The Great Outdoors Blog Hop: Floating Hexagons Lap Quilt in Petting Zoo

• • 80 Comments

The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik.

Welcome to my stop on The Great Outdoors Blog Hop. This hop features projects made from the Island Batik Ambassadors with all of Island Batik's newest fabric lines. If you see something you like, check with your local shop now to see if they are carrying it. My super secret fabric bundle that's been burning a hole in my stash since February is Petting Zoo, a vibrant and colorful line full of animals and animal prints. I chose to feature the rainbow of prints in my Floating Hexagons pattern (coming very soon! -- be sure to sign up for my newsletter so you don't miss the announcement). The pattern is in three size, and this is the lap size, finishing at approximately 45" x 63". Jungle Animals in Grape Juice is my background fabric. The backing is Jungle Animals in Snowcone with Giraffe in Cheddar. All of my piecing and quilting were done with 50wt Aurifil thread. I quilted the purple background with a loopy meander. I began by auditioning three Aurifil purples. I do this by laying the thread across the fabric. If possible, I try to mimic the pattern and density of the quilting I am planning. This technique is also helpful in considering different weight threads. I settled on Medium Purple (#2545) -- the middle one. I wanted the hexagons quilted in colors that blended with each fabric and the quilting motif to contrast the loopy meander in the background. I used my phone to sketch some options for the hexagons. Here are a few I considered. I chose the star and used my hera marker to mark the horizontal and vertical center of the hexagon to gently guide my quilting. I used quite a variety of colors in my quilting: Aurifil Desert Dawn Variegated (#4648), Yellow (#2135), Forest Green (#4026), Medium Delft Blue (#2783), Spring Green (#1231), Green (#2870), Turquoise (#2810), Dark Violet (#2582), Red (#2250), Medium Blue (#2735), Baby Pink (#2423), and Burnt Orange (#1133). (Listed roughly left to right by row, as used on the quilt.) Binding was attached using my Machine Bind Your Quilts Like a Pro technique. Here's the full view of the front and back! Thank you for visiting! Don't miss out on entering the great giveaways on many stops of the hop! ISLAND BATIK GIVEAWAY Island Batik is giving away three Strip Packs in the Rafflecopter below. See their terms and conditions.

a Rafflecopt er giveaway
  SARAH GOER QUILTS GIVEAWAY For your chance to win a PDF copy of my Floating Hexagons pattern (in three sizes: baby, lap (shown) and throw), enter with Rafflecopter below by leaving a comment on this blog post and/or by being a newsletter subscriber. Not a newsletter subscriber yet? Subscribe here, click to confirm your subscription in the email that comes to you. At the end of the giveaway I will email the randomly selected winner and they will have 48 hours to reply to claim their prize or I will select a new winner. PDF pattern will be emailed to the confirmed winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
  Here's the full schedule for The Great Outdoors Blog Hop with links to each blog:

Monday, August 6 - All A Flutter - Yellow Cat Quilt Designs, Creative Blonde
Tuesday, August 7 - Birds N’ Bees - Ark Angel Creations, Patterns By Jen
Wednesday, August 8 - Canterbury Manor - Sally Manke, Powered By Quilting
Thursday, August 9 - Eclectic Garden - Desert Bloom Quilting, Sew Karen-ly Created
Friday, August 10 - Vintage Morris - MooseStash Quilting, Devoted Quilter

Monday, August 13 - Safari - Sew Incredibly Crazy, SweetGrass Designs
Tuesday, August 14 - Spring Blossoms - Mary Mack Made Mine, If These Threads Could Talk
Wednesday, August 15 - Victoria and Albert - Bejeweled Quilts, Clever Chameleon
Thursday, August 16 - Wild Things - Freemotion By The River, Kauffman Designs
Friday, August 17 - Petting Zoo - Den Syende Himmel, Sarah Goer Quilts

