I am excited to help kick off the Something Fishy Blog Hop Challenge!
I had a good time playing with the Fishy Fishy pattern by Southwind Designs and my leftover Island Batik scraps.
I cut out enough to make more fish than I needed, but I wanted to have options.
Once I picked out my nine main prints I added the fin colors.
I also had a good time using leftover threads to match all the fish.
I like how easy it was to make the curves, similar to making cathedral windows.
Lately, I have been making and sewing my own quilt designs, so it sure was nice this time around to have someone else do all the math.
These fish were easy to make, easier than catching fish in real life, and more colorful.
We were at the park taking pictures and there were people out and about fishing, trying to catch brim and bass. I like to fish myself, but I don't do much freshwater fishing. You can usually find me in the marsh on the weekends trying to catch anything that bites.
Be sure to check out all the other fishy projects this week!
As a Missouri Star Quilt Company Affiliate, I got to pick out a few things from their shop. This time around I choose the Running with Scissors pattern along with the fabric and some of the other supplies to help make it.
If you want to make your own, you can use my affiliate link to save 20% off a $50 purchase at Missouri Star.
Disclosure: This is an affiliate link. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support!
The Running with Scissors bag is a byAnnie pattern and has been on my "want to make" list for awhile.
The fabric I chose is Chromatic, an original fabric line by Deb Tucker for Island Batik.
I fell in love with this fabric line when it came out last fall and was glad to see that could still snatch up a few more pieces for my bag. I paired it with some teal zippers and elastic along with some yellow mesh to help pull out those same colors in the main print.
The bag went together pretty quick for me. I think it helped that I have made several bags from byAnnie patterns in the past and was already familiar with her styles and techniques.
The longest part was preparing all the individual pieces and pockets. Once those were done it was pretty quick to finish up.
The only setback I had was Boonky wanting to sleep on the pattern, but once nap time was over I was able to get back in the groove.
This bag was designed several years ago to fit the Tula Pink hardware. I own some of those pieces myself, so I stuck with the pocket divisions suggested in the pattern.
The pattern also shows you how to make a cute little pad to keep tools from clanging together when the bag is zipped shut.
I am glad I finally put this bag at the top of my to do list! it will be super nice to have it filled and ready to grab and go.
This month Island Batik Ambassadors were challenged to make a quilt for Quilts Across America, a charity program by Deb Tucker's Tucker University and Studio 180 Designs. Each Ambassador was provided a different Studio 180 design ruler to use in their projects.
Quilts Across America is supporting the program Sleep in Heavenly Peace, “No kid sleeps on the floor in our town.” Sleep in Heavenly Peace is an international organization made up of volunteers dedicated to assembling and delivering top-notch beds to children and families in need. Check out their website for more information at: Sleep in Heavenly Peace.
For my project, I received the Four Patch Squared Up Ruler and paired it with another one of the Deb Tucker Rulers, the V Block Trimmer to make my Triangle in a Square units.
I wanted a lot of fun bright colors so I used a precut called Woodstock, an Island Batik fabric line by Kathy Engle for Canton Village Quilt Works. I paired it with some Island Batik Foundations, Celery and Marine, and two older yellow and red Island Batik prints.
A 10 inch square gives you six triangles, plus some extra side triangles. I didn't need them all for each print, so I put the extras aside for another project. I used the darker greens from the precut for my four patches.
Boonky was on duty to supervise the cutting.
Two Triangle in a Square units got sewn together make the sashing.
The new Oliso Smart Iron I was sent in my January Ambassador box knocked out the pressing in no time and gave me nice crisp blocks. Check out my sped up pressing video on YouTube:
I used a Schmetz 90/14 universal needle for piecing and a Schmetz 90/14 quilting needle to quilt everything together.
I wanted this quilt to be fluffy, so I used some Hobbs Poly-Down Premium Polyester batting and it turned out perfect.
