Zebra Love

This fantastic zebra is a test for Juliet of The Tartankiwi. I can't say enough about how I love her work. Her original is (here). I reversed the colourway and made a rainbow zebra with black and white in the background. I amazed myself with the number of zebra skin types of prints I had collected over the years just waiting to be used. The block is 20" square and paper pieced. I got it a little overcropped for this photo. I wish I were better at that aspect of things.
She is working on a 40" zebra. She has done several other animal blocks, I was fortunate enough to test one of her elephant blocks. She is currently running a Quilt-Along with bird outlines. There is a nominal cost for each pattern.
Other than that is has been a busy quilty week. We had the June meeting of the Scrapbag quilters on Wednesday and on Saturday I taught a beginner quilting class at Shoreline Quilts in Port Elgin (our local quilt shop).
I have decided it is time to take the upper hand with the chaos in my sewing room so there may be more organizing that sewing for the next little while. Piecefully, Joanne
Edited to add a link to Jeneen's Quilt Art Designs Friday Link party. quiltartdesigns.blogspot.com

A chorus line..... pattern coming soon

 

Juliet at the Tartankiwi  (www.thetartankiwi.com)  has done it again. This time it is a chorus line with lovely ladies kicking high. The pattern will come with ladies kicking to the right and ladies kicking to the left. There are also several sizes. I tested the 12" by 18" size. There are a couple of very minor tweaks to the printed pattern before the pattern release in the next week or so. And yes it is a paper pieced pattern but everything is so clearly laid out it is really quite easy to construct.
Now for my high kicking chorus line story. About 50 years ago my Dad took our whole family to New York City for a week. It was our first plane ride and we stayed at a downtown hotel. Each day we went into a different area of the city and saw as many of the highlights as we could. One day we went to see the Rockettes at the Radio City Music Hall. I can still remember the precision. Oh my! Sometimes now you can see them doing a little spot on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and when I see that I am taken back to that trip. We packed a whole lot into those five days.
I am off on an extended weekend retreat starting this afternoon. We are focusing on UFO's on this retreat as opposed to creating more UFO's. I had a hard time deciding just what I would take. I think I have enough for a month but who knows. They are calling for rain on Saturday so that should be a good day for sewing. Piecefully, Joanne

Crazy Busy, how does it happen?

I completed these test blocks earlier this week. They are for Juliet at The Tartan Kiwi (here). The pattern is now available in her Craftsy shop and the link is available on her home page. The blocks are 7" x 14" finished. If you have a chess player in the family these would make a portion of a lovely gift. I asked if she would be doing any more of the players and she indicated it would depend on whether there was any demand.
I finished the test for a mystery quilt that will be featured over four issues in The Quilt Pattern Magazine. That one I cannot show you but I will say that DH thought it was spectacular. I used a colourway that I don't normally use and find it is a challenge to get outside my comfort zone but I too was happy with the result.
After more than 10 years of regular use DS's bed quilt wore out. He asked his Dad if there was any chance his Mom (me) would be making him a new quilt for his birthday. So you now know what is up next on my list. It is queen size and I am working on pinning it for quilting.
Scrapbag quilters have finished for this calendar year. I am on for the January project. I have picked the pattern just need to fine tune my instructions and make the kits. That doesn't have to be done until the end of January so it is definitely on the back burner.
As the expression goes I need to Stay Calm and Quilt On. Piecefully, Joanne

Julie at the Tartankiwi has released her Elephant pattern

This is a nice BIG elephant. 24" square. I made it for my son as he has an elephant collection. The final pattern has been edited using the tester feedback so is not exactly the same as this one but close. To see Julie's comments about the pattern or to buy your own copy see her blog (here) for details. Piecefully, Joanne