Penguin quilt | NW Quilted Cat

Hi everyone!

I hope you’re having a great weekend and have a little time for sewing.

My regular readers will recognize my entry into the Art Quilt category for the Blogger’s Quilt Festival.

It is a penguin mini-quilt based on Charley Harper’s original artwork! I made this mini quilt for an Instagram-based, Charley Harper themed swap. I made the design up as I went along so there really isn’t a pattern for it.

I started by gathering up blue, aqua, and low-volume neutral fabrics. Some of the fabrics are from the Charley Harper fabric lines by Birch Organic. I created a background by stitching together 2.5-inch squares, with the darker blues in the upper left-hand corner fading towards the low-volume neutrals. The bottom piece represents the ground.

For the penguins, I was inspired by the Charley Harper Nurture penguin fabric. I made my own applique pattern and used individual pieces of fabric to represent the parent penguin and the chic. I then carefully stitched around each fabric piece. The yellow accent lines are straight-stitched using Aurifil thread.

For quilting, I used my Bernina and my walking foot and did some simple, straight-line quilting using white Aurifil thread. I really love the results!

Here’s a look:

Charley Harper Penguin Mini Quilt

Penguin close-up

The backing piece uses all Charley Harper fabrics plus a label:

Hop on over to Amy’s Creative Side and check out all of the wonderful entries in the festival. I’d love your vote in the Art Quilt category!

Happy stitching!
~Jennifer

Hi quilty friends!

I’ve got 4 Instagram mini quilt swaps due in late March and April. I’ve finished 3 out of 4 so I’m going to start sharing what I created.

For the Charley Harper inspired mini quilt swap, my partner indicated that she liked the penguins from the Nurture fabric line so I decided to create a penguin mini.

First, I started by creating a larger sized penguin and chick by making my own applique pattern. I used Kona snow, black, and yellow for the adult penguin body. For the chick, I used Kona black, snow, gray and a piece of medium blue Charley Harper fabric.

Next, I created the background piece by stitching together 2-1/2 inch squares, using some Charley Harper fabrics and adding in other fabrics from my stash. I decided to use aquas, blues, and neutrals with the aquas/blues starting in the upper left-hand corner and fading slowly into the all neutrals. The bottom gray portion resembles the ground and is also Charley Harper fabric.

Then I carefully added my penguin appliques to the background and used a blanket-stitch in matching Aurifil thread colors to secure all the individual pieces to the back. I used yellow Aurifil 40 wt thread to add some detail stitching o the adult penguin (mimics the Nurture fabric).

Here’s a look at the completed mini:

Charley Harper Penguin Mini Quilt

Closer look at the penguin:

Penguin close-up

I added a few extras to the swap package, including a open wide pouch that I made from the Charley Harper Nurture fabric. I couldn’t resist adding a little stuffed penguin plus some chocolates and wildflower seeds to represent my home state of Oregon:

I hope my partner loves this mini as much as I do! I had so much fun making this quilt, and it was very hard to take it to the post office yesterday for mailing.

I received a wonderful red cardinal Charley Harper mini in return. I’ll show pictures on my next post!

Until then, happy quilting!
~Jennifer