Welcome to the Show and Tell Day for the Garden Party Quilts!
I hope that you’ve enjoyed the past month of the “It’s A Garden Party” row along. I certainly have. Congratulations to Marian at Seams to Be Sew on another successful event, and many thanks to all my co-designers for all their wonderful quilt block patterns and blog posts. Another huge, generous series this year.
And now – today is “Open Gardens Day”. The last day of the blog hop and time to share projects already made from one or more of the myriad of newly released patterns. It’s the “It’s a Garden Party row along” show and tell day!
Today, twelve of the “It’s a Garden Party” bloggers have banded together to bring you one last Garden Quilt bonanza. Marian of Seams to be Sew is releasing another free block for your collection, and there will be numerous ideas shared to help you get the most out of your new quilt blocks. Hopefully you have been watching my Spring Garden Party quilt come together over the past month – well, today I can finally show you the whole thing! The pigeon’s even had an upgrade…. Bath? He’s not having a bath. It’s a pool party for one!
Come on in to find out more…. let the Chameleon lead you up the garden path!
“It’s A Garden Party” was brought to you by Marian at Seams to be Sew and our major sponsor Northcott – Cottons that feel like Silk. You can see the version of my block in Northcott fabrics here. The version presented today was made almost exclusively with various brand batiks from my stash and scraps.
My Spring Garden Party Quilt
This year I decided (at the last minute) to make a composite quilt from a selection of the “It’s A Garden Party” row along patterns. I haven’t done this before (the composite thing, not the last minute thing, ha!) – I always felt it might be too complicated on a small time budget. I was specifically worried that I would end up with a quilt-by-committee look, when instead I prefer an event-planner standard of affair. Yeah, ’cause the Chameleon is always all class! 😀
I needn’t have worried…. the process was a lot of fun and I am very happy with my little quilt. It measures approx. 43″ x 51″. Of course, not every block I initially wanted could fit, and plenty had to be reluctantly saved for another day. I’ll admit I changed my mind many many times – blocks that were definitely in play were suddenly subbed out just as the game got interesting. For some contenders, more than once! But eventually there were no strange gaps in the patchwork and no more opportunities for change, and so I was committed. It’s no formal meal, but thankfully, I think the quilt says more “smorgasboard” than “pot-luck”. Importantly it feels like mine, and has the Chameleon’s vibe, even though only the centre block is my design. So without further ado….. I give you….. my Spring Garden Party sampler quilt.
My Quilt Whole is far more than the Sum of its Parts
It’s chaos, but I think it’s awesome. Here’s a closer look at each segment of my quilt…. I’m calling them segments because some blocks bleed into others, and most sections have elements of more than one designers’ work in them. So some are not really blocks anymore. We’ll start in the centre and work clockwise from the top left corner.
centre focus panel with border
The centre of my Spring Garden Party quilt is an enlarged, decorated version of my Garden Bath Joy block from the row along. It’s about 20″ x 30″.
To dress it up, I added two butterflies from Brenda’s design at Songbird Designs, three daisies and a ladybird from Moosestash Quilting Joan’s Gnome in my Garden, a little group of mushrooms derived from the Garden Friends block (Your Sewing Friend, Teresa) and the gecko from Paula of Mountain Meadow Designs. The gecko has dietary requirements and so decided on BYO snacks – an unfortunate butterfly appliqué shape from Joan’s.
Top Left Corner
This next section is made from the top third of Karen’s runner design from The Quilt Rambler overlaid with lots of appliqués.
To me, this part of Karen’s design looked a bit like a bower, so I decorated it with two birds from Cheryl of Quilter Chic, nine flowers from Moosestash Quilting Joan’s Gnome in my Garden and a couple of leaves.
Centre TOP
This block is based on Ms. P. Designs‘ Pinwheel Posey Parade pattern. Instead of five flowers I pieced just two. Then I added another ladybird from Joan’s appliqués at Moosestash Quilting and the bee, courtesy of Beatrice of Pumpkin Patch Patterns.
Top right corner
In the top right corner is a shortened version of the “Home tweet home” block by Heleen Pinkster (Heleen Pinkster Quilt Design).
I had to leave out one of the cardinals and two lanterns to get this section to the right size, although I did manage to squeeze in two mushrooms from Teresa of Your Sewing Friend and some bunting from Debra of Tuning my Heart Quilts.
upper right hand edge
Under the cardinal’s corner is my version of Cindy’s flower pattern released at Stitchin at Home.