Monday, August 20 - Ocean Odyssey - Gateway Quilts, The Quilt Rambler
Tuesday, August 21 - British Rose - Busy Hands Quilts, Mania for Quilts
Wednesday, August 22 - Dear William - The Inquiring Quilter, MMM Quilts, Living Water Quilter
Thursday, August 23 - Dragonfly Dreams - Inchworm Fabrics, BeaQuilter
Friday, August 24 - Fur-ocious Friends - Quilting Affection Designs, Dizzy Quilter

Monday, August 27 - Globetrotter - Pamela Quilts, Curliecue Creations
Tuesday, August 28 - Jungle Cruise - Vicki's Crafts and Quilting, Little Bunny Quilts
Wednesday, August 29 - Lavendula - Carole Lyles Shaw, Masterpiece Quilting
Thursday, August 30 - London Calling - Quilt in a Not-Shell, Lizard Creek Quilting
Friday, August 31 - Spirit Rhythm - Steph Jacobson, Whispers of Yore

Monday, September 3 - Sweet Tweets - Kathleen McMusing, Adventurous Applique and Quilting
Tuesday, September 4 - Whatnot - heARTS Creations, Slice of Pi Quilts

 

I'm linking up to TGIFF, Needle and Thread Thursday, and Finished or Not Friday.

I've also linked up to the Q3 Finish Along finishes linkup. See my whole Q3 list here.

Related posts:

OMG August Goal A Brilliant Cut Mini Quilt A Patriotic Pillow Tehachapi Mountain Quilters

80 thoughts on “The Great Outdoors Blog Hop: Floating Hexagons Lap Quilt in Petting Zoo”

  2. Lori Smanski

    wow this is lovely. so bright and happy. thank you for sharing today. hmm only one zoo animal? that is tough. I guess it would have to be the Lions.

    Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Thanks, Vicki. If I hadn't also thrown my back out Wednesday evening and been hobbling around yesterday, that would have been better, but I got it done. ;-)

      Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Thank you, Suzy. I love purple, but don't use it that often in projects. I'm glad that it worked out in this one!

      Reply ↓

  5. I really love getting to see the full view of the quilt and how the colors cascade across the top. The details in the Petting Zoo prints are really fun, and I like the bold grape background and how it lets the bright colors really shine.

    Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Thank you, Yvonne. I love how so many of the colors pair with the grape. I especially love the lime and the poppy (orange) against the grape.

      Reply ↓

  6. Your quilt is gorgeous, the purple background makes the hexagons shine and stand out beautifully!
    I prefer animals to be in the wild and not in a zoo.

    Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Thank you, Anita. It was fun to put together this rainbow version as the pattern was designed to be a two color quilt.

      Reply ↓

  7. Maryellen McAuliffe

    Fun quilt. I love the purple as background with the colors. Very vibrant. I love red pandas, regular pandas, koalas, giraffes and elephants. No snakes or spiders, lol.

    Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Thank you, Maryellen. I love giraffes, too! At the San Francisco Zoo they are in an enclosure with a mix of animals including zebra (and I can't remember what else at the moment). I could sit and watch the giraffes all day.

      Reply ↓

  8. Audrey

    Your hexagons really do float on that purple. All the colours are so vibrant and I believe that purple is my absolute favourite. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply ↓

  9. Audrey

    Your hexagons really do float on that purple. All the colours are so vibrant and I believe that purple is my absolute favourite. Thanks for sharing. I almost forgot. My favourite zoo animal is the giraffe. I remember seeing my very first giraffe and I wasn't very old. That zoo visit has had a lasting impression.

    Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Thank you. At first I felt the backing was a little wild, but it really grew on me. There is so much fabulous color in it! Thank you for visiting, Sharon.

      Reply ↓

  13. Janet T

    The Lion! We were at the zoo when the lion decided to be "vocal". It started out as a slow, low "motorboat" sound, then it got louder. Just the low sound made a rumble in the air. The vibration in his roar, low and high, filled the air. You could have been deaf and still heard him. Beautiful and scary at the same time!

    Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Beautiful and scary is a great description. Big cats are my son’s favorite. Thanks for visiting, Janet.

