Today I am so excited to share my latest pattern release with you! There’s no better description of my blog recently than “the calm before the storm.” Things have been pretty quiet around the here on the front end of things lately, which is not normal for me. But behind the scenes, I’ve been madly sewing, designing, testing, and prepping! Bloctopus is one of THREE patterns that will be releasing in the next month along with a few exciting guest appearances by me on other platforms (I’ll be sure to share these all with you so you don’t miss a thing!).
Now, onto the reveal:
Meet Bobbi the Bloctopus. We’ll get to why her name is Bobbi later…
I’m sure you’re wondering what Bobbi is…is it a he? a she? an octopus? a squid? a jellyfish?
The answer is yes.
I created this quilt to be abstract enough to be whatever you want it to be. Got a kid that’s just obsessed with jellyfish? Then this quilt will translate nicely to be Joey the Jellyfish!
I was excited about this pattern before it was quilted, but the excellent quilting by Cindy, of Northstar Longarming really put it over the top!
My Inspiration
Now I’m sure you’re wondering what inspired me to create an Octopus quilt pattern…a long walk on the beach? a scuba diving adventure? a cruise across treacherous oceans?
Photo by Farsai C. on Unsplash
Nope.
My kiddo’s favorite stuffed animal: Squirt.
That’s him. All 22″ of glorious, swirling, stuffed animal…Squirt also happens to be my favorite stuffed animal, and I’m sad to report that she has temporarily moved on to Baby the Babydoll-but I’m sure she’ll return to her first love at some point!
I created this quilt for my little girl. I didn’t intend for it to become a pattern, but as usual, I thought to myself what about the other kids in the world (and grown ups) who love octopuses?! So, I created the Bloctopus Quilt pattern for those who love Octopuses, Jellyfish, and Squid.
The pattern is abstract enough that you can make it how you’d like, I even had some pattern testers add eyes to give it a little more fun!
One of my pattern testers, Gretchen, created some applique eyes to go along with her sweet octo friend!
You can create this pattern in a 60″ throw or a generous twin size. The pattern includes easy instructions for both.
Quilting with Curves
I’m sure some of you are jumping for joy about a fun pattern that uses curves! The other 80% of you are thinking that you’re totally out on this project because you haven’t done curves before, but let me tell you, curves are so fun and shouldn’t be feared! They are especially great when you use a great template. If you’re still not convinced, make sure to go back and read my tutorial on sewing curves.
My favorite template to use is now available in my store, so be sure to add one to your cart when you order your shiny new copy of Bloctopus!
Later this week, you’ll get to see more those these gorgeous fabrics from the By Hand collection by Amy Friend. I’m officially obsessed with this collection, so I’m excited that I get to promote it with my designs!
Get your copy of Bloctopus today!
Head on over to my shop and download now or pre-order a hard copy
Now, onto the incredible pattern testers that made this pattern possible: I love every round of testers that I get, but we had an especially fun time with this pattern. Everyone ended up naming their Bloctopus something adorable or silly and it was just such a fun atmosphere! You’re definitely going to want to take a look through these images and get some inspiration for your own Bloctopus quilt.
This isn’t Sarah’s first testing round with me- she always does something awesome! I love the movement in the ocean fabric.
Mary created a fun feel by using plaids for tentacles! Too cute!
I love Lisa’s use of batiks amongst the tentacles here. And that quilting is all done on her domestic machine! Go Lisa!
You already saw Gretchen’s quilt in the post above, but I think she deserves a round of applause for making the twin sized version!
Sarah also created the twin sized version- you can’t go wrong with blue and orange!
Erin is back for another round of testing! She claims to not be a big fan of purple, but I think it was a great choice for this ocean critter.
Anny created this *adorable* squishy little ocoto quilt and named her Olivia…I’m totally in love!
And we’ll round this thing up with Ann’s awesome Blue octo- you absolutely cannot go wrong with a white background and I love how it works with the blue polka dot print!
Get your copy of Bloctopus today!
Head on over to my shop and download now or pre-order a hard copy
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I just love how you have used my fabric for your Bloctopus! It’s so clever! I will be sure to share with my followers. Thank you for choosing By Hand!
I’m glad you love it! It was such a fun collection to work with and I can’t wait to see what else I can use it for! 🙂
What a fantastic pattern! This may actually convince me to try curve piecing.
Thanks Vasudha. I was hesitant to try curved piecing at first and now it’s all I want to do! If it helps, I’ve got a tutorial on curved piecing that might make you feel a little bit better.
Happy sewing!