Hello Beautiful!!: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday

Hello Beautiful Ogre!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and this guy has a face that surely only a mother could love. But he has a good heart, and this much maligned but very amenable Ogre is our feature today because….. this is a sneak peak of a quilt panel I am working on for the Once Upon a Story row-along, organised by Marian of Seams to be Sew. And this row-along starts today! Read on to find out more about it.

You will want absolutely to find out more… there are free patterns and raffle prizes at every hop stop – including a download of EQ8 for one lucky winner, and lots of fabric prizes from our major sponsor Northcott Fabrics. Yup, Do. Not. Forget. to enter to win! The more you participate in this hop, the better your chances! Did I say, it starts today? Yes I did, and I hope you are sitting up and taking notice!

This week, my Tuesday is mostly about looking forward to what is next. September is the Accuquilt “Child’s Play” challenge for the Island Batik Ambassadors. And it is getting near to the end of our Love with a Twist quilt along too. Busy, busy, like the bees that have come out in force for the first few days of our Spring. Already the weather feels warmer!

How’s your Tuesday looking? Our Ogre’s putting his best face forward!

Seams to be Sew Quilt Along

This is the second time I have joined in Marian’s epic row-along at Seams to be Sew. You can find the entire schedule for her blog hop here. This year’s theme is rhymes, fairytales and other classic literature….. Do you like a good story? I do!

I have so many beloved stories it was almost impossible to settle on an idea for my block. Eventually I chose Puss in Boots, but I am not presenting my free pattern until the very end of the hop, on October 3. In the meantime, though, I am hosting another block designer, Ursula. You will find out what Ursula has for you right here on September 12. In the meantime, the first free patterns and raffles can be found at these links:

September 3, 2019
Just Let Me Quilt (Five Little Monkeys) 
Seams To Be Sew (intro post and instructions)
Pamela Quilts (I had a little Nut Tree)

September 5, 2019
Made By Marney
Pretty Piney Quilts
Renee’s Quilting Addiction

Child’s Play Challenge for Island Batik

Do you remember these fabrics from my July Island Batik Ambassador box?

They are 10″ precut fabrics called Graphic Gems, and I have decided them to use them for my September Island Batik challenge. Which is: “to make a quilt for a kid that you love or to donate to a kid that needs comfort. Clear out space for magic & whimsy when creating this month!”

It’s a fairly tightly bounded project brief, with the following rules:

• use fabric we’ve been sent;
• create a juvenile-inspired project;
• must be 45″ x 60″ or larger;
• must use an AccuQuilt BOB (Block on Board) Die included in the July shipment.

I had no trouble meeting any three of these four criteria with the resources at my disposal. Designing a project that ticked all four boxes was trickier. It also had to appeal to me and only take me a month…. a lot of considerations. I ended up with five designs I want to make, but three didn’t tick all four Island Batik boxes and/or my own two criteria. One I plan to make for October’s challenge. Two are set aside for when I obtain appropriate fabrics in the future. And a final pattern doesn’t match any remaining 2019 challenge briefs but will be awesome in the Little Sir, Little Miss fabrics I have, so we might be seeing that appear one day as a bit of a squirrel.

My allocated BOB die is Cleopatra’s fan (affiliate link).

Readers, I am curious as to what you would make with this die if you had to use it to make a medium-large kids quilt? I’ve already had one excellent discussion with one kind lady who helped put me on the thought path to the idea I have finally settled on to make. But I bet there are many more of you out there who can also see something special in your mind’s eye made from this die.

September is all about stories, so here’s your extended reading

The Chameleon thought it might be nice to let the Ogre have a turn at featuring last week’s party goers and introducing this week’s party. The Ogre in Puss in Boots was a powerful magician and a shape changer, so a little colour-shifting shouldn’t be too hard for him. Let’s see how he goes.

Joan of Moosestash Quilting linked up this ray of sunshine. This is her quilt for the Beat the Heat hop just finished with Island Batik. Her fabrics to feature are called “Sunny Side Up”. Just what the Chameleon ordered for the first week of Spring here Downunder. And these colours give the Ogre more street appeal, don’t you think?! Hello Beautiful!

Becca at Pretty Piney linked up this stunning star quilt last week. Becca is in the same group of Ambassadors as me, who will all be doing a major fabric feature blog hop in November. In the meantime she rocked the Star Bright, Star Light alternative challenge for Ambassadors with Star-Crossed Plaid made from Enchanted Forest fabrics. The Enchanted Forest also sounds like a good place to hang out in Spring….

And DONNALEEQ linked up this finish of her Bending Tree appliqué design. I just love the form of this tree, it reminds me of the massive Moreton Bay Fig trees that are dotted around the Adelaide Parklands and in many other older, upmarket properties in our city. Their huge buttress root systems and large smooth branches are terrific play areas for kids. And AWOL chameleons…..

Did you spot the Chameleon in all these garden shots and garden quilts, kicking back and enjoying the warmer weather and the increase in bugs? I don’t think that he was really doing the Ogre a favour, quite the opposite….. Slacker!

Give the Chameleon a reason to get back to his post…..

The Ogre says that was fun, but he’s not sure he wants the Chameleon’s job permanently. Time to get the Chameleon back to his responsibilities.

Tell us – what are you working on, or have recently finished in your sewing room? We want to know so we can visit and be inspired. Link up a blog post, an IG post or simply a photo from your computer.  See if you can get the Chameleon to turn quilted with happiness. We’d love to see your quilting colours!

• Link up your latest or recent quilt/sewing excitement. All quilt construction stages welcome – finished quilts, quilt blocks – even fabric pulls! Or inspiration sources!
• You have 50 characters in the link description…. tell us who you are and what your fantastic project is.
• URL links are not necessary to link up…. non-bloggers 100% welcome! If you don’t have a URL, you can link up with just a photo.
• Take a moment to visit some friends who came to the party – leave a little love and make their day. And a link back to Clever Chameleon is always appreciated.
• Do it now……. before you forget!

Anyway, what are you waiting for? Get over to Marian’s and start your Once Upon a Story Journey now!

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The Chameleon turns rainbow with pleasure when he hears from you. I am more reserved, so I will respond in gratitude by email instead. Now that it’s your turn…. Scroll right to the end, leave me a comment and tell me, what do you think? Thanks for connecting!

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, IG or FB. All your follow options can be found here. Don’t forget to link up all your current quilting projects on Tuesdays at our Colour & Inspiration Linky parties!