Island Batik Ambassador & AccuQuilt Irish Chain Blog Hop

Welcome to Week One of the Island Batik Ambassador Irish Chain Blog Hop!  This month Island Batik Ambassadors are showing off their version of the Irish Chain block made using the Accuquilt Irish Chain Block on Board die.

I get to finish off the first week of projects with Pretti Harris of Sew Pretti Quilts as we both show off Fusion, an Island Batik fabric line by Jerry Khiev for Swan Amity Studios.

It was easy to cut out all the pieces I need for my Irish Chain blocks using the block on board the die.

After several passes, I had all the pieces I needed for twenty blocks.

One of the things I like best about accuquilt dies is that they always cut each piece accurately.

So when it comes time to sew everything together, the block comes out the perfect size.  In this case ten inches.

My first thought for this project was to go with the pattern on the back of the die instructions, so I cut out enough fabric for twenty blocks. 

But I kept thinking about the white space created when you put two blocks together and thought it would be fun to put something in there, so I decided to make more blocks and a bigger quilt and I cut out more fabric for some Ohio Star blocks.  

Now these two blocks don't pair well together when it comes to size since this Irish chain block is ten inches and an Ohio star ranges in sizes divisible by three. 

Since ten does not divide well by three, I made the biggest size Ohio star I could without going over ten inches and added a small border around it to get it to match the size of Irish chain block.

My Oliso irons helped out through out the project.  I used my Oliso Pro plus to iron for pressing the big stuff.

and I used my mini Oliso at the sewing machine for pressing each section of the blocks as I made them. Together they make a great pair.

I pieced everything together with a Schmetz universal needle.

This turned out to be a big quilt but I had the perfect size batting for it, Hobbs  Supreme 100% unbleached cotton.  This is some good stuff.  It's so soft and fluffy!  

For the quilting I did some quick swirls and wavy lines with a pastel purple Aurifil thread. 

 

I love using pastel colors when there is a lot of white mixed with dark colors.  It blends nicely with both and doesn't overpower either.

By adding the Ohio Stars to my layout, I only needed 18 Irish Chain blocks.  Since I had already cut out enough to make twenty, that left me with two extra.  I decided I'd put them on the back, but I didn't want just two blocks, so I made three more Ohio Stars to pair them with.   I added some of the left overs from this project and a couple prints from my personal Island Batik Stash to create the back.

It was a nice overcast day at the park for pictures, which was nice as I didn't get harsh shadows in my pictures.

They even had some roses that matched the fabric.

As well as some little trees with orange blossoms.  Not sure the name of them, I think they are a type of mimosa tree.

They also looked great next to the quilt.

And I couldn't pass up my favorite spot for photos.  I love the black water of the creek with all the Spanish moss hanging down.

Be sure to check out Pretti's blog post today to see what she created with this same fabric line and the accuquilt Irish Chain die!

And if your itching to win some fabric, use the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win one of these Island Batik fat quarter bundles – Bright Tidings by Jerry Khiev or Earthy Enchantment by Tiffany Hayes at Needle in a Hayes Stack!  The Giveaway ends May 10th.  You can read more about the giveaway on the Lumin Fabrics blog post.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Sewing!

=^..^=

@QuiltedDelights

Follow me on Instagram

Check me out on YouTube.

 

Quick Half Square Triangle Baby Quilt for TGIFF

Welcome!  Today I am hosting this weeks TGIFF - Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday!

 

TGIFF is all about sharing finishes and today I want to show off my Pink Baby Half Square Triangle quilt.  I finished it several weeks ago, but never got a a chance to blog about it, so today it gets to be in the limelight!

I made this quilt when I was making a YouTube tutorial for this same pattern. Click on the thumbnail above to check it out the video on how to make your own version!

As I was editing the video I wanted to add extra footage, but I had already made the first quilt, so in order to get the footage I needed, I decided to make another top and film that. So that is how this pink and white version came about.  

For this version, I used solid white Island Batik fabric along with some pink strips from their Stash Builders. The Stash builder strips are 5 inches wide by the width of the fabric. So they trim down to the same size as charm squares.

When I posted the YouTube video, this project was only a quilt top.  A few days later it got quilted and bound but I never got around to posting about it on my blog.  So today I am sharing it for the TGIFF linky party!

This quilt is a fun make and if you are comfortable sewing half square triangles you can sew it together pretty quick.

And if you use charm packs it goes even faster. It is a good pattern for a quick baby quilt.

So what have you all been working on?  Do you have a recent finish to share? If so add your link to the link party below and spread the word! 

 Be sure to tour all the other finishes and share the comment love!  You never know what link could inspire your next finish!

To catch everyone's Friday, the link party is open from May 1 at 6pm to May 3 at 11:59.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Sewing!

=^..^=

@QuiltedDelights

Follow me on Instagram

Check me out on YouTube.

Island Batik Ambassador Drunkard's Path Challenge - Easter Candy

 

This month's challenge theme for Island Batik Ambassadors is Drunkards path!

I used the main drunkard's path block and separated it with some sashing and created what I like to call Easter Candy!

I pulled some Island Batik Stash builder rolls and some left over Island Batik prints from other projects and used my 3 inch drunkard's path rulers to cut out my shapes.

Three inch curves are a little finicky, so I did a mix of glue and bin basting.  I worked on them in my chair while watching a show and put them in a bag so I wouldn't loose any.

 

Sewing these curves was slow and steady, but my Schmetz 90/14 needle handled them perfectly.

When I laid them all out to take a picture, it really reminded me of all the fun Easter candy in the stores right now.

I put them on the design wall to make sure I didn't get any colors right next to each other and started sewing rows.

With the help of my Oliso smart iron, they were pressed nice and crisp.

This quilt has 80 three inch drunkard's path blocks and I had to do some double and triple checking to make sure each one was turned the right way.

Avi kept me company while sewing my rows.

For my batting I had the perfect size of Hobbs Silk Blend.  I haven't used silk blend very often, but it quilted up beautifully.  The quilt is super soft!

I quilted it with some fun lines and swirls and finished it in time to hop on a plane to go to my sons' college graduation.  I packed it with me and took a couple pictures of it across America as I drove my youngest son back to South Carolina.

It looked great in the badlands of South Dakota...

and the green of the Ozark Mountains in Missouri makes it pop.

I used some older Island Batik prints from my personal stash for the three borders.

The white background is also Island Batik.  It's nice to have all the fabric textures match, from prints to solids.

I found another fun Island Batik print in my personal stash that was a perfect choice for the back.  It wasn't quite wide enough though, so I split it down the middle and added some strips to fill it out.

The back is just as fun as the front!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Sewing!

=^..^=

@QuiltedDelights

Follow me on Instagram

Check me out on YouTube.