The King

 This magnificent lion is finally off the WIP list and onto my living room wall.

 Way back in February, 2015, Juliet at the Tartan Kiwi asked for pattern testers for her new paper piecing pattern. Since we had just been on safari two months earlier, I practically begged to be a tester! My first post to Instagram was this spectacular eye!

At the end of a single long day of piecing, the king was born. I remember Julia and Fred coming in and out all day, checking on my progress.

After waffling for 18 months on whether or not to quilt him, I gave in (gave up?) and ordered a frame. Without removing the paper, I trimmed him to size to fit the frame. Five minutes.  Done! 

To be completely honest, I was not quite done yet because I did something stupid. There was a lot of lint on the front of the plexiglass. I grabbed a lint roller, the sticky tape kind, and rolled it over the glass. It left lines of sticky residue all over! Nothing I had in the house could remove it. A week later, I picked up some Goo Gone with a JoAnn's coupon. Just a drop of that miracle liquid cleaned it all up. OK. Now it's done!

The King

24" lion pattern by The Tartan Kiwi

Pieced 2/24/15

Framed 6/17/16

Safari Quilt I

 A couple of weeks ago, I took a workshop with Thomas Knauer when he visited Ninigret Quilters. We learned so much about design that will translate to all future quilts. The workshop was called "Quilting with Code" and we were asked to select a word or phrase to translate. I chose SAFARI, the Swahili word for journey. I had envisioned making a mini quilt to commemorate Julia's Journey to Tanazania using the fabrics she brought back.

Here is her mini. It finished at 16" square. It was actually done on February 12, but I couldn't blog about it until she saw it.

 Braille uses a 2 X 3 grid. I blocked it off for you below so you can see the letters. The African prints represent dots, and the solid squares are not dots.

I wanted to quilt a path through the quilt as another reference to the journey. It could be a river, but Julia says it looks just like a cattle path. I quilted lots of pebbles and a few tufts of grass with a variegated gray Aurifil. Grass was the subject of her research project in the Ngorongoro Crater.

I used some linen blend on the front and back for the added texture. It was not the best choice for the binding. It's a little bulky in the corners. Some leftover squares became hanging pockets and the label on the back.

 

This mini was plan A in my mind, but not the quilt I worked on in class. When I told Thomas the story behind my chosen word, he thought Julia would need to wrap herself in it. So, I set about designing a large lap quilt. The fabric she brought home was a random selection, so it was tricky to bring it together. In this piece, safari is coded across the top and down the left side, then the letters rotate through. 

Top Row: s-a-f-a-r-i

2nd row: a-f-a-r-i-s

3rd row: f-a-r-i-s-a

etc...

Neighboring squares are sometimes combined into rectangles, a technique Thomas refers to as enjambment (a poetry term). Again, the African prints are dots, and the solids are not dots. It's a cool piece, but it's not speaking to us. We love the meaning behind it, but we don't love the piece. I even had a quilting plan in mind, with a spiral radiating out from the bright turquoise square (Julia's favorite color). In between the parallel lines of the spiral, I would quilt the places she's been. More could be added as she continues to travel.

When Julia came home and we talked about it more, we decided to use the large coded piece as the back of the next safari project using The Tartan Kiwi patterns. Now that is a plan we both love!

WIP Wednesday

 I started a new project and it is going to be awesome! I volunteered to be a pattern tester for Juliet at The Tartan Kiwi. She sent me a copy of her latest design for this handsome lion. Julia and I had fun choosing fabric, and we decided to go scrappy with his mane.

 I started cutting a little after 8am and finished the last seam at about 6pm. It's a big 24" block. This is not a beginner pattern. He's a lot of work, but well worth it! Look at those eyes! When I'm done with this post, I'm going over to The Tartan Kiwi to buy all of her safari animal patterns.

He reminds me of this Tanzanian boy!

In other WIP news...

I finished my Hawaiian applique pillow that has been waiting patiently for 6 months.

When I went looking for the next WIP to work on, I chose this stripey project. Read more about it here.

I also found the fabric for my new pajama bottoms that I bought over a year ago. The pattern has been cut out and they are ready to stitch together. It shouldn't take long, but I'm not good with apparel so I'm stalling. Maybe today?

I thought it was cool that Julia and I were using the same colors this week. I was cutting strips for a retreat project, and she was painting a birthday gift for her boyfriend. Coincidentally, the pattern I'll be working on is called Sunset.

And there was more snow overnight. Because we don't have enough?

Linking up...