July unboxing with Island Batik

July brings heat and humidity, but also brings the second Island Batik Ambassador box!  Island Batik (under the umbrella of Lumin Fabrics) and their industry partners are very generous!  Let's take a look at what was in my boxes.

First, I have a generous half yard bundle of Sunset, one of the new collections that will be hitting shops in September.  There is also yardage that coordinates with Sunset: 2 yards each of Scuba and Goldfish, as well as 6 half-yard cuts from the Basics collection: Lotus, Raspberry, Ogee Petal in Sunshine, Dandelion in Pumpkin, Fuchsia solid, and Red solid.  

 

Sunset will be part of a blog hop in September showcasing all the new Island Batik collections.  The theme will be a crazy quilt challenge, sponsored by Aurifil.  For the first time, we ambassadors got to pick our Aurifil threads!  We were told to pick out 4 threads that we would want to use with our assigned collections.  It was soooo hard to choose!  Here's what I asked for:

 

Next, there is a 2 1/2" strip pack of Colorburst, another collection that will be available in September.  I love the rainbow look of Colorburst!  My coordinating yardage is Dot in Sky and Storm.  

 

I also have a half yard bundle of a surprise collection that will debut in November and be available in shops in December or January.  I can't show you this one yet! 

 

You can get a little bit of an idea of the colors in the mystery collection, though, by looking at the 6 half yard cuts that coordinate:  Violet, Turtle, Wavy Dots in Bluebird, Small Pointed Floral in Turquoise, Green solid, and Amethyst solid.  

 

I also have another collection that will hit stores at the end of the year/beginning of next: a 10" stack of Garden Gate plus yardage from the collection.  I love these colors!  This might be the fabric I use for next year's Stay at Home Round Robin. 

A few years ago, Island Batik expanded their basics line and introduced Gradations, containing 20 shades of a color family.  I love these already coordinated palettes!  I received a 2 1/2" strip pack of Oppulent Oranges and a 10" stack of Bodacious Browns. 

 

What's a quilt without a great background?  As with all boxes, I got 4 yards each of white, black, and gray (dark gray, in this case) solid fabrics.  I love these fabrics and use them all regularly!  I also got 6 yards of Ceramic. 

Stash builder strips are 5" of fabric by width of fabric, rolled into bundles of 4 strips.  Each bundle of strips it packaged with  4 other bundles for a total of 20 strips of fabric, or just under 3 yards!  This is a great way to get a variety of fabrics in a variety of colors.  I especially love these for applique projects. 

 

October's challenge is one of my annual favorites: the By Annie bag challenge!  We get to choose one of Annie Unrein's fabulous patterns, pick out the fabric from upcoming collections, and then get a kit that includes everything we need to make the bag!  This year I am making Sidekick and I chose gorgeous fabrics from Berry Crush, a signature collection for my friend and fellow ambassador Jennifer of Curlicue Creations.  I can't wait to make this bag!

 

Speaking of industry partners, Hobbs sent an extremely generous 5 battings!  There is their poly-down, their fusible batting, 80/20 Bleached, cotton wool blend,  and unbleached 100% cotton.

 

Thank you, Island Batik, Aurifil, Hobbs, and By Annie for such amazing treasures!  I look forward to creating with all these goodies over the next 6 months and can't wait to share what I make.

 

 

Size Mishap: Churning Stars

I'm still catching up with posting last year's teacher quilts. At the beginning of the school year, it is Fire Monkey's job to ask all his teacher's their favorite color.  I then spend the school year making quilts (throw size) that are gifted in the last week or two of the school year.  This year, one of the teachers said her favorite color was brown.  This one was hard for me.  I don't mind brown, but I honestly don't think much about it.  It's fine in the background, as a supporting character, but I wasn't really sure what to do with brown as a feature.

