It’s A Garden Party Row Along!

pigeon in a bird bath paper pieced quilt block designed by Dione Gardner-Stephen of Clever Chameleon

Welcome to Day 6 of the “It’s A Garden Party” row along!

Please excuse the pigeon. He says he’ll be with us in a moment.

Once a year Marian of Seams to be Sew hosts an amazing event – a huge row along where lots of designers come together on one project. This year we have each designed a garden themed block for you to collect – mix and match them into a project that you love!

Garden Party row along

If you follow along with this event, you will find lots of beautiful gardening blocks, flower blocks, garden produce blocks and fun critters to choose from – some of which you might even prefer on a quilt than in your actual garden! And there are prize draws too. Come join the party, try out your luck in the prize draws, and collect your free copy of my block pattern today: Garden Bath Joy.

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A Little Birdie: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday

A little birdie wants to tell you…

… all about the quilt I am making. It’s from the It’s A Garden Party row along. Oh, oh, he is hopping with excitement! Of course, the little birdie must not tell you too much just yet, but he can drop a few morsels of information. He can definitely show you what I’ve sewn from patterns already released in the It’s A Garden Party row along.

It's a garden party row along with Seams to be Sew

He can also tell you who is participating in the hop next. The hop hop of excitement has really only just got into full swing…. there are lots and lots of blocks still yet to come. Lots more blog hop hopping you can do to find patterns and prize draws. Lots and lots of garden secrets and secret gardens to discover. Plenty of fun remaining!

Nearly my turn in the row along!

Not to be outdone by a gossipy little birdie, the attention seeking Chameleon is going to give you a sneak peak today of his my our quilt block for the It’s a Garden Party hop… I’ve called it “Garden Bath Joy”. My free pattern is coming on Thursday, only a couple more days to wait! The Chameleon imagines you’re going mottled with anticipation!

While the Chameleon amuses himself and the rest of us wait patiently for Thursday, we can take the birdie’s tour of the It’s A Garden Party blocks I have sewn so far. And I’ve picked out some garden-themed beauties from the Chameleon’s last Colour & Inspiration Party to keep us on theme to the end. This week it’s all flower power and Spring fever at the Clever Chameleon!

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Hummingbirds and Hot Springs: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday

Aren’t Hummingbirds the greatest?

Don’t tell the Chameleon, but I think so. One of Nature’s little oddities, and beautiful into the bargain. We don’t have hummingbirds in Australia, and I’ve never seen one, although I’d love to one day. In the meantime I have settled for making an appliqué version…. yup, I started playing around with some of the free patterns being offered in the It’s A Garden Party Row Along that popped up last week. I hope you’ve had a chance to look into that blog hop for both the patterns and the prizes.

Also, I have devised a cunning quilt plan to use some of the Garden Party blocks. I will reveal my progress as the pattern collection grows. If you like it you are welcome to make one too. I can tell you how it goes together, you find all the parts in your collected patterns, and then you beat me at my own game. No waiting for me to get my act together to write you a pattern. Perfect!

Read on to get your head start on me now. 😀

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Yellow Butterfly Hijinks: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday

Yellow Butterfly Hijinks colour board at Clever Chameleon

The little blue flower that started a neighbourhood dispute…..

Or was it the yellow butterfly? Or someone else entirely…..?

Watching the local pollinators compete, you would be forgiven for thinking that flowers are scarce in Arkaroola right now. Which, I think you probably get the idea: they are not. The cooler weather, plus the months elapsed since our big rain, has resulted in a bloom of both flowers and insects. Wanted and otherwise.

But apparently some flower locales are more desirable than other blooming addresses. Even within the best Cattle Bush Restaurants there appears to be premium tables where the best-dressed socialites wish to be seen hanging. The freshest nectar. The showiest location….. or perhaps just a good old fear of missing out? Whatever the reason, the competition out there for specific dining experiences is fierce right now. And, for a butterfly of quiet disposition, eating out is not quite as simple a task as you might expect!

Come sit in a dry Arkaroola creek bed with me and watch the locals fight it out for a feed. Not everyone was as yellow as these guys either. Size and brawn both still count for something when you want your own way, apparently.

After the cheap amusement, we can quickly detour past my sewing room, although most of what I’ve done there this week has to stay secret for a bit longer. No Lunarcy this week, something entirely different- my very first paper-pieced pattern! Ha, you didn’t see that coming, did you? Actually, that makes two of us.

And then join me to find out where some of the best hangouts on the quilt-net were this week. Warning: humble brag forecast this week is for a high chance of self-promotion. 😀

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Safe Harbour Seahorses: Island Batik Blog Hop

Blue Sea colour board at Clever Chameleon

Finally! The Blue Sea quilt reveal is here!

And with it, your gateway to a month of eye candy and lots of chances to win luscious latest release batiks from Island Batik. Welcome to Colour & Inspiration Tuesday meets the “A Piece Of….” blog hop!

Island Batik blog hop logo

November is blog hop month for half the Island Batik Ambassadors (specifically, the half who did not hop in August). Our theme this time is “A Piece Of…..”, open to any interpretation we wish. The instructions given were to make a quilt, lap size or larger, showcasing as many fabrics as possible from our allocated collection. And so today, after weeks of threadful teasing, and awful puns about sea-cret sewing, I can take pity on you. Today we finally have the Blue Sea quilt “big reveal”.

If you’ve been following along, you already know a little of what the Blue Sea fabrics look like. You probably also know the basic pattern that I’ve chosen. And you likely even know that the Chameleon has been messing around. But do you know what my Blue Sea Storm at Sea morphed into? Nope? Well, let’s take a look-sea! I hope you’ll enjoy my “Piece of” the deep Blue Sea that is now called “Safe Harbour Seahorses”. And enter the competitions to win Island Batik fabrics. Good luck!

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