November Tool Time Challenge

Well, I'm running a bit late for my Island Batik challenge for November, but here it is!  Our challenge was to use a specialty quilting tool (ruler, template, etc).  I had this all in my head and ready to go, and then the preparation for Thanksgiving started, and having my son and his girlfriend here definitely took priority over everything else!  But they've gone back to Seattle, and life got back to normal for the most part.  As you can see, it's all pieced, but it's not yet quilted.  I'm waiting for my Christmas present to arrive before doing that ;) I'll be sure to write a blog post once my present has been opened!  I'm so excited, but I'll wait until I actually have it in my hot little hands before revealing exactly what it is ;) No, it's NOT another longarm.  LOL 

The items in this post were provided by Island Batik and Aurifil. 

It's really challenging to get decent pics these days in the Pacific Northwest. Most days, it's foggy outside when I leave for work in the morning, and it's dark by the time I get home. I can't wait for longer days with lots of sunlight! Trust me, this is full of color!  So much purple 💜

The tool that I used was the 10-degree Wedge ruler by Cheryl Phillips (Phillips Fiber Art)  I used Black Pearl by Kathy Engle, which is the same fabric that I used in my ghost for the October challenge, but it's such a great line that I decided to use more of it this month since I had a lot of 2.5" strips.  

While this ruler can make a really long lengths for a circle, half-circle, etc., I chose to make smaller wedges using the #11 mark, cutting my 2.5" strips 8.5" long.  I have actually made a full circle baby quilt using the full length of the ruler.  Super easy and super fast!  The ruler is 23" long, so just imagine what a great baby quilt or playmat this would make! 

I was able to get four wedges out of each 2.5" strip.  

I like using the 10-degree ruler because I know that it will take 36 wedges to make a complete (360-degree) circle, 18" to make a half-circle, and 9" to make a quarter-circle.  I like the easy math :) 

As you can see in the pic, I chose to make two half-circles and two quarter-circles, then did a random design from top to bottom. 

I used Aurifil #2568 50 wt (Mulberry), which is so pretty!  I used a raw edge applique technique and then flipped it over and cut the extra background fabric off the back of the appliqued section to reduce the thickness.  That's a little trick I learned from Natalia Bonner a few years ago ;) 

The quilt top is 46" x 63"  -  the perfect size for a small person (me!) and her dog (Dutch!) on the couch! 

I still have one more project to make to complete my year as an Island Batik Ambassador, so stay tuned! 

I hope that you have a wonderful holiday season with your loved ones ❤

Spooky Table Topper - Island Batik Challenge

Happy Halloween!

The items in this post (except for the candy!) were provided by Island Batik, Aurifil, and Hobbs Batting 

This month's challenge for Island Batik was Top It Off - making a table topper or runner using an applique technique.  

I can always use more Halloween decorations!

👻 And who doesn't need another ghost in the house? 👻 

I've wanted to make one of these cute blocks since I bought the pattern last year.  

It's the Ghost quilt pattern by Then Came June and Pen and Paper Patterns.  

And it's so fun to make!  👻

The ghost is not a separate piece that was appliqued onto the background, as with traditional applique.  I chose to piece one ghost block using the pattern instructions and then use a running stitch to give the look of applique.  

I used three prints from Black Pearl by Kathy Engle.

I used this really cool pink variegated 12-wt Aurifil thread (#4660) for the hand applique stitch and 50-wt  Aurifil #2568 for the piecing and wavy quilting using my Baby Lock Jazz.

I used the 80/20 black Hobbs batting for this project. 

As with every type of Hobbs batting I've used so far, this is an excellent product!