 

Eventually, I decided to try a brown version of my Churning Stars quilts.  Ohio Star blocks are classic, and I liked the overall look.  It would also allow me to use a few shades of brown, which worked best for the somewhat limited browns in my Island Batik stash.  I made my blocks.  Had all the blocks made.  Went to lay it out.  "Hmmmm...this feels a lot bigger than the other one."  I did not check my original EQ8 design.  I assumed I had made the original with 12" blocks.  I had not; that quilt had 9" blocks. This meant the brown version would be 72" square.  There is some variation in the size of the teacher quilts, but I aim for about 60" square.  At first I was just going to go forward, but in the end, I decided the quilt would just be too big, so instead of the 5 x 5 layout I intended, this one is 4x4, so the pattern isn't quite as nice as I'd like, but it still looks ok. And I now have enough extra blocks to make a 3x3 quilt that will become a donation quilt whenever I get it put together.  

 

All fabrics are Island Batik.  The background is Bone, the unadorned stars are Copper, and there are several fabrics in the alternate star block.  All was cut with the Accuquilt. I'm glad to have it done, and truth be told, I hope none of next year's teachers name brown as their favorite color! 

 

 

Tahoe in Green

The slide into the end of the school year is usually about finishing up teacher quilts, and I get so focused on that, I don't remember to post them!  Now that we're a few weeks into summer (from a school calendar perspective), I want to be sure to document the quilts I finished.

 

In my brief time at an elementary school, I was a Media Specialist/School Librarian, which falls under the category of "Specials."  Every school is different, but Specials frequently include art, music, PE, etc.  So I make sure to include Specials teachers.  There was a new PE teacher this year, so he went on the list.  His favorite color is green.

 

I chose the pattern Tahoe by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs.  I love Cheryl's patterns, they are easy to understand, easy to follow, and make stunning quilts!  All the fabrics are from Island Batik: two greens from the Limerick collection plus Frog and solid white.  It sewed up very quickly and I love how it looks!

 

 

My Funky Friend Ben

This month, Island Batik Ambassadors are tasked with making a friend--a Funky Friend!  Funky Friends Factory is the crafty business of Pauline, who lives in Australia.  Pauline designs patterns for making soft/stuffed toys.  We were able to pick the toy of our choice and Pauline generously sent us that pattern.  There are a lot of Friends to choose from!  I've made several Funky Friends before but never a teddy bear.  I chose Ben the Beginner Bear.  

 

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

 

I knew that Ben would end up belonging to Fire Monkey, so I let him pick the fabric.  His favorite color is red.  We ended up with Imperial for most of Ben's body and Shell for the tummy and face, both from Island Batik's Ravishing Reds in the always-available Basics line.  

 

One of Ben's main features is that he has a large tummy area with no seams, perfect for those who want to add embroidery to their bear.  When we visited family in Portland over Christmas, we went to a store called Daiso, referred to by my family as a Japanese-style dollar store.  One of the things we bought there was a cute little firetruck patch.  Fire Monkey is still crazy about all things fire truck and firefighter.  I didn't think he had used the patch on anything yet, so I asked him about it.  He was enthusiastic about using it for Ben!  It's an iron-on patch; I ironed using my Oliso mini-iron, then stitched around it twice using Aurifil thread and a Schmetz microtex needle.  

 

firetruck patch on the belly piece

Pauline's patterns are clear and easy to follow.  She has a blog post for each pattern that shows the visuals for each step.  (There is a link for the step-by-step tutorial in the pattern.)  She also has detailed tutorials for some of the tricky parts in making toys, like installing safety eyes or making perfect feet.  

ready for stuffing!

I printed the pattern pieces onto freezer paper that can go into the printer.  I learned about this product from Kathleen and it makes the process so much easier!  Plus the pieces are reusable!  I saved them all in a large envelope so I can make another Ben whenever the mood strikes. Hobbs Batting generously sent me a bag of their Simply Stuffing 100% polyester filling for toys.  This is probably the best toy stuffing I've used!

