfectly with the prints, especially when finished off with the navy stripe as binding.

I didn’t want to the whole quilt to be chevron but rather add a feature middle like I did with Brayden’s rainbow quilt although I simplified this one right down so that it was not only beginner friendly, but a super fast sew.

Quilt two was a fabulous happy accident, that comes together super quickly as all the hard work was done while making the chevron quilt. It has scope for lots of different options but I loved the simplicity of using the diamonds.

For some reason, right now, I have a thing with sashing (adding borders) to my quilts. In this case it worked perfectly, adding just the right amount of detail. And this time I opted for red stripe binding as the perfect frame. I can’t decide between red or navy stripe for my favourite – that said because I made different quilts the fact I didn’t ever have to choose was a total bonus!

A photo of the two quilts together. I love the fact that they coordinate but don’t match. How great would they be as twin beds in a shared room to coordinate the space but still give a sense of individuality. I really cant wait to release this pattern!

My third quilt was a lovely surprise as it was never on my list to sew. But the best thing about the cushion panel was that you got 2 whales and I really wanted to play with the idea of thinking outside the box. I added wadding to the back of the whale, quilted in all the lines and then, using a simple straight stitch, added it to the finished quilt. It’s hard to see on the stripe but I used wavy line quilting for added movement and fun. The end result is a classic quilt that allows the whale to shine. To be honest it was hard to not add the second one to the top but keep on with my original plan of making a cushion.

It was worth making the cushion though I think – he is just so beautiful and sewed up perfectly. The coordinating pennant is a lovely addition too and would be so sweet on a wall. I added some navy leather to the edge of it for some extra detail and really loved what it did for the overall look of the set.

A close up of that gorgeous whale so you can get an idea of the detail in the print. Like I said before, Bec is a master!

I kept the backs of the quilt simple and used prints from the range for each one. I love them in their own right again largely due to the amazing detail in the designs.

So there you have it, one range and three very distinct quilts that work so well as a set or on their own. I have a sneaking suspicion a fourth option will turn up soon too in the very near future because this range is lovely to work with and ticks all my boxes as a creative, its lovely to have a nautical range back in my stash that I know will look fabulous no matter the treatment.

Have you all raced over to Hawthorne Supply Co and bought a bundle yet? If not what are you waiting for! I bet like me you find a million uses for it.