Currently Stitching: Mermaid Batik Quilt

I knew this was going to be one of those projects that would take a lot of discipline. There are some quilts that involve a lot of repetition. Between sewing, trimming, and pressing, days will go by before you know it. So sometimes it's helpful to bring something like this to retreat, instead of trying to do it at home.

One of the gals at retreat said she'd done an entire flying geese quilt - and had to bring it retreat. She mentioned that while trying to do it at home, she kept finding things to vacuum and dust, instead making two thousand flying geese. *gasp in horror*

After I get myself situated, I pulled out this project. I decided to use these Mermaid Batiks with this homespun pattern. I took the time to prep the pieces ahead, which means cutting and labeling all the parts of the block. Once everything was ready I slid it into a project bag to take with me. In the morning, unpacked the parts and got them laid out so I could begin sewing! 

I took the instructions one step at a time. Because it's not my pattern I can't share measurements or specifics with you. I can say that I thought it was clearly written and straight forward! There were a lot of very traditional blocks and steps that eventually led to the final block, which I appreciated. 

These half square triangles (HST) were the first step in creating one corner of the repeating block. There were a lot of them! I chain pieced all the different colors and trimmed them down. 

Additionally, I took the extra time to press and trim the smaller half of the HST so I will be able to use them in a future project! I used to let the little leftover triangles pile and shove them in a baggie. I've gotten much better about taking care of them right away. And even though they're still in a bin or a bag, they're an already finished block - which helps a ton!

Next up were these rectangles with snowballed triangles on the end. What's a snowball you say? All it means is that you cut a square to fit a corner of another square or triangle. You sew a line down the center and then trim the excess away. This leaves you with a square of one color, minus one corner. It's often used when trying to create a specific image in the larger, final block.

These also yielded another set of tiny half square triangles that were added to my scrap stash! I spent a lot of time pressing and trimming these down. But they're such sweet little squares, I really can't stay mad at them.

picture of tiny triangles all trimmed

There were two other rectangle + square blocks that I got stitched up and ironed pretty quick. Which then meant I was finally ready to make the blocks! Wahoo! 

I did my best to mix and match the colors and order of the blocks so there would be a nice variety! I laid them out in groups of four or five at time and started piecing the rows together. It was pretty repetitive work, which meant I could sort of unplug and just sew and listen to the ladies chatting around me. 

Most of us don't see each other between quilt retreat, so it's a great time for us to finally catch up! There's a lot of personality in this room, and it's just a blast! There's a lot of laughter and great stories that are passed around at these events. We share life updates about ourselves and our families, parts of our lives that have been hard since the last time we saw each other, and the things coming up that make it all worth while. 

Here was my first "block." Once four of the pieced blocks were ready, I was able to start putting together the bigger blocks.

This is one of those moments where I remind myself why I pick out such pretty fabrics. You have to have fabric you love to make the grind of piecing the same block 80 times worth while. And I do just absolutely love these blocks in these colors. 

I kept chugging along and adding blocks to the wall until...

TA-DA!

I had the whole thing up on the wall!

I say again, I love these fabrics! It is so happy and summery, it makes all the hard work worth it! Although I'll tell you, now that all the blocks were done, that meant it was time to sew up the rows, and then sew the rows together. SIGH!

One of the cool things about this pattern is that she gives you a lot of options for layout. I chose to do the middle size in the offset design. It felt more whimsical and fun to me than the stacked layout. But I might try it again in the other design, who knows!?

I did take a break before sewing it all together. Something that really helps with this pattern, but also adds a lot of time to the project, is pressing the seams open. The instructions give very helpful pressing and piecing directions. However, it still took me hours and hours to get every seam open and lined up.

But it was worth it if you ask me. I can't wait to see this girl on the longarm! I chose a feathery light blue backing that I'll be stoked to show off! 

Thanks for following along, and I hope this inspires you to try a new pattern or techniques. If you haven't worked with batiks yet, give them a shot!