Create for a Cause Island Batik Blog Hop

The February Challenge for Island Batik Ambassadors was to create a quilt to donate to any cause we wished.  I started out with this Turnstile quilt and I had so much extra time on my hands due to covid that I made a few more.  Since I had to wait several weeks to go back to work, even though I was feeling better, I spent a lot of time in my sewing room. 

I will be saving a few of the quilts for a fund raising auction done by our local youth group.  When they are allowed to group again, they will need to raise money for their summer camps.  The other quilts I will donate to Project Linus.  Project Linus' mission is to: "Provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers.”

  

I was given an Island Batik half yard bundle of Summer Fields designed by Kathy Engle to play with.

I wanted to be able to show off as many of the prints as I could so I played around in EQ8 and picked out a block called Turnstile and put it on point with some sashing.

The Turnstile block ended up being 8 inches so I checked the Quilt in a Day book that came with my Accuquilt Ready.Set.Go! Cube and this block was in there! 

  I only needed two dies from the cube set to make the block.

Die #3 for Half Square Triangles

And die #4 for Quarter Square Triangles.

I love how the Accuquilt dies cut off the dog ears. The triangles come out perfect.  No need to trim them down after sewing.  Everything fits together so nice.

I quilted this one using Hobbs Poly-Down batting.

I haven't used polyester batting in a long time, but this one was a surprise.  There was no bearding and the fabric didn't slip around like I am used to with other polyester battings.  It was actually quite nice to work with and the quilt came out nice and fluffy.

Again, I used Schmetz Needles for the piecing and the quilting.  

Those microtex needles are fantastic!

When I was cutting my triangles for my Turnstile Quilt,  I had some left over 5 inch strips, so I decided to whip up another quick quilt.  I cut triangles from the left over strips and added them to some triangles from some background fabric called Moo Milk.  Moo Milk is part of the Island Batik Foundations and goes well with all the colors in Summer Fields.

These triangles sewed up super quick.

I used left over pieces of Hobbs Heirloom Premium Batting for this quilt and the last three little ones.

Again,  I had a lot of time on my hands.  So I cut out even more fabric from the Summer Fields bundle.  This time I cut bricks.

I cut a lot of 4 x 8 inch rectangles and made two small kid quilts and one small baby quilt.

To cut the sashing, I used my 1/2 inch finished strip die from Accuquilt.

I have cut lots of 1 inch strips in the past, but sometimes they get wonky so this die was nice.  It cut each strip precise.  No wonky strips and it was super fast. I cut enough bricks to make two small kid quilts.

I hadn't planned on making the smaller baby quilt, but I had some left over blues and yellows that didn't fit in with the other two brick quilts, so I decided to use them up in another smaller quilt.  I used a little wider sashing in this one to help get some extra width to it.

I quilted all five quilts with some light yellow Auriful thread.  

The yellow was perfect on the darker blues/greens and blended right in with the off white background.

The Brick Quilt pattern and the Half Square Triangle quilt are some of my favorite quick quilts to make and give away.  You can sew them up in an afternoon and with some swirly quilting or meandering they quilt up super fast and look great.  They also showcase off lots of different fabrics, perfect for scraps.

I used a lot of the Summer Fields bundle making these, but I still had enough fabric left over to cut some 2.5 inch strips for a strip tube quilt.  I ran out of the blue yardage though for a border so once I get a good color to go with Summer fields I finish it up and show it off. 

What are your favorite quick quilt patterns to sew up for charity quilts?

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Feather One Block Wonder

Another January Finish.  This one was started last year and was almost done so it was easy to finish up.

What put the fire under me to finish this one was the Totally Tulips quilt before it.

When I went to quilt Totally Tulips, I didn't have an empty bobbin for the thread I was going to use and I didn't have anything else to transfer the thread to free up a bobbin, so I decided to sew one of my other UFO's together to empty a bobbin so I could quilt Totally Tulips.  

The bobbin with Yellow thread had the least amount on it, so I picked up this One Block Wonder and started sewing rows.  I was pretty close to completing the whole top when the bobbin ran out so I decided to keep going and completed the top.

I really enjoyed this fabric but wasn't sure how to go about the layout.  At first  I wasn't sure what color groups I wanted to put together.  I played around with several different layouts, 

And ended up with this one.

This fabric is so busy I did an all over quilting.  It is hard to see in the photos, but I quilted wavy lines, swirls, and even drew some weird looking feathers.  I used a pastel  yellow thread.  It blended in with everything.

I used the original print in the border.

