The Pets on Quilts Show with "Serenity Now!" (Free Block Pattern too)

Today is the beginning of one of my favorite Blogland events...
the Pets on Quilts Show over at Lily Pad Quilting.  The show runs all this week and into the next: the 17th to the 27th.  Many thanks to Jacque, she works hard to line up some wonderful sponsors and prizes!  This is one of the most social and fun linky parties out there, so be sure not to miss it.  There are categories that include every kind of pet.  Hamsters, hedgehogs, and horses - Oh My!  There is even a category for pet themed quilts too.  So cuddle Buckbeak and Norbert up on your favorite quilts and snap a few photos!  

Penny & Pip hope you come and join in the fun!  Here they are for their Pups on Quilts photo shoot:

Penny & Pip with Serenity Now! They somehow look American Gothic

Pip with the Serenity Now! flimsy. 
She thought the process of ripping off the paper backing was thrilling.

Pip and Penny were both adopted from rescues.  We adopted Pip in April of 2010, on the same weekend we adopted Kaitie's dog, Olive, who was my star for last year's Pets on Quilts Show.  Then a year later, we adopted Penny, and she and Pip became instant buddies.  We found all our dogs through Petfinder.com, an organization that showcases pets in shelters and rescue groups.  All three of these dogs had tragic pasts.  It took a bit of understanding to work through their troubles, but now you could not wish for more loving and devoted companions.  I really can identify with the question "Who rescued who?" 

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Serenity Now! A Modern Quilt for Sam

A lot of you have been asking slowpoke me how Sam's "Serenity Now!" quilt was going.  Well... It is finally finished and just in time for Sam to take it back to New Hampshire after his visit last week.  The quilt turned out pretty nice and Sam was happy with it!

It looks different in every kind of lighting, I suspect this is more so than usual because all the fabrics are shimmery shot cottons from the Oakshott and Pepper Cory collections. The photo below is the one I think looks closest to the true colors.

Sam & Gonzo, holding up Serenity Now!

This is the only photo I have of Sam with his quilt; shame on me.  I wish so much I had thought to catch Sam and Gonzo peeking out from behind, which they did a lot.  The camera was on a tripod, set with a timer, and somehow I didn't get one shot of them.  To give you an idea of size: the quilt flimsy measured 80"h x 60"w, but by the time it was quilted and washed, it had shrunk to 76"h x 57"w.  Even though I had prewashed the fabric before sewing, it shrank a bit more while washing the finished quilt.  I am super glad that I did not skip the prewashing.    

Awhile back, I showed you all the painting, by Emma Biggs and Matthew Collings, that inspired this quilt.  Sam found the painting on Pinterest and asked me to make a quilt like it, much to my delight. 
If you'd like, you can read about the start of that here:
A Change of Plans & Prewashing Shot Cottons
and here:
Halfway to Serenity Now!
  
You might remember that I decided to paper piece these blocks.  I found that the long, narrow shape of the 2.5" x 10" half rectangle triangles (HRT) made it quite difficult for me to sew accurate 5" x 20" blocks.  Paper piecing solved that problem nicely.  With this pattern, pulling off the paper afterwards was not too bad.  Pip thought it was a lot of fun and did a lot of pouncing.

In case anyone would like it, I'm sharing the HRT Half Diamond paper-piecing pattern that I made, along with the HRT fabric pre-cutting templates, and an EQ7 mock up of the quilt in pdf files.  Print them in auto portrait/landscape setting at actual size. (they will be oriented to portrait)  I have not written a paper piecing tutorial, but did write some brief instructions on the pattern.  And don't forget; you can print this pattern on the other side of the paper too, which makes paper piecing so much easier.

Serenity Now! - EQ7 Mockup
HRT Half Diamond 5 x 10 inch paper-piecing pattern
HRT Fabric pre-cutting templates

I'm going to just jump right into showing you more photos, at various stages.   

The flimsy phase of Serenity Now! on the design wall

Serenity Now! Finished - At the barn (I eventually pinned it to the door)

Quilting diagram

View of the Quilting from the back of Serenity Now

I was happy with how the piecing turned out, but not so much with my quilting.   I machine quilted it with my walking foot, following the great suggestion a few of you made about echoing offset diamonds.  It was a good plan, but my execution of it was so-so.  It is minimally quilted, but will hold up fine because of the batting I used: Quilter's Dream Orient - a rayon / bamboo / cotton / silk batting that has wonderful drape and that can be quilted as far as 8 inches apart.  Basically my problem was that a person should not try to accomplish nice straight lines when having problems with vertigo... you can see I was a bit wobbly.  Sam loved it anyway.  He said it made it all the more valuable to him!  Squishy Mom Moment...Awwwww.   

Also, I thought you would like to see the quilting lines closer.  I used King Tut variegated threads in two colors.  For the binding I sewed it onto the front and stitched in the ditch to secure it to the back, then added another line of stitching to make sure I got it all. It gave it kind of a neat, piped effect. 

Close up of my wobbly job of echo quilting and binding

The finished quilt, after washing.  The left side in the photo has not been ironed yet.  The whole quilt needed a good pressing again, but it was not so difficult to get the wrinkles out this time.  That was good, because I was not going to use starch and stiffen up the softness of these fabrics.  In fact, ironing it made it feel even softer.  

Serenity Now! viewed in incandescent light at night, quilted and bound.

Sam sent me this photo in a text message the first night he was back home.  He told me today that he uses his quilt every night.  :)  I kind of wish I made it bigger then.  When we started this he said he didn't want a bed sized quilt, but more like couch napping size.

Serenity Now! in Sam's room

And where were Pip & Penny during our photographic expedition at the park?
Right alongside us and having a happy doggy day!

Pip, watching all the goings on

Pip is a fairly tidy dog, which is good, considering that she loves to press her cheeks to your lips so you will give her kisses.

Penny, may look adorable, but that little bugger is often quite disgusting.  If she finds a nasty, odiferous thing, she will rub her body all over it and she does this in the blink of an eye.  She did it again that day at the park.  To borrow a phrase from Dana: "Deja-Poo".  

Penny is not too happy here, because Sam washed off her "Eau de Colon".

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Just one more thing I want to share today, about another great upcoming event.  

On September 18th - 20th, Cyndy, of Quilting is More Fun Than Housework, is holding another Quilty Orphan Adoption Event.  This event is a linky party, where you link up a post about a project you would like to give away.  Basically you offer a quilt, blocks, or fabrics (at any stage of non-completion) that you no longer want to finish.  It's a wonderful way to pass along that Quilt that only brings you Guilt.  The relief of releasing yourself from a burden and at the same time making someone else quite happy is a heady combination!  So prowl through your bins and bags and UFOs and see if you have anything you would like to give away! The last time Cyndy held this event it was a lot of fun!    

Thanks for visiting, because...

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