Seafarer - Bon Voyage!

After 10 weeks in port, replenishing, rejuvenating, and charting his next expedition, Seafarer has set sail on another voyage.

 

Seafarer's last journey was a year's long exploration of the southern Atlantic Ocean, specifically spending his days in South America's only land locked country, Paraguay. Somehow, the Seafarer sailboat managed to travel inland, magically making it there and back from that little country, shown in red on the map.

Due to both hot weather, and the lack of open water, instead of further exploration, Seafarer spent his time educating the local population about diabetes and hypertension. Unfortunately, his work was cut short due to the world wide pandemic.

Seafarer's return trip from Paraguay was fraught with numerous perils, as his new Paraguayan companion, Po, required special paperwork to come to the USA. Being an incredibly adorable 3 month old puppy worked in his favor, as he charmed all he came in contact with.

Now at 6 months, he's joined the neutered club, and is not letting that cone distract him from a new escapade. Full of adventurous spirits and the willingness to explore, the forever companions Seafarer and Po have set off and are eager to start the next chapter in their lives. 

This time, Seafarer's expedition involves the northern portion of the Atlantic Ocean, along the North American coast, with a trip distance far shorter and less fraught with hazards, limitations, and paperwork, than his first. 

With summer just starting to heat up, and some re-opening of the country from COVID-19 shut-downs, Seafarer's journey should be fairly smooth. Once he arrives in port, his mission is to aid in the fight against COVID-19, researching the virus for the development of a potential vaccine. Let's hope that his work is successful!

If you've followed for awhile, you'll recall Seafarer is a quilt pattern I designed and made for my son before he departed for his Peace Corps assignment. I was so happy when he (and the quilt) came home this March. And now I must say good-bye again to both, though this time his east coast port will make it much easier to visit. I'm sad to see him (and the quilt) go, but I know that this is a fantastic opportunity for him, and I wish him all the best.

I'll sign off with my usual,

but in my heart, it's really

 

Thank you for following!

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Seafarer Pattern Release!

Happy to announce the release of the Seafarer quilt pattern!

 

When I made this quilt, I didn't think about writing a pattern, as this was a special quilt for my son as he embarked on his 2 year Peace Corps assignment. With so many requests for a pattern, I'm happy to announce the Seafarer pattern release today! 

Since I was working from in-progress photos, I decided to make a baby quilt size to test the pattern. Isn't this just too cute???

The baby size version, which uses the same block size as the lap and twin/double size, measures a nice 39" x 39". And it's so soft - cotton batting, bits of flannel on the back, 

and a nicely spaced wave design for the quilting.

Looks and feels just like the bigger version!

Now a bit more about the pattern, available at Etsy: 

three sizes available - 
      baby (39" x 39"), 
      lap (57" x 82" - could be made shorter if desired),
      twin/double (75" x 88")

yardage amounts for all sizes given

number of blocks for all sizes given

template for sails

layout diagrams for each size

and, as always, full, detailed instructions for a confident beginner quilter to complete their own Seafarer quilt.

What's also great about this pattern is that more boats could be added for a whole fleet of sailboats!

If you've fallen in love with Seafarer, head over to Etsy - the pattern is available as an immediate downloadable PDF file. Send me a picture of your version of Seafarer - I'm sure others would love to see! 


Happy Quilting!

Seafarer

Introducing a new lap/twin quilt, Seafarer, 

It's an ocean of string beauty!

The design for Seafarer, using the concept of strings to depict an ocean with a lone sailboat, was dreamed up at around 4 in the morning. Yes, I'm usually awake that early, either creating, or getting ready to go for a swim. 

Scraps and yardage were pulled from the stash, and a few string blocks made to see if my vision was going to work. Below is the sneak peek of the beginnings of Seafarer that I showed before.

Still undecided as to whether this would be a baby quilt, or a bigger lap/twin size, I continued making more blocks, and adding the sailboat to the design wall.

Then it hit me - the reality that my son was leaving within weeks for a 27 month tour with the Peace Corps. Since he had already asked to take a quilt with him, Seafarer would be perfect for him - a lap/twin size it would be!

Since Seafarer was still in the works, he got to choose the batting, a soft 80/20, and also the backing. For that, I happened to have 4-5 yards of an aqua/blue flannel purchased years ago, just waiting for a water themed project. Perfect!

Quilting was a fast and easy freehand wave design, done in around 2 hours.

We had fun tossing around names for this quilt - my favorite from him was "Damn it, does this ocean ever end???"  But that's quite long, so we chose the more simpler, Seafarer. It suits his adventurous spirit, and the unknown experiences yet to discover. 

Will I miss him? Yes, but he's a young man now, ready to set off on an adventure of life after college. Twenty-seven months may seem like a long time, but it will pass quickly, and I know that an awesome man will come back. And ya, I'll miss the quilt too.

