BluePip Designs

For week four, Hope from Hartford, I wanted to use these fish but they were too big for the corner rectangles.  With a little bit of fussy cutting I came up with a solution that I'm pleased with - you see the triangles first and the fact that they are fish second!  The rest of the colors are inspired by the color of those tiny triangles. Next week I'll share week five along with some updates I made to the sloth and a fun picture of all the blocks together so far.

Week three of the Gypsy Wife quilt-along and I've substituted the heart for a pattern by one of my favorite designers: Elizabeth Hartman's Sleepy Sloth !  I can't resist her cute animal patterns! I feel like I really took a chance with the tree fabric - I wasn't sure how the stripes would hold up but I'm very happy with how it looks!  Note to self: next time you make this quilt block, don't use a directional print for the tree!  I'm sure that would make the whole thing a lot easier!  Of course, I told myself the same thing after I made it the first time and I didn't listen so there's probably no hope. Just for fun, here's the pillow I made with this pattern in April for a swap: The Grunge Basics line is my absolute favorite for fur!  I love how a light patch just happened to end up on the tummy of the blue sloth.  And now I'm eagerly waiting to make next week's block for this quilt.

I like to mix up my patterns.  I love to look at other people's patterns, and I buy plenty of them, but when it comes to making them, I often make changes.  Sometimes it's just how the blocks are constructed (for example, if I need four or more flying geese, I will be using the no-waste method and I do always size up my squares for half-square triangles because I prefer to cut them down after I sew them) and sometimes I make up my own layout for the finished quilt (see my Fancy Forest and Summer Sampler quilts). So, for a long time I've been wanting to do a mash-up of two different quilt patterns.  I can see it clear as day in my head, but wasn't motivated enough to get started on it.  Until Angie at Gnome Angel kicked off a quilt-along for one of the two patterns it involved: Gypsy Wife.  I'm going to be casually following along on this project because my finished project won't be the Gypsy Wife quilt, but I still want the camaraderie of sewing the same th