Quilted Delights: Artsy Fartsy Island Batik Ambassador Challenge

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Artsy Fartsy Island Batik Ambassador Challenge

The July challenge for Island Batik Ambassadors is titled Artsy Fartsy and we were challenged to use three different weights of Aurifil thread to create a fabric work of art.

This was a fun challenge that focused on the threads first instead of the fabric. It is like buying a cool pair of shoes and then searching for the perfect outfit to go with them.

I was sent some dark purple and peach Aurifil thread in my first Ambassador box and then I received a light purple and an orange a little later. I must say it was a struggle to come up with something that coordinated with these thread colors.

My mind eventually drifted to a sunset scene, with purples and oranges and I added a spool of Yellow Aurifil thread from my stash to finish off the colorway.

For the fabric I went to the stash builder rolls we were sent at the beginning of the year. These are fantastic. I love all the different colors that come in them. I used up several more of the pieces from these rolls to make my skinny strips and I threw in some left over scraps from the other projects.

I wanted the piece to be mostly purple, to go with the purple threads, so I opted for purple water, sky, and clouds. Check out those 1/4 inch strips! I tried adding red, but I liked the pinks a lot better for this one so I stayed with that.

I really wanted to use the peach and orange thread I was sent in the center of the sun, but the thread was a heavier weight, 12 weight, and was a little too thick for the look I was going for. I wanted the rays to have more of a halo look. I will have to save that nice thick peach and orange for another project.

On a side note. I did try the orange in a small section and had trouble with it in my machine at first. So I went to the Aurifil website and they tell you what size needle is recommended and even what size thread is reccomended in the bobbin for each thread weight. It helped me out when trying to get the heavier weight thread to place nice together.

I ended up using:

40 weight in light purple for the wisps in the sky and the reflection in the water. I used every last bit of that spool thread. That is why it is now just a green spool.
50 weight yellow was used for the sun rays.
28 weight dark purple for the water and inside the clouds.

I quilted it using Hobbs Theramore Batting and it quilted up beautifully.

The final peice measures approximately 22 x 30 and my smallest strips finished up a 1/4 inch. My largest strip finished at 1 inch.

Make sure you take some time to visit the other Island Batik Ambassadors to see their Arsty Fartsy projects. Most have posted for July already and there are still more to come before the month ends.

Carolina Asmussen ~Carolina Asmussen

Gene Black ~ Gene Black

Pamela Boatright ~ PamelaQuilts

Connie K Campbell ~ Freemotion by the River

Anja Clyke ~ Anja Quilts

Tina Dillard ~ Quilting Affection Designs

Becca Fenstermaker ~Pretty Piney

Jennifer Fulton ~ Inquiring Quilter

Barbara Gaddy ~ Bejeweled Quilts by Barb

Dione Gardner-Stephen ~ Clever Chameleon

Sarah Goer ~ Sarah Goer Quilts

Vasudha Govindan ~ Storied Quilts