Friday Finish - Not a Nautical Disaster

There seems to be a nautical theme around these parts lately!

I know, I know! No posts for months and then multiple in a week?! The reality is that there's been sewing and quilting, just not blogging, so there's a backlog of quilty goodness lurking in my hard drive. This finish was from way back in April at our Maritime Modern Quilt Guild Retreat at White Point Beach Resort.  I'm calling this one Not a Nautical Disaster (a little nod to a Canadian treasure... the Tragically Hip). A proud grandmother told me that a special new grandson would have a nautical themed nursery and, if big sis has a quilt, little bro needs one too!)

After making DT's Polaroid quilt, I've had them on the brain. But they're a tonne of work. And lots of trimming. Instead, I went for fussy cut sea creatures with a narrow border of Kona Silver or Kona Nautical and a second larger border of a variety of prints. I bought some fun prints at Patch Halifax (gotta love those octopi!) and hit the stash for some of my favs. These blocks of my own invention finish at 8 inches square. 
Wasn't it nice of this surfer to leave his board as a prop for me?

There's just something about a cobble beach that I love, love, love. I feel the same way about a pieced back. If you've not made one, go for it. I find it really freeing. I don't end up hoarding scrap bundles from projects I really like. I use as much of the fabric as I possibly can (and avoid buying backing!)

If there's a dory around, a quilt has to end up on it. Fitting given the fabric! It also gives you a glimpse of  Dear Stella Into the Reef Painted Anchors binding with a corner of Kona Nautical.

Wavy organic (the official quilting style of MMQG ☺) seemed fitting for this ocean themed quilt. I used a light grey... you know I'm not brave enough for high contrast quilting!

The Deets  
Title: Not a Nautical Disaster
Size:40 by 48 inches
Fabric Used: Fussy cut nautical prints (lots from Rae Ritchie's Into the Reef) and blenders in teal, blue, navy, and grey
Konas Used: Nautical, Silver
Quilting: Wavy organic in light grey
Binding: Dear Stella Into the Reef Painted Anchor, Kona Nautical 
Backing: Pieced with prints from the quilt top

Favourite Part(s): fussy cutting all those sea creatures and hitting my stash for coordinating blenders

I blogged about the early stages of this quilt here.

Writing this post has inspired me. Time to get to the post office and send this to its recipient before he's too big to sleep under it! I'm also linking up with some of my Friday favs - TGIFF @ Celtic Stitches and Finish up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts. Head on over and check out some lovely finishes!

J

WIP Wednesday - Release the Kraken!

Remember way back in February when I was so excited to get started on the Release the Kraken BOM? I've maintained that enthusiasm and stayed on track with the monthly installments. Shocking!

March's block was actually 6 blocks... with a lot of HSTs.

And here they are finished. I'm not 100% sold. They seem a little clunky compared to other parts of the quilt. I've been looking for a more refined boat pattern that I can make in the same size to swap them out. Please let me know if you've seen something suitable!

And it will give me more time to perhaps find the wood grain fabric I really wanted from Joel Dewberry's True Colors line. Can anyone help a girl out?

April's block came along with me on our Maritime Modern Quilt Guild Retreat. It was fitting given our seaside location at White Point Beach Resort. Good thing I also packed my trusty Add A Quarter Inch ruler (Dena is rolling her eyes) and my seam roller!

I went realistic with the colours for the lighthouse. I tried to mimic the stripes on the Sambro Island Lighthouse. It's the oldest standing and operating lighthouse in the Americas and happens to be just down the shore from the fishing village where my grandmother grew up.

In May, I whipped up this little creature. The purple Pearl Bracelets make me think of the suckers on an octopus' tentacles. And this Kraken has some octopi qualities to be sure!

Also in May, I fell in love with the mini quilt pattern. These aren't included in the monthly subscription and be purchased separately on the Quarter Inch of Quirk website. I loved the repetition of the boat from March's block. The wee size makes it more attractive to me.

I had to bring quite a pile of rainbow scraps to Sew In to work on this one!

And now you can see why I couldn't resist. Little does that tiny vessel know what lurks beneath those dark waters...

June's block is the Moon block. I wasn't sold on the block as shown in the original pattern, but they narrowed the strips and made it more rounded. Much more appealing! It was very chain-piecable (yeah... likely not a word)!
I didn't intend to match my block to my Olfa Splash rotary cutter. Happy accident!

For July, the block is a Mariner's Compass. I'm not 100% sure about it in the quilt lay-out, but I'm making the block regardless. It can always be a mini quilt or go on the back. This block is another paper pieced one by Kristy of Quiet Play. I think I might be addicted to her patterns... more on that another day! I started this one off by chain piecing some of the sections. With paper piecing patterns (say that five times fast!) with repetitive sections, chain piecing is a great way to save time and fabric.

 

As you can see above, I've also gotten into colouring my patterns before sewing. It really cuts down on mix-ups when I'm sewing fast or tired (okay... that's all the time!)

Here's the Mariner's Compass to date. I need just the right piece of red to pair with that C+S plus print. Thank goodness for my red-addicted pal, Dena @ No Frickin' Blog Yet!

Please excuse the Instagram filter... I was playing around!

I'm linking up today with Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts. and MidWeek Makers @ QuiltFabrication. Pop on over and see what some other quilters are up to this week!

J

Hello? It's me...

Here's the good news... I have been sewing!
The bad news... I've kind of dropped the ball on the blogosphere.
As I feared, when I added Instagram to my social media, there was a shift for me. (Feel free to pop on over and follow me.. @quarter_inch_from_the_edge) But it's summer now, so I'm back to the blog. We'll see how it goes!

I'm back. Teal. FMQ. Pillow. Loved it so much I wanted to keep it!

But I couldn't. This little lovely was made to thank DT's wonderful caregiver, Mrs A. She's so incredibly patient and the kiddos have learned so much from her. She's their first teacher and she's got a well-deserved summer break!

Mrs A loves soft beachy tones. Off I went to my stash... no shortage of fabric to meet that brief! Knowing that I wanted to do some fancy quilting, I kept the piecing simple. Squares go together so darned quickly!

Rather than risking tracing right on the pillow (things can always go a little wild when DT are involved!), I opted to trace their hands on white paper. Then I positioned them where desired on the pillow and stitched through the paper outline.

Though it was tricky to make the curves, I used a short (1½) stitch length to make it easier to tear the paper away.

Once both hands were done, the pillow needed a little something more. I filled in space with FMQ spiral swirls.

 The quilting shows pretty well on the front and back!

I love those wee quilted hands. Well, one of them is wee! I might have to recycle this quilting idea for some more gifts!

 

  

 

Mrs A loved it and DT loved giving it to her!

I enjoyed the process of making it so much that I made another for a retiring colleague!

This time the colours are a little darker and there are no hands. But I'd still love to have kept it. Why are the pillows I give away so much fancier than the ones on my couches? ☺

I'm linking up with Main Crush Monday @ Cooking Up Quilts! It feels good to be back!

J