Penguin Party Quilt
As soon as I saw Elizabeth Hartman's latest pattern, Penguin Party, popping up on my Instagram feed, I knew that I would have to make it! To say that my husband's family are mad-keen on penguins would be an understatement, so I was pretty sure I could find a happy recipient if I made this quilt. Sure enough, my mother-in-law thought that it would make the perfect gift for my sister-in-law's special birthday so I set about planning.
I was too impatient to wait for the new Arctic fabric collection but thought that the Rhoda Ruth Starlight (in Shadow) fabric would provide a soft and snowy backdrop to my penguins. Having set my heart on this fabric, I then bought everything that The Village Haberdashery and Olive and Flo Handcraft had left in stock - giving me just enough (in fact, I find that Elizabeth Hartman's patterns are fairly generous with fabric requirements so I ended up with a good half metre left over).
My MIL and I then chose the fabrics for the penguins' tummies. We decided on a beautiful selection of Tilda blues from both old (I've been hoarding Tilda blues for years) and new collections. My SIL's bedroom has a duck egg colour scheme, so we thought these would coordinate nicely. For the beaks, I used a bit from my V&Co Ombre fabric (Mustard) - I laid it out and then cut a section out from what I thought was the perfect shade. The faces are Kona Black and Kona Snow.
The lap sized quilt requires 20 penguins which is a lot of cutting - 37 pieces per penguin which includes 120 black 1" squares! Several hours later I had my little piles all set up and ready for my chain piecing production line.
I kid you not when I say that I spent the best part of two days on the eyes and beaks! There is something slightly demoralising about sewing five tiny pieces of fabric together and ending up with a beak unit that is the SAME size as the yellow piece that you started with, and is only 1 1/2 x 1 3/4" in size!!
Once the eyes and beaks are finished though, the rest of the head comes together fairly quickly.
The bodies are easy and quick and before you know it you have a lovely little huddle of penguins.
For the backing, I chose a Dashwood Twist (in Smoke) from Olive and Flo Handcraft which is really reasonably priced and perfect for a backing fabric. I went for a simple crosshatched quilting design, which I think works well. I used a 50wt Aurifil thread (colour 2021) which blended in really well with the grey and without showing up too much on the white faces. Finally, I chose a Cotton and Steel Add it up fabric (in Shibori) for the binding which is an elegant and understated shade of blue and pulls it all together I think.
I'm really pleased with this finished quilt, it was hard to send it off to it's new home.
I fancy making another one - wouldn't it be perfect to make penguins with Christmas jumpers?! - but I'm not sure I'm ready to make all those eyes and beaks again just yet...
I was too impatient to wait for the new Arctic fabric collection but thought that the Rhoda Ruth Starlight (in Shadow) fabric would provide a soft and snowy backdrop to my penguins. Having set my heart on this fabric, I then bought everything that The Village Haberdashery and Olive and Flo Handcraft had left in stock - giving me just enough (in fact, I find that Elizabeth Hartman's patterns are fairly generous with fabric requirements so I ended up with a good half metre left over).
My MIL and I then chose the fabrics for the penguins' tummies. We decided on a beautiful selection of Tilda blues from both old (I've been hoarding Tilda blues for years) and new collections. My SIL's bedroom has a duck egg colour scheme, so we thought these would coordinate nicely. For the beaks, I used a bit from my V&Co Ombre fabric (Mustard) - I laid it out and then cut a section out from what I thought was the perfect shade. The faces are Kona Black and Kona Snow.
The lap sized quilt requires 20 penguins which is a lot of cutting - 37 pieces per penguin which includes 120 black 1" squares! Several hours later I had my little piles all set up and ready for my chain piecing production line.
I kid you not when I say that I spent the best part of two days on the eyes and beaks! There is something slightly demoralising about sewing five tiny pieces of fabric together and ending up with a beak unit that is the SAME size as the yellow piece that you started with, and is only 1 1/2 x 1 3/4" in size!!
Once the eyes and beaks are finished though, the rest of the head comes together fairly quickly.
For the backing, I chose a Dashwood Twist (in Smoke) from Olive and Flo Handcraft which is really reasonably priced and perfect for a backing fabric. I went for a simple crosshatched quilting design, which I think works well. I used a 50wt Aurifil thread (colour 2021) which blended in really well with the grey and without showing up too much on the white faces. Finally, I chose a Cotton and Steel Add it up fabric (in Shibori) for the binding which is an elegant and understated shade of blue and pulls it all together I think.
I'm really pleased with this finished quilt, it was hard to send it off to it's new home.
I fancy making another one - wouldn't it be perfect to make penguins with Christmas jumpers?! - but I'm not sure I'm ready to make all those eyes and beaks again just yet...
Looks beautiful! I'm having the hardest time understanding fig. 2 in the pattern for chain piecing. It looks like there are double?
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