Scottish Penguin Glen

Scottish Penguin In A Kilt Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

Purchase Scottish Penguin Glen Pattern

 

On Monday I sat down very decisively to work on something happy.  Meet the newest member of my penguin fold – a little Scottish penguin named Glen.  When I shared the initial sketch, Kris asked what a penguin keeps in his sporran.  As I was sewing, I thought of a little story.

 

Glen had always loved wearing his kilt, but the other little penguins made fun of him.  Instead of changing himself to fit in with the others, he spent his days roaming the hills and dales alone, having his own adventures.  Although he was happy to go about on his own,  he sometimes wished he had a friend with him.  During one of his excursions, he found a new hill.  As he walked up the hill slowly – he was a little penguin after all – it started getting colder and darker.  Rain clouds covered the sun and very soon, strong gusts of wind started blowing him all over the place. 

 

Scotland | Whims And Fancies

 

He hurried up the hillside and found an old broken ruin there.  The hill was in a remote area and the entrances to the ruin were all overgrown with brambles.  He took a little knife out of his sporran to clear a path so he could get in without spoiling his clothes.  As he was cutting the brambles, something pink plopped down along with a few Thistle flowers.  He loved Thistle.  When he bent down to pick up the flowers and put them in his little sporran, he found a small pink stone among them.  By this time, big raindrops had started pelting down on him.  He hurried into the ruin to sit inside a big stone fireplace.  There he sat, thumbing the stone and looking at the sky, waiting for the rain to let up a little.

 

Penguin Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

Purchase Little Penguin Polaris Pattern

 

A flash of lightning, and he suddenly found himself elsewhere, facing two other penguins.  One was dressed in woolens and the other in Viking clothing.  They were as surprised to see him as he was them.  After a little awkward introduction, Glen learned their names were Polaris and Olaf.  He also found out that they had been lonely penguins too, before they met each other. Polaris loved his matching woolens, he had quite a few sets.

 

 

Purchase Viking Penguin Olaf Pattern

 

As for Olaf, not only did he love his Viking clothes, he also insisted on having horns on his helmet even though he was told Viking helmets didn’t have horns.  He thought the horns made him look very mighty and formidable.  They both welcomed Glen with open arms.

 

Scotland Thistle | Whims And Fancies

 

Polaris gave Glen a little snowflake that sparkled in the moonlight.  Olaf gave him a little fire-stone which glowed in the dark.  Glen remembered the thistles in his sporran and gave each of his new friends a thistle.  He showed them his pink stone too.  All three wondered if rain and thunder somehow activated the stone and if there were more penguins like them.   For now though, they were delighted to have found each other.  Sometimes you just have to look a little farther to find what you are looking for.

 

The photos were taken by me in Scotland.  I took the photo of the Thistles in the mountains standing outside, buffeted by wind gusts of 40 – 50 mph.  It was quite a difficult task, and I feel like I brought a little Scottish spirit home with me captured in that photo.

 

Scottish Penguin Glen Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

Purchase Scottish Penguin Glen Pattern

 

Glen doesn’t always like to wear his tie or his belt buckle.  So I included additional sections in the pattern for easier piecing without the tie and the belt buckle.

 

Since I always get asked about pattern links, here are links to all three penguin quilt patterns –

Scottish Penguin GlenThe newest member!

Little Penguin Polaris

Viking Penguin Olaf

 

Penguin Quilt Patterns | Whims And Fancies

 

They are a happy bunch, aren’t they!  I love them!

Have a crafty week,
-Soma

 

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page.  Please pay a visit to some of them, they are a lot of fun!

 

 

 

Leave a comment

 

Squares Plus Quilt Remade

Squares Plus Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

 

I had a brand new fun pattern written, fabric pulled, pattern pieces cut, and ready to be sewed.  Then, I broke my toes.   So, now I have to take a break for at least a few days.  I needed to finish sewing the binding on this quilt, so that’s exactly what I did, with my foot propped up on the sofa.  These blocks got a fresh new setting and are the focus of today’s story.

 

 

Squares Plus Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

 

Last September, I finished making this quilt for my kitty.  He kept on using it happily, but I HATED it!  Yes, I truly hated that green sashing.  I thought the green dulled those bright beautiful colours of the blocks.  I refused to lay that quilt out for my cat.  So finally, before I went on holiday, I started remaking the quilt.

 

 

Squares Plus Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

 

Time was short.  Instead of taking the whole quilt apart, I started at the seams that joined the blocks to the sashing.  I unpicked the stitches until the blocks came free.  Since I am a fairly light quilter, I was able to pull the blocks out during one afternoon.  Patience is required for the process though, good thing I like to listen to stories while I work.  Some day I will pull out the yellow backing for use in an another project.

 

 

Squares Plus Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

 

Of course, the blocks were not as crisp as when they were new.  They also shrunk a bit during multiple washes.  After trimming them to be of the same size, pressing them with a hot iron and steam made them good to be used again.

 

 

Squares Plus Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

 

This time I used plain white Kona cotton for the sashing to bring out the bright colours of the quilt blocks.  I did somewhat of a grid quilting.  It’s not a perfect grid, but it’s not random either.  The pale sea green thread is almost the same colour as the block background.

 

 

Squares Plus Quilt Pattern - Grid Quilting | Whims And Fancies

 

 

I found this steel-grey-blue in my stash for the backing.

 

 

Squares Plus Quilt Pattern - Binding Tips | Whims And Fancies

 

 

To keep it light and airy, I used the same fabric for the binding that I used for the block background.  By the way, if you use pins for binding, I highly recommend binding clips.  Clover clips are even better.  I only have one set of those at the moment, I will definitely get more in the future.

 

 

Squares Plus Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

 

The Squares Plus idea started with my wanting to make a plus quilt.  I also wanted to add a little twist to the traditional plus blocks.  While fiddling with the design, I added the little squares on top of the plus sign.  That became my Squares Plus pattern.

 

So here’s the newly-finished Squares Plus quilt for my kitty.  Not that he would know the difference, but I am certainly much happier to lay it out now.

My kitties use their quilts a lot.  If there is not already a quilt on one of their usual sleeping places because I have taken it away to wash, they sit and wait patiently, right beside the spot.  They continue to look at me until I lay a quilt down for them.  Smart, huh?!!

 

Happy Sewing,
-Soma

 

I am also linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page.  Please pay a visit to some of them, they are a lot of fun!

 

 

 

Leave a comment

 

error: Content is protected !!