Creative Borders - April Island Batik Challenge

Lily Patch Pads. That is what I am calling this one. As I was making it, he white squares in the small nine patches along background fabrics remind me of flowers on lily pads.

This quilt came about in a unique way. It was made for the April Island Batik Challenge Creative Borders and Bindings and I actually designed the borders first. Then I figured out what I wanted in the center.

It actually started out Blue and Yellow in EQ8 and had an extra  outer border, but I really wanted to play with the Cascadia strip set by Claudia Pfeil for Island Batik (Shipping in May)  so I went with a colorful scrappy sort of look.  As I was making it scrappy I fell in love with the background fabric I was using, an Island Batik foundation called Moonstone, and I wanted more of that showing in the quilt, so I swapped out the paper pieced outer border and made it all Moonstone fabric and cut it curvy like lily pads.  It was probably a good decision, I had another 20 hours or more of sewing needed to paper piece that second border and not enough craft hours left in the month.

Look at all these fun colors in Cascadia. These made up the nine patches and star blocks.

For the center of the nine patches and the Ohio stars I used the Island Batik foundation Sunshine.  And the white background is of course my new favorite foundation Island Batik print, Sprinkles.

The 2.5 inch strips fit perfect on my Triangle in a Square Die for my AccuQuilt cutter. I trimmed a few inches from each 2.5 inch color strip and ran it through the cutter along with the Moonstone fabric.

I love cutting odd shapes with the AccuQuilt.  When piecing everything lines up perfect.

Since I was using 2.5 inch strips, I had to cut the quarter square triangles with my regular ruler, which meant squaring things up when they were finished. 

I sure was wishing AccuQuilt had a die that catered to 2.5 inch strips for Quarter Square Triangles, that would have been perfect for this project. They do have a 2 inch Quarter Square die, and I own it, but it isn't laid out for 2.5 inch strips. Maybe I will drop them a line, I would love a whole set of dies just for use with 2.5 inch strip sets! Can you image all the small 6 inch blocks I could create full of color and scrapiness from 2 inch strip sets!

These nine patches were small. I had to cut those strips 1 3/16 inches. I don't even have a ruler with 16ths on it. So I eyeballed it. Had to trim some down to size, but it worked.

Next was the layout.  It was hard to not get same fabrics to touch, but I made it work. This is when I kept seeing flowers on lily pads.  There has to be a watercolor print out there with flowers and lily pads on it somewhere.

Adding the nine patch border. I love nine patches and actually added created this border first.

As I was making this one I knew I wanted to try some fancier quilting in the blocks and definitely in the wide outer border so I gave myself some extra time for quilting this month.  I used the Chrome Microtex needles by Schmetz that came in my ambassador box.  They worked great in my machine.

I quilted it using Hobbs Natural Cotton batting with Scrim binder.  

I really love this batting.  It quilts up so nice!

  

The quilting started out fantastic.  I used some Yellow Aurfil 50 wt Thread #2210 that came in my last ambassador box.  It is a light yellow and even looks good on the white background.

I got one side of the outer border quilted along with all of the blocks in the center.

The quilting was humming along not a problem. I even filled several bobbins of thread and then...

As I was quilting around the 9 patch border my needle kept skipping stitches.  I thought that was odd since I hadn't changed anything recently, I was already halfway through a new bobbin.  So I thought maybe I wore out the needle.

I re-threaded the machine and put on a brand new needle. Still skipping.  I re-wound the bobbin, tried new thread, changed tension settings, and even made sure my needle size was the right size for my thread even though I had already quilted more than half the quilt with that same combo.

I tired everything I could think of and everything I could find on the internet but to no avail.

The machine kept skipping stitches.

After playing around I realized I can move the machine left, right, and down and nothing skips, but when I push it away from me it won't grab any stitches at all.  If anyone knows how to fix this please let me know!  

After hours of playing with it and ripping my hair out I decided to take it off the frame and go ahead and put the binding on without all the quilting in it.

I did finish quilting the first inner binding and the 9 patch binding on my regular machine, but the outer border will need to be marked so I can make it match the other side.  I don't like marking my quilts, it takes too long and that will take me longer than April is long, so I am calling this one finished for now.  It measures approximately 64 x 50.

