One Monthly Goal Check-in and November Roundup

At the beginning of November I nominated a specific goal for OMG at Elm Street Quilts. My goal was to get this charity quilt off my “to be quilted” pile so that it can go to its new home. It was pieced by one of the generous members of Southern Comforters.

And I am pleased to say that this dirty trick still works!…….. I have gotten around to quilting this little quilt, and attaching the binding, purely because I had this pseudo deadline. Sad but true.

I am very glad it’s done though. It is a pretty little thing. And I had a lot of fun further developing my Strawberry Vines allover FMQ skills on it. I haven’t had much time for FMQ over the past couple of months. I’d forgotten how much I enjoy it.

Here’s some pics of the strawberry motifs I used on a loop-de-loop string to keep this quilt soft and informal. I didn’t want to compete with the strong geometric design in the piecing, so I kept the thread to a low contrast pink. The choice is perfect in real  life….. but a bit difficult to photograph for you. I hope you can see well enough.

I’ve also had my work quality controlled by the expert and it was approved…..

The border has a striped green fabric, so I just quilted the edges of the stripes to create faux piano keys. It was the right decision, they look very neat and tidy.

It may have been last minute, but this quilt finish has made me happy.

What else happened at Clever Chameleon in November?

Well, we had 4 Colour Inspiration Tuesdays. On week one, “Poolside Fun” featured the new décor at our local outdoor pool and put me in the mood to design a summery picnic quilt.

On week two, the “English Broom” colour scheme was inspired by a beautiful flower I observed at my son’s Joey Scout Hoporee camp. I probably learned more about this flower than was helpful, since I found myself freshly uninspired in the end. But that is sometimes how it goes when you look into the truth of a thing. And I now know things I didn’t before, which overall is a win. At the end of the day, this flower is still pretty.

The next week, “Aurora Star” was the result of a thought experiment that started with a green paper star on top of our Christmas Tree and ended with a sewn patchwork block and another quilt design.

And finally, Tuesday just gone we had “Christmas Bells”. This was a response to an Australian native tree near my house that comes out in a profusion of pink bells at this time of year.

I ended up using the ideas that flowed from this exploration to create a new ornament for our Christmas Tree. My intention is to finish writing you a tutorial on this project next week. So stay tuned!

Beyond Colour Inspiration Tuesdays

Another of my aims for this month was to make sufficient progress on my Vanuatu Turtle quilt for the Splash of Color Quilt Along. I shared up to the stage shown below on Busy Hands Quilts. The red inner border is now attached but I don’t have a photo to show you yet. I will show you that at the same time as I report how the turtle appliqué overlay goes…… The flimsy deadline for this quilt along is before mid December, so I will getting to that very soon!

And I was also part of the 2017 Ornament Exchange and Tutorial Blog Hop at Erlene’s blog: My Pinterventures. I designed and shared a drum ornament that you can make from your quilting scraps. In return, I received two fabulous Suffolk Puff ornaments for my tree. If you are looking for something to make for your tree, or a loved one’s tree this year, there are currently 106 (!) projects in this collection.

And last, but not least for November, Clever Chameleon finally hit Facebook. A move that was overdue, but better late than never! I will be endeavouring to keep a log of more informal updates on the Facebook page in addition to the blog posts here. “Like” Clever Chameleon on FB to follow along!

Phew. So that’s a wrap for another month! To think that the next roundup is not due until after Christmas! Where did 2017 go??!

I’m sharing my OMG success on Elm Street Quilts. If you are participating, I look forward to finding you there. Or let me know directly how your November went. I’d love to hear from you.

Wishing you all a very safe and festive December. 🙂

P.S. Also sharing on:
Freemotion by the River, Quilt Fabrication, Midweek Makers, Sew Fresh Quilts, Finishing Stitches, The Inquiring Quilter, Free Motion Mavericks, My Quilt Infatuation, Crazy Mom Quilts.