Pac Man Quilt

Do you ever buy fabric without having a specific plan in mind and, some time later, come up with an idea that redeems the original impulse buy? My Pac Man fabric falls into this purchasing category. It's Geeks Gone Wild by Timeless Treasures, and at one time, I couldn't resist.

Inspired by this online clipart, I used EQ7 to sketch out a pattern and determine measurements for cutting pieces.

To complete this quilt's destiny, I chanced upon the most perfect photo spot. Those fingers and skinny little legs belong to my four year-old, who  wasn't terribly pleased with his new post as quilt holder, but reluctantly complied. 

Want a closer look?

I used Magic Binding for the first time ever. If you give this technique a try, I have a few recommendations:

• Use when you are more concerned with time constraints than heirloom quality. I'm not sure the quilt police have approved this method.
• Try to make the binding on the front larger than the binding on the back, or else you will be more likely to have stitching on your binding on the back of the quilt.
• Use the same color for the backing fabric and the main binding color. Then, if you accidentally run your line of stitching up on the binding on the back, it won't be so noticeable.
• If you have an edge-stitch foot, use it when you stitch the binding down on the front.
• Don't forget to sew the binding to the BACK of the quilt first.
• Avoid using this method if you have critical details at the very edges of your quilt, like points you don't want cut off.
• Don't cut off your excess binding until you join the two ends and ensure that it fits the quilt nicely. Joining the ends isn't enough fun to have to do it more than once if you cut it off way too short.

(I may, or may not, have learned all these lessons the hard way.)

Each ghost has a different free-motion quilting filler. Matching thread was used on the top and black was in the bobbin to match the backing fabric. Black lines about 1/2" apart echo the ghosts in the background.

Download the cutting measurements from Craftsy if you'd like to make your own Pac Man Ghost quilt.

How about some progress shots?

Clyde:

Pinky:

Blinky:

I got carried away and didn't take any shots of Inky until he was totally put together.

Inky:

If you make your own, please share in the Quilting Mod Flickr group.

Owl Quilt

The Thimbleweeds Quilt Guild had a challenge to produce raffle-quality quilts for community service fundraisers. Each participant was allowed to choose a panel to incorporate. I picked the cute owl panel in the center right of the quilt. I wanted to create a sampler using an assortment of owl patterns. These included Otis the Owl by Joanna at Shape Moth on the top left (The pattern is missing a portion of the branch on the bottom of piece K.),  "Hooters" by Eileen Sullivan in the bottom right, "Remember Whooo Loves You" by the Acorn Quilt and Gift Company in the top right, a paper-pieced owl by Kristy at Quiet Play in the center of the branch (Remember to set your print size to 100%.), and an owl I sketched based on the cover of Dare to Be Square by Boo Davis in the center left position.

I added a continuous branch, as I thought it was odd-looking to have chunks of branches floating in mid-air. I also made the Acorn Quilt and Gift Company owl's wings 3-D so they can flap instead of being stitched doen flush with the quilt surface.

I used Magic Binding on this quilt. Unfortunately, some unintended magic happened, as it made the legs of the little guy in the bottom right disappear. Since I was looking at the top when I brought the binding from the back to the front for securing by machine, I didn't notice that my thread did not stay in the ditch on the back side and often rode up onto the binding. I do like the speed of the process and the accent flange it creates on the front of the quilt.

For the free-motion quilting, I used a wood grain design I learned from Angela Walter's Machine Quilting Negative Space class on Craftsy. It's a very quick and forgiving design.

I'm linking up with the parties on my linky page.

Mad About Patchwork Mosaic Challenge

Mad About Patchwork is having a mosaic challenge. First, you pick fabrics available on their website to curate a fabric bundle using a Design Seeds palette as inspiration. Then, you create a mosaic using Big Huge Lab's Mosaic Maker. The winner gets their bundle for free!

I went with the Global Hues palette.

This is the mosaic I created.