Thursday, August 31, 2023

Island Batik August Challenge - Power Outage



 This month Island Batik Ambassadors had the choice to make what ever they wanted.  At first I wasn't sure what project I wanted to make, but I was definitely sure about what fabric I wanted to play with!
The Island Batik Chromatic line by Deb Tucker of Studio 180 designs.





I fell in love with this line as soon as I saw it!
So I was super excited when I received a strip set of it in my July Ambassador box.


But what to make with it? 

My brain went right to diaminds, and 2.5 inch strips cut nicely into diamonds.

Next I needed to come up with a layout for them.  I didn't want anything too fiddley where I would have to match up a lot of points, so I played around on a sketch pad and came up with a 6 inch block with three diamonds side by side where none of the points met up.








 I drew the block in EQ8, made a mirror image, colored it with Chromatic fabric and created several layouts. 





This layout won the vote and I got to Sewing.






I started out with strips sets, which made quick work of cutting diamonds with white edges.






Squaring everything up gave me a lot left over white triangle trimmings. I used some for the Half Square Triangle Border, but still had a lot left over.  I'll use the extras in another scrappy quilt, but if I ever make this quilt again I might use templates for the shapes to save on the white fabric.




With some careful cutting I was able to get all my Diamonds for the quilt from half of the strip pack. I used part of the other half to cut out the Half Square Triangles for the border.




Island Batik sent me two different blenders to go with the strip set. I chose to use the Teal Foundation for sashing, borders and binding.






The new kitty, Avi, is fascinated by the process. 





He tried to be paws on, but he needs a few safety training classes first. 





I used a Schmetz universal 90/14 needle for piecing. I like the Schmetz mocrotex for batiks as well but I ran out of those.




These blocks remind me of those old roof antennas. My neighbor had one for the longest time. The diamonds also make me think of lightening bolts. So I have decided to name this one Power Outage. 






Hobbs provided me with several different types of batting in July and I picked the Heirloom Natural Cotton for this quilt. I love this batting! It's so soft.




Again, using a Schmetz needle for the quilting as well.





I used an all over jagged quilt design in a light yellow thread and added teal binding to finish off the quilt. 




The hurricane pass by us last night with lots of rain and strong wind, but luckily we didn't have a power outage.




Today is blue skies, no clouds in sight, but the water at the park is super high from all the rain.  It is up to top the the bottom of the boardwalk




I love all the colors in this fabric line!  It is one of my favorites.






  


Quilt measures 65 x 79


  
Happy Sewing!


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Monday, August 7, 2023

June Island Batik Ambassador Challenge Recap - Fly Away

June was a fantastic month of projects for Island Batik Ambassadors.  With the help of my son, (and by help, I mean he did most of it)  we put all the projects together in one video.  Check them out!  You can click on the links below to go to their websites to see more photos and details about their projects.



 

2023 Island Batik Ambassadors


Happy Quilting!


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