It is a feather print by Kaffe.

The quilt measures approximately 84 x 72 inches.

It kind of reminds me of cotton Candy.

I love making these One Block Wonders.

On to the next one! 

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Totally Tulips

Another January Finish.  Totally Tulips.  This is another kit I purchased.  I got this one in October 2019 from Missouri Star Quilt Company, so it hasn't been sitting as long as some others.

I started this one at the beginning of January when I was getting over Covid.  I didn't have quite enough energy to stand up and move around, but I could sit at the table and cut stuff out.

When I got to feeling better I sewed it up... 

and got it quilted.  

I used a greyish blue thread so it would look good on the dark background but not overpower the lighter yellows and creams in the flowers.

This quilt is huge!  Approximately 90 x 90 inches.

It feels good to have another quilt completed. 

I already have a new home picked out for this one, just going to put it in quarantine two more weeks before gifting it, just to be on the safe side.

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Cabin Windows UFO Complete!

A UFO complete!  Yay!  I bought this kit from Connecting Threads in 2013.

I came across it the other day when I was looking for a quilt panel I wanted to play with.

This kit was with my panels.  Totally in the wrong spot.  

I took it out to put it were it belongs and realized I had already cut all the pieces out.  So I decided to sew it together instead of put it back on the shelf.

I almost quilted this using black thread, but decided to go with a blue. I am glad I did, the blue pops on the black and gives the quilt a whole new feel.  I did an all over feather swirl and what ever I felt like drawing for the quilting.  It quilted up pretty quick.  For the binding again I went with blue.  It frames it up nicely.

I used up most of this weird zig zag print for the back.  I bought it super cheap years ago and a lot of it, thinking it would be perfect for backings and it has served me well.  I added a purple strip of fabric to make it wide enough.  I couldn't believe how well the purple matched the print.

Another UFO off the list,  a lot more to go.....

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Tropical Bargello Placemats and Table Runner

 

January is the Placemat Challenge for Island Batik Ambassadors!

The weather has been so gloomy here lately, cloudy and rainy for weeks. I decided to use what was left of my Island Batik Tropicana Twist fabric line designed by Kathy Engle to create something bright and fun.  Tropicana Twist arrived in quilt shops in December, so you should still be able to get your hands on some.

I started out with 12 prints and put them in color order.  I cut 1.75 inch strips from each print.

Then I sewed the strips together.

As I was sewing them together, I swapped the wavy light blue around. It seemed to fit better this way.

Once the all the strips were together I sewed the first and last strip together to create a tube, then I cut strips at different widths.  As I was laying out the strips, I realized this was going to be a little taller than I wanted for a placement and I also realized I didn't have enough of the oranges to make a fourth placemat.  I had enough of a strip tube left to cut a few more strips, but not enough for a fourth placement.  I decided I would use what was left of the last strip tube and turn this one into a table runner.

Then I got busy picking out more fabrics and cutting more strips.  This time I measured all the lengths of each cut I would need and added them all up.  This let me know I would need three strip tubes to make four placemats.  This time I used 9 fabrics and cut the strips at 2 inches so I needed to make sure I had six inches of each fabric to make three tubes.  When the tube was sewn together I cut my different sized rows.

I was laying the rows out four at a time on top of each other.

When I got everything in the right order it was time to finish cutting open the tubes at the right spot.  

Once I got started, I just followed the flow of the row before it, it was super easy.

I put all four on the long arm at the same time.  

I quilted them using a bright yellow Aurifil thread #2120.

I used a strip of left over Hobbs Heirloom Premium Batting.

The Hobbs website is full of batting information.  Check out their page on their Heirloom batting and read which one is best for your project.  The Heirloom batting made my placemats flat in the close quilting and fluffy in the feathers where there was more space.  I love how it turned out.

And of course I love my Schmetz Needles,  I have been sewing with them for years.  Their Sharp Microtex needles helped me quilt through these layers in no time.

I used the half yard Island Batik Foundations fabric I received in my boxes for the back of the placements.  A half yard cut was the perfect size for two placemats.

I used Pistachio and Large Netting - Lemongrass

Everything together.

I had fun quilting the feathers on these.  I realized I am better at going up with feathers than going down.  My brain has to think harder to get them right when I got the opposite direction.  

The table runner measures approximately 16 x 60 inches.

The placemats measure approximately 14 x 19 inches.

I designed my rows for the placements and the table runner in EQ8.

If you want to make some placemats of your own like these, you can see my measurements in the PDF below.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Quilting.

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