If you're also in love with Seafarer, the multi-size pattern is available in my QuiltFabrication Etsy shop.

Happy String Quilting!

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My Favorite Patterns

Small Open Sesame

Showing off strip quilt #2, from the Strip Savvy (affiliate link) book today!

Open Sesame is the pattern this time, 

and once again, I made a smaller, baby size version, with no borders. It's the same fabrics as Summer Picnic, because I still had plenty of strips/fabric left. So why not use it up and make this quilt another in a series?

But wanting a change, this quilt bucks the solid white fabric trend by using Kona Green Tea instead. 

The switch adds a fun bit personality to the pattern!

Granted, these are pretty simple half log cabin blocks, but when arranged the way they are, the quilt takes on a modern feel. And the angular nature of the design warrants an modern, angular quilting pattern.

So for this quilt, I chose the Contempo pantograph, a very modern, techno looking design. Along with bright Glide Neon Green thread, 

this quilt is a knockout! If you're looking to improve your quilting skills, check out my video tutorial on how to quilt square corners.

The back is a bit more playful, 

cause I couldn't resist the dancing green frogs!

Someone told me once that the frogs represent square dancing - has anyone else heard this? The way they're dancing around, I guess it could be true!

Can you tell I'm having a good time making quilts from the Strip Savvy (affiliate link) book? Clear instructions, lots of patterns, plus pattern variations - there's so much to choose from. What to make next?

Happy Quilting!

Summer Picnic Sans Borders

Summer Picnic, just one of the contemporary quilt patterns in the Book of the Month selection, Strip Savvy, (affiliate link) is a finish!

The pattern does include two borders, which I chose not to add on because the quilt would be quite large. I'm intending this as a baby quilt, and it's pretty big already - 48" x 48". Borders or no, I highly recommend this strip quilting pattern as a great way to use up strips or yardage.

Let's see some closeups, shall we? Look at the fun fabrics that make up this quilt -

all yardage from my stash. The initial fabric pull was the dark blue/green prints, with other prints containing green added in. Just goes to show that yardage can be cut to make your own 'jelly roll'. 

And with the easy panto, Paperchase, 

the quilt is soft and cuddly!

Since the color scheme makes this quilt for either a boy or a girl, a fun alphabet flannel makes up the backing.

It also has a lot of teal and green in it, coordinating well with the front.

Here's a fuller view of the quilt, still resting on the inviting white wrought iron swing. Doesn't it just say, "Come picnic with me!"

Enjoy a Summer Picnic and have a great weekend!

July and August 2017 Book of the Month

It's the 1st of July, which means another choice for the Book of the Month feature! This one goes to Kate Henderson and her book, Strip Savvy (affiliate link).

For many months, I've contemplated cutting some of my stash into strips, to easily make quilts and make room for new fabric. That last part is probably the bigger reason - wink, wink! Seriously, we all love new fabric. But the older stuff needs to be used first. That's just the way I think.

Glancing through this book, there are numerous quilts that have caught my eye. So, I've gone ahead and made this my choice for both July and August. Plenty of time to work on at least one quilt!

It may be a week or two before I get a start as there a several projects to work on first: the patriotic project, the duck pinwheels, and a project for the Christmas in July blog hop. Busy, busy, busy!

Continue to have a great weekend - see you on Monday!

This post contains affiliate links. I only endorse items that I feel bring value to quilters, and may receive compensation for any purchase you make.

Stock Market

A few pieces of leftover strip sets have turned into an awesome new quilt pattern - Stock Market!

A fabulous scrap busting quilt with a modern take on the classic strip quilt. 

Using my technique of pantographs plus custom quilting, 

the pretty pantograph, Hot Cocoa, was quilted all over the background, while the orange jagged line has straight line quilting.

And because I like to continue the designs to the edge, matching angled binding completes the quilt.

Leftover scrap pieces from the front made a long strip set for the back, helping to make it wider. Doesn't that look great?

Here's a closeup to see more of that yummy quilting!

A fun fact about the front side of that backing fabric. It actually looks like this:

Rather dated, wouldn't you say? Ah, but the backside was muted, with a grey - green cast and little bits of coral from the flowers.

Now a perfect fit with the front of the quilt! By the way, any leftovers of it have gone in the recycle pile - not playing with that fabric again!

Interested in busting your stash of strips? Give Stock Market a try! The pattern comes in two sizes, lap (54" x 77") or twin (70" x 77") with full, detailed instructions for both, including how to easily match angles. The pattern is geared toward the confident beginner/intermediate quilter, comfortable with 45 degree angles. Color choices are unlimited too - wouldn't this look great with black scraps, a grey background, and a red line? Be creative - make it your own!

Happy Quilting!