Found a fun quilting blog with great techniques...

Be sure to check out the WackyPac Blog -- They've got some great projects and fun techniques online--so much that I've listed a permanent feed on my blog here.

Rhonda, one of WackyPac's contributors deigned to comment on my last post (thanks for your feedback--I'm so glad you liked it!), so I checked out her profile and found their blog this way.

In particular, there is a terrific Hot Flash quilt in there that is gorgeous red, yellow, orange and pink. Just lovely!

Slime quilt a la Dragonquest

I'm not into video gaming, but my brother-in-law is. He and my sister are expecting their first baby this month, and I asked if I could make a quilt for them as a baby gift. Their nursery has a Dragon Quest theme, and they sent me some pictures of Rocket, the character you see in the five corner blocks of this quilt.

The quilt came out to be about 43" square, so I could avoid piecing the backing fabric. It was also my first attempt at applique. I completed the five slimes first. I traced the slime design on interfacing. Then, I sewed on the traced line, through the interfacing and fabric (wrong sides together). I made a small slit through the center of the interfacing and turned the piece right side out and pressed. This gives you turned under edges, without all the work.

For the eyes, I used my embroidery machine and made three circles--one full white circle, one outline black circle, and one small black center circle. For the mouth, I used a free-motion satin stitch around a traced pattern. Then, I attached the applique to the sky background fabric with a satin stitch and a special foot called the Satinedge™ foot by Creative Feet. It's a great investment, especially if you lack confidence in your ability to sew straight.

I cut the alternating squares (a scenic print by Michael Miller) the same size as the slime squares, and attached some dark brown marbled sashing to make the squares pop. I added a grass green border (Easter grass), and used the same for the backing fabric.

For quilting, I quilted in the ditch of the sashing and border, and then also around each of the slimes. I also did some freemotion quilting in each of the scenic blocks as well. The light blue binding adds just a touch of brightness to finish off the quilt.