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?! 🙂
But First, a Regatta Quilt Update – Quilt Top Finished
Are you sewing along on the no pressure, no deadline Regatta quilt-along at Home Sewn by Us? I am happy to say that I now have a quilt top towards this project, and have mostly enjoyed the laid-back challenge of adapting the jelly roll I had to the Regatta Quilt Pattern. I must emphasise the “mostly”, because just after my last post about this quilt, this project had a rough couple of days. It seemed every time I picked it up, I managed to sew something into the wrong place! It. should. have. been. so. simple. And yet I muffed it up. Not once, but several times!
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.
Colour Inspiration Tuesday – where we intentionally let real life creep into our quilts.
When we were talking about the colour red a few weeks ago, I discovered that I have not yet done a blue and red colour scheme for Colour Inspiration Tuesday. So, with Australia Day coming up on the 26th January, now seemed like a good time to fill in this gap in our quilt inspiration musings.
As you have probably gathered by now, I am proud to be Australian and call this beautiful land my home. I especially love the Australian Outback, and we travel there at least annually. And I am constantly fascinated by our wildlife and our flora – so different to much of the rest of the world. So much quilt inspiration just in my little corner of the world!
“Who are you calling strange?!! Ok…. the platypus – he is a bit odd.” Photo by Ewa Gillen on Unsplash
I was very excited when I found the picture of the red rocket sculpture on Unsplash. You will find out next week why! Actually, I couldn’t believe how well this picture lines up our next bear for the Beary Colourful BOM. Remember, we are doing the Blue Bear of High Hopes in February. So it was a cinch to choose this pic to focus my thoughts around red and blue as a quilting colour scheme. What’s more, January has been a fun month of exploring red. But I am now itching to get to February to do it all again with blue. A red and blue colour scheme seems the perfect way to celebrate this transition.
Red and Blue – such simple colours, such rich diversity
As I was musing upon red and blue, and my thoughts were turning to Australia Day and our flag, I wondered how many other flags use the same colour scheme. Flags for the USA, New Zealand, Great Britain and France come to mind in an instant, but it turns out there are so many more….. Here’s just a few that I didn’t know or didn’t know well enough to recall without help.
Slovakian FlagSamoan FlagFlag of CambodiaIcelandic Flag
BTW, If you are ever looking for flag graphics, I found a great site that has royalty free downloads of many…. including some pirate flags! 🙂 It’s called Flag Lane. Anyway….
How was I inspired by Red Rocket Blue?
Well, I know that red, white and blue quilts become very popular around July for US Americans. But where could we go with this colour scheme for the rest of the year…. or for us of other nationalities at any time? Because blue with red is a great colour scheme for a boy’s bedroom, regardless of your place of birth.
I have seen some amazing nautical-themed quilts in red, white and blue. And of course, the basic rocket shape of Red Rocket Blue would in itself make a great block. But what about flags as quilt blocks? According to Wikipedia, there are 38 countries that have flags considered to fall into this tricolour category – although some on their list have extra colour motifs. Even if you exclude these, there are a lot of options. And then there are red and white flags, and blue and white flags that would also fit right into a red, white and blue quilt.
So It wouldn’t be difficult to pick a few interesting flags and make a diverse quilt that reflects a collection of countries you are interested in.
My Blue, Red and White Flag Picks
For instance, if I was making a blue, red and white flag quilt, I would likely choose Australia, New Zealand, USA, Denmark, Thailand, Samoa, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, Scotland and France purely on the basis of having been there or having some connection with that country that is important to me. Then I could add in a few that I think that have cool flags or I would like to visit….. Canada, Cook Islands, Iceland, Slovakia, Greenland, Nepal, Antarctica. The list could go on. As you can see, I have stretched the definition of “country” already, but you could add in states or territories or causes that mean something to you as well. I was tempted to add the Red Cross, since we work with some amazing Red Cross people through my hubby Paul’s research.
Here is my off-the-cuff design for a boy’s flag quilt that would have significant meaning for my family, with a few extra flags thrown in for visual interest.
Which countries would you put on a flag quilt to represent your family’s history or experiences? Of course, there is no need to restrict yourself to a single colour scheme for this exercise. I just chose to to stick with today’s colour discussion. As it happens, most of the countries that have special meaning to me are on the red, white and blue list. But that is purely coincidental. Germany and Vanuatu are two countries not on this quilt design that are also part of my family’s recent journey. If I was making a multi-coloured project, I would definitely add them in!
P.S. Picture Credits
The Red Rocket photo was supplied by John Baker on Unsplash.com.
