Ahoy there me hearties!
After missing the last Le Challenge (I may have been a little busy...) I was determined to play along this month. In fact, I was soooo keen that I jumped straight online on the 15th to find out the new theme and then began brainstorming immediately. Luckily for me, we were stuck in an airport at the time so there was plenty of opportunity to sit back and think. AND... bug Mr C to help me.
Funnily enough, he took my "it's ok to think outside the square" to heart and went from the theme of "maritime" straight to...
He assures me this way of thinking was pure inspiration. I have my suspicions that he was really just hanging out for a rum. ;)
Eager to play the "good wifie" (hey, we were less than a month in at that point so I might have still been delusional. hehehe) I accepted his challenge and spent the next two weeks of our honeymoon mulling over the idea as often as I possibly could. Obsessed much?!
In the end I decided on a pixelated Jolly Roger. Fun! To make my life even easier, I did a quick search for a free pirate cross stitch pattern and totally scored...
Blimey!
Then, using some new skills I learnt in Caro Sheridan's free Craftsy class, Pictures to Pixel Quilts, I roughly transferred the chart into a workable quilt design on Excel.
From there it was a simple matter of counting, measuring, swearing, re-counting, cutting, cutting, cutting, sewing, pressing... sewing some more... until...
The finished "Shiver Me Timbers" pirate quilt top (at 41" x 55") is as far as I've gotten at this stage but, I have to admit, I LOVE it. You just have to get excited when the picture in your mind comes to fruition like that.
No idea how I'm going to quilt this one (any ideas?) but thinking of either getting some snuggly flannel for the backing or some cool, theme-appropriate cotton like...
Hmm. Decisions, decisions. I might need to think some more.
So, that's my entry for this month's Le Challenge (thankfully finished quilt tops are acceptable. Yay!). A different take on most people's interpretation of 'maritime', maybe, but I'm glad that, firstly Lucy and Nat encouraged me to think outside the square... and then Mr C pushed that even further.
Yo-ho-ho!
E.
Brilliant quilt - it is amazing seeing the process you went through.
ReplyDeleteok that really makes me grin!! So brilliant and Fred would want one if he saw it. Amazing work!!
ReplyDeleteLove love love. Very cool interpretation of "maritime"!
ReplyDeleteThat is amazing!! And yay top quilts are definitely in! Love the fabric you showed for the backing! thanks for taking part!
ReplyDeleteThis is fantastic! You've rocked this challenge :)
ReplyDeleteso awesome :-)
ReplyDeleteI love this! Very creative interpretation! The backing fabric you showed would be perfect-o...but then again something flannel sounds awesome too!
ReplyDeleteThat is really neat!
ReplyDeleteVery very clever!
ReplyDeleteReally cool!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant execution of your original concept. Great entry!
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely brilliant!! Such a fun idea and so well done! A great interpretation of Maritime.
ReplyDeleteI love the skull and cross binds backing - definitely gets my vote. Maybe with red binding? Great quilt top. And absolutely maritime.
ReplyDeleteE xx
Pretty cool!
ReplyDeleteA wonderful idea! So effective. I must take a look at that Craftsy class.
ReplyDeleteFab quilt! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's brilliant! I would never have thought about using a cross stitch pattern for a quilt! I have added that class on my Craftsy too :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a brilliant idea...fantastic picture too.
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful! What size is each square, just wondering?
ReplyDeleteOh I love it! Way to work together to create something great! And what a neat memory this quilt will be in years to come. :)
ReplyDeleteJust the best idea!
ReplyDeleteSo loving the pirate...
ReplyDeleteI love your Pirate quilt - and the backing fabric is great too!!
ReplyDeleteCool!
ReplyDelete