Posted on by agilejack

Finally Cutting Up Some Octopus

I’ve been wanting to cut into some of Brandon Mably’s black Octopus fabric for a long time. I’ve seen some really cool bags made out of it recently and have been itching to make one. So today I finally dove in.

I thought I’d combine the octopus fabric with some muted yet colorful crumb piecing. So I dug into my scraps and pulled out some fabrics I liked and tried them out with the octopus. Here’s those scraps made into the first step of the crumb blocks.

I chain piece the crumb pieces and it goes really fast.

Here’s a pile of the pieces on the ironing board all ready to be pressed and cut apart.

I used a big fussy cut piece of the octopus fabric for the first panel. I’m not typically a fussy cutter, but I thought this was really screaming to be fussy cut. I added some onion rings around the octopus block, some purple spots because the friend I’m making this for loves purple, and added crumb blocks along the right side and bottom. Here’s the finished first panel.

I started working on the second panel but my back started bothering me so I had some ice cream instead and am now curled up under a quilt on the sofa. Thinking I might actually watch a movie.

We had a great sheep herding lesson today. It’s been a few weeks since we had a lesson, but Rico jumped right back in and did an amazing job. And it was a gorgeous day! So much sun. It’s so nice to have the rain stop for a few days.

He really was not happy to pose since he wanted to go get those sheep organized!

Tomorrow afternoon I have another sheep herding lesson with a different trainer. I’m planning on taking down my outdoor holiday lights in the morning.

I got photos of just one Frankenbag in the last few days. This bag was made by Paula Laramie for her son’s mother in law who is named Guadalupe and was born on the feast of the Lady of Guadalupe. She made the bag to celebrate Lupe’s 70th birthday.

I love the bright colors, the crumb piecing, and the way she used that big panel on the front of the bag.

Why do weekend days go so fast and work days go so slow?

25 Replies to “Finally Cutting Up Some Octopus”

  3. Even if you were to actually retire, I’ll tell you that in actuality you’ll be busier than ever! I was fortunate enough to retire at age 54 and for the next 25 years never had a dull moment. I began to teach quiltmaking, moved from NH to FL and life was very good and fortunately, my health was good also. The best years of my life came after I retired. There is nothing quite like waking up in the morning and saying “what do I want to do today, and who shall I be”?
    LOVE the octopus fabric!

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  4. That Octopus fabric looks fun!
    Rico looks serious about sheep herding. You could retire and write a book! You already have the title 😄. Super nice way to honor a Mother named Guadalupe 🤗

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  5. Ice cream fixes everything! Love the dark octopus. And that onion ring just seems to work everywhere. I’ve got some light blue octopus but like the dark much better. Goes back to my love of black and whites I guess. Glad the rain let up enough to train but doesn’t Bender herd too?

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    1. I have some of the octopus in every color way, but there is just something about the black. I actually bought enough for two quilt backs! Just in case I need it!
      Anne

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  6. I love reading your blog and seeing what you and the pups are up to. Sometime I’d love to hear more about what is involved in training Rico to herd sheep. Thanks for all the great project ideas!

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  10. I love the Octopus fabric. I used it as a backing for a Kaffe quilt I made last year. I really enjoy reading your post and get lots of inspiration from you. One of the best parts about being retired is that you don’t have to think about going to work on Monday unless you want to volunteer on Monday.

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  11. I love the Octopus fabric. I used it as a backing for a Kaffe quilt I made last year. I really enjoy reading your post and get lots of inspiration from you. One of the best parts about being retired is that you don’t have to think about going to work on Monday.

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    1. I bought two big pieces of the black octopus. One for my Ice Storm quilt, and one just because I want it! then I have several smaller pieces.

      I have so many things I want to do in retirement! Hiking, going to the coast, taking classes, doing stuff with the dogs… work really gets in the way!

      Anne

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