Here is the row that I designed for the quilt shop where I work. The theme for the Row by Row experience 2016 is “Home Sweet Home”. I knew that a lot of quilt shops would probably have designs with houses, bird houses, and dog houses. But I wanted to make something different since I live near the ocean. So I thought about making crabs which are fun to make. My first design showed crabs heading towards a crab shack. I made the shack a wonky shape. 
But there was not enough detail in the design. So I added grass and rocks. But the design still didn’t look balanced so I added the sand castle. 
I really like the sand castle. It reminds me of summer vacations at the beach – making sand castles with my boys. Keep having fun quilting and sewing. Donna
Category Archives: Ocean Quilts
Sea life challenge quilt square with jellyfish
I am continuing to work on my challenge quilt with a sea life theme – each month using a focus fabric and different technique. I have wanted to make jellyfish for a quilt since seeing lots of jellyfish at an exhibit at the Monterey aquarium. This quilt block used triangles made from the focus fabric. I quilted the background of the block before adding 2 jellyfish to the block using painted tyvek, yarn and Angelina fibers. I also added a plant shape that I had made at one of our art quilt group meeting – can’t remember what I used to make it. When I finish making the quilt squares, I will make a collage and add additional blocks to finish the wall hanging. Keep having fun sewing and quilting. Donna
Kaleidoscope of sea life creatures
I modified this kaleidoscope pattern to make a circle about 18″ diameter instead of a square quilt. I also had to reduce the size of the applique pieces so that most of the sea life could fit on the smaller center circle. I used fusible web to attach the applique pieces. I quilted the background in a circular pattern to attach the applique pieces. To embellish the piece, I added decorative machine stitching and couched yarn for sea weed. I also added Angelina fibers for the center star and scallop shells to add some sparkle. 
I finished the edges with a satin stitch. This was a fun quilt to make. This quilt was made for a circle challenge at my local quilt guild – “circle of friends”. Keep having fun sewing and quilting. Donna
Turtles swimming in the ocean quilt block
I am still working on my Sea Life collage quilt. I think some of my blocks are getting too big but I don’t have a complete design yet. I am making ocean theme blocks and then will try to fit them together and add filler blocks to complete the wall hanging. So here is my turtles block – just had to have some sea turtles swimming in the ocean on my collage quilt. I saw an idea on the internet of turtles swimming up with a quilted background. I decided to make curved lines to represent the waves and then added the turtles. I think the block may still need some embellishment – not sure what yet. Maybe decorative stitching or yarns to represent seaweed. I plan to add a jellyfish to the quilt and some more sea creatures. Keep having fun quilting and sewing. Donna
Free motion angelfish quilt block
Another addition to the my Sea Life collage quilt – an angelfish. I saw an article in Art Quilting Studio magazine of a fun technique using a simple applique (heart) and free motion quilting. I decided to try this technique with an angelfish. I looked for pictures of angelfish on one of those free coloring pages websites. I printed the picture then traced the angelfish using tracing paper. I pinned the traced fish design to my quilt block sandwich (with batting and backing). I used black thread to free motion quilt around the outline of the fish design. Pulled the tracing paper off and then stitched a couple of more times around the fish. Then I got out my colored pencils and started coloring the fish – lots of fun. I am going to try this technique again. Keep having fun sewing and quilting. Donna
Nautical flags for Sea life collage quilt
I am working on a self round robin with one of my quilting groups. Each month we add a round like a border to our focus block. I started with my fish quilt square as my focus block. For August the round had to include squares and yellow fabric that was shared by a member of our group. So I decided to make nautical fabrics using red, blue, white and yellow fabric. I made 10 mini flags and joined them together to make a block which will be added to the Sea Life collage. My plan is to make different sized strips, borders and blocks and then put them together to make a collage quilt. I plan to try different techniques while making the quilt. I am also using the “Sea Life” lettering block in this collage too. We will see how it turns out. I will use a quilt as you go technique to put all the individual quilted blocks together. Keep having fun sewing and quilting. Donna
Sea Life
I watched an episode of The Quilt Show with guest quilter Joanne Sharpe. She demonstrated an easy method to put lettering on a quilt. Here is her blog: http://joannezsharpe.blogspot.com/. She also wrote a book about her lettering: The Art of Whimsical Lettering. She has very fun designs. So check out her blog. Using freezer paper, write your message with a pencil in cursive writing on the paper side. Then take a Sharpie marker and make your letters larger and wider in a fun way. Iron your lettering on the right side of a fabric which already has fusible web on the back. No need to reverse your lettering. Cut out your letters and iron the letters on your quilt. Simple and fun to put messages and words on your quilts. Just make sure you have enough contrast between the color of your letters and your background fabric. I used a straight stitch on the edge of the letters. Keep having fun sewing and quilting. Donna
Turtle mini- wall hanging
This turtle square is one block in a series of 12 quilt blocks of turtles doing different sports like golfing, surfing, baseball, soccer, tennis and more. Each turtle block is a 24″square quilt block. You can use individual squares as a wallhanging or combine them together to make a larger quilt. I used fused machine applique to make the turtle. The hexagon is fused to the larger blue square. I did not make a pieced border for the mini-quilt wall hanging. The quilt square was easy to make and looks cute too. Keep having fun sewing and quilting. Donna
2015 Hoffman Challenge update
As you know, Donna and I entered the 2015 Hoffman Challenge and we just learned that we both made it into their Traveling Exhibit. Woohoo!
Looks like our quilts will be displayed in PA, NJ, NY, Road to Californina, and the Mid-Atlantic Quilt shows. Looks like we’ll have to make plans to go to the Mid-Atlantic Quilt show (in Hampton, VA) next Feb so we can visit our quilts.
To see all the winning quilts go to ===> 2015 Hoffman Challenge Winners
Happy Stitching,
Mary
“Honoring Nepal” –
Donna’s Hoffman Challenge entry
“Pinch Me” – Mary’s Hoffman Challenge entry. Curator’s Choice Award for Appliqué.
Turtles wall hanging
I saw this turtle pattern last year at the Houston quilt market. The pattern designer is from Victoria, British Columbia. I bought her heron pattern at the Satin Moon quilt shop in Victoria, British Columbia – one of our stops on a quilting cruise to Alaska in 2011. Okay, I have to admit that I have not started the heron pattern but have collected fabric for that quilt. It is on my UFO list. Oops, the pattern has been on my UFO list for the past few years. I quilted the ocean background for this turtle quilt before adding the applique pieces of the turtles and seaweed. I used a decorative stitch (#1351 on my Bernina machine) to outline the seaweed. I used a blanket stitch to attach the turtle pieces to the background. The finished size of this wall hanging is about 29″ x 35″. 
Turtles are very popular where we live along the coast. There are turtle nests at the beaches during the summer. Keep having fun sewing and quilting. Donna
Quilting Sisters Unravelled 