Scrap Dance Twist

June was Ambassador's Choice or Free Theme for the Island Batik ambassador's monthly challenge.  Though I picked Buffalo Moon as my official project, I used the free theme as motivation to finish two other projects.  One was a mystery quilt by Carole of From My Carolina Home: The Scrap Dance Twist.

This is my fourth mystery by Carole, who starts one new every January.  And it just might be my favorite!  Or at the very least, tied with the original.  I used scraps from Island Batik's Flea Market collection, which was in my very first ambassador box.  I paired the scraps with a black solid batik that looks great with the yellows, golds, green, and teals of Flea Market.

My Twist finishes at 48" square.  I had a little bit of yardage of the two prints I was given and struggled which to use for binding.  I typically use darker bindings but in the end I picked the lighter print, partly because I thought the contrast with the black would be nice and partly because the lighter print is elsewhere in the quilt and the darker is not.  It's Mum in Kiwi and I love the subtle changes of color in it.

This was pieced with black Aurifil thread and a Schmetz microtex chrome needle.  The quilting itself is not my strong suit, especially with so much contrast in the fabrics, so I stitched in the ditch with Aurifil monofilament in smoke along the seams from the pieces blocks and added diagonal lines that followed the chain. The batting is Hobbs 80/20 cotton/poly, my favorite. 

Materials used in this project were given to me by Island Batik, Aurifil, Hobbs, and Schmetz.

The Free Theme opened up so many possibilities that it was hard to pick just one, so I didn't!  This is my third and final project for June.