Project Quilting 16.1: Mythical Creatures

 

Whooo, it's been a week! As soon as I read this week's challenge on Project Quilting, hosted by Kim Lapacek and Trish Frankland, an idea popped into my head. 

Sasquatch, Big Foot, Yeti, Sassy, Squatchy...whatever term you prefer to use...has always been a creature my husband (and sometimes I) have been interested in. 

He's a believer! Yes, we've even been on a Sasquatch hunt in our area after hearing reports of one being spotted. No luck though seeing him/her. 

I got started making my tote bag on Monday and completed my front curvy panel of dots and solids. I wish I had a few photos of that learning curve, but my invested brain didn't think of that!

Enough curvy strips already and I was back to straight lines for a back panel.

Then comes time for me to start a 72 hour water fast I signed up for online. 

What was I thinking? I had never fasted before in my life beyond 8 hours for a blood test.

That hit me hard and I was out of commission for sewing til Saturday. 

Back to top stitching the curvy strips.

I found a free Big Foot template online to print off and traced it onto Head n Bond Lite. 

Then ironed it to my brown batik fabric and cut out. Easy peasy, even on a queasy tummy.

I chose an uneven applique stitch to give Squatchy a hairy look.

Blue fabric that I've had forever became the lining. I first thought I'd box the corners at 2.5", but chucked that 3" to make my tote a bit wider at the bottom. 

The lining is sewn to the top of the outside panels, along with the handles inserted between and reinforced with 4 rows of stitches. Nothing worse than having a nice tote bag filled to the brim and having a handle come loose. 

And there you have it! A new Squatchy tote bag to take shopping to the grocery store and beyond! 

Sometimes I feel like I'm feeding a family of Squatches here when the bill rings up.

Linking up to:

16.1 – Mythical Creatures – Challenge 1 of Project QUILTING season 16

Bee Kind Blog Hop! It's my day! 🐝

Welcome to Day 2 of the Bee Kind Blog Hop!

This is a bzzzzy week of bee-utiful projects lined up

to inspire and entertain you.

🐝🐝🐝

Joan, our bee-loved host, from Moosestashquilting is so kind 

and patient to make this happen!

🐝🐝🐝

In late summer, I decorate my kitchen and dining area with sunflowers. I knew that bees were very attracted to the pollen in sunflowers, so it just seemed natural to put them together in a mini wall hanging. 

Flirting bees!

Sunflower petals were stitched down with Sulky 12 wt. thread.

This thread was glorious to sew with!

Small pieces of lace were used for the bee's wings. 

I really like the texture and appearance it gives my sweet bees.

Beads came in handy for the eyes and sunflower seeds.

More photos below taken in the backyard.

Bee sure to follow along with the other bloggers this week!

Monday Sept 23

MooseStashQuilting.com

Words & Stitches

Selina Qullts

Just  Sew  Quilter

Scrapdash

Tuesday Sept 24

Patchouli Moon Studio

Quilted Snail

Quilt Schmilt

Quilted Delights

Hazels Daughter  <----you are here!

Wednesday Sept 25

BeaQuilter

Karrin's Crazy World

That Fabric Feeling

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Quilting Between the Rails

Thursday Sept 26^th

Just Let Me Quilt

Ms P Designs USA

Quilting Gail

Songbird Designs

....aaaand because this hop is all about Bee-ing Kind, I am adding a giveaway!! 

Raise your hand if you like quilty giveaways! I see you...and you...and you!

I've gathered a few items from my stash that I'm hoping someone could use. Even if you'd like to pass them on to someone else, go for it! 

It's all about being kind, right? 

In order to be in the draw, just leave a comment and

 include the words "bee's knees" in what you write.

If you are a no-reply commenter, be sure to leave your email addy too, or I'll have no way to contact you. If I receive no response after 3 days from the initial contact, I will need to draw another name. 

I'll draw a winner this weekend after the hop! 

It's A Jungle Out There Blog Hop...my day!

 

Welcome to Day 3 of the It's A Jungle Out There Blog Hop!

We are here because of our gracious hostess, Joan at Moosestash Quilting. 

There are always so many talented bloggers who stitch along and provide incredible inspiration.

This month's challenge is to create a project centered on animals, plants or trees.

It all began with the background piece here that's filled with woodland animals. 

I pulled from my stash an assortment of coordinating fabrics. 

Not knowing how big I wanted this...more likely reason is that my math skills suck...I simply cut a whole lot of 5" squares. The solids would become HST's. 

If you squint your eyes juuuust enough, you can see that there's a secondary pattern going on.

Behind the diagonal rows, there are vertical stripes of green, then blue. 