Pauline has so many different animals to choose from!  Here are the other Funky Friends I've made with Island Batik Fabrics over the years:

Ollie the Laid Back Owl 

 

Puppy Pete

Slowpoke the Sloth

 

William Whale

Pineapple Snowballs

Welcome to my stop and the very last day of the Irish Chain blog hop, brought to you by Island Batik and AccuQuilt!  I hope you've been following along to see all the amazing projects created by the Island Batik Ambassadors using the newest fabric collections and Accuquilt's 10" Irish Chain block, one of their newest Block on Board dies.

When I first learned that we were getting the Irish Chain die and it created a 10" (finished) block, I thought about what other BOB dies I had from Accuquilt that also made 10" blocks, to see if I could create something fun with 2 dies. I own 2 other BOB dies that make 10" blocks: Pineapple and Rising Star.  I played around with both in EQ8 and decided that I really liked the look of the Pineapple block with the Irish Chain.  

My secret collection was Tinsel Treasures, a signature collection for Sarah Fabian of Quilt Basket, created by Jerry Khiev, creative director of Island Batik.  Tinsel Treasures is a gorgeous winter collection, with snowflakes, trees, deer, candy canes, and more, all in a variety of blue-on-white and white-on-blue prints.  While I love monochromatic quilts, I decided I wanted to add a touch of another color to go with the beautiful blues in Tinsel Treasures. My favorite color combination is blue and purple, so I added just a touch of Grape (pineapple centers) and Lavender (inner ring), both from Island Batik's always-available basics collection.  Solid black made all the fabrics pop.

I sewed my 18 Irish Chain blocks first, and I was so in the groove that I forgot to take pictures!  I chose the darkest blues to make the chains, and used 4 prints with larger wintery designs for the bigger squares so that the trees and deer would stand out.  The blocks came together really fast.

 

All of my Pineapple centers are the same, with Grape in the center, a beautiful light blue with pine needles next, and then a ring of Lavender.  Then I used a variety of the blue-on-white prints for the next rings, and a lighter blue for the outer ring.  I kept thinking of them as snowballs!  So I named this Pineapple Snowballs.  

My original plan was to just make a 5 x 7 block layout, for a finished quilt that was 50" x 70".  But once I had it together, it looked unfinished, so I used pieces B & D from the die to extend that chain into a border.  My finished quilt is roughly 54" x 74".  I quilted it with a medium blue Aurifil thread and used a Schmetz needle for all steps.  The batting is Hobbs 80/20.

 

on my design wall, before outer border

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

 

My friend Gail of Quilting Gail also has Tinsel Treasures and she made not one, but TWO beautiful quilts with this collection.  Be sure to visit her and see what she made!

 

 

Irish Chain blog hop

Today starts a brand new blog hop showcasing the newest fabric collections from Island Batik/Lumin Fabrics.  (Lumin Fabrics is the new parent company for Island Batik.) Each ambassador was sent a half yard bundle of one of the new collections that will be hitting the stores this month, as well as an Irish Chain Block on Board (BOB) die from AccuQuilt.  Be prepared for lots of Irish Chain inspiration!

 

I was sent the beautiful collection Tinsel Treasures, a signature collection for Sarah Fabian of Quilt Basket, created by Jerry Khiev, creative director of Island Batik.  Tinsel Treasures is a gorgeous winter collection, with snowflakes, trees, deer, candy canes, and more, all in a variety of blue-on-white and white-on-blue prints. 

