Squirrel, Owl and Raccoon Quilt Top Finished

Getting this quilt top sewn together and then photographed turned into a bit of an adventure.

Katherine over at Sew Me Something Good recently shared beautiful photographs she’d taken of her maple leaf quilt while on a fall nature walk. The whole time I was piecing the quilt I showed you on Wednesday I kept thinking of a creative place to photograph my quilt top once it was finished.

Right beside our apartment building a field of corn has been growing all summer long and had ripened to a beautiful golden brown. It would have been a great backdrop but the evening after I finished piecing the top, this is what that field looked like!

The huge corn harvesters had been in the field that day and had finished their work before I’d finished mine.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. The adventure actually began back when I cut the blocks for the quilt. I made a mistake when cutting two of the background blocks. I cut them 1/2″ too short!

The shop that put this quilt kit together was very generous in the amount of fabric they included but not generous enough for me to be able to cut two more blocks 8.5” X 16.5”.

The obvious solution of course was to just add ½” to each piece. But such a tiny strip at the edge of the quilt could have created an area that was difficult to quilt through and might even have made that area noticeably bulkier when it came time to add the binding.

I wanted a more creative solution that wouldn’t show as a mistake on the finished quilt.

A package of rainbow jumbo rick rack turned out to be the perfect solution.

I shortened the blocks that had been cut the wrong size and added a 4.5” strip to obtain the correct length. Next I covered those seams with the rainbow rick rack to conceal them. And then to make it look like it had been planned that way all along I added two strips of rick rack to each of the other long background blocks.

I love how this turned out. The rainbow rick rack (<-affiliate link) adds interest to what otherwise would have been big blank spaces.

As you can see, we did find another cornfield to use as a backdrop to photograph the quilt against.

Dave even created his very own Kilroy Was Here moment!

I can’t wait to get this quilted and bound so I can start using it. The pattern says it’s a baby quilt but I’m going to use it as a lap quilt to curl up and read under. Grown-ups should have fun quilts too!!!

This post contains affiliate links. For more information please check my Disclosures and Disclaimers page. It doesn’t cost you any extra, but it does help support this site.

I would be so pleased if you chose to share by clicking on one of the buttons below!