Shark Attack!

Well we had a couple of days of warmer temperatures where it got up just above the freezing mark but it was short lived….back down to -14C this morning (about 6F)…..and we got a little more snow last night so Joe was had to shovel the driveway once again. Very little snow fell but if he doesn’t keep it cleared off or it develops ruts very quickly. I opened the door long enough to bring in the newspaper and that was enough for me!

I really wanted to get down to the “lower studio” today to work on some cards and mixed media creations but the basement is just a bit cold so I spent the day in the “upper studio” quilting. Glad I have more than one hobby.

Not much to report seeing as I don’t leave the house so I’ll get right to the quilt I’m posting today. (Spellchecker wanted to change “I’m” to “I is”…and it would read “I is posting”....I think spellchecker needs a grammar checker?)

This quilt is the one I made for my grandson Jack who wants to be a marine biologist so he can save the sharks. This is the same boy that wanted me to make him a great white shark costume for Halloween a couple years ago. In case you missed it, here it is the costume I created.

 This is the quilt I made him.

As usual, I started out with a sort-of plan in my head and no real pattern. That plan did not work out. I cut out squares of the shark fabric trying to get different sharks in each square but there was not a lot of sharks and the pattern repeated itself more than I realized but I finally got enough cut out. Then I sewed off-white strips along each side of each shark and the plan was to then sew a sparkling blue strip next to the off-white but once I laid it out on top of the blue, Joe and I both went – blah! It just didn’t work so I had to reverse sew the strips (formerly called ripping out stitches). I flipped through some of my quilting magazines trying to get some inspiration and I think it was the last magazine on the shelf where I spotted a quilt that I liked. It was actually a Christmas quilt but I took the centre section pattern and adapted it the shark squares and voilà, I had a new pattern in mind! Luckily I had a lot of the new fabric I wanted to use in the stash but I did have to go to the fabric store to get some of the grey. I love how it turned out and Jack absolutely loved it.

That’s all for a cold Tuesday,

Cheers

Violet