Monday 2 February 2015

Feb BOM Oceans 2015

Hello! It's already February - so that means.....
Its time for our Oceans Block of the Month and our Second Block -

Let's see what I have for all of you....
This lovely Sea Lion Pup swimming in the ocean. 



These sweet little animals are so nosey - they love to swim up to people who are diving and want to play.


 
(no personal knowledge of this - I DON'T swim in the ocean!! My friend does deep sea diving and she loves to tell me about these funny little creatures)




The block measures 14" and is an Intermediate Level block. It might look a little intimidating at first, but once you get sewing, you will see that it is pretty straight forward.

My block is done in purples and greys - the way I see them swimming in the water. They are really a brown colour when they are dry and quite dark when they go swimming.

It's really up to you to choose which colours you like for your sea lion.




These are some of the colour fabrics I used for my block. I chose a aqua coloured fabric with what looks like bubbles for the water, browns for the face and body and Purples for the head and flippers where the water would create a shine on his body.




I started with cutting out the pattern, gathering my fabrics and then planning where I would use which one.
I like to lay out everything in front of me so that I can get a good visual of what I need to do.





I made a colour chart for myself by cutting out small pieces of fabric and sticking them to the colour numbering chart. I also laid out the fabrics in that order on my desk.


I also wrote onto each piece which colour needed to go where. All this preparation pays off in the end, because then I do not have to constantly go back to the diagram and see which colour I need to use. It also helps me not to make any colour fabric mistakes.

 Only when I was finished writing the name of the colour onto each piece - I thought to myself - I could have just written the number of the colour onto the piece. LOL! Whatever works right......



The pieces started to come together quite quickly after that and I was so excited to see the little face looking at me....



Top and bottom get put together and then they get sewn together.




And here is my block - Sea Lion 14"




The little face is soooo sweet.

The highlight patch over his nose didn't line up for me exactly but not to worry, he still needs to get his whiskers, so it will all be okay in the end.

 For the whiskers, I used a brown cotton. I first drew onto my block with a washable fabric pen and then used my FMQ foot to make a few curved lines coming out from his nose area - about 2.5" (6 cm) long.

Now he looks like a real Sea Lion.



I hope you all enjoy making your blocks.

Block will be FREE for February in my Craftsy Shop.

Quick links in the Oceans BOM Page


Beginner BoM '15 block #2 will be on the blog on FRIDAY

Pattern is already available in my Craftsy shop and GDrive. (Beg BoM Page)
I will show the photo step by step on Friday. 
Sorry about the delay....
(so many things that all wanted to be shown in the same week)




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7 comments:

Sew Surprising said...

Ohhhhh how cute is he, love the bubble fabric its perfect for that underwater ocean look. I did smile with your fabric labelling ;) I do that and know its the long way around but saves getting out my ripper rita hahahahaha.

Nancy said...

I found your blog via Electric Quilt's newsletter. I think your work is spectacular. I like paper piecing. Thank you for the Freebies and I will take a long look at your Craftsy site.

Alexandra said...

Hello Janeen,
this sea lion ist nice, so lovely. Thank you for this freebie.
Greetings
Alexandra

Belinda said...

He's adorable! Looking forward to putting him together and I just hope I can choose fabrics as well as you do!

Yellow Bird Stitches said...

Just printed the pattern and now I'm off to choose fabrics. Thank you for this! I was anxiously awaiting the new month. :-)

legato1958 said...

Awww this little fellow is amazing and adorable ! His whiskers just bring him to life!
Susie

Vera said...

Seriously cute. Well done!