Forest Jewels

This month, Accuquilt is celebrating Christmas in July.  They sent each Island Batik ambassador their new Tree of Life BOB die and tasked us with creating something to then gift to someone who needs joy.  When I got the challenge details, I spent some time thinking about what to make and who to gift it to.  And then, practically all at once, I knew what I wanted to make, who I wanted to give it to, and that I was setting myself up for a capital-C challenge.  

I have planned to make my best friend Laura a bed-sized quilt for a while.  I started one for her years ago, but fell out of love with it many years ago and my skills have progressed significantly since I stared it.  She has had some real challenges in recent years so she fit the "needs joy" criteria, though I will not share her story.  And she happens to have a PhD in forestry.  And I had to use a tree block.  The best, and simultaneously most challenging part, is that I was going to see her the second weekend in July.  I live in North Carolina and she lives in Massachusetts, so we aren't frequently in the same place.  But I didn't yet know when I would receive the die, so I didn't know how long I would have to make the quilt. 

In front of the Upside-Down Tree, Kenyon College

I did, however, have the prefect fabric, a 10" stack of Jewel Quest, a collection from early 2021.  Jewel Quest is a stunning collection of purples and greens.  It may be important that Laura and I share the favorite color of purple. And to further cement Jewel Quest as the perfects fabric collection for this project, many of the prints have trees and/or leaves on them.

Trees & Leaves in Jewel Quest

Accuquilt has a printable coloring sheet for the Tree of Life block, so I figured out my placement while waiting for the die to arrive.  My version has 71 pieces in each 14" block.  And I would need 16 blocks!  Fortunately, the Accuquilt makes cutting a breeze and cut all my Jewel Quest fabrics in one evening, then cut the background and trunk fabrics in a second cutting session.  I used solid Black for the background and the basic Cinnamon for the trunks.   

Laura's favorite block

One of my favorites

Laura's second favorite, but she kept changing her mind!

While piecing and pressing, I used my new pressing mat from Prairie Spirit Alpaca.  The mat does make a difference in pressing, as the pieces get the heat from top and bottom, since the mat retains heat.  The mat is a generous size, too, so I could press the longer seams that ran the width of the 14" block and it fit on the mat.  For quilts with a black background I absolutely Hobbs black batting and I was lucky to have gotten a queen size of it in my most recent ambassador box.  I don't like using black thread with black fabric, so I both pieced and quilted with Aurifil color 2784 Dark Navy and of course Schmetz needles, my favorite needles and the only ones I use. 

On the pressing mat

I started cutting out the blocks on June 30th and finished the quilt on July 11th, giving me 3 days to spare before my trip. Yup, I made a bed-sized quilt in 12 days!  I've never done that before, and I don't ever plan to do it again!  But it was totally worth it.  Laura loves it. 

 

We took pictures together as best we could. We were on our college campus and there is a somewhat famous tree there, called The Upside-Down Tree by students.  We took the tree quilt to the tree for photos, and the best ones came from inside the tree.  I named this Forest Jewels, a nod to the trees, Laura's degree in forestry, and the beautiful Jewel Quest fabrics.  

 

 

For a week after we saw each other, I got a message each day with some sort of praise or story about the quilt in her day.  She agrees it was perfect, the trees, the purples, all of it.  Her 11-year-old daughter has threatened to steal it, but I'm confident she will not be successful. 

blocks laid out on my floor

The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik, Accuquilt, Schmetz, Aurifil, Prairie Spirit Alpaca, & Hobbs.

 The quilt inspector approves!

Buttercup approves

While it was a bit of a challenge to get it finished in time, I love it and I love that Laura loves it.  Thanks, Accuquilt & Island Batik, for creating the perfect challenge for me to finally make a quilt for this amazing person in my life!

 

 

Island Batik Unboxing #2

With summer comes one of the best times of the year: the second ambassador box from Island Batik!  Talk about Happy Mail!

I filmed an unboxing video, and since I've gotten comments before on low volume in my videos, I finally bought a lapel mike.  This did mean more technical support from Husband, but hopefully the sound is better this time around.  Take a look at what I got!

If you don't want to watch the video, or if you just want some close-ups of the fabulous fabrics and supplies I was sent, here is a closer look.  First, the fabric.  My collection for the September blog hop is Prairie Blue by Kathy Engle.  It's an absolutely gorgeous variety of blues featuring animals and plants native to the prairie. 

Next there was a 10" stack of Honeycomb, a brilliant assortment of yellows, oranges, and pinks.  There is also coordinating yardage, 2 yards each of Sunny and Dandelion in Pumpkin.