One Monthly Goal Check-in and December 2017 Roundup
At the beginning of December I nominated my ongoing Vanuatu Turtle Quilt for my specific One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts. The finished quilt is not due to be linked up at Busy Hands Quilts’ Splash of Color quilt along until January 16. But I know that quilt construction has a habit of expanding to take up all available time. And I want the Vanuatu Turtle quilt done so that I can get on with some other really interesting projects in January. So I decided to bring the “deadline” forward to the 31st December.
So, I am glad to report that the Vanuatu Turtle is finished! 🙂 It measures 60″ square.
Thank you to my dearest husband who eventually managed to help me get this photo under natural light.
I think I may have an opening for a new quilt holder-upperer ….. at first DH was holding this quilt not only upside down but also back-to-front. I honestly thought he was just being facetious……. But, apparently, no. And he swears he reads the blog…..
I took the opportunity to get a photo of the back of the Vanuatu Turtle quilt (upside down, but who’s to know?!)
So there we have it. A finished memento from our family’s work trip to Vanuatu. I’m thankful to Myra of Busy Hands Quilts for running the Splash of Color quit along this year, as without it, the Vanuatu Turtle Quilt would likely never have happened. It would still be like the throw quilt I mean to make from some fabrics I bought in Thailand 3 years ago….
The Vanuatu Quilt – blow by blow
If you’d like to go back and read about the conception, design and construction of the Vanuatu Turtle quilt, here are the relevant posts in order:
I said I was going to find out what being finished early feels like. So. What does it feel like to be done before the last minute? Weird. And slightly sad – I have liked working on this quilt and now it’s over. Perhaps the gasping sense of relief of going down to the wire has its upsides after all! hahahaha. Don’t worry, the melancholy hasn’t lasted – I have so many other projects to turn to. I have already done some therapy fabric cutting today. And not on the project I should be working on either. See, that’s better!
What else happened at Clever Chameleon in December 2017?
Well, we had another 4 Colour Inspiration Tuesdays.
Week 1
We explored the colours of a fake-looking Australian plant called the Wax Flower Plant or Hoya. And we used it as a launch point for a Christmas decoration made of couched thread and beads. Not strictly quilting, but it is a method I use for embellishing quilts, and these ornaments are a good way to get your hand in with this technique.
This post was a full tutorial, and showed how to make Christmas Trees and Christmas Bells as well.
Week 2
In the second week of December, Kathy of Tamarack Shack Longarm Quilting shared a tip about chalk being visible under blacklight. So I got all excited and the testing of this tip resulted in a blue colour scheme.
And I received my own blacklight for Christmas. So now I can play with this technique some more. Sweet husbands who can’t tell the front of a quilt from the back still have their uses. hahahahaha. Thanks dearest!
Week 3
I was reading the newsletter from our local state Botanic Garden when I discovered the strangest flower I have possibly ever seen. This flower quacks me up, so I had to feature it on Colour Inspiration Tuesday!
I would like to have the time to turn this flower into an appliqué at some point. Just for fun. The flying duck shape of this Australian native orchid is just the start of the strangeness – you can read more about this flower here.
Week 4
This was only yesterday – and we celebrated the colour red in all its glory. This is because we are leading up to the 2018 Monthly Color Challenge. And the first colour off the rank will be red.
What else happened at Clever Chameleon in December 2017? Well, lots of Vanuatu Turtle quilt construction, but we’ve already covered that. Probably the only thing of note we haven’t covered is that the Vanuatu Turtle quilting post includes a mini tutorial on how to freemotion quilt hibiscus flowers.
I also extended the couched thread Christmas Ornament tutorial to include a fourth variation – a glittery bauble. This was a guest post on Days Filled with Joy blog.
So, that was December 2017. And this is my 100th post since I started blogging back on the 26th April. It seems very fitting to be able to report a complete quilt finish for my 100th post!
Oh boy, the things I have learned since I launched this blog! And all the amazing people I have “met”! Thank you to all of you for reading my blog and a special thank you to all the people who have connected in some way. I hope that 2018 is going to be a year of great things!
P.S. In the next few days I also hope to also be participating in several end of year linkys. In particular, Cheryl of Meadow in the Mist is holding a Best of 2017 Linky Party. You might like to head over there now. A collection of the year’s best quilt blog posts ought to be really good reading! And there are several other goal-setting linkys for 2018 which I’d like to sit down and muse over if I can find the time.
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 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!
I was very excited when I found the picture of the red rocket sculpture on Unsplash. You will find out next week why! Actually, I couldn’t believe how well this picture lines up our next bear for the 
This post was a full tutorial, and showed how to make Christmas Trees and Christmas Bells as well.
