REGULAR // wandering the web
74 British Patchwork & Quilting AUGUST 2019Grab your buckets and spades – its holiday time and we’re off to see what fabrics,
patterns and quilts we can fi nd with a seaside theme.Wandering
the webWITH CHRIS FRANSES
There are several books available with patterns for seaside
quilts. Lynette Anderson’s recent book ‘Nautical Quilts’ is
published by F&W Media (bit.ly/2Xv9kyj), C&T Publishing have
several titles including ebook ‘Seaside Home’ (bit.ly/2KwldQU)
and Fox Company Publishing have ‘Seaside Quilts’ by Carol
Porter and Rebecca Hansen (bit.ly/2WPLZKI). You can buy all
these books through your usual book supplier.Several people have collected pictures and links to quilts
with a seaside theme and posted them on their Pinterest
boards. I’ve listed four here that have quite a lot of quilts
and links in their collections (bit.ly/2WhdecT; bit.ly/2WhgNQr;
bit.ly/2WrxJsf; bit.ly/2wKsEfb) but you can always search
Pinterest (www.pinterest.co.uk) for more boards – you will
have to sign up to do so but it is free.One quilt artist I have always associated with seascape quilts
is Sheena Norquay as one of the fi rst quilts of hers that I saw
was of a small boat pulled up onto a shore. You can fi nd more
of her pictorial quilts on her website - bit.ly/2I08BA9. Miniature
quilt maker Julia Gahagan also makes some lovely little quilts
with a seaside theme, some of which are available to buy as kits
or patterns (bit.ly/2WhfzV6).Several fabric manufacturers have produced seaside-themed
fabric ranges this year – although by now I suspect they are
slowly being supplanted in the shops by Christmas fabrics. On
their websites, though, you can often fi nd free patterns to go
with these ranges; for instance Henry Glass have a couple of
small quilt projects to go with their Coastal Paradise range
(bit.ly/2ETqZbG) – one uses a panel, the other is a row by row
quilt and Art Gallery Fabrics also have seaside-themed quilts
(bit.ly/2wOi1IF) – Lighthouse Windows and Seaside. Don’t forget
that you don’t have to use the featured fabrics to make your
quilts, use fabrics of your choice; the Lighthouse Windows
quilt actually uses fl oral fabrics. It’s also not too late to join in
with the Moda Bake Shop Quilt-Along ‘At the Seashore’
(bit.ly/319vyIJ) which started on 5 June and ends on August 26.Beach huts have become very popular recently as a design –
whether on their own or as part of a seaside-theme quilt.
I found a free pattern link on Pinterest (bit.ly/2InybxW) and
a mini-tutorial in two parts from Quilt Routes (bit.ly/2XtYzMV
and bit.ly/2Zg0h53). Cynthia Muir describes how she designed
and made her little Beach Hut wall-hanging on her blog
bit.ly/2Mw1SSy and Honeybee Cloths ‘Skinny Dipping Quilt-
Along’ features beach huts at bit.ly/2HWPRkR with links to
further rows and blocks at the end of the post. From Daisy
Chain Designs comes a Beach Hut cushion (bit.ly/2K1A0nw) –
and also a wonderful bucket and spade pattern, complete with
seaside toy windmill (bit.ly/2EV0IKe) called ‘Seaside Memories’.
I also found a lovely row-by-row quilt tutorial featuring beach
huts, fi sh and sailboats by Pretty Little Quilts (bit.ly/2XrrjWl).If you want to feature sailing boats of any description in
your seaside quilts there are no end of traditional blocks to
choose from and I found several free tutorials and patterns.
The Spruce Crafts website has two – a tall ship pattern
(bit.ly/2Xt502M) and a Sailboat block (bit.ly/2wAz4xF) which
is similar to the one on the Generations Quilt Pattern website
(bit.ly/2JXDcR7). If you are a visual learner then you might
like this YouTube video (bit.ly/2IkG9ru) from Alanda Craft
(www.alandacraft.com). Quilt Inspiration had a free pattern
day on the theme of sailboats (bit.ly/2wF8SC0) with a list of‘Beach Huts Wall Hanging’, Cynthia Muir, http://www.ahhhquilting.comRight: ‘Water is Life So Why are
we Doing This’, Thom Atkins
Below: ‘Seaside Memories’,
http://www.daisychaindesigns.co.uk