To allow her three flowers to fit in my allocated space I planted them closer together than Cindy suggested. Then I decorated with another bird from Cheryl of Quilter Chic‘s pattern.
centre right hand eDGE
The space under Cindy’s flowers was too small for any of the blocks on offer, so I simply filled it with enlarged appliqués from Teresa’s Garden Friends block (Your Sewing Friend).
lower right hand Edge
This section is the one piece that I haven’t been able to show you at all yet in any prior post. I actually did the paper-piecing for this very early in my composite quilt construction, but the pattern reveal and release was scheduled very late in the row along. So the Chameleon has had to sit on his secret. The main block pattern used here is “Hollyhocks with Painted Lady Butterfly” by Sue of Duck Creek Mountain Quilting.
I widened the hollyhocks block to fit my border and filled in the empty spaces with Teresa’s mushrooms and a dragonfly built from shapes from Beatrice’s pattern at Pumpkin Patch Patterns. Specifically, for the latter I used a butterfly’s body with the dragonfly wings to get a slightly daintier dragonfly than the pattern intended. I resized some mushrooms to make my fairy-ring as well.
bottom right corner
In the bottom right hand corner section the birds, pond, turtle, and frog are from Teresa’s Garden Friends block (Your Sewing Friend).
They were joined by a flamingo from Debra of Tuning my Heart Quilts. There are also mushrooms, tulips and bluebells by Teresa and daisies by Joan of Moosestash Quilting. The lily flowers are trimmed tulip tops. The lily pads in the pond are the only parts of this quilt that were not gleaned in some way from an “It’s A Garden Party” row along pattern. I set myself a goal not to get too far off the beaten track early on in my design process and this was my only “serious” deviance. Everything else is derivative art of some form or another.
centre Bottom
The friends around the pond live next door to another of Stitchin at Home Cheryl’s birds, who has claimed the birdhouse from Joan’s Gnome in my Garden pattern at Moosestash Quilting. The large flowers are from Brenda’s Garden Friends pattern at Songbird Designs.
Bottom Left corner
This is the bottom left hand corner of the quilt. As you can see, it has a garden gnome, as well as a sunflower and hummingbird. The gnome is based on Joan’s Gnome in my Garden design at Moosestash Quilting, he’s just had his height and vanity reduced a little.
The hummingbird, the butterfly and the sunflower are again rearranged from Brenda’s design at Songbird Designs. The brick wall in the background was inspired by the piecing in Nancy’s Welcome Garden Wall pattern at Patchwork Breeze. The mushrooms are again taken from Teresa’s templates; likewise the decorative bunting at the top of the wall is again from Debra of Tuning my Heart Quilts. The sunflower’s leaves are from Beatrice’s Coneflowers at Pumpkin Patch Patterns.
Lower Left hand edge
Mary of Made by Marney designed a very cute snail for the row along. He was too big to fit easily in my layout, so I pieced 3 of his kids instead.
Upper left hand edge
The last section on our tour before we end up back at the bower corner is made of two vertical blocks. The Floral Vine block on the right by Patti of Patti’s Patchwork, which I decreased in size to fit. And my take on Beatrice’s Coneflowers (of Pumpkin Patch Patterns) on the left. I made the coneflower and leaf templates in three different sizes because otherwise these two blocks together looked very static. The stake is the pole from Joan’s bird house. I also finished the collection off with one last dragonfly from Beatrice’s templates.
And that’s my Spring Garden Party quilt in a nutshell.
I still have a few things to finish on it…. some last details of quilting and a binding. I also think I will probably add some music notes to the quilt somewhere. Possibly several somewheres. But also I think I might use buttons or beads to do it, so that will have to wait for a trip to the city (or for when we move back home).
If you have collected the It’s A Garden Party blocks and think you’d like more detail on the block sizes and specific pattern pieces that I used, let me know. If there is sufficient interest I will write up more details. Please note, it would only be instructions on how to similarly merge your patterns as I did – if you have missed out on any patterns I’ve used, you would still need to obtain/purchase them from each designer’s site to complete your set, or make your own substitutions.
This Garden Party show and tell schedule today
Now, let’s see the other wonderful projects made in the course of this row along. Here are the other bloggers participating in the It’s A Garden Party Show and Tell day today:
Blue Heron Quilting
The Devoted Quilter
Kissed Quilts (a pigeon and bird bath block here 😀 )
Daughters of Dorinda (a bird bath here, combined with Brenda’s hummingbird 😀 )
Kathleen McMusing
Ms P Designs USA
Barbara Dieges
Renee’s Quilting Addiction
Words & Stitches (a pigeon and bird bath here 😀 )
Linda B Creative
Seams To Be Sew
You can also still download my block pattern in its original size. I will keep it up for free until at least the end of October.
Please come along, enjoy all our open gardens. Then join in the Chameleon’s weekly party too. You might be here for a while, so let’s get in the garden party mood and settle in. 😀 Grab another beverage, put on some music and turnip the beet!
Enjoy!
Your weekly dose of Linky Inspiration….
