My first Christmas gift for the year is done! This shark wall hanging is going to my shark-loving little niece Stella. As you may recall, I gave her a shark skirt a few years ago. And since she’s still into sharks, the shark-themed sewn gifts will continue to come her way.

This wall hanging is a result of the traveling quilt/round robin exchange I participated in last year for the Cincinnati Modern Quilt Guild. I started my traveling quilt with this shark block.

Then each member of my group made a block or blocks to go with it.

Ellen made the fish, and Teresa made the Shark Teeth blocks at the bottom. On the back I used Kim’s Saltwater Taffy blocks and some more fish.

I had originally planned to make a boy’s charity quilt with my blocks, but that was going to take a lot more paper-piecing on my part. So instead, I reworked my block (taking off the borders) and some of the other blocks I received (some of the fish were sewn together), added some solid ocean-colored fabrics, and pulled it together for this 18 x 21-inch piece.

With the top and back pieced, it was time for quilting. I quilted around the shark and his features to make him stand out as much as possible.

Then I just quilted wavy ocean lines over the rest of it, including over the fish.

I used the same light blue thread for the quilting on the front and back, so the back looks a little weird. But I like that you can see a ghost shark coming in from the right side.

Since the back is almost as designed as the front, I didn’t add a hanging sleeve yet. But if my sister would like one, I’ll sew one on after I give it to Miss Stella.

It was fun to manipulate the different elements to make a cohesive piece. Thanks to all the CMQG ladies who contributed blocks!

To check out the original shark paper-pieced pattern, click here.