Iceberg, a nautical inspired quilt

I can FINALLY reveal my nautical inspired challenge project; it’s been so hard to keep it a secret! You can vote for me on the Family Ever After blog here (please do and I will love you forever).

You can never cross the ocean, unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore

Wise words anon, wise words. And with that, I set sail.

Once the excitement of actually getting into Sewvivor was over, then came the realisation that I would actually have to turn around a nautical inspired quilt in less than two weeks! Like a true sailor, I swore loudly, before diving into my blue scraps. I had so many ideas, but they weren’t… quite right. I searched and googled and I pinned and still nothing. Nada. The brain bank was dry. Until I looked back over my sketch book and found this geometric iceberg I drew a little while back.

That was it! Originally it was for a mini (and it still might be), but in true Sewvivor style, I upsized and went for it. To make the iceberg, I first drew up the image in Adobe Illustrator, printed it over several A3 pages and stuck it all back together again before cutting up each section. Once all that had been done, I foundation pieced the sections together, sewed the sections together and appliquéd it on to the background. Phew! I’m not scared of those cray cray Y seams, that’s for sure!

I used a shot cotton for the water/background. It is so soft and gives it a subtle texture. I knew exactly what sky fabric I wanted, but had less than a fat 1/4. Poo. But I put a call out if anyone had some and my very own mermaid, Penny Poppleton came to my rescue. So a big shout out and thank you x!

It was feeling a little lonesome out there on the still, dark and icy water so I added a wee paper boat, making it’s way around the iceberg. What a perfect texty fabric print to have on hand! You can grab your own here from Polka Dot Tea. I like to think that he has all the time in the world, there is no rush and he is on his own schedule… What adventures will he have on his way? You know the stories will be wild and incredible.

I quilted for what felt like forever! Starting with a wavy, organic straight line quilting all over the background to create some lovely gentle waves. Then some geometric triangles over the iceberg and some swirling stippling for the sky. This is probably the densest quilt I have ever done. Stressful on a timeframe, that’s for sure!

Quilt Label

Quilt name: Iceberg

Made for: Sewvivor quilter’s edition competition 2014

Finished size: 42 x 70 inches

Fabrics used: Lizzy House Constellations, blue shot cotton (from Spotlight), Newspaper print by Kei and assorted blue and white scraps from my stash.

Pattern: Original design by Crystal McGann

Quilting details: Straight, organic, wavy lines with a walking foot on the water using a Guttermann navy cotton thread. FMQ with in a triangular design echoing the triangles in the ‘berg with a light blue/grey Guttermann thread for the bottom and a cream for the top. Light blue Guttermann thread in a medium sized stippling pattern for the sky.

Voting details:

You can vote for me (and your other favourites) on the Family Ever After blog here.

Voting closes Wednesday August 13, at midnight EST.
FYI, the competitors are allowed to use patterns. Contestants are allowed to recruit from their blogs, social media, family, and friends. One vote per device is allowed. The public vote counts as 50%. The other 50% of the vote comes from our “tribal council” aka Judges. The Top 10 will be revealed next Monday, August 18.

34 thoughts on “Iceberg, a nautical inspired quilt”

gnomeangel

Love this technique and I love your photographic styling (quilts not bad either *wink*) – it’s really great and I’m so happy that you’re representing the green and gold! You’re gonna go far!!!