March already!?! Seriously?! Well, the good news is, it is time for the Beary Colourful Yellow Bear!
I am loving seeing all the bears appearing from in the Monthly Color Challenge link ups at Patterns by Jen. There are going to be some very happy teddy bear-loving quilt recipients out there in time! 🙂
The third bear in the Beary Colourful Quilt is the Yellow Bear of Being Active Outdoors. This bear is cheerful and energetic and is just itching to get out and have some fun. Grab this pattern and your yellow fabric scraps. Let’s add a really lively bear to your Beary Colourful collection.
Sounds rare doesn’t it? Actually, blue moons (second full moons in a calendar month) happen surprisingly often. Like my crazy quilt ideas. 🙂 But full lunar eclipses are much rarer. And my glimpse of the blue moon lunar eclipse at the start of this month was even rarer again. The elusive blood blue moon. I had to stay up until nearly 1am to get a five minute glimpse of this lunar eclipse in the only break in the clouds all night. I was the only one in my household who bothered.
But it was totally worth it. Those five minutes were surreal, magical even. After taking a few amateur photos that turned out better than expected, I simply sat on the concrete path, still warm from the summer’s day, and watched. By myself, in the silence. Just me and the bizarre red moon. Until the clouds rolled back over and I went to bed feeling strangely moved.
February! Time to meet the Blue Bear of High Hopes!
I know some of you have been waiting (patiently?!) since quite early January for the next bear in the Beary Colourful BOM. I must say, I was mightily impressed at how quickly red bears started appearing after the first pattern was released, and I want to thank everyone who shared a red bear with me last month. I think we will need to have a teddy bear’s picnic at some point!
So, without further ado, here is our Blue Bear of High Hopes. I have done him twice in two slightly different sets of fabric, because I like to double-check the pattern for you. At the end of the year I will have enough blocks for two bear quilts. I’m not seeing a downside to this, are you?! 🙂
Valentine’s Hearts, Project 70273 and the Monthly Colour Challenge! January has been inspiring!
January is drawing to a close and it’s time to link up!
Did you make something in red for January? If you did, don’t forget to link it up at Patterns by Jen for your chance at this month’s Color Challenge prize and an entry into the grand prize draw. You do not need a blog, you can just upload a picture of your project directly from your computer. The only thing you must have is a valid email address. Jen has also added instructions for linking via Instagram if this is your sharing platform of choice. And she has offered to help with any other linking issues you might have, so don’t leave it until the last minute…… we want to see your work!
Remember, this is what you are playing for this month….. A pack of 2.5″ strips from January’s sponsor, Northcott. You have until January 31 to enter.
In Other News: Valentine’s Heart Blocks
Hopefully you might remember – all the talk about red this month gave me an idea for my first Craft Room De-Stash Challenge project. I decided to use up my red scraps by making a scrappy appliqué heart quilt. This week I have been fortunate enough to have had enough sewing time to finish my 12 heart blocks for this quilt. If you are after a scrappy project for Valentine’s Day, you can find my tutorial for this block here.
In the spirit of continuing to destash, I also used up a pile of small scraps of fusible adhesive to make these blocks. Did you know that large appliqué shapes that don’t need adhesive in the centre are great for using awkward bits of fusible adhesive?
Using up those annoying bits of fusible adhesive – a quick How To:
Firstly, trace your appliqué shape onto baking paper (parchment paper). Lay your appliqué fabric flat, with the reverse side up, and cover with your baking paper template.
Welcome to Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Where we always find something interesting to inspire a quilt!
A couple of weeks ago, Paul and I took the kids to see the Christmas lights display at the local brewery. The display is a bit of a South Australian icon, and has been running for 58 years. The link I have supplied gives quite a good overview of the event, if you would like to see it. Like many other Adelaide locals, I do very much like our brewery lights display. But this year the take-home memory was actually a little plant growing in the council strip nearby.
Colour Inspiration Tuesday: Lovely Leucadendron
Many years ago, my mother grew lots of Australian natives and other plants that thrive in similarly poor, dry soil. Among the non-natives that my mother grew were quite a number of leucadendrons. So I tend to notice leucadendrons on my wanderings. But I have never seen one like this before!
I was struck by the beauty of this small bush, perhaps only 40cm high. Oh, the colours…. like a dusky sunset! I have called this colour scheme “Lovely Leucadendron”. Maroon stems, green and aqua lower leaves, graduating through lavender and lilac, peach, orange to yellow-green at the top of each stem. Once those yellow leaves open up there will be an insignificant flower cone in the middle. But it is the leaves that this plant is usually grown for. You can see why!
A Lovely Leucadendron Quilt?
If I was challenged to make a quilt inspired by this plant, it would have to be a string quilt. One with long thin-ish pieces like the strappy leucadendron leaves. It would be a scrap-busting quilt. And of course, made in the colours of the “lovely leucadendron”. After all, it was the colours that stopped me in my tracks in the first place!
If you arrange the string blocks like this you get leucadendron stems. Or peacock feathers….. 🙂 That’s ok, I like both. You could graduate the colours through the same sequence as the real-life bush, or just scatter them randomly…..
Lovely Leucadendron quilt idea
These colours would also be great on the Regatta Quilt (currently featuring in Home Sewn with Us’s no pressure sew along). I have started my Regatta Quilt. It’s not being made in these colours though. I had an orphaned jelly roll which has finally found its destiny. More about that in a day or two.
Are you joining in the 2018 Monthly Colour Challenge? I have seen a few Red Bears popping up in social media this week. You have no idea how happy it makes me to know that people are actually making my red bear pattern,. I’ll round up a few I/ve seen in a post for you later in the week. They are all different and it is amazing the variation in techniques and tweaks that have surfaced so far. What a clever bunch of quilters you all are!
Would you like to keep in touch with Clever Chameleon and the fun quilty ideas I design as well as find all over the internet? You can follow directly for email updates, or through Bloglovin’, Pinterest or FB. All your follow options can be found here. Thanks for your support!
I am loving seeing all the bears appearing from in the Monthly Color Challenge link ups at Patterns by Jen. There are going to be some very happy teddy bear-loving quilt recipients out there in time! 🙂
Not into dusky rainbows?! Perhaps you’ve been 