Not to be outdone by all the Garden Party hoppers, the Chameleon wants to share something garden-themed too. And he’s found a beauty in last week’s Colour & Inspiration Party link-ups.
Gretchen at Gretchen’s Little Corner has major progress on her Stars around the Garden quilt to show. Look how beautiful this is so far! Only the borders to go now.
Thanks so much for sharing, Gretchen.
That’s your Chameleon Quota for the week. Now it’s your turn to share!
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!
The Chameleon turns rainbow with pleasure when he hears from you. Now that it’s your turn…. Scroll to the end and tell me what 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!
What a clever use of the rows! Thank you for sharing and the inspiration. I’d love to have a write-up of your quilt.
That’s beautiful chaos lol! It’s a really stunning compilation of lovely rows and elements.
Yeah! I love it Dione. Shows what we can do to be inclusive. I don’t find it chaotic but fun.
Oh how fun! What a great way to combine and adjust to make it truly your own. The gorgeous colors put it over the top! Thanks for the inspiration. I know we will all look at our rows in a very different way now! LOVE IT!!!
This is beautiful, great job.
Wow your quilt is wonderful. I love all the interaction and fun. Thank you for sharing and inspiring. I love your sign in the center. I have so enjoyed this hop.. Everyone has had such wonderful blocks for it. I thank all the designers for sharing and showing up to help us have a Garden Party with you.
Are Americans allowed to use the word gobsmacked? This is a truly masterful recreation of the various offerings from the hop and deserving of an award, if we’re ever able to have in person quilt shows again. Not at all chaotic, but much above my pay grade to accomplish.
Hi,
Beautiful Garden quilt…so pretty and lots of pretties to keep the eye busy…have a great day!
What a wonderful combination of rows! It makes an amazing quilt that I love!
This has been such a fun hop with great blocks from the designers and your composite quilt is absolutely wonderful, Dione.. It is definitely is you!! Love, love, love it!!
Amazing. You have outdone yourself.
Thank you so much for bringing this sew along into my/our homes via your website. Love your design and your darling quilt. Loved the sew along! So many designers, so many precious designs. I can’t tell you how much I truly enjoyed this.
AMAZING!!! I love how this turned out Dione. I had no idea you were doing so many of the wonderful rows but you’ve really given us a fun and creative way to use these blocks and the use of the colors also just truly inspirational. I love love love LOVE this.
Your quilt turned out beautiful and I love the way you combined pattern parts from different designers into one block. Congratulations and thank you for being so generous with your patterns. I had so much fun visiting each of the different blogs in the course of the month.
It’s lovely Dione, and your use of parts of blocks, resizing, etc., has made it an original – it is such a brilliant use of the patterns provided. I know I have downloaded most of the blocks, and so many have been ‘my favourite’, that I thought it would be impossible to pick just a few and meld them together – but yours is so pretty! It definitely makes me want to look at all the rows/blocks and have a go. Thanks for sharing the details by block too. Take care you!
Oh, Dione, I just love how combined so many elements from all of the designs into your gorgeous quilt! What an inspiration this is!!
I love this quilt and its brightness and all the clever ways you combined so many diverse pieces. You did a fabulous job!
Dionne I love this quilt. It’s a real masterpiece. Your assembly of the various blocks and bits of blocks is absolutely stunning. Thank you for sharing
Who wouldn’t want to be surrounded by blooming flowers and fun critters?! Me, I would love it! I appreciate you sharing all the who, what, and where and by doing this and that, end up with a just a lovely, fun quilt! Thank you for reminding me of all the lovely inspirations shared during this party!
That is certainly a wonderfully cheery garden party going on. I like the blocks you put together and the unifying colors. It’s a wonderful project!
Wow, you did a fabulous job. I love it.
I love this quilt so much!!!! I really love how the flamingo was added to the little pond scene. I may have to do that on mine. It would be easy to add.
It really has turned out just beautiful! Love all the close ups, thank you! xx
Oh my goodness! Your compilation of the patterns is amazing and I would love to copy your idea to do the same with your permission. Please let me know. I don’t see chaos, and I love that your party can’t be contained in the blocks. It makes it more cohesive! Thank you so much for sharing.
That frog in between the flowers really took me today. Thank you.
WOW!!!!! What an amazing, gorgeous mix of so many elements of so many rows! It’s busy, yes, but it does go together well and it’s a very fun garden. I’m seriously impressed.
What a beautiful way to use the garden rows! Thanks for sharing.
I Love It!! Well done on combining all those blocks so well. Very inspiring for when I get to go mine!!
Hi Dione, your quilt is absolutely gorgeous! Wow!!!! So fun and vibrant. I didn’t know how you would put all of those elements together but you did it with panache….again 🙂 Thanks for linking up to Free Motion Mavericks. Have a great week.