Raise your hand if you see the stripes! 🙋

There is one big disadvantage to having a design floor. 

After piecing all the blocks together, I quilted the layers together using the wavy stitch that's on my machine. 

I've used this stitch many times and really like how it looks. 

Now how in the world did this batting scrap get sewn onto the back? 

At least I had only sewn one pass before finding it. 

Ugh. It's a jungle out there! 

A striped binding provided the look I was going for!

The leftover small scraps were sewn into rows and quilted onto batting.

And it soon became a matching bib! 

It is Jax-approved!

Now for some final photos of the quilt...all taken in the jungle we call our backyard!

Now I have a gift for a baby boy all ready to go! 

This quilt measures 38" square. 

Please follow along the hop and see many more fabulous projects!

Monday August 19

MooseStashQuilting

Ms P Designs USA

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Quilting Between the Rails

High Road Quilter

 

Tuesday August 20

Patchouli Moon Studio

Karrins Crazy World

Quilting Gail

Quilted Delights

 

Wednesday August 21

A Quiltery

Quilted Snail

Selina Quilts

Hazel’s Daughter  < << you are here!

 

Thursday August 22

Just Let Me Quilt

Scrapdash

BeaQuilter

That Fabric Feeling

Something Smells Fishy Blog Hop

 

There's a whole lot of fishy stuff happening this week on the blog hop 

and today's my day to show off my crab!

When this blog hop opened for contributors, I asked Carol (our fabulous blog hop hostess) from Just Let Me Quilt if a crab project would fit the parameters of "something fishy".

She was quick to say yes!

I don't care much for seafood besides the occasional can of tuna or tilapia filet, so making a fish-sort-of-anything gave me the willies.

Fortunately, my zodiac sign is Cancer and a crab is the symbol!

Besides all that, I have been known to be on the "crabby" side a time or two. 

Very fitting, eh?

I found a great crab applique on Etsy and shrunk it down to 80% so it would fit on a towel.

I'm wishing I had shrunk it down more, but it is what it is!

I pulled out my blue batik strips and sewed them together to resemble water. 

Curvy organic stitching gave the strips some movement. 

A navy ric rac was sewn beneath the strips on top and bottom. 

The crab applique pieces were ironed in place, 

then I used the blanket stitch in reverse to give Mr. Crab some texture. 

He was looking pretty good, even on his crabbiest day!

Flat white buttons topped with black beads gave him that "I'm watching you" kind of look!

Gold colored beads were added to make his treasured starfish sparkle!

This is a photo of my kitchen where my new crab towel hangs on the oven door. 

It is clearly a hands-off towel and since I'm the only cook in the house, I respect that decision!

Just yesterday, I found the coolest crab plate that sits just right behind the cooktop.

It was a steal at the American Cancer Society Discovery Shop in town....marked down to $3!

Now go visit all my fishy friends on the hop as they show off their awesome projects!

JULY 22

Just Let Me Quilt

Karrin’s Crazy World

Scrapdash

Quilted Delights

JULY 23

Patchouli Moon Studio

Words & Stitches

Quilted Snail

Quilting Between The Rails

Sew Many Yarns

Hazel’s Daughter

 

JULY 24

A Quiltery

Beaquilter

Quilting Gail

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

That Fabric Feeling

 

JULY 25

MooseStashQuilting

Ms P Designs USA

Quilt and Color

Selina Quilts

Hello Summer!

 

Summer's here and the living is easy, as George Gershwin once said! 

As much as I love summer, spring will always be my favorite season. But the former kid, former teacher, and former public pool season passer in me, there is always a reminder of the sweet warmth that the hot months of summer bring.

My latest project was inspired by June's theme of "watermelon" at The Joyful Quilter's Table Scraps Challenge. Watermelon = Summer to me, so it was a no-brainer to put these 2 ideas together. 

I found a tutorial among my Pinterest boards for a mini banner that fit the bill perfectly! 

You can find the Summer Fun Watermelon Applique Banner here, 

created by Amy Chappell. 

I added the cursive text of "hello summer", which is pretty darned close to my own handwriting!

Cutting out the text was the hardest part of this project. Ugh. 

No wonder cursive is becoming obsolete!

Add the binding was not a part of the original plan or tutorial. It became necessary because of the vintage linen fabric I used as the background. It has a loose weave and became wonky and not fun to play with. 

I made 4 tassels from embroidery thread and a few beads

 to add an extra punch of color. 

This will hang on a narrow wall in my bedroom. 

Hello Summer!

Enjoy your easy living! 

Thanks, Joy, for your encouragement and support to keep this blog alive!

Linking up with: 

June's Table Scrap Challenge

Wednesday Wait Loss @ The Inquiring Quilter