Duck, Duck, Goose!

My Finished Duck , Duck, Goose! Quilt!

Duck, Duck, Goose! Quilt   by Summercrafter
available { here }

One of my favorite things to do,  in the wonderful world of sewing,  is to test out patterns !  Recently, I had the pleasure of finishing  up a fun and delightful child's quilt, designed by Elaine ,  the Summercrafter.

This quilt is called, " Duck,Duck, Goose!"    

Duck, Duck, Goose!  quilt   design by Summercrafter      Made by Susie's Sunroom

It's a pattern that made me literally smile and giggle as I finished  sewing each block! These little white geese are so " geeky " with their skinny necks and jaunty double feather tails!!

Quilt Details:

Pattern:  Duck, Duck , Goose!        Design by Elaine at Summercrafter  { pattern  here }

Size:   58 "  x 58 "

Front:  various stash fabrics

Backing:   A Riley Blake fabric from my stash  (can't remember the name as it is from an older line)

Batting:   Pellon 970 Thermolam Plus Sew In

Thread:    Aurifil Thread 50 wt. #2024 for piecing  and 
                                                # 4655 for quilting  (Variegated blue from a Color Me Happy Aurifil  Collection )     

Quilting :   My "Random Wavy Lines"-  keeping within a 3 inch width horizontally across the quilt


I love the yellow fabric on the back.

 The white designs reminded me of  feathers !

This little fellow  must have gotten lost !  " Hey, they are all on the other side! "

I ended up making an extra Goose block, and decided to use it on the back side! I needed some added width to the yellow fabric for the backing , and accomplished this by  piecing a long section together , 12 1/2 inches wide by 58 inches.  

For the quilting,  I sewed the  wavy lines, keeping each line  contained within a "lane " of 3 inches wide, horizontally across the quilt.  I tried to achieve the feeling of gentle waves for the duckies to float upon.  The Aurifil #4655  cotton thread is variegated, and gives the quilting some more interest with the  different lights and darks showing through.  (Aurifil is my favorite thread!)

Aurifil Thread:  #2024 white and #4655 variegated blues

The ducks were very cooperative for the photo shoot, so here are some more pictures !

Obviously, a few old pins don't bother this little Quilty Helper, Whiskers!!

Elaine has designed another brilliant baby /child's quilt pattern! 
Be sure to go on over to the Summercrafter blog and pattern store, to see all of Elaine's patterns!  They are available in PDF format, and many have the paper pattern option as well!

  *** You can check out the quilts that I have made using Summercrafter patterns:

High Seas  { here }
Water Color Sea Horses  { here }
Peppermints  { here }

 I am keeping this little Duck, Duck, Goose!  gem for any "future" grandchildren that may come " down the road. "  I love looking at it!
Wouldn't this quilt and  pillows of a duck and a goose be so cute for a baby shower gift?!!

I'm off to my sewing room!

Linking up at:    And Sew We Craft Together @ And Sew We Craft  and 
                         Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story  and
                        Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts  and
                      Fabric  Frenzy Friday  @ Fort Worth Fabrics Studio  and
                             Sew Cute Tuesday @ Blossom Heart Quilts 

Quack!!

                      

Watercolor Sea Horses

Summer Sea Horses

A few months ago, I had  fun testing out some new  quilt patterns that were designed by my friend, Elaine, of Summercrafter blog.

The first quilt I'd like to share with you is a delightful little quilt with sea horses!  This is a perfect project for summer. The quilt is made by  piecing using Half Square Triangles and corner units.  

Quilt Pattern:    Watercolor Sea Horses        by    Summercrafter

                         -pdf file  ( immediate download after payment)  HERE

Watercolor Sea Horses quilt pattern 

My Watercolor Sea Horses Quilt:

Watercolor Sea Horses     by Susie's Sunroom

Quilt Dimensions:     48" x 54"

Fabrics:   Spring House   by Moda  Stephanie Ryan
           I used a charm pack and some yardage 
              Michael Miller  Fairy Frost    for the backing
Batting:   Warm and Natural

Thread:   Aurifil  50 weight for piecing together - white
              Aurifil  50  weight for quilting top - Color Me Happy  light green 3320


This is the  finished flimsy quilt top .   Can you see all of the little blocks in this picture?

The flimsy top piece

I love the rows of waves on the top and the bottom of the quilt!  
Elaine's pattern is very detailed, with excellent graphics and directions. 

Quilting details: 
-  variegated light green ( from the Color Me Happy collection)  Aurifil thread for the quilt top.
First, I quilted around each seahorse figure. Then, I  decided to quilt "Curvy Organic Lines" ,  to give the illusion of water currents and movement.
   

The quilting thread is light in this section of the quilt.  You can see a hint of green near the bottom edge of the picture

I kept the width of the up and down pathway at  about 1 1/2 inches.  

Painters tape and pins help mark off the 1 1/2"  wide vertical columns
 for quilting the organic curvy lines 

 The sea horses seem to be floating up and down in the water, don't they?   Elaine told me that the quilting reminded her of "sea weed" !

