Mar 28, 2016

A Whale of a time!

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend! Being able to enjoy the hope provided through the resurrection of Christ is one of the many blessing I'm thankful for!

March is practically gone, and I have not made much progress on the 2015 BOM. Would it sound strange if I said that I sort of needed a break? I don't like leaving things unfinished, but it seemed that I was no longer enjoying the quilting process, and it was all getting too stressful, or like that homework that we never did on time because it was so horrible, and we ended up putting it off for as loooooooooong as possible...  

So, just a teeny tiny break... I caved in! I just had to start working on a wall hanging that I had been thinking of making for a while...



After staring at the bookcase and the available fabric, I went for the gorgeous blue collection I got some time ago on sale. When I saw it, I knew I wanted it; I had no idea what I was going to make with it, but I just had to get it... Yes, I have my weak moments, but after seeing the results, who wouldn't like to consider having one of these every once in a while? 

The fabric waited patiently in the little bin for over three years, and when Elizabeth Hartman came up with her Preppy pattern, dots started to connect... You can find the link to this pattern on her page. Unlike her, I sometimes get these weird ideas in my head, but I cannot make them happen. It seems that she has this fantastic ability to see something and transform it into something beautiful. I love her eye for color, use of pattern and "shredding" something visually and transforming it into a quilt block.


I also had another roll of fabrics, from Jinny Beyer, who teaches the 2015 Craftsy BOM. I never knew that I already had some of her fabric in my stash, but it all went beautifully with the other fabric!  

Ah! The joys of happy quilty coincidences!


Even an old friend came to play with the happy whales! I did not follow of all the instructions in Elizabeth's pattern - you know me, I seem to be unable to follow instructions to the T. Instead, I used paper-pieced strips using adding machine tape. You can see my tutorial on this versatile technique here.


Tada!! Happy whales in purple waters... 

Ah! The joys of the joyful creative process!


Stay blessed,

Yiya

2 comments:

  1. Pretty! Whales are sure popular right now. I bought a quilt kit that features them and then saw another and yet another! I just love them all.

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  2. Hi Kathy! Yes, whales are getting really popular, and Elizabeth Hartman is doing her part in making other critters popular as well. I've liked marine mammals since I was a little girl, and I've always been fond of whales. I guess it's much due to the fact that I got to see Keiko (the orca from Free Willy) in real life. I still remember when people around me were clapping and cheering, and I was just standing up with my mouth open, literally... It was one of those life-changing experiences. I'm glad Keiko got to live in the ocean for some years! So, after all these years, when I saw Elizabeth's pattern, I knew I had to get Peppy and start playing with it!

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