Something Fishy: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday

Does something smell fishy in your inbox?

At the risk of sounding obsessed with all things aquatic, yes, we are still on the theme of quilted ponds and fishes and such things here. Partly out of coincidence though….. I have been drawing up the next few patterns for the Love with a Twist quilt along and one of May’s blocks just happens to be the fish balloon. So I still have fish on the brain. But I promise we will surface from our underwater explorations very soon. I think a sweet balloon bunny with his mummy appliqué would be a nice pattern release around Mother’s Day this weekend. Don’t you?

Before that though, as a little extra, I thought I would add some detail to my blog today about how to create the water-loving critters found on my Pond Life quilt from last month. Including the extra frog shapes from the Accuquilt leaping frog die and the fish quilting motif that was my favourite. Are you ready? Let’s dive a little deeper into Pond Life….

Pond Life – peering intently into the pond

Pond Life, made with Island Batik fabrics has many layers of detail. There are the colours, which I love, and evidently a lot of you do too. Then there are the blocks; traditional patterns coloured to take on the appearance of lilypads and flowers. Plus some water eddies for good measure.

Past the piecing, there are the appliqué frogs… three different shapes from one accuquilt GO! die. And also the quilted details….. pond critters subtly added in variegated thread.

We spent most of March watching the blocks and colours come together. Let’s have one last sticky beak at this quilt to have a closer look at the appliqués and quilting.

Hop to it…. how to make three frogs from one die shape

I’m hoping you’ll remember that I used this single frog die to cut multiple frog shapes.

A few people mentioned that they had this die and would like to try my ninja frog-cuttin’ moves. Well, here’s a closer look at how I did it.

The key to getting frog shapes other than the standard leaping frog (centre), is to fold your appliqué fabric in half. Then by only using the left side of the die (frog facing upwards) you can cut a frog with two extended legs. Or by using the right hand side of the die, you get a frog with two bent legs. However, (and this is important!)…. positioning is everything…. Get the position of the folded fabric wrong and you will get the leg combo you wanted, but with a demented looking frog body in between…… either a run-over toad look or a starved skinny froggy.

After a bit of experimentation I found the “centre line” of each of the two symmetrical frogs hidden in the leaping frog shape…… in the photo above, the pencil mark on the frog’s nose works for both symmetrical shapes. The two marks on his backside are the best alignment positions of the fold for the extended legged frog (left) and the crouched frog (right).

Then it is simply a case of lining the fold of the fabric against the top mark and the desired bottom mark, covering the fabric with a cutting mat and sending the frog through the roller. When you unfold him, you should get a symmetrical shape with a good looking body. Now, who wouldn’t like that? hahahaha! 😀

Anyway, practise with paper before you get in too deep with your fabrics and you’ll soon have a handle on cutting your new frog shapes. Even if you don’t have the frog die, this process can be applied to other dies as well…. if you have a cutter and any fabric die shapes at your disposal perhaps you can take a fresh look at them and see if there are other shapes hiding in them. I’d love to know!

Back to the Something Fishy business…

In the “water” areas of my pond life quilt I added some surprise critters for the more observant types – dispersed within the quilting. For a fast finish I simply joined my quilted pond animals with an elongated horizontal stipple to look a little like water ripples. Now I have drawn up the critters for you as line drawings, so you can learn them too. Truth be, I also drew them up for me, so I don’t forget how to do them next time.

The goldfish

The tadpole

The frog

The turtle

The goldfish is the hardest motif to get the hang of, so if you’d like to give these a go, perhaps start with one of the others first. Doodle them all until you feel comfortable and then go add some surprise critters to a quilt of your own. 😀

As for today’s something fishy colour board….. well, this month’s Island Batik Ambassador challenge is “Make it Modern” with HOBBS…. and I have a hankering to try something bright on a black background…. just like our celebrity goldfish photographed by zhengtao tang on Unsplash.

Mostly because I want to try out the black batting by HOBBS that was in our first ambassador box for 2019! Should be fun, I hope you’ll join me as I work through this experiment.

Now, to last week’s Inspiration Party features…

For interesting visual texture, you can’t go past Susan’s post about her Dragon Fruit quilting motif on Quilt Fabrication. Do you know what a dragon fruit (pitaya) is? It’s the edible fruit of a cactus plant! It’s quite mild and pleasant to eat, but my favourite thing to do with a dragon fruit is to simply to admire it. With its colours and interesting shape, it’s a wonder to behold – like Susan’s quilting, of course!

For fresh Spring colours, brilliant storytelling and sheer tenacity in the finishing, you need to visit Sandra and her latest Island Batik quilt on mmm! quilts. Isn’t it pretty? Sandra has named this quilt Pasque Star, and has written you an entertaining and easy read about all the glories and pitfalls of her newest quilt design and finish.

And for a new method you may not have tried yet (I haven’t), you need to see how Nancy of Grace and Peace Quilting has used accordion HSTs to complete her version of “A Formal Affair” by Patti of Creek Side Stitches. This quilt is to go to a support group for teens, so it has it all…. it looks great, it has a reference to something new you can try for yourself, and it’s a token of love.

Happy reading! Then….

Don’t be Koi…..

Tell us, what are you working on, or have recently finished in your sewing room? We want to know so we can visit, admire 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!

How to be a part of the Chameleon’s Quilting Inspiration Party….

• 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!

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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!