Hello and welcome to week 8 in the Canadian Summer Quilt Along! This week we have a beautiful foundation pieced block designed by Jean of Sophisticat Fibre Art Studio called “Coastal Majesty.”
Jean’s block is inspired by the beautiful trees around Vancouver in British Columbia. In her pattern she writes, “This block symbolizes the majesty of those trees growing in the mountains.”
I lived in Vancouver for four years as a child while my Mom was doing her master’s degree. The trees in and around Vancouver truly are awe inspiring. Many happy days were spent climbing trees there.
I remember one time my brother, sister and I were up in a tall cedar tree and we saw our Dad who was doing maintenance on the roof of one of the buildings at the Vancouver School of Theology (where my Mom did her masters). We were eye level with him and he was on the fifth floor. We called to him “Hey Dad!” He looked around on the ground for us but couldn’t see us. “Over here! In the tree! We’re waving a branch at you!” The look of shock on his face was funny to us at the time but as a parent I can imagine the feeling he must have had now. He stayed very calm but said sternly “You kids are up too high. You climb back down now.” Ah, good times in Vancouver.
Anyway, I digress. 🙂 Here is my version of Jean’s Coastal Majesty block. Dara of  Stitched Quilting Co. did a beautiful job of the quilting on my block.
Normally I find foundation paper piecing so challenging that it’s not fun for me but I really enjoyed this block and it’s very possible to achieve even if you are a beginner at this technique. Jean also suggests using “improv strata” for your trees. This is basically creating fabric pieces by sewing together small strips (or you could slash and insert strips as well). Jean has a photo of this on her Instagram post (second photo).
Jean was having some technical issues with her website so she said she would try to have a tutorial up on her Facebook page if not on her site.
You can download the free Coastal Majesty pattern on Craftsy.
Giveaway: Post your blocks on Instagram using the hashtag #canadiansummerqal for a chance to win my most popular PDF pattern the “Pixel Heart in a Pixel Heart” pattern. Jean also says if you tag her on your post @sew_catstudio by August 15th she will also be offering a prize.