Even without that other side of the outer border quilted I still love it.  All those wonderful colors, and that Moonstone fabric is a new favorite!  It plays well with every print in the Cascadia line.

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One Die Wonder - March Island Batik Challenge

What a wonderful month to play with Color Pop by Island Batik and Accuquilt dies! This month Island Batik Ambassadors are showcasing a Block On Board die from Accuquilt and of course fabulous Island Batik Fabric.

I was sent the Storm at Sea BOB and I was already in love before I took off the plastic.
This block had been on my list of quilts to make for awhile.

In my January box from Island Batik I was sent a lovely layer cake of Color Pop designed by Kathy Engle.  With all this craziness going on in the world right now, I knew I would need some extra pops of color in my life for sure!

I cut up each 10 inch square to fit over the different shapes so I could have a wonderful scrappy quilt.

I used my favorite Sprinkles foundation for the background.  FYI - In this photo I was laying out colors and count shapes.  They were on top of the cutting mat for a visual.  I promise I put the mat on top of the fabric before I ran it through the cutter. :)

The Storm at Sea has so many different ways you can lay out your colors, but if you get intimated by so many choices the die is already laid out so you can cut the colored fabric on one side and the background on the other.  Easy Peasy.

Another thing I loved about this die is that it already cut the corners for you. Even on the squares!

Everything lined up perfectly when sewing.  No cutting dog ears on those triangles.  And no wondering if your half square triangles are really hanging over 1/4 inch on your square before you sew.  Everything fit together perfect!

I had an explosion of color on my sewing desk.

 For my batting I used what I had left from my Hobbs 80/20 bleached cotton batting and had just enough for this quilt.  Hobbs batting always shows of the quilting wonderfully and has such a nice feel to it when finished.  I think this bleached white helps make the white background pop even more.

I pieced and quilted the whole thing using Schmetz needles. 

These are by far my favorite needles for my machine and I always have them on hand.

And check out those points!  There was very little pinning involved.  Most of them turned out nearly perfect on their own thanks to the cutting with the Accuquilt cutting and how wonderful everything lined up together.

For the quilting thread I used a light yellow 50wt #2130 by Aurifil that I had in my stash.

The yellow looks fantastic even on the white. It is muted enough it doesn't shout out at you when it goes over the white and the dark greens and blues.  It blends perfect on all the colors.  I love it.

For the binding I used a beautiful Island Batik red called Wavy Dots Cherry, one of the coordinating fabric that came in my Island Batik box in January 

The quilt measures approximately 42 x 52.

It was fun to put together and super easy to cut out all the pieces with the Accuquilt.  

And if you need more inspiration during your quarantine time, check out the other Ambassadors to see what they made with their Block on Board Dies.

Till next time, Happy sewing!

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Color it Red Blog Hop

Welcome to my day of the Color It Red Blog Hop!  Hosted by Carol of Just Let Me Quilt.

All we had to do to play along was make a project that had red in it.
Today I am showing off what I made with some of my favorite shades from my stash.

I call it Diamond Bars.

There are twelve different red fabrics in this one.
I used my 9 inch Creative Grid equilateral ruler to cut out all my triangles and angled strips.

The quilt has two different type triangles, one with a small inner white triangle and one with a large inner red triangle.  There are 36 of each.  I came up with 36  because that is exactly how many small white triangles I got from two 2.5 inch strips.  These are surrounded by 2 inch red strips.

I used yardage and fat quarters for the inner red triangles and cut four inch strips to cut the larger red triangles.  They are surrounded by 1.5 inch white strips.

They layout came about because of my need to have things be symmetrical.  I originally had all the outer red stripped triangles facing up, but that left a red bar at the bottom and not one at the top, so I started flipping rows around and came up with this layout.

I was fun to fiddle around with different triangle sizes and the layout to come up with this design.

This would be cool in scraps or rainbow color as well.  

The top was pretty quick to sew up once everything was cut out.

It Measures approximately 44 x 60.

I also played around with more red fabric and used the Pixie Basket Tutorial by Fabric Mutt.  

These are super cute and the perfect size to hold a bag of Valentine Chocolates.

These sew together lickety split!