Check out all the other projects made by the Island Batik Ambassadors

Carolina Asmussen ~Carolina Asmussen

Gene Black ~ Gene Black

Pamela Boatright ~ Pamela Quilts

Connie K Campbell ~ Freemotion by the River

Anja Clyke ~ Anja Quilts

Tina Dillard ~ Quilting Affection Designs

Becca Fenstermaker ~Pretty Piney

Jennifer Fulton ~ Inquiring Quilter

Barbara Gaddy ~ Bejeweled Quilts by Barb

Dione Gardner-Stephen ~ Clever Chameleon

Sarah Goer ~ Sarah Goer Quilts

Vasudha Govindan ~ Storied Quilts

Lori Haase ~ Dakota City Quilter II

Joanne Hart ~ Unicornharts

Mania (Magdalini) Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for Quilts

Carla Henton ~ Create in the Sticks

Stephanie Jacobson ~ Steph Jacobson Designs

Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs

Joan Kawano ~ Moosestash Quilting

Kim Lapacek ~ Persimon Dreams

Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood

Leanne Parsons ~ Devoted Quilter

Bea Lee ~ BeaQuilter

Toby Lischko ~ Gateway Quilts & Stuff

Bill Locke ~ Studio Bill Locke

Denise Looney ~ For the Love of Geese

Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights

Sally Manke ~ Sally Manke

Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack's Blog

Kathleen McCormick ~ KathleenMcCormick

Carol Moellers ~ Carol Moellers Designs

Karen Neary ~ Sew Karen-ly Created

Jackie O’Brien ~ If These Threads Could Talk

Laura Piland ~ Slice of Pi Quilts

Michelle Roberts ~ Creative Blonde

Vicki Schlimmer ~ Vicki's Crafts and Quilting

Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail

Sherry Shish ~ Powered by Quilting

Anita Skjellanger , Quilt in a not-Shell

Laticia "Tish" Stemple ~ Tish's Adventures in Wonderland

Jennifer Strauser ~ Dizzy Quilter

Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations

Terri Vanden Bosch ~ Lizard Creek Quilts

Alison Vermilya ~ Little Bunny Quilts

Sandra Walker ~ mmm! quilts

Suzy Webster ~ Adventerous Applique and Quilting

(Debora) Anne Weins ~ Sweetgrass Creative Designs

Geraldine Wilkins ~ Living Water Quilter

Janet Yamamoto ~ Whispers of Yore

Child's Play - September Island Batik Challenge

Hi Everyone!  It's been a while because my August Island Batik challenge was due the first week of the month, and then I spent the rest of the month making clothes and doing fun stuff because it was my birthday month!  And then September's project ended up being late because I also volunteered to make a stuffed animal for Quilt Market (which I can't show you yet) and I had absolutely no idea how difficult making a stuffed animal was!  Oh. My. Word.  

So.....here it is October 6th, and I just finished attaching the binding yesterday afternoon.  

The items used in this post were provided to me by Island Batik

Our theme this month was Child's Play, using the Accuquilt Block on Board die that we received in our July box, and the size requirement was 45x60 inches. The finished quilt is to be given to a child that we love or a child that needs comfort.  I have a call out to a local organization that I'm hoping will be able to provide this to a child in need.

I received the Spider Web die, which makes a beautiful black & white spider web, perfect for Halloween!!  🕸🕷

BUT, I wanted to use some of the colorful fabrics that I've received from Island Batik so I chose the 10" squares of Kaleidoscope, along with some of the other coordinating fabrics. 

I decided to check out the patterns on the Accuquilt website first to get some ideas  Did you know that there are a bunch of FREE patterns on their website?  I decided on the Clover Hollow Spider Web pattern.  It's an awesome pattern, and it would have gone together rather quickly if I hadn't limited myself to working with 10" squares for the majority of the quilt top.  I had to get resourceful with my cutting and discovered something kinda fun - Did you know that you can get FOUR 4x6 pieces out of a 10" square?  Yep!  I needed a 4x6 piece to cover the spider web die (except for that larger white piece), so I played around with it on paper to find the best use of my fabric.  So I was able to get four of each shape out of one 10" square.  

Now, you would think that one spider web "block" would look like a spider web, right?  Well, it doesn't!  One 6-1/2" block" is a quarter of two separate webs. 

You can see how they go together in this pic. This pattern calls for sashing and cornerstone blocks.  Otherwise, the four sections would go together to create a complete web. Oh, and speaking of those sashing strips - I also have an Accuquilt 1-1/2" strip die that I purchased recently because I have plans to make a queen-size quilt for our bed.  That might be a little crazy, but it's going to be a lot of awesome! 

I also used my 2-1/2" strip die for the binding strips out of the same red fabric. 

