Fellow Quilters,

Happy Monday!  If you’re popping over from another blog today, a warm welcome to you.  Are you ready for some fun? Today is my day to blog in the Seaside Adventures Row-along and I couldn’t be more excited.  Let me tell you about this popular event.

The Row-along was started several years ago by the wonderful Marian Pena of Seams to be Sew.  Each year Marian enlisted the support of dozens of pattern designers to create a row to showcase a particular theme.  Some of the past themes include “winter”, “home”, “my happy place”, Christmas carols, and “garden party”.  The designers share their “free for a week” row instructions, with 3 different designers showcasing their row each week of the event.  Sadly, Marian passed away this year but not before the Seaside Adventures theme was selected.  To honour her memory the designers decided to go ahead with the row-along for this year, and Melissa of The Quilting Room with Mel graciously stepped forward to organize the event – thanks Mel!

Northcott once again offered to support the designers with fabric for their rows, so of course all the rows are gorgeous.  I chose to work with Northcott’s Dublin linen-look cotton blender because I needed a variety of bright tropical hues, and with 42 dee-lish colors, this collection delivers that and more.

A sizzling selection of Dublin hues

So here’s something that you may not know about me – I like to scuba dive, particularly in warm tropical waters filled with colorful fish and interesting coral.  Sometimes the coral is even more interesting than the fish.

Photo courtesy Diving Kona Hawaii

It is thrilling to slowly drift along 40ft below the water’s surface with a school of yellow/electric blue fish or watch a little orange clown fish darting in and out of an anemone.

One time a pair of dolphins swam right past me – they’re HUGE!  And snorkelling is a very close 2^nd to diving – simply floating on the surface with a mask and snorkel, face down in the water, visually exploring the abundant sea life below me.  Some of my favorite locales include Negril (Jamaica), Hawaii, the Great Barrier Reef (Australia) and Cancun.

Coming up with a design for my row was quick – colorful fish!

My Which Way to Class row

I chose to use large and small triangles to depict fish.  Then I changed the direction of some to reflect the darting schools of fish I’ve seen dashing in one direction then another.  Finally, I added some sea grass to help the fish hide from their predators.  You can download my Which Way to Class pattern here.

Tip:  Trimming the tips of the pieces with the blunt ends of the templates ensures that you align the patches correctly when piecing the columns.

Trim the tips of the patches along blunted ends of templates

Aligning the patches is now foolproof

This week 2 other bloggers are sharing their row patterns for free as well, after which time there may be a small fee for their patterns.  Hop on over to Elizabeth Coughlin’s site and Nancy Myers’ Patchwork Breeze site to get their free patterns this week as well.

There are not many prizes this year (Marian worked hard to solicit prizes) so I shall offer one to my readers.  For a chance to win a bundle of Dublin and a couple free digital patterns of your choice from Patti’s Patchwork please leave a comment below telling me your favorite tropical spot to dive/snorkel/play on the beach.  Comment by Sunday September 26 to be eligible.

To get the links to the upcoming designers’ blog posts and free blocks visit The Quilting Room with Mel each week.

Happy Sewing!!

Patti

Fellow Quilters,

It’s the first Tuesday of the month and that means another batch of blocks in the Quilt Block Mania blog tour.  A shout-out to Carolina at Always Expect Moore for organizing this event each month.  I really enjoy this monthly opportunity to stretch my creative muscle as I interpret the theme for the month and incorporate the chosen color palette.  Judging from the feedback, many of you enjoy this event as well.  Did you know that there is a Quilt Block Mania Facebook group?  Anyone can join and get in on the conversation.

This month 17 designers rose to Carolina’s challenge and came up with a free block using the theme of Traditional with a Twist.  You can find the links to their blocks here:

Starry Steps Quilt Block by Carolina Moore
Log Cabin with a Twist by Appliques Quilts and More
Faux Log Cabin by PhoebeMoon Designs
Twisted Irish Chain by Inquiring Quilter
Pinwheel Pizzazz at Blue Bear Quilts
Rail Fence Roundabout at Perkins Dry Goods
Twirling Star by Mom and Me Quilting Co
Neon Churn Dash by Pretty Piney Quilts
Pinwheel Twist by QuiltFabrication
Quilt Block Exhibit
String of Stars by Orange Blossom Quilt Design Studio
log cabin twist by Duck Creek Mountain Quilting
Twisted Log Cabin at Penny Spool Quilts
Wonky Star by Patti’s Patchwork
Modern Churn Dash at The Quilting Room with Mel
Wonky Log Cabin by Love to Color My World
Shoo Two by Oh Kaye Quilting

When I saw the theme, my brain went into creative overdrive.  So many options!!  Several designers did variations of a log cabin block so instead I went in a different direction.  What if I played with a star block?  How can I add a twist or non-traditional slant to a classic Ohio Star block?  Well, allow me to show you!

My Wonky Star block pattern

I made the center “off-center”, then I altered the star tips to make them different sizes.  As my friend Nancy says “Kewl!”  My Wonky Star looks decidedly fresh and contemporary in the monthly palette of grape, mauve, periwinkle and citrus.  I used Northcott’s suede-look Toscana cotton blender.  You can download the pattern here.

So, a couple of tips when you are piecing this easy block.  The star tip units contain a piece that is a trimmed triangle.  We make this by sewing 2 triangles together, then trimming the resulting unit to size (see the pattern) – easy!

Trim the tip of the triangle pair to bring it to size

Then we add the 3^rd triangle to the unit – it looks too big, but it is actually the correct size once you align the pieces.

The 3rd triangle looks too big however…

…it fits perfectly when correctly alignedDone!
So, the fun thing with an off-center block is what is does when placed into a quilt layout.  It sparkles!  Here is a 3×4 straight-set layout.

12 blocks in a straight-set layout for a 36″ x 48″ lap quilt

And here is a 3×3 on-point layout.

A 13 block on-point layout makes a 51″ square

In both versions I have rotated the blocks so that the stars are not aligned (haha).  How fun!

Speaking of fun, I blogged last week about my Ski Village quilt featured in the current issue of Quilter’s World.  There is a great giveaway that is open until September 9, so you might want to check out that post.

Ski Village quilt made with Winter Frost by Sara Boccaccini for FIGO, featured in Quilter’s World

Also high on the “fun” scale is the annual Row-along, hosted this year by The Quilting Room with Mel.  It started yesterday and runs until October 25, with 3 free rows per week.  I’ll be sharing my row on September 20, and if you hit that Subscribe button on the right, you’ll get the link delivered to your mailbox.

A sneak peek of my row in the Seaside Adventures Row-along September 6 – October 25

Enjoy this month’s offerings, and we’ll see you soon 😊

Patti