Puff Quilt with Island Batik

Welcome to the first day of the All Puffed Up blog hop!  Island Batik sent each of their ambassadors one of the brand new collections hitting stores now and tasked us each with making a puff quilt.  I was lucky enough to be sent Bits and Pieces, a lovely and bright collection designed by Kathy Engle for Sherry Shish of Powered by Quilting.  I just love the colors in Bits & Pieces!

If you are looking for the next round in my Stay at Home Round Robin, it will be posted tomorrow, February 7th.

 

The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik, Schmetz, and Aurifil. 

 

I documented my three test attempts here.  In the end, I liked the this youtube tutorial best, and I did it as directed.  I particularly like two things about this method.  First, that you complete your top before stuffing, rather than stuffing individual squares and then piecing those together.  And two, her directions make it clear how to keep the already-stuffed puffs not in throat of your machine, so it's easier to complete.

sewing in the pleats

This was a really fun little quilt.  Once I determined my fabric layout and made sure I had all 20 fabrics from Bits & Pieces included, I whipped up the quilt top fairly quickly.  I did all my piecing with a Schmetz microtex needle and Aurifil thread 5004, Grey Smoke.  This quilt requires quite a bit of stitching that is visible in the finished quilt and the Grey Smoke was perfect for not calling too much attention to itself. It's also sewed together like a pillow case and flipped right-side out, eliminating the need for binding.  

With pleats all sewn in, before stuffing

 

And after stuffing

This finished at 36" by 44", but while that sounds small, it feels much more substantial than that, likely due to all the stuffing.  My son and I sit on the couch together and listen to Harry Potter audio books each night before bed and this has been the perfect size to cover both our legs while snuggling.  (We're currently on The Order of the Phoenix, for those who may be wondering.) He frequently comments on how big it is, and it's certainly very warm.  He has claimed it, as I knew he would.  Those puffs are irresistible!  He moves it around the house with him, and loves it while watching TV.

 

What's a blog hop without a giveaway?  I'm offering up what's left of 4 of the fabrics from Bits & Pieces.  There are at least 12" of each remaining, so that's a third of a yard each! To enter, leave me a comment during the month of February.  Any comment will do, but if you need a prompt, tell me if you've ever made a puff quilt, or if you are tempted to. I'll pick a random number as the winner on March 1st.  And be sure to check the Island Batik blog each Friday during the hop for a chance to win more beautiful Island Batik fabric--they set up a new giveaway each week! Many of the other Ambassadors will also have their own giveaways on their post days, so be sure to visit everyone!

You can find the full schedule of the hop here, and be sure to check out Sarah at Pitcher's Boutique to see what she made with Bits & Pieces!

Hiding?  Who's hiding?