I couldn’t resist agreeing to be a part of this Blog Hop – Kumiko Fujita’s 318 Patchwork Patterns translated into English?!?!! Yes, please! I know a lot of you have hunted the Japanese version of this book down and now it’s available to all for purchase. World Book Media has worked with Fujita to provide this book in English. Yay! There are 318 patterns for both patchwork and appliqué and most of them are divided by theme.
First of all – so many fun patchwork patterns! I wanted to be able to just use a few of these fun patterns and make a whole baby quilt out of them. ALSO, I’ve been wanting to remake a version of my Play Around the World Quilt So, I decided to combine the two.
I picked four of the At the Circus (pp. 14-15 ) patchwork patterns. I enlarged the pattern so that these would finish at 6″. Fujita provides techniques for piecing these with standard piecing. But, I decided to convert them to paper pieced patterns. Some of them required a bit of creativity to make paper piecing work – like adding a few seam lines. Below is a picture of some of the final paper piecing layouts but, I think I changed a few things as I actually sewed them together. Kerry of Very Berry Kerry has written up an awesome tutorial on how you too can turn these into paper pieced patterns but, her method is freezer paper piecing.
I wanted to create a palette for a fun yet sophisticated circus themed quilt. I went with minty green, grape, red, and yellow. This was my initial fabric pull of which I used to pull from when I worked with each block.
I love, love, love my first two blocks! That elephant!
You can’t have a circus without a clown, right? And I loved the dancing girl! I pieced these using a modified “six minute circle” method for piecing the large curves.
As this is just the quilt top, without the batting and backing, you can see all the seams for the paper piecing. Some of them are teeny, tiny but, paper piecing makes them go together easily! I’ve yet to add a few details to complete the faces.
I already have the backing and binding selected. I think they got his approval.
And, I know I’ll be adding some hand stitching detail to this quilt and my existing threads seem like they will work perfectly!
318 Patchwork Patterns Blog Hop
October 22nd Penny Layman from http://sewtakeahike.typepad.com
– Project: Gardening apron with blocks from Vegetables collection
October 24th Angela Pingel from http://cuttopieces.blogspot.com
– Project: Wall hanging or bunting from Halloween collection
October 27th Amy Sinibaldi from http://nanacompany.typepad.com
– Project: Tote bag with appliqué blocks
October 29th Amber Carrillo from http://oneshabbychick.typepad.com
– Project: Blocks from Christmas collection
October 31st Latifah Saafir from www.thequiltengineer.com
– Project: Baby quilt from At the Circus collection
November 3rd Charise Randell from http://charisecreates.blogspot.com
– Project: Make up kit and shoe bag from Girls’ Night Out collection
November 7th Amy Friend from http://duringquiettime.com
– Project: Table runner with blocks from Fruits collection
November 5th Leila from http://wheretheorchidsgrow.blogspot.com
– Project: Tea Cozy from Tea Time Collection
November 12th Caroline from www.sewcanshe.com
– Project: Tote or pouch with appliqué block
November 10th Faith Jones from www.freshlemonquilts.com
– Project: Mini quilt from Vehicle Collection
November 14th Rashida Coleman-Hale from http://iheartlinen.typepad.com
Giveaway
So much fun! If you’d like to win a copy of this book – leave a comment below about what project you might make out of this book if you won it. International entries are welcomed! Entries will be closed on Wednesday, November 12th Pacific Time. Giveaway closed!