All Aboard the Accuquilt Express!

The April Island Batik challenge is baby quilts made with the Accuquilt Go!  Accuquilt is an industry partner this year and generously sent every ambassador an Accuquilt Go! cutter, an 8" Cube set, and a 2 1/2" strip die.  Talk about Happy Mail!!!!  I wanted more of a scene than a traditional quilt block, so I combined Sawtooth Star blocks cut with the Cube with a train die I already owned. All aboard the Accuquilt Express!

photo by K. Mellnik

I used the Flea Market collection; there are 20 prints in the collection and I used 14 in this project.  In addition to a stack (10" squares) of the full collection, I was given yardage of a Mum in Weeds and Mum in Kiwi.  I used the Weeds yardage for the ground and the binding, the Kiwi yardage for the sky/background, and a strip of Island Batik's new solid black for the train track and the wheels.  The puffs of smoke coming from the engine are batik solid in gray. This quilt is 40" square.

I used a blanket stitch and Aurifil 1320 Bright Teal for the train applique.  It blends beautiful with the teals of Flea Market.  I love cross-hatch quilting and used Aurifil 2000 Light Stand.

The fabrics were provided to me by Island Batik.  Accuquilt and Aurifil also provided materials that I used in this project.

I've had an Accuquilt cutter for a few years and I absolutely love it!  The speed and ease and accuracy in cutting just cannot be beat.  This was my first time using the Cube set and there are so many blocks you can make with these dies!  I had the pieces cut out for the sawtooth star blocks in under five minutes.

cutting the sawtooth stars

I don't have a baby in my life right now who doesn't already have a quilt so this will be donated to my local Project Linus chapter.  As I do with most of my donated quilts for babies and kids, this is backed with fleece.  I love the weight of a quilt top + fleece (no batting) especially in the south when a heavy blanket often isn't needed.  It's also soft and cuddly.

And of course, I had to set it up with a train track!  I love how the bright fabrics mimic the colors of  of our toy trains.

I love making baby quilts, so I was super excited about this challenge.  I also think it's important that a baby quilt is still fun and relevant when the child is no longer a baby.  Here's proof that my five-year-old approves of this quilt.  And yes, he asked to be in a picture!

I really loved the colors and patterns in Flea Market and I'm pleased that it makes what I think is essentially a gender-neutral baby quilt.  The teal train makes me happy every time I see it!  You'll see these same fabrics in a completely different look in my May project!

photo by K. Mellnik