Wayfinder Quilt - The Scrappy Version

Written By Brooke Shankland

Welcome back to my corner of the quilting world, where threads intertwine here not just on fabric but within the details of our lives. Lately, I’ve found myself caught up in the relentless whirl of daily tasks and the continuous push to churn out content for this quilty endeavor of mine. This constant drive can sometimes overshadow the quieter, equally significant achievements of my past efforts. The truth is, amidst the hustle to innovate and “produce", I often miss out on the reflective pauses that are essential not just for creativity, but for gratitude too.

Each quilt I've created carries its own narrative, a rich tapestry of challenges, triumphs, and the quiet moments in between woven right into the stitches. Yet, I find myself swept along by the current of production, barely stopping to breathe in the success - both in my business life and personal life - or reflect on the echoes of past projects.

Today, I’m changing the rhythm a bit. I'm taking a moment to step back and celebrate this particular piece—a quilt born from my own pattern, a creation that stitches together not just fabric, but the very essence of my quilting journey and design personality. Let’s explore my scrappy Wayfinder quilt together, unraveling the threads of its story, appreciating each stitch for the milestone it represents.

Wayfinder Quilt

 
 

The Wayfinder quilt represents the idea that, in a broad sense, we never really “arrive”; we are always navigating and re-orienting ourselves toward new directions. With this in mind, the design seeks to remind us to live in and appreciate each point on this long, winding path - not just the destination.

Wayfinder is a quilt pattern that can be made by a confident beginner. The rating of this quilt pattern stems from the inclusion of half-rectangle triangles (HRTs) within the quilt’s design. The quilt pattern includes explicit instructions so that any HRT first-timer can create it with ease. You can find instructions for 6 different sizes, 4 different color variations, and 2 different block layouts in this modern, fat quarter-friendly quilt pattern.

Design Inspiration

 
 

While in the bit of a “life re-examination” I’ll call it (though, it appears - for me at least - that this process is never-ending), I picked up Siddhartha and began re-reading this book I’m sure I’d been assigned back in high school. There are so many nuggets of wisdom in this book, which is no doubt why it is such a classic, but one passage resonated with me so deeply. It was clearly something I needed to understand at that particular time. “Siddhartha says: ‘It is the same with me as it is with you, my friend. I am not going anywhere. I am only on the way.’” Something immediately clicked for me. Many of us - myself most certainly included - have been so conditioned to be constantly pursuing and grasping for what’s ahead, expecting the reward of satisfaction once we’ve reached that next summit. It was burning me out and making me miserable.

 
 

Wayfinding is the orientation toward and navigation from place to place, with signs and experiences along the way. I imagined a new perspective where instead of high-speed highways to major destinations, there were scenic backroads and points of interest along the way. Road closures become fascinating detours. The Wayfinder design, with its wandering dotted paths, is about that all-too-trite sentiment of “enjoying the journey.” It turns out this advice has been a key for my finding contentment and joy in life because the hedonic treadmill will keep running so long as a myopic focus stays on the next big thing - whether that be related to wealth, status, love, pleasure, or anything else that we think will, once achieved, suddenly solve our problems or make us happy. Ambition is, of course, a wonderful thing - it’s just when I forget to smell the proverbial roses and fully appreciate what’s lovely about the current path that I find life gets heavy. A reminder that there really is no “destination” - except that, morbid as it is, our time on this planet eventually ends - helps to lighten things up a bit. If we never, in the ultimate sense, actually “arrive,” why not enjoy wherever we are along our path?

Quilting Fabrics

 
 

This modern quilt pattern has several possible variations, and I was excited to make this “scrappy” version with “mixed color” blocks using some lovely bright solids. After making this quilt, I have to say, it wasn’t always easy to photograph, but it was definitely fun to sew with and just so happy-looking! In my head, I refer to this one as the “funhouse” version (I absolutely love funhouses), it just seems to give me those vibes. And, completely appropriate, since the point of the funhouse isn’t so much to get through it, but to enjoy all the fun & quirky experiences within, right? (Though, spending some extra time in the mirror maze may be more by accident than intention!)

Quilt Top

 
 

The quilt top was made using Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Solids in the colors Coconut Milk (background), Fresh Water, Olive Oil, Grapefruit, Coral Reef, Rock Candy, Secret Lagoon, Aurus, Mirage Blue, and Cosmos. This really seemed like a pretty off-beat mix of fabrics when I finally pulled my fat quarters together. I was, to be honest, a bit worried as I started to cut into them. Thankfully, I trusted the process, my mockup, and my instincts for what has become one of my favorite and most asked-about quilts.

Backing & Binding

 
 

The backing is AGF Tiny Dancer Six. While I don’t typically use much red in quilts, this one seemed to complement the Coral Reef color, and the whimsical dandelion print seemed so fitting - the idea of being willing to drift sometimes, allowing the wind to take you where it may.

The quilt binding is AGF Cactus Flora Lily - This was fabric I had left over from another quilt’s backing, and it pulled together all the colors so well and also contrasted the very geometric piecing.

Quilting

 
 

My scrappy Wayfinder quilt was longarmed by the oh-so-wonderful Wild Phil Quilting using the Sunrise Skateland panto by Julie Hirt. I think this quilting pantograph only adds to the whimsical sort of carnival feel of this quilt. I often love using pantographs to contrast with the patchwork elements - in this case, offsetting the sharp, geometric piecing with those undulating curves.

I was so impressed with the way this Wayfinder quilt turned out. It was so much better than I could have ever dreamed up. I often find myself looking back on this quilt and finding new inspiration growing out from it. I truly hope my quilt inspires you to look around at your current journey in life and find the good in where you may be. It might be a hard task and require a lot of self-reflection (I might be speaking on my behalf here), but take solace in knowing you are not alone in that journey.

Tools Used:

 
 
Brooke Shankland
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