      Reply ↓

  19. Thunder

    I love to see the giraffes, we went on the special safari ride at Bush Gardens a few years ago for our birthdays. We got to pet and feed the giraffes!! It was awesome.!!

    Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      That sounds fabulous. I could watch giraffe’s for hours. Stay tuned, I have a much different giraffe print for a project in the coming months.

      Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Thank you, Laura. I like the purple, too. It’s nice when things work out. ;-) Elephants were my aunt’s favorite so I always think of her when I see them.

      Reply ↓

  24. Lori Morton

    Oh my gosh! Your quilt is soooo Happy & full of movement!! Very creative! LOVE it!! Love the full pictures of front & back!! The backing has my favorite zoo animal..the giraffe!! :) They are so elegant..and Tall! Wow! Thank you for sharing, and for chance to win your give-a-way too! :)

    Reply ↓

  26. This is so nice! I really love the purple background and thanks for the tip on choosing thread colours for the quilting. Thank you for linking up at TGIFF!

    Reply ↓

  27. Linda

    This quilt is lovely. I appreciate how you auditioned the quilting design and threads. It turned out beautifully!

    Reply ↓

  28. Kathleen McCormick

    Love this pattern and the colors just pop with the background! I like the way you quilted it, too, simple and effective. That phone trick is fun isn't it. I am dying to get the new ipad with pencil to do a lot of these things, but holding off a bit!

    Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Thank you, Kathleen. Quilting was inspired by limited time. ;-) And I've only played with the Apple Pencil once and I totally want one!

      Reply ↓

  29. Carol Andrews

    Hi Sarah. I absolutely love your Floating Hexagons quilt, the Petting Zoo Fabric, with your purple background and the quilting pops!
    My favorite zoo animal has to be a giraffe. They are so gangly and yet graceful looking with their life no legs and neck and beautiful eyes.

    Reply ↓

  30. Deborah B.

    The bright colors pop on the Grape Juice background. My husband would love this quilt as he is attracted to all things purple since the school colors where he is teaching are purple and gold. Thank you for sharing your quilt process. Your quilt is lovely.

    Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Purple and gold is a great combination. I also love the purple and lime green together. Thanks for visiting, Deborah.

      Reply ↓

  32. Sarah, you won my heart as soon as I saw that beautiful purple fabric and such a gorgeous design with the animal prints. Great job! Thanks for the opportunity to win!!

    Reply ↓

  33. Cecilia

    Cute quilt and beautiful fabrics! This would be such a cute baby quilt! My favorite animal would be the meerkat.

    Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Oh, I wonder if I have enough fabric left to make another in the baby size. Thanks for visiting, Cecilia.

      Reply ↓

  35. I must say the gorillas never cease to entertain every time I've visited the zoo. They are so dramatic!
    Thank you for sharing your quilt. The prints are gorgeous in your design!

    Reply ↓

  36. Rochelle Summers

    A beautiful quilt. I love the way you have highlighted the individual fabrics. I'm partial to giraffes.

    Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Thank you, Leanne. I changed my construction for just this reason. Now I'll look for what I can fussy cut next! :-)

      Reply ↓

  39. This is a very fun and playful quilt design - a perfect companion to the feature fabrics. :) And a good way to showcase any fabric line. Well done on getting it finished against your deadline!
    We have two zoos in our state. The one I prefer is an open range zoo, where you see the animals from a bus and big viewing platforms.

    Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Thank you, Dione. That sounds lovely. I've never been to a zoo like that, but I think the San Diego Wild Animal Park is similar. Perhaps I'll get down there someday.

      Reply ↓

  40. Every time I see a new line on this hop I think that is my favorite, but I really think this line is my favorite! Such great colors and prints! I especially like the print on the back. This is beautiful!

    Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      The print on the back grew on me. It really is a great one. There's so much fabulous color in it. Thank you for visiting!

      Reply ↓

  41. What a lovely quilt, and a great way to showcase fun prints! I love seeing the animals on the fabric. On behalf of the entire FAL crew, thanks for participating this year.

    Reply ↓

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