Back on December 5 I blogged about a little pile of fish fabrics - some recently gifted and some I had on hand. When I have quite a few pieces of any themed fabric I like to see how many different quilts I can make from the fabrics. Well, so far I'm managed to go play "Go Fish" and have ended up with three different kiddo sized quilt tops and have two more in the works. I usually make a quilt with bigger pieces and then work on down to a quilt that uses the smallest pieces.
1. Life in a Fishbowl
To make the fishbowls I used a free pattern called Life in a Fishbowl by Wendy Sheppard for Michael Miller fabrics.
The fish fabrics are cut 6.5 x 12.5 so that's why I started with this one hoping to get that size of piece from several different fish fabrics.
I used a couple of different old green calico printss that were similar in value. For the fishbowl stands I used some 2.5 inch width scraps that I had on the side of my cutting mat waiting for something to do.
2. This one was inspired by the book Nine Patch Pizzazz by Judy Sisneros. The book is more of a method and tips book that shows how to combine large prints with nine patches. This book inspired a couple of other quilts I have made in the past but instead of using nine patches I used other 6 inch blocks with a large scale print.
The one large print fish was one that would lose the fish if it was cut much smaller.
The other large scale print was a seaweedy looking fabric with blue, pink and yellow flowers.
For the Nine Patches I added in a mottled blue and a variegated green wavy print. And finally there's a swirly blue border.
3. Smooth Sailing
For this one I made 8 inch sailboats using the free pattern at Generations Quilts. I had a few sky fabrics and all had white sails - the same white I used in the fishbowls. And the boats are cut from the same 2.5 inch pile of scraps as the fishbowl stands. But instead of adding "water" to the sailboat blocks...
...I sewed the sailboats together into rows and then added rows of fishy sea water below the sailboats.
And now I'm going to play "Go Fish" and maybe end up with a couple more tops soon.
And sew on...
You are too funny. All of them gave me a big chuckle. Or else I am easily amused. I have the Nine Parch Pizazz book and sunflower fabric for it, and have been chicken for years to try it. You did an awesome quilt with it. All of the quilts are just adorable fishy fun pieces.
ReplyDeleteGenius. Pure genius. Wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThe seaweedy fabric and the green one with wavy lines really give the feeling of seaweed growing in the quilt. All of these are bound to be favorites for the kids.
ReplyDeleteYou are a very rapid sewist. Wonderful tops to show today. I haven't seen a fish bowl quilt before, and I really like it, but all three are wonderful. The Nine Patch Pizzazz is a great pattern for big prints. Love it. Looks like the snow is all gone at your place. We still have some but not sure we will have a white Christmas. Enjoy! ;^)
ReplyDeleteThese are all so neat. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThese are fun, fun, fun! :)
ReplyDeleteSo clever! All three are quite different and each is wonderful, making the most of the fishy prints. I had never come across the fish bowl pattern before, what a clever idea.
ReplyDeleteAren't these fun?! I love those fish bowls especially. I guess there is a quilt block for everything. Way to go with all that fishy fabric, Cathy!
ReplyDeleteabsolutely lovely quilt tops. love the idea of the series. i had not seen that fish bowl pattern so grabbed that. the second quilt from the nine-patch book is fantastic!!!! love it lots. must pull that book again. thanks so much for sharing and giving so much of yourself to so many great organizations. enjoy your holiday season however you celebrate. prayers for continued health for both you and your dh. patti in florida pleal@cfl.rr.com
ReplyDeleteThree such different quilt tops made from your fish scraps. All great. I wonder what you will do next?
ReplyDeleteI like all fish quilts. Well done!
ReplyDeleteI love the ‘bowls-o-fish’
ReplyDeleteI love the wide variety of quilts you came up with to use those fishy fabrics! Those fish bowls are adorable!
ReplyDeleteOh wow! You sure have a knack for using your scraps effectively. I love them all. I am sure these will be well loved and also entertaining for someone snuggling up to them for a nap! Great job!
ReplyDeleteFabulous fishy fun!!!
ReplyDeleteJust all lovely quilt finishes, Cathy; I love that 9-patch pizazz one and the sailboats with the "fishies" is just wonderful...
ReplyDeleteI cannot seem to get my act together lately with all the family stuff going on here...so just trying to take it slow and easy...
hugs, Julierose
How wonderful these tops are!
ReplyDeletethese quilts are all spectacular! i'm amazed at how much you get done! i have great intentions, and lots of fabric, but i'm not churning out the tops like i should be, or would like to be...
ReplyDeletegreat job!