The Back:

I pieced together some of the leftover strips , to insert in the middle of the yellow and white Fairy Frost fabric .  And then made a little label.   

The pieced backing

                                                     

This little sea horse quilt is staying in my family!  
Note to self:    This would make an awesome baby quilt.

By the way..... Summercrafter has 3 new quilt patterns in her "My Shop".   They are all  on sale now!

*** click on  “MY SHOP” on the beach, in the upper right margin and it will take you there. Use the code “FINALLY” and get 10% off! ***

I'm off to my sewing room!

PS

My husband had this suggestion-   " Your quilt  back looks like a raft floating in a big pool."

" You need to have a lady in a bathing suit , with a big hat , laying on the raft!"

Linking up at:   Sew Cute Tuesday @ Blossom Heart Quilts   and
                       Sew  Darn Crafty @ Sew Many Ways   and
                         Fabric Frenzy Friday @  Fort Worth Fabric Studio  and
                        Can I Get a Whoop Whoop @  Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Day 1 of the Simply Striped Pillow Blog Hop !

            Simply Striped Pillow Blog Hop
                             March 2

Welcome to my first Blog Hop at  Susie's Sunroom!

I invited six "super star" quilters to make a pillow  "any way you like" from  one pattern-   
     the Simply Striped Accent Pillow Pattern   { available on my Craftsy here}!

Each day of the hop,  we will  have a guest blogger and  they will share their own pillow.

I also have a giveaway to share with you at the end of the post!  **The Giveaway is now closed.**

So let's get started!!

Our first quilter, as well as designer, is the talented and artistic Elaine, of Summercrafter blog:                                                     

Meet Elaine    @ Summercrafter  blog

Hi! My name is Elaine the Summercrafter. It used to be that Summer was when I could really enjoy crafting and quilting. Now, I am embarking on a pattern designing business and I couldn't be happier doing something I really enjoy, like making pillows for one. I had a great time doing Susie's Striped Pillow Tutorial (once I decided which fabrics to use).




For me, choosing the fabrics always takes the longest, yep, I over think it!





I am in the process of making a baby quilt for a little bundle of joy due to arrive early in the Summer. Once I had the quilt pieces cut out, squares and rectangles, I had the rest to use for my pillow.




I had to play with Susie's measurements and see which pieces would work best.

Because of the fabric restrictions I encountered, I ended up making two FRONT versions of the pillows. On one side, I used rectangles to make the stripe in the color scheme I was using for the quilt. I love how it pops on the gray.



On the other side, I accented the pillow with orange chevron.

To assemble the pillow, I was able to "patch up" pieces of batting and adhered it using spray baste which I like to use for small projects. I basically had two small quilt tops. After flipping the pillow, I dreaded that closing stitch that never quite comes out as neat as I would like. So I decided to add a little binding for some color contrast and to conceal the stitches.

I left a big opening to stuff the pillow. TIP: Always sew the binding on completely to one side BEFORE stuffing the pillow!





Overall, I have to say Susie's tutorial was really easy to follow, her photographs were very detailed and helpful for us visual learners. You can find the pattern for the pillow right here.


And more pictures...





 ;









I think this pillow can grow up with the baby right through college!

Elaine

Wow!!  I just love Elaine's pillow!!  These fabrics are so vibrant,, and I love the binding addition to my pattern!  This will be a much-treasured gift for that little baby boy!!

The Schedule-    here at Susie's Sunroom  :      
                        

March 2   Elaine    Summercrafter       

March 3   Susie  Susie's Sunroom      

March 4   Geta      Geta's Quilting Studio     

March 5   Sheri   Sunshine in the Attic         

March 6   Lara    BuzzinBumble          

March 7   Amanda    The Patchsmith   

March 8   Amy  Amy Made That!     

Now for the GIVEAWAY :    ~the giveaway is now closed

The Prize:    

Windham Fabrics  Wallflowers charm pack  plus 1 yd  Wallflowers Lattic Green
plus  Easy Angle 6 1/2 " ruler  by Sharon Hultgren

 

The  Prize:

One  Wallflowers  Charm pack   (by Windham Fabrics)  and

One yard -  Wallflowers Lattice Green fabric      and 

 Tool-   Easy Angle 6 1/2 " ruler   by Sharon Hultgren 

To Enter:      Simply leave a comment on this post.
  If you need an idea... you can  tell me ( or confess ) if you have a large or a small fabric stash!

Contest dates:    Monday,  March 2 - Friday,  March 13, 2015   midnight EST * now closed*

Giveaway is open to USA and International friends !!  

If you are a no-reply blogger, you must  leave me your email address so that I can contact you , if you are the winner.   If there is no email address, I will have to do a re-draw and pick another winner.

Good luck everyone!  
Come back tomorrow to see what I  have made for the blog hop!

1. The pattern          2. Summercrafter

I'm off to my sewing room!