And I am not a big fan of secret sewing. Or waiting....
Don't want to leave a quilter hanging, so today I am taking you all for a trip to the BEACH!
I was struggling to come up with a fun idea for using 10" squares in a quilt design. After all the Christmas themed quilt blocks I've been working on, I guess my mind wanted to get as far away from winter as possible. Or it may just be that I've come down with a case of cabin fever.
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| It was an itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka-dot bikini. That she wore for the first time today. |
Whatever the case may be, I was excited when I came up with something that I was really happy with and I couldn't get making this fast enough! I paired up the "Pie Making Day" stack of 10" squares with some solids from my Kona stash. Champagne, Putty, Ice Peach, Pink, Maize, Mocha, Coffee, and Brown were used for the flesh tones and Silver was chosen for the background.
To add to the simplicity of the piecing, there are no matching points to pin. As you can see, in the photos below, the background triangle pieces that have been added to the "waist" do not meet at the top when the "bra" portion of the block is added....
And when the "panty" portion of the block is add to the bottom of the "waist", the points will end up within the seam allowance....
This allows those of you who are a big fan of trimming your finished blocks, to trim to your heart's content. And when you add the sashing strip to the side, the "hip" will have a small portion overlapped by the sashing. I briefly considered "correcting" this to make the angles match the points, but I really liked the look of the block, just the way it is. And there is no pinning of points so this is a nice, relaxing, fun and fast block to make. I love it!
This next block is for my friend Anja of Anja Quilts. She is a BIG fan of orange. I don't know how she feels about bikinis though.
You don't have to use a Layer Cake or a stack of 10" squares to make this quilt. You simply require either a 10" square (or two pieces @ 5" x 10") of any piece from your stash per block. And a fat quarter of the flesh colour is enough to make three bodies. Speaking of flesh colour....
Did you know that Robert Kaufman, maker of Kona Cotton Solids, recently renamed two of their colours. One of them was named "Flesh" and is now called "Bellini". Coincidentally, did you notice how close that is to Bikini!!!???? Well it rhymes, anyhow. The other one was named "Pale Flesh" and is now called "Shell".
I became aware of this change through reading a post where Yvonne of Quilting JetGirl was sharing her beautiful Oh Happy Day quilt she made for the MQG as November's Quilt of the Month. You can see that quilt here. AND if you are a relatively new quilting blogger, I highly recommend you check out her post calling on New Quilt Bloggers to sign up for the New Blogger Hop here. I took part in this event a number of years ago and it was the most fun! Such an informative learning experience and it helped me to get involved with the quilting community and grow my blog.
I also must give a quilter credit where credit is due. I have NO doubt that this post on Instagram by Melissa Teeters Bonier must have had a huge influence in the renaming of these shades....
Bravo to you Melissa! And thank you to the Kaufmann crew for acknowledging this was a problem and for acting on it to quickly rectify this issue! This was handled in an appropriate way with everyone behaving as they should - as adults. This makes me that much more proud to be a part of the quilting community - a community that is inclusive!
Speaking of promoting inclusiveness...
Also seen in my Instagram feed was this post by my friend Lori of SewPsyched!
This post really shocked me because of the timing. I had just that same day shared a photo of this new pattern with my daughter to make sure it was easy to recognise that these were indeed gals in bikinis. This type of design is not typical of what you would see coming from me. Most of my designs are of animals, not people. Granted these people have no heads, arms or legs.... But.... They are people.
Lori's use of the hashtag #differentmelanin caught my eye. Turns out there is some designer named Isaac West out there doing a project using all these models with different skin tones. I'm not a fashionista.... So I can't really explain what his project is. But I think the intent is obvious enough....
We are all beautiful. It has nothing to do with skin colour. Or even how you spell colour.
This new pattern is called Teenie Weenie Bikini and you can find it listed here in my shop.
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| 4 block mini quilt finishes at 25.5" x 30.5" |
Each block finishes at 9.5" wide by 12" tall.
Using 2" sashing and 2" borders:
- Single block mini quilt finishes at 14" x 16.5"
- 4 block mini quilt finishes at 25.5" x 30.5"
- 9 block baby quilt finishes at 37" x 44.5"
- 16 block lap quilt finishes at 48.5" x 58.5"
- 20 block beach blanket finishes at 48.5" x 72.5"
- 25 block single bed quilt finishes at 60" x 72.5"
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| 16 block lap quilt finishes at 48.5" x 58.5" |
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| 25 block single bed quilt finishes at 60" x 72.5" |
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Are YOU a fan of Layer Cakes and stacks of 10" squares?
If you missed my Giveaway post, I strongly encourage you to give it a read.
Keep On Quilting On!
This would make such a fun beach quilt!
ReplyDeleteSummer is in the air ! (but not for real, not yet...)
ReplyDeleteThat's a fun block. Would look good in a row by row quilt with umbrellas, beach ball, bucket and spade and a beach hut row... how much fun would that be...
ReplyDeleteAlthough I don't really want to think of Anja in a bikini , lovely though she is , I must admit this orange bikini is her to a T!
ReplyDeleteThis quilt is too much fun!
ReplyDeletePerfect for a beach quilt. I also like Jo's idea of a row by row with other beach blocks added. Creative use of those layer cakes though!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for including so many skin tones in your bikini quilt. And thanks too, for including the wonderful commentary about the renaming of both the Kona and Crayola colors. It it is with these small acts that we create more respectful communities. As a quilter and as a retired high school teacher and anti-racism educator, I especially appreciated this post. Such dark forces at work these days in the US and EU. Let's use our quilts to spread light and peace.
ReplyDeleteI think the bikini quilt is super fun! I love that both Robert Kaufman and Aurifil quickly made changes to their names when it was pointed out to them. Thanks so much for mentioning the blog hop; I hope we have a lot of fun this year.
ReplyDeleteThat is so cute!
ReplyDeleteLorna, this is adorable. What a fun block and best of all, NO POINTS TO MATCH!!
ReplyDeleteIt will be fun to see what people come up with for this one!
I was also very happy when those name changes were made for the solids - how that ever got missed by their team is beyond me!
Lorna - love this new block - so much fun Thanks for all you do
ReplyDeleteFirst I want to say that I Love This Quilt! And second, there is another group to include in your inclusiveness comments...us curvy gals. Your bikini ladies have hips and boobs. We who have bellies are starting to speak out. Your bikini ladies are very "on trend" that way, too. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI have to make this for myself. I live in Daytona Beach and decorate in a beach cottage style So this would be perfect!
ReplyDeleteThank you Lorna for another fun pattern. But I am thrilled that the figure of the bikini-clad woman is not an hour-glass - it is pear shaped. So relatable, I just might make a block for me :-)
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Preeti.
This is awesome! Now I have the itsy bitsy bikini song stuck in my head :)
ReplyDeleteThis is so stinkin' cute. I'm going to have to make it for my daughter to take out on the boat and sunning at the beach.
ReplyDeleteI just spotted this pattern on your sidebar and laughed out loud! I meant to comment on it, but forgot :( It is just adorable--and what a great opportunity to use up some fun prints. You should take a poll of how many of your readers know the reference to "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie. .. " I do--from my--Ahem--youth. Thanks for posting the Kona colors story and the #differentmelanin photo--so great!
ReplyDeleteTeenie Weenie Bikini is so cute. I also LOVE the Lovebirds in the side bar. Will that pattern be released anytime soon?
ReplyDeleteJust purchased & downloaded TWB. =)
ReplyDelete