Thanks for stopping by to check out my creations.

Make sure to check out all the other red creations today!

February 19^th

MooseStash Quilting

Quilted Delights (ME)

Everyone Deserves a Quilt

Storied Quilts

Just Sew Quilter

Kathy’s Quilts

Just Because Quilts

Words & Stitches

Scrapdash

Happy Quilting!

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Island Batik Log Cabin Blog Hop

Hey all Welcome to the first day of the Island Batik Blog hop!

This week is all about log Cabins and I get to show of the Ancient Etchings fabric line by Jackie Kunkel of Canton Village Quilt Works for Island Batik.

I am usually one of the ambassadors who post my creations near the end of the month, but now you get to see me at the beginning!  Which means I do have a couple more seams to sew together before I quilt it this one, but it is still looking good!

I went with two different log cabins and mixed them together.  

The courthouse steps and the twisted log cabin.  

These colors are perfect for log cabins and are right up my ally with colorfulness!  And I really love the black turtle etchings in this line.  The extra two yards sent to me in my January box was perfect for the sashing and the borders.

I sewed these lovely fabrics together Schmetz Needles.  One of Island Batik Partners this year. 

I love these Needles. They are fantastic and I have been using them for years.

These fabrics are hitting your shops now so go check them out!  And check out Sharon Riley today.  She too is also showing off some Ancient Etchings!

If you need to find a shop in your area that carries Island Batik, check out the Store Locator at the Island Batik website.  

I am giving away some of my left over Ancient Etchings!  If you want a chance to win some 5 inch strips left over from my project leave a comment below and tell me what log cabin block is your favorite.

Update - I added another strip of the black fabrics for a total of 12 strips and rolled them up all Island Batik Stash Builder style.

Don't they look spiffy! I'll draw a random winner when the blog hop ends!

Also check out the Island Batik blog, they are giving a way some 

some precuts of Ancient Etchings as well.

Happy Quilting!

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Let's Get Scrappy - January Island Batik Challenge

I am super excited to be an ambassador for Island Batik again in 2020!
On Monday I showed off all the goodies Island Batik and their partners sent me to work with and today I want to show you my first finished Island Batik Quilt of 2020.

The January challenge of 2020 is "Let's Get Scrappy".
Good thing there is 31 days this month.
I worked on this a little bit at a time all month and put the last stitch in the binding last night.

I love scrappy quilts and definitely have lots of Island Batik scraps to play with.  When I first saw the theme, I was envisioning a rainbow of scrappiness for this project with some possible stars or paper pieced diamonds and then....

I came across these cute little turtles Turtle Tots by Southwind Designs at the Loving Stitches quilt shop in Fayetteville, NC! The shop had the table runner version hanging on their wall and I immediately wanted to have the pattern.  I asked one of the ladies who worked there and she showed me a whole display of  Southwind Design patterns, but they didn't have the Turtle Tots in stock.  Ack!  I did end buying two others though.

When I got home I went to the SouthWind Design website and luckily they had the Turtle Tots pattern in stock, so I got the pattern!

These little guys are perfect for small scraps.

I cut the shell pieces from a left over 2.5 strip but you can also cut them from charm square scraps.

The head and legs also came from a left over 2.5 inch strip.

 

The pattern calls for 5 Turtle Tots, but I made six and altered the layout a bit to get the 6th one to fit.

What I really like about this pattern is that it has curves without having to sew curves. The process is similar to making a Cathedral Windows quilt by folding the fabric back on the bias to create the curve and stitching that down.

I used left over scraps form some Island Batik strip sets to make the water sections as well and I quilted it using White and Teal 50wt Aurifil Thread from their color builder collections.

The quilt measures approximately 50 x 40.

The only thing that wasn't scrappy was the white background.  For that I used Island Batik Neutral called Sprinkles.  It looks white far a way, but when you get a little closer you can see light gray dotted swirls.  It is one of my favorite neutrals!


I hope you enjoyed seeing my scrappy Turtle Tots and if you want to make some for your own or just want to see what other curvy patterns they have check out Southwind Designs they has some cute curved patterns.

And check out Island Batik and Aurfil websites. They are so colorful and full of inspiration.



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