There was also a surprise bundle, which I can't share yet.  My secret collection will be featured in November.  I also received supporting yardage from the Foundations collection, fabrics that are always available, that coordinate with Prairie Blue and the surprise collection.

And then I had two packages of Stash Builder Strips.  These are 5" by WOF and are super versatile.  It's fun to see the different colors in each pack!

Of course great quilts depend on great background fabrics!  I have 4 yards each of solid white, black, and gray, as well as 6 yards of the neutral Rice.

Here's all that fabric laid out together:

 

And then there are the goodies from Island Batik's industry partners!  Accuquilt sent one of their new BOB (Block on Board dies, for the traditional Tree of Life block.  Deb Tucker's Studio 180 Design sent a ruler, mine is for split rects, or half-rectangle units.  And new partner Prairie Spirit Alpacas sent a pressing mat. 

 

Hobbs sent a variety of battings, as well as a roll of fusible batting strips perfect for jelly roll rugs or other strip-based projects.

 

Each ambassador got to pick one of the patterns designed by Annie of Patterns By Annie, and Annie created a kit to make the bag!  I picked Double Zip Gear Bag and am committed to making all 3 sizes!  I chose fabrics from the upcoming Bee Kind collection and am so excited to make these bags!  This kit has everything I need, including Soft & Stable to give the bags body, zippers, mesh, and more.

 

As always, I am overwhelmed by the generosity of Island Batik and all the wonderful sponsors!  I can't wait to play with all of these goodies!

Exploding Heart

In January, I started the Exploding Hearth Quilt Along with Laura of Slice of Pi Quilts.  I've loved this pattern since she first released it.  I wanted to sew along in 2021 but was too swamped with other projects, so I was excited when she did it again this year.  I kept up pretty well at the beginning but then other deadlines got in the way.  I'm excited to say that I did finish, though, and I love it!

I used the Island Batik collection Contempo, a signature collection for Kate Colleran Designs.  Contempo is an absolutely beautiful fabric rainbow and I knew it would make a fabulous Exploding Heart.  

 

I was still deep in teacher quilt mode, and one of Fire Monkey's teachers said "I love all the colors" when asked her favorite color, so Contempo + Exploding Heart was a perfect plan.  Except Laura's quilt is 72" x 72", which is larger than I wanted for the teacher quilts. (I was aiming for close to 60" x 60".)  She is open that Exploding Hearts can be cut with Accuquilt dies, specifically quarter square triangles finishing at a 4" square.  I did the math at how big it would be if I cut with the 3" QST die, and that would give me a top 54" square.  I could easily size that up a tad with borders, so that's what I did.  My quilt is smaller than hers, but only because I made my units smaller; I followed her assembly chart exactly as is.  

I did add a few other Island Batik fabrics in with Contempo, though I kept to the same rainbow look.  I used what little leftover I had to make a rainbow binding.  This is actually one of the projects I took on my two-person quilting retreat back in March!  I quilted it there and sewed on the binding, but then noticed a dirt spot on the top.  I washed the dirt off and hung it in the shower to dry, and I love this photo with the partial binding hanging down!

The teacher this was destined for LOVED it.  She even posted  it on her own facebook page.  

Ms. B with her quilt.  Photo posted with permission.

I used my favorite organic wavy line quilting, but I did it at an angle.  I really like how it looks.

The backing is a fun multi-colored print wide back from Backside Fabrics.  I bought several backs for the teacher quilts during their black Friday sale, and this was the one I planned for Exploding Heart.

rainbow goodness on the back

I absolutely LOVE how this came out.  The pattern is easy to follow.  I've seen a lot of different versions and they all look great.  I will definitely make this one again!

New Quilt Inspector

There is a new quilt inspector at our house!  This is Buttercup.  She came to live with us in April.  She's two years old, very affectionate, and is fascinated by the sewing machine!

She likes to behind the sewing machine when I'm sewing. She also takes the sewing chair from time to time.

She has great taste, look at her playing with Island Batik's twill ribbon!  And on an Island Batik quilt, of course!

 

We are thrilled to have her as part of our family.  I'm sure she will make appearances here from time to time!

 

Prickly Pear -- Island Batik's New York Beauty blog hop

Welcome to my stop on Island Batik's New York Beauty blog hop!  Each of us was sent one of the new Island Batik collections and tasked to feature the New York Beauty block.