The polyester batting makes the quilt look super snuggly and it passed Avi's kitty inspection with flying colors.
The instructions for these charity quilts called for simple quilting, so I did a loose all over swirly meander.
It worked well with the polyester batting.
The quilt measures approximately 57 in x 75 in.
I designed this quilt in EQ8. I started out with the four patches then added sashing. I fiddled around with different blocks in the sashing and really liked the look of the double triangle units and how they give the illusion of small circles. The green patches inside the circles make me think of marbles, so I am calling this one Square Marbles.
This quilt does have a lot of Triangle in a Square units which can be time consuming for a quick charity quilt, so I fiddled around more in EQ8 and came up with a quicker, yet just as fun, version using split rectangles for the sashing and took out some of the yellow cornerstones. The split rectangles only have one seam and you only need 54 of them compared to the 116 triangles units. It gives the quilt a whole new look.
Deb Tucker has a Spilt Rects ruler too, which would help make his version sew up quick and precise.
Quilt Requirements for these particular charity quilts are as follows:
• Size between 50” to 60” wide and 75” to 90” long.
• Simple quilt designs.
• Colors that appeal to kids and young adults from 2 to 17 years of age.
• No religious or holiday themed fabrics.
• Quilted, not tied.
• Machine bound is preferred.
• No buttons or glued on embellishments.
• Simple allover quilting is recommended.
If you want to make your own check out my tutorials page for some free instructions.
And visit the Sleep in Heavenly Peace website to see if there is a donation location in your area.
For this hop we were challenged to sew anything bird related. So I hand stitched a bird.
I found a YouTube video, by Red Rocking Bird, for a cute hand stitched bird, so I grabbed my Flutter Wings scraps, an Island Batik fabric line by Kathy Engle, and got to stitching.
I cut out all my pieces while sitting outside listening to the birds chirping. It was the perfect setting for bird stitching. You can sew this with a sewing machine, but I was away from the machine this weekend and decided it would make a great hand project.
I must say I thought I was pretty confident with my hand stitching skills. But this little project taught me there is definitely room for improvement.
After turning all the pieces right side out, I had to add some extra stitching to fix some odd looking bumps.
I was going to use the bird as a pin cushion, but I stuffed it with small fabric scraps and my pins don't want to go through all that, so I'll use him as decoration by my sewing machine.
I need to get him some cute eyes. The pattern suggests pins. But I don't have any small round ones. Most of mine are flat head pins or big headed pins.
Next time I go into town I'll see if I can find something that fits.
Be sure to hop on over to the other sites today to check out all the other bird projects.
It's finally Friday, and I am excited to release the final pattern for this week's group of new pattern releases! The pattern is called Lake Reflection and is on sale now until the end of May, along with Midnight Crossing and The Forest. Visit my shop to see all three!
This quilt showcases the Island Batik fabric line Fire and Ice, an original collection by Claudia Pfeil.
When I first saw this collection I was excited by the colors and designs and immediately wanted to create a new pattern to help show it off! I love the color combos in this line. They make me think of fiery volcanoes, cool blue lakes, and sunsets.
Then came the idea of a beautiful lake reflection and from there everything fell into place with the pattern and the colors of the fabric.
This pattern uses foundation paper piecing to create the blocks and side triangles. The blocks are then sewn together traditionally in rows.
The pattern assumes the reader is familiar with paper piecing and is comfortable sewing odd-shaped triangles. It also gives cutting instructions to help get the most out of your fabric when cutting the shapes for paper piecing.
The pattern itself does not have instructions on how to paper piece, but if you are new to paper piecing, there are lots of free resources on the internet to help you get started.
I even have a quick tutorial on how I paper piece under my Tutorials section.
You can buy the PDF version of the pattern in my shop starting today and as stated above, to celebrate its new lease, it will be on sale for the rest of May, along with my other two newly released patterns!
If you are a shop owner and want hard copies for your store, shoot me a message.
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