When I was in Seattle earlier this month, I went down to Pike Place Markets on my only day off. Not for the fish throwing (been there, seen that…) or the Chukar Cherries (though I made sure I did stop by and get some…), but to pop into Undercover Quilts, which is a tiny quilt store packed to the rafters right near the pub.
They had some great quilts, kits, and patterns on a Pacific North West theme and I was tempted… But eventually I settled on a ‘reverse applique’ type of pattern from one of their 2 fabric applique patterns: ‘Herd of Turtles’.
I made it up over the weekend and here’s how it turned out. Next time (if there is a next time) I might use more contrasting colours. BTW, I used two of the fabrics I bought in Bali last September. The pattern offered three applique options — hand -turned (nope!), fusible (I did this version and it was quite time consuming…) and raw edge. If I make this pattern again, I’ll try the raw edge applique option.
One other thing… the pattern piece is printed on a very flimsy and easily torn piece of paper. Before I taped it to the siding door glass, I reinforced the edges all round with clear packaging tape and then I traced it onto some tracing fabric (like a very light interfacing) so I don’t ever have to use the paper pattern again. I was disappointed that this pattern came on such flimsy paper, especially as the instructions are to tape it to the window or use a light box. If you did that straight ‘out of the box’, you’d wreck the pattern very quickly.
Threads used: water — ‘Mint’ (Robison-Anton, rayon, 40 wt, colour #2310); around turtle carapace pieces — ‘Wonder Blue’ (Robison-Anton, rayon, 40 wt, colour #2577); in border — ‘Pistachio’ (Fil-Tec Harmony, 40 wt cotton, colour #14066).
(Click on an image to view it larger)
Update: The recipient of this quilt and his wife had a baby girl, Isabella, on 30 April 2013.
Rhonda Bracey: At Random 
The fabric used for the turtle quilt is perfect!!! The whole design is so appealing and beautifully executed! The quilting is lovely and really accentuates the whole theme! Well done!
[…] orchid from the thin batting last weekend, then I put it on tearaway, used the thin batting in the turtle quilt, and then I surface stitched the orchid with matching threads. It’s now ready to be framed […]
[…] wanted to try another turtle quilt using the Herd of Turtles pattern, but this time using the raw edge applique technique. This method […]
Love turtles. Love the quilt. A group of turtles is called a bale- a tidbit of useless information!
Love the pattern and the material you used! Very striking!
I would like to buy the pattern so I can make it
Whatever is the email address to do this
Thanks
The link to the pattern company is in the second paragraph.
What is the fabric used for the turtles?
Quilting batiks