As September was coming to an end and I was still nowhere near finishing this quilt, I decided to stop making webs and start piecing the rows.  I don't typically like to add borders to my quilts, but this wasn't anywhere near the required size, so I added 5" borders.  

I thought I would dread basting a quilt after I got rid of my longarm earlier this year, but I really don't mind it.  This Kwik Klip really does help make the job a lot easier, and I don't break any nails!  

Because I was running behind, I decided to do straight-line quilting using one of my favorite threads - Aurifil #2024 40 wt. Before I got my longarm in 2017, I had straight-line quilted almost all of my quilts.  Then I started adventuring into echo quilting and other walking-foot designs.  I still love straight lines or straightish lines because they're simple and don't take away from the piecing.  I used Hobbs Tuscany Cotton Wool blend.  This batting is SO nice to work with!  I think this might be one of my absolute favorite battings and will definitely be using this again!  

As I pieced each of the rows and quilted the straight lines, I kept thinking how the sashing looked like roads and the webs looked like traffic circles, so I got our collection of Hot Wheels & Matchbox cars out of the garage (belonging to my husband and 30-year-old son).  How fun is this!?!

Don't forget to check out all of the other Island Batik Ambassadors! 

Carolina Asmussen ~Carolina Asmussen

Gene Black ~ Gene Black

Pamela Boatright ~ Pamela Quilts

Connie K Campbell ~ Freemotion by the River

Anja Clyke ~ Anja Quilts

Tina Dillard ~ Quilting Affection Designs

Becca Fenstermaker ~Pretty Piney

Jennifer Fulton ~ Inquiring Quilter

Barbara Gaddy ~ Bejeweled Quilts by Barb

Dione Gardner-Stephen ~ Clever Chameleon

Sarah Goer ~ Sarah Goer Quilts

Vasudha Govindan ~ Storied Quilts

Lori Haase ~ Dakota City Quilter II

Joanne Hart ~ Unicornharts

Mania (Magdalini) Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for Quilts

Carla Henton ~ Create in the Sticks

Stephanie Jacobson ~ Steph Jacobson Designs

Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs

Joan Kawano ~ Moosestash Quilting

Kim Lapacek ~ Persimon Dreams

Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood

Leanne Parsons ~ Devoted Quilter

Bea Lee ~ BeaQuilter

Toby Lischko ~ Gateway Quilts & Stuff

Bill Locke ~ Studio Bill Locke

Denise Looney ~ For the Love of Geese

Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights

Sally Manke ~ Sally Manke

Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack's Blog

Kathleen McCormick ~ KathleenMcCormick

Carol Moellers ~ Carol Moellers Designs

Karen Neary ~ Sew Karen-ly Created

Jackie O’Brien ~ If These Threads Could Talk

Laura Piland ~ Slice of Pi Quilts

Michelle Roberts ~ Creative Blonde

Vicki Schlimmer ~ Vicki's Crafts and Quilting

Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail

Sherry Shish ~ Powered by Quilting

Anita Skjellanger , Quilt in a not-Shell

Laticia "Tish" Stemple ~ Tish's Adventures in Wonderland

Jennifer Strauser ~ Dizzy Quilter

Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations

Terri Vanden Bosch ~ Lizard Creek Quilts

Alison Vermilya ~ Little Bunny Quilts

Sandra Walker ~ mmm! quilts

Suzy Webster ~ Adventerous Applique and Quilting

(Debora) Anne Weins ~ Sweetgrass Creative Designs

Geraldine Wilkins ~ Living Water Quilter

Janet Yamamoto ~ Whispers of Yore

Beat the Heat Blog Hop

Who's ready to Beat the Heat?  It's a little warm here in the Pacific Northwest, but I'm loving every minute of it!  For those of you who would rather be inside scrolling on your phones, checking out all the fun quilty stuff, just sit back and relax and start hopping to the Island Batik Ambassador blogs for a look at the new fabric lines coming out and for a chance to win some fabric of your own, including one at the end of this post! 

You may remember my box opening video in February where I shared everything that Island Batik sent to me in my first of two boxes, and I showed some "surprise" packages that I couldn't share until a later time.  Well, it's finally time!  

