Wednesday, December 24, 2025

The Ultimate Purple Island Batik Quilt

Welcome to the final Island Batik ambassador challenge of the year!  This month, it's up to us!  We each got to make whatever we wanted featuring Island Batik fabric.  I started planning my quilt early in the year.  I wanted to make a scraptastic quilt featuring as many purple Island Batik fabrics as I could find.  I chose two of my favorite classic blocks, the sawtooth star and the log cabin, and combined them into a design I was really excited about.  

Everything was cut with my Accuquilt (specifically the 8" cube) and all piecing was done with Aurifil thread--scrappy, because a scrappy quilt is a great time to use up partial bobbins.  And as always, I sewed with a Schmetz needle, the only needles I use.   

Star Blocks

 I did agonize a bit over what color to use as the center of the log cabin blocks.  In my EQ8 mock-ups, I started with yellow.  It was ok, but honestly a little boring.  I really like purple with blue, so I also looked at a light or medium blue, or even aqua.  While I liked the blues and the aqua, I didn't like the attention it took away from the purple. I then saw some Sangria yardage from Island Batik's always-available Basics, and that felt like the right choice.  First, it's kinda close to red, one of the traditional colors for log cabin centers.  It's also close in color to the purples while still being a little different visually.   


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

 


I finished the top in late June because I knew I wanted it longarmed and I wanted to be sure to beat the Christmas rush.  Sara at Stitch Lab Quilting is local to me and she did such a great job with it!  I picked an edge to edge quilt design called Elizabeth that I really like, and Sara used a light/medium purple thread.  I got it back right before my move, so I have not been able to bind it yet.  I'm at a loss as to what to bind it with.  Dark purple?  Dark gray?  Sangria?  I hope to get my sewing machine set up in the new house very soon, so I can get to work getting this bound.  It's huge!!!  Easily at least Queen size.


I mentioned that this is the last Island Batik Ambassador challenge of 2025.  It is also my last challenge as an Island Batik Ambassador.  After seven amazing years, I made the difficult decision not to apply for 2026.  I am so grateful to Island Batik for the chance to work with them and their beautiful fabrics for so long.  I still have quite the stash and I am a true fan of their fabrics, so I will continue to sew with Island Batik fabrics for years to come!