 

Unfortunately, you will have to wait for the very last day of the blog hop (May 22nd) to see my quilt!  Don't be too sad, though, there will be lots of beautiful Irish Chain inspiration between now and then.  Here is the full schedule:

May 5:

• Mania Hatzioannidi, Mania for Quilts
• Jennifer Thomas, Curlicue Creations

May 6:

• Kimberly Flannagan, Kimberly’s Quilts
• Solomae Stoycoff, Cuddle Cat Quiltworks

May 7:

• Connie Kauffman, Kauffman Designs
• Sarah Pitcher, Pitcher’s Boutique LLC

May 8:

• Leah Malasky, Quilted Delights
• Preeti Harris, Sew Preeti Quilts

May 12:

• Lisa Pickering, Lisa’s Quilting Passion
• Suzy Webster, Websterquilt

May 13:

• Connie Kresin Campbell, Freemotion by the River

May 14:

• Denise Looney, Quiltery
• Brittany Fisher, Bobbin with Brittany

May 15:

• Susan Michaels, Dragonfly Fiber Art
• Kim Jamieson-Hirst, Chatterbox Quilts

May 19:

• Renee Atkinson, Pink Tulip Quilting
• Brenda Alburl, Songbird Designs

May 20:

• Tina Dillard, Quilting Affection Designs
• Carol Stanek, Stitch With Color

May 21:

• Susan Deshensky, Lady Blue Quilt Studio

May 22:

• Gail Sheppard, Quilting Gail
• Emily Leachman, The Darling Dogwood

The blog is a great time for giveaways!  Island Batik has a new giveaway every Friday on their blog.  Visit every week and enter for your chance to win beautiful Island Batik fabric!  Additionally, many of the Ambassadors will do their own giveaways, so be sure to visit everyone.  I hope you enjoy all the possibilities with the Irish Chain block!

Drunkard's Path Challenge

The April challenge for Island Batik Ambassadors features the classic Drunkard's Path block.  I admit, my heart sank a little when I got the list of challenges, because I hate sewing curves and avoid it at all costs. But alas, there was no avoiding it for this challenge!

Though I avoid curved piecing, there are some Accuquilt dies that feature curves and I admit, I've been curious to see if that would make the curved piecing better, so I bought an Accuquilt Drunkard's Path die.  They have a few sizes; I purchased the one that created 4" finished Drunkard's Path units.

 

 

I played around with different designs.  Ultimately, I chose a block that is laid out like a classic sawtooth star, but with the curved Drunkard's Path units instead of sharp points for the stars.  Because my centers needed to be big to accommodate the 4" units from the die, I chose to go square-in-a-square for those to create a little more visibly interest and a chance to incorporate more fabrics.

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

 

I had a 10" stack of the collection Breezy by Kate Colleran.  This is a collection from last year but I still see it online in several places, including: 

• Batiks Etc & Sew What Fabrics; Wytheville, VA
• Hancock's of Peducah; Peducah, KY 
• Creekside Quilts; Banks, OR
• My Favorite Quilt Store; Houston, TX 

 

I used all twenty fabrics from Breezy in this quilt and actually don't have much left from the 10" stack.  There are a few lighter fabrics in the collection and I maybe should have skipped them; the one I used for the drunkard's path curves disappears into the Mint background when you are not close up.  I decided to go with the motto "finished is better than perfect" and didn't rip it out because I didn't have enough of any one fabric from Breezy to fix it at the point I knew it was a problem.

 

The curved piecing wasn't terrible.  One my fellow ambassadors, Sarah Pitcher of Pitcher's Boutique, suggested gluing.  Accuquilt has little notches for the center to make it easy to line up, so I started by gluing at the notches and then slowing gluing out to each end.  I tested sewing with the smaller piece on top and the larger piece on top and found that I didn't notice a difference in one being easier or neater than the other, though I did like gluing a LOT more than pinning. I would glue up a bunch of units, let them dry, chain piece with a Schmetz needle, and smooth out the curve very carefully with my Olisio mini iron.  The blocks came out better than I expected! 

My top has 72 Drunkard's Path units.  I layered the top with Hobbs Bleached 80/20 batting and quilted in wavy lines on the diagonal with Aurifil thread in a light green.  The background is Mint and the binding is Grass, both from Island Batik's always-available Foundations collection. Truth be told, I'm glad to have the curved piecing challenge behind me, but I am glad to know that if I have to, I can make a passable block with curves.