Camouflage is for Wimps!

Welcome to my stop on the Seaside Adventure Row-along tour!

For the past three years I have participated in Marian’s epic annual row-along at Seams to be Sew – if you have been involved before you would remember…. 50 bloggers,, each with a themed block pattern, and lots and lots of prizes and prize draws. It was bigger than big! In the years I participated we had themes of My Happy Place, Once Upon a Story and It’s A Garden Party.

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And each time we had a blast! Then this year we were all set to go on a Seaside Adventure together, but instead we found ourselves all at sea when Marian suddenly passed away. ….. 🙁

But thanks to Mel Shields of The Quilting Room with Mel, we were not completely shipwrecked. Mel has put in the hard yards to host Marian’s final row along event and keep the Seaside Adventure hoppers on track. I hope you will drop by Mel’s blog and express your thanks.

Today is the last pattern release day, with myself, Beth Strand and Mel offering patterns. At Beth’s place you will find snail-trail waves, from Mel there is a scrappy jellyfish pattern and I am offering a block of tessellated fish. Three last fun and creative ideas for a ocean-themed quilt.

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Check out the rest of this post for links to collect these patterns.

A Seaside Adventure: Week 8

I was fortunate enough to count Marian as an online friend over the last few years. So I was very saddened at the sudden news of her passing earlier this year. She was a generous lady who gave much to the quilt blogger community. And I know she was very excited about this year’s row along theme – conservation of the world’s oceans was a cause dear to her heart. So I am honoured to be completing this journey in her memory with other bloggers who also remember her and her appliqué designs fondly. I know Marian would have been so pleased that it has gone ahead and loved all the patterns that we’ve released. For me it has been a lovely way to say goodbye.

Camouflage is for Wimps

When I was musing over what to design for my Seaside Adventure block, I decided to have a go at creating a block of tessellating fish shapes. My block is made of paper-pieced columns that line up to create subtle rows of tiled fish with a wavy, watery feel.

Together the fsh shapes, with their similarities and differences, make up the ocean and sand of my block…. much like a community of like-minded quilt blogger individuals might come together to create a themed row along perhaps……

And then there is one special fish. A special fish who stands out from the crowd in The Chameleon’s signature style of “lack of subtlety”. The fish who is shining on in honour of our friend Marian.

I finished my block with some raw-edge kelp appliqué (included in the pattern download) and free-motion quilting to highlight the Marian Fish further with fins and extra tail. I intend to finish my 18″ square block into a cushion when I get the time.

There are all sorts of embellishments I may choose to add when I get that far…. ribbons, shells, buttons, trinkets….. here’s a few ideas I’ve played with. I’m sure you’ll find many ways to make this block your own.

You can download your copy of this block “Camouflage is for Wimps” right here:

I hope you have a lot of fun creating my Seaside Adventure block. 🙂

This week’s other row along patterns

Beth has cleverly turned a snail trail into a wave crashing onto the beach. You can find the pattern to recreate three of these lovely blocks to make a 30″ x 10″ row at Beth’s blog (Words and Stitches).

And our host Mel has a wonderful scrappy jellyfish tutorial at The Quilting Room with Mel. The four jellyfish make a 30″ x 30″ block.

If you’d like these patterns, you can collect them at their respective pages in the links provided this week for free this week.

And that’s it from me for the Seaside Adventure row along