Monday 26 September 2016

My Zebra

A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate to attend a class with Juliet van der Heijden, who you might know as the Tartan Kiwi. This is what I made - a 20" zebra mini quilt.


We spent the day learning some tips and tricks for foundation paper piecing and working on our zebras.  Our aim was to make Juliet's 20" zebra pattern and by the end of the day we had got this far:

that's Juliet's on the left - the class sample.

I came home and continued to work on mine while I still had the ideas in my head.  I laid out all my greens and yellows and tried to plan each section before I started piecing it. It's quite confusing because everything is mirror image with foundation paper piecing. I wanted to keep the light colours close to the zebra, and the dark colours on the outside edges.  I thought it would look like the zebra was emerging from the bush - not sure if I achieved that or not, but I like it anyway.



I got my zebra assembled without too much unpicking.  I was very happy with my finished zebra, but I didn't know how to quilt him.  I knew he would sit unfinished for years if I waiting until my free motion quilting was up to speed, and I didn't want to hand quilt it due to all the bulky seam allowances.

I've long admired the beautiful quilting Donna Ward does on mini quilts, so asked her if she might quilt my zebra for me. Donna kindly agreed and free motion quilted it for me on her domestic machine.  I'm thrilled with what she did - it's so far beyond anything I could do at the moment.



My zebra now has a hanging sleeve and is ready to hang on the wall. I like to put hanging sleeves at the top and the bottom of my small quilts, because often the bottom edge can be a bit wavy and inserting another wooden rod can keep it hanging straight.

If you want to make your own zebra you can find this pattern in Juliet's Etsy store here
or on Payhip here.

PS a friendly reminder - voting in the Bloggers Quilt Festival starts tomorrow.

17 comments:

Susan said...

That's a great mini zebra Wendy! And I like the focus you brought to getting this one over the finish line! As you say, nice not to have it languishing in a WIPs pile!

Susie said...

This looks amazing! you are so talented. I would love to try foundation paper piecing one day.I've looked youtube videos but I also need to find some time - not just 20 minutes here and there. I just love yours - well done.

margaret said...

your wall hanging must look wonderful on thr wall, such a handsome chap.FPP certainly gets wonderful points, not a technique I have got my head round, hopefully will come across someone who can sit with me and share their skills one day

Angelikas quilts and knits said...

Your zebra is so cool :-)

Granny Maud's Girl said...

The yellow and green are great choices. They really make the black-and-white zebra pop.
I have never thought about the Tartan Kiwi's surname before. I guess I always expected something like McTavish! I am glad you are becoming a paper piece convert.

Sewing Up A Storm said...

Your zebra is really awesome!!!! What a fun project that must have been to put together and watch him come to life.

Serena @ Sewgiving said...

I really love the colours you chose for the background... So fresh!

Sandi said...

Lovely Wendy, the yellow and greens remind me of the grasses the zebras are often feeding on and the darker greens of the thorn trees sometimes seen. I've been tempted be this design and your are making it even more tempting!

Raewyn said...

Great looking Zebra Wendy. I think you achieved well with your colour gradiating it's harder than it seems!

JanAngel55 said...

just beautiful!

Linda Fleming said...

Beautiful work! Wonderful zebra and a fantastic selection of green fabrics.

Schulz Family said...

That is just stunning

NickiJ said...

How gorgeous is he!? What a wonderful hanging quilt. A chance to pick up some more tips.

One Wee Bird said...

He looks delicious and beautifully finished off with Donna's mad quilting skills

Heide said...

What a great looking block! Fantastic use of greens and yellows. I just love the Tartankiwi's patterns. TFS!

Jenny said...

How clever is that! Clever pattern, clever piecing, and clever quilting. Love it!!

Carol K said...

I fell in love with the Tula Pink fabrics you show today. What collection is it of hers?

Thank you in advance.