I was sent I was sent Woodblock Bouquets, a signature collection by Kathy Engle for Carol Moellers Designs. Woodblock Bouquets has rich dark pinks, deep golds, and delightful greens and many floral motifs. Read to the bottom for a chance to win some of these lovely fabrics!

 

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

Now, while New York Beauty is on a lot of quilters' bucket lists, it was not on mine!  NYB blocks typically involve paper piecing and curved piecing, two things I try hard to avoid.  I can paper piece but I don't really enjoy it.  Curves, however, I avoid at all costs.  My first thought was to check Quiltsmart to see if they make a New York Beauty fusible interfacing.  And they do!  Quiltsmart takes traditional patterns that can be tricky and use printed fusible interfacing to take away some of the more challenging aspects of the pattern.  In my first few years of quilting, I made their Lone Star and their Double Wedding Ring (both pre-date the blog).  Their Liberty Crown is a New York Beauty block.

Using the Quiltsmart interfacing means I was locked in to the 12" block it makes, and I was locked into the specific arcs of their block.  This took some of the decisions out of my hands, but there was still plenty to customize, including fabric placement and layout. I chose the new neutral Muslin as my background and started with crowns made of the three dark greens in the collection.  When I played around in EQ, the green spikes made me think of plants and prickly leaves which went nicely with the idea of bouquets.  

Once I had the rings of the spikes/points/crowns all pieced, it was time to add the rings.  The rings are fused on and stitched with a zigzag using Aurifil invisible thread--so no curved piecing!!  While the spikes took a while to piece, the rings went pretty quickly. 

 

I had a layout I liked from EQ and I made blocks based on that design. While the greens were in the crowns, I used all the other fabrics in the collection randomly in the 3 sizes of solid arcs.  All twenty fabrics from Woodblock Bouquets are in Prickly Pear, which is how I thought of the quilt with its dark green spikes. Once I had all the blocks made and I started to lay out the whole thing, I realized I wanted to change the orientation of some of the blocks and therefore the overall layout.  Instead of two caterpillar-like shapes I originally planned, I liked the almost-circle like layout.  And I knew that continuous spiral quilting would look fabulous with the adjusted layout.

original layout

 

I quilted Prickly Pear with Aurifil 2000 Light Sand, which I also used for the piecing, other than when I used the invisible thread for securing the rings.  I have always used Schmetz needles and the super nonstick needles are great for working with fusible like the Quiltsmart interfacing.  The batting is Hobbs Heirloom 80/20.

While I never would have picked a New York Beauty on my own, I'm really happy with the finished quilt.  These challenges are so great, they make me try things I absolutely would have avoided otherwise.

 

Want a chance to win some Woodblock Bouquets fabric?  I have a pretty good amount of 8 of the fabrics left.  Leave me a comment to be eligible to win this bouquet of fabric.  You can comment about anything, but if you need a prompt, tell me what quilt block or quilt pattern you have reluctant to make. I will randomly draw a winner on July 1st. 
 

Island Batik is hosting a giveaway each week for the blog hop, check out this post for this week's giveaway, and come back tomorrow for the final giveaway of this hop.  Also be sure to check out my fellow ambassador Suzy Webster and see what she made with Woodblock Bouquets.  And visit all the Island Batik ambassadors for lots of New York Beauty inspiration!

World's Most Epic Picnic Blanket

For several years, I did a lot of I Spy swaps.  Inevitably, a lot of the fabrics would be food items.  I think one swap might have even been entirely food-themed.  For many years, I have wanted to make an all-food I Spy quilt to use as a picnic blanket.  I can't even remember when I started it, but I took some scraps of solids and my favorite food I Spy 5" squares and made square-in-a-square blocks.  I had about 42 blocks made, and all my food I Spy squares separated out, and it sat in a bag in the closet for years.  I think it's been on my PhD (projects half done) list with Gail every year, and every year I have not touched it. 

 

 

Now that the world is waking back up after Covid, it seems likely that my family will need that picnic blanket, so I buckled down to finish it and I couldn't be happier!  There are 113 blocks with a food square in the middle.  There are a few that are food-adjacent, like an ice cream truck, a farmer's market, etc.  The most fun thing about this is some of the foods that exist as fabric!  Pigs in blankets!  Chex Mix! 

 

I finished this on a recent family trip.  We used it right away, you can see my niece and my son pointing to the S'Mores on the quilt while waiting for real s'mores near the campfire.  

Clearly it's a hit!  While making this, I kept calling it The World's Most Epic Picnic Blanket and that's still how I think of it.  So happy to have it to use for lots of future picnics!