Quilters Playcation Pirate Treasure Map Quilt

For this year’s Quilter’s Playcation Adventure Sew Along, Cheryl Arkison has created 2 versions of an improv pieced Treasure Map. One version is on a bigger scale and more representational and the other, the one I chose, is smaller and more abstract. (Click the link to see what she’s been doing with her two quilts) My quilt is less abstract that Cheryl’s. It is a mix of both abstract and representational designs. And there are neither boat nor pirate fabrics in Cheryl’s. I just couldn’t resist when I found them in my stash!

Here are the components of the Treasure Map, in the order on my quilt, but not in the order Cheryl posted them:

• Ocean waves

• A palm tree

• Footprints in the sand

• A compass (I added a note in a bottle on the compass strip because it’s always good to let someone know where you are, just in case!)

• A cave (a bat cave in my quilt)

• A Jolly Roger flag

• A hidden trap in the trail

• X marks the spot (an arrow in my quilt because the cross bones of my Jolly Roger is an X)

• The actual hidden treasure

• A volcano

So were is the hidden treasure? I’ve actually given you two clues! Can you find it?

Or…are you ready for the big reveal?

There’s the treasure! Under an flap of vines!

Cheryl hasn’t revealed her treasure yet…That will happen the first Tuesday in December, 2023 on her YouTube channel. I jumped ahead because I wanted to get this quilt on the calendar I make every year.

I was feeling kind of done with curves! But this is a Cheryl Arkison project so the curves insisted on being included in the treasure chest! And they are definitely the correct design choice. I wasn’t sure what to use for the treasure. But then I saw some Mardi Gras necklaces in a drawer. There is glue between each of the beads so it was safe to cut it apart. It’s perfect…gold, not gold!

I posted the treasure chest strip on Instagram #qpadventuresewlong and #quiltersplaycation so Cheryl has seen it…and her comment was “Love it!” So happy she approves!

This has been so much fun! This quilt is now hanging in my hallway, opposite a castle full of Vikings. Hmmm. What does that say about me?

Where's the Pirate's Treasure?

There is just one more month to go in Cheryl Arkison’s Quilters Adventure Playcation Treasure Map. This has been a free monthly program of prompts and tutorials on Cheryl’s YouTube channel. It’s really the project that I’ve had the most fun working on this year.

I chose the small format abstract improv option so that I can hang it up in my hallway. This month’s prompt was “X marks the spot” but my abstract Jolly Roger flag’s crossed bones is an in-your-face X. So I opted to make a small red arrow.

Each strip is now pieced, but I’m waiting for the final November prompt to decide on the layout of the strips.

Top to bottom:

Ocean, palm tree, volcano, hidden trap, compass (and a message in a bottle that I added), Jolly Roger, location of the buried treasure. In the bottom row I added the schooner, an illegible note, a “bead” curtain at the pirates hangout, the pirates!! and finally the marker for the hidden treasure.

What will November be? A trail of dropped coins? A trunk with the treasure? Time will tell. Cheryl did tell us it’s bit more complicated design…Can’t wait!

Improv Jolly Roger strip quilt block

Since February, I’ve been working on the 2023 Quilters Playcation Adventure Sew Along—a Treasure map. I’ve designed both of the last two blocks. This month Cheryl Arkison’s prompt was a skull warning of danger. She demonstrated a skull for the large version she’s designing but hasn’t designed one yet for the small abstract version which is the quilt I’m making. So I took her ideas and ran with it.

I decided that rather than make just a skull, I’d make an improv Jolly Roger flag. My strips are narrow so I knew I’d need to place the crossed bones beside the skull rather than below it. Looking at images for inspiration, I kept seeing Jolly Rogers with the skull wearing a bandana. Not only does that add a pop of color, it adds some humor. Humor is definitely something I want to include in my Pirate Treasure Map.

Here is my little sketch planning out the structure of the block. In the end, I improvised on the sketch. But it was good to have a plan of construction.

Last month the prompt was a Booby Trap. Cheryl designed two traps that were based on Hollywood blockbusters and were full of knives. I decided to go with a low tech booby trap you could dig on a desert island with little or no tools. My block is a hole in the ground covered with greens. If an intruder fell in, it might break a leg. But more likely an animal would fall in and might provide a couple dinners! A win no make how you look at it!

Booby Trap block

Here are all the strips together. I’m need to make another one or two ocean blocks. They were the first blocks and the quilt strips have gotten longer as this project has progressed.

I’m thinking about designing a compass for my next strip. Cheryl is taking August off, so it’s good time to try a prompt of my own!

Treasure Map - 2023 Quilters Playcation Adventure Sewalong at 3 month

I’m in for another year of fun sewing along with Cheryl Arkison’s 2023 Quilters Playcation Adventure Sewalong which she is offering free on YouTube. Last year Cheryl gave us an improv block once a week. This year it’s a block a month with a theme: A treasure map. I’m thinking along the lines of a pirate treasure map, but it might just be a map to find a treasure. Cheryl is offering two versions, a more realistic version and a smaller abstract one. I chose the smaller abstract option.

April is the third month of the map. So far we have:

• Ocean waves

• Footprints in the sand

• A volcano

I chose to make my volcano strip a bit of a story in itself. It goes from healthy flora, to dead flowers, to the lava spewing volcano, to lava traveling over a scorched landscape and finally lava dropping into the ocean. I might redo the 3rd block from the right, adding another bright orange flow adjacent to the cooling lava. I think that’s a good idea.

And a little while later…Here’s the re-do. I think it’s definitely an improvement. That’s the great thing about improv. You can just make another cut (or several cuts) if there is something you want to change!

What’s coming next? We’ve been told there will be palm trees, and eventually there will be a treasure, or at least the something marking the location of the treasure, but we don’t really know. It’s an adventure after all! It’s not too late to join the fun—check the link above for the three 2023 videos that Cheryl has done.