This is the Clockworks line by Kathy Engle.  Just look at all these fun designs!  The blues are my favorite!  

I had so many ideas for what to make with these fabrics, but so many of those ideas involved cutting it into small pieces, as most quilts do :)  I wanted a design that showed off each of the prints, so spent a lot of time (probably too much, as usual) going through all of my quilting books, looking for THE one to jump out, and I think I found it! 

I used the Checkerboard Dots pattern in the Skip the Borders book by Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts.  This is a fun quilt to make, and I think it shows off each of the prints so well!  

I used this old compass of my father-in-law's to cut out all the fusible circles.  It's  pretty handy.  I think I'll keep it in my sewing room now :) 

The pattern calls for 32 different prints, but I didn't have that many, so I cut out one of each print and then chose my favorite prints to use more than once :) 

I used Hobbs Heirloom Natural cotton batting with scrim, which is really nice, and I LOVE the weight of it!  

I quilted randomly spaced horizontal straight lines and then two vertical lines down the center(ish) of each circle using Aurifil 50 wt. #5020 (light military green) and the walking foot on my Baby Lock Jazz.  

I used my favorite binding technique (seen in pic above and below) - matched binding - using the excellent tutorial by Debbie at A Quilter's Table.  

Be sure to check out the Island Batik website for a chance to win some amazing fabric, and there you'll find links to all the other ambassadors' websites where there will be even more giveaways!  

And here's what you can win from me! These are my leftovers from making this quilt - over 2 pounds of fabric! 

All you need to do is leave a comment here on this post telling me what you're doing this summer to beat the heat.  That's it!  U.S. residents only.  

The blog hop ends on August 30th, so I'll keep my giveaway open until September 7, 2019.  That gives you a few days to catch up and get through all the blogs to enter all the giveaways :)  Good luck!  

Artsy Fartsy

Artsy fartsy.  

THAT is the theme of July's challenge for the Island Batik Ambassadors, using three different weights of Aurifil thread.

What in the world was I supposed to do with this prompt?  I am NOT an artsy fartsy quilter by a long shot.  My favorite quilts to make are not difficult, my quilting is fairly simple, and I don't ever do anything artsy fartsy.  But I thought, "Oh, I'll just make a small item with some embroidery on it, and it'll be so cute!"  Yeah....no.  Embroidery is hard!  In my 50+ years on this earth, I've fallen in deep with cross-stitching, crocheting, knitting, sewing, quilting....but I've never seriously tackled embroidery.  

I got out this book that my mother-in-law bought for me SO many years ago because it has everything about needlework in it, and I learned how to make a blanket stitch.  

After stressing about it for way too long, I decided to just be myself. I got out my colored pencils and drawing pad and started playing before I started cutting.  

I got out a Dresden template and some summery fabric and just played. This was actually my third attempt after the first two projects just didn't feel right.  

I used three different weights of Aurifl thread:  50 wt #5024 & #2021, 40 wt #2024, and 28 wt # 2150.

I used Darlene Zimmerman's EZ Quilting Easy Dresden Ruler to cut out 10 orange and 10 yellow wedges using the 5" mark.  I used my handy dandy Olfa 28 mm rotary cutter because it's my absolute favorite cutter!  The fabric pictured here is Island Batik Ogee Petal Sunshine.  Isn't it bright and summery?

I used Hobbs Thermore batting again this month because it really is the perfect batting for a wall hanging or, as the packaging shows....quilted clothing, which I just might get around to one of these days! 

I used a Clover Hera Marker to make grid lines, which did NOT come out as planned, but that's my own fault for marking it when I should have been in bed sleeping, but I wanted to be ready to start fresh in the morning, when everything would already be marked!  ha ha! 

Just check out my hand stitching around the edges and my blanket stitch!  OK, it's not perfect, but that's okay.  It really does look handstitched, and that's exactly what I was going for! :)  This is about as artsy fartsy as I could get.  

I was second-guessing my decision to do this the entire time...even up until I was writing this blog post, but I'm actually quite happy with the result, and it will really brighten up my new sewing room!  The real flowers are from our front yard, grown by my dude.  

Finished dimensions are 18x20.