A birthday quilt in progress

My mother-in-law's birthday is just after Christmas and it's hard to come up with a nice gift for her for both occasions.  She and my father-in-law have recently left their home in Florida and moved to Arizona because of a job relocation.  They still consider Florida home, though, so we thought it'd be nice to get her something for her birthday that would remind her of home.

We actually picked up these fabrics on our honeymoon trip to Alaska but decided they fit the bill to make a beach-y, ocean-y quilt for her for her birthday.

 

 Whales and otters                                             Watery prints

I followed Jeni @ In Color Order's tutorial.   (I used this tutorial before to make a quilt for my husband, so it's going a little faster this time.)  Here's my blocks in process.  The green background fabric is Kona Tarragon.

 

I debated which layout to go with and ultimately decided to ask my husband's opinion, since it's going to his mother.

He decided on the bottom one because of the mix of colors.  Aren't those otters cute??  Here's the final layout - it's on the bedroom floor because it's too big for my design wall.

Now just a bunch of straight seams to sew and it's off to the long-arm quilter's for finishing!  One less thing to do before the holidays.

It's hard to think about Christmas, though, when I have this pretty sight outside my window!

I'm linking (for the first time, hope I do it right!) to Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.