Flower Pot blog hop: Garden Breeze

Welcome to my stop on the Flower Pot blog hop!  Flower Pot is a beautiful new fabric collection by Island Batik that is a signature collection for my friend in Quilt Land, Jennifer of Inquiring Quilter.  I loved these bright, pretty florals the moment I saw them and was so thrilled that Jennifer asked me to make something with these gorgeous fabrics.  With a name like Flower Pot and the beautiful flower motifs in the fabric, I knew I wanted to make quilty flowers.  I decided on my pattern Garden Breeze, so named because of the combination of flower and pinwheel blocks. 

I decided to use all 6 of the primarily pink fabrics in Flower pot for the flowers, and 2 of the fabrics that read mostly yellow for the flower centers.  There is a beautiful green/teal with very occasional bits of purple in it for the pinwheels.  And I selected a fabulous multi-colored fabric from the line for the binding.  I chose the Basic Flour from the Neutrals collection as the background, partially because I like the gentle swirls in it and partly because of the play on words of Flour/Flower. 😀 ⚘  Overall, there are 10 fabrics from Flower Pot in the quilt, plus Flour. 

I am so thrilled with how Garden Breeze looks in Flower Pot fabrics!  I had this in various stages on my design wall for about a month.  My design wall is in the hallway and you can see it from the couch, so I loved seeing it out of the corner of my eye when watching TV with my family. 

 

 

 

I quilted with organic wavy lines, my favorite quilting motif.  I hope it looks like a gentle Garden Breeze!  Ha!  Buttercup was quite interested in the quilting and insisted she be allowed to inspect the proceedings.   

 

 

This quilt is Buttercup Approved

 

I thought about adding an additional pinwheel block to each corner of the sashing, but I didn't like it when I laid it out.  So then I had 4 extra pinwheel blocks. The student art club at the community college where I work is doing an community quilt project this month, so I turned those pinwheels and a few other Flower Pot fabrics into a 12" block for that quilt! 

To celebrate Flower Pot, Jennifer has put together a full schedule of quilty goodness!  She is having a giveaway of a fat quarter bundle of these gorgeous fabrics.  You can enter to win here.  She is also hosting a Quilt Along of her pattern Charlotte that starts on October 10th, and there are additional prizes for people sewing along.  AND Charlotte has a companion quilt pattern; while you make Charlotte there are bonus HSTs that can be used to make Lydia.  See the Charlotte & Lydia patterns here and register for the Quilt Along.

Here is the schedule of fabulous designers showing off Flower Pot fabrics with their beautiful designs and creations:

Flower Pot Blog Hop

September 23rd – Jennifer @ Inquiring Quilter (Enter to win FQ Pack!)
September 24th – Andi @ True Blue Quilts
September 25th – Jennifer @ Inquiring Quilter (Return & find out another way to win)
September 26th – Lisa @ Lisa’s Quilting Passion
September 27th – Tiffany @ Needles In A Hayes Stack See Tiffany’s quilt at Jennifer’s Facebook or Instagram
September 28th – Kathleen @ Kathleen McMusing
September 29th – Emily @ The Darling Dogwood  🠜 You Are Here!
September 30th – Denise @ Quiltery
October 1st – Jane @ Stitch By Stitch Custom Quilting
October 2nd – Sue @ Larkspur Lane Designs
October 3rd – Laura @ Slice of Pi
October 4th – Brianna @ Sew Cute and Quirky
October 5th – Leah @ Quilted Delights
October 6th – Jennifer @ Inquiring Quilter — (Winner Announced!)

There is also an Instagram Loop October 7th through October 9th with more prizes!  I hope enjoy all the Flower Pot goodness!

The Geometry of Flight

Welcome to my stop on Island Batik's Adventurous Applique blog hop!  This month's challenge is to make an applique quilt specifically using the edge painting technique created by 4th & 6th designs.  I was send the Geometric Symphony collection as well as 5 coordinating threads from Aurifil thread for the edge painting.

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

I enjoy applique and was excited to try a new applique technique. The edge painting technique was originally inspired by flowers, so that was my tentative plan.  But the Geometric Symphony fabric changed my plan.  While beautiful, the bold geometric patterns would not work well for smaller, delicate areas of flowers.  I needed something with larger pieces to show off the bold designs in the fabrics.  I played around with a few different ideas and eventually landed on butterflies.  I have the butterfly die for my Accuquilt Go and that would give me nice, big pieces to show off the fabric.  

 

All 20 fabrics from Geometric Symphony are in this quilt.  I used the 4 golden fabrics for the butterfly bodies, chose one the dark blue with magenta squares for the sashing (I had a 2-yard cut of that one), and used the other 15 fabrics for the butterfly wings. I cut both a top wing set and a bottom wing set from each of the wing fabric and mixed and matched.  

 

Butterfly bodies

I typically use fusible web in my applique but the original edge painting technique uses glue (specifically Roxanne's glue baste-it).  I didn't have any of that glue or any other fine applicator tip glue bottle.  Once my butterfly wings were cut I was inpatient to get started, so I used Elmer's Disappearing Purple glue sticks instead.  I love Elmer's disappearing Purple glue sticks, and I stock up each year in July/August during back-to-school sales. The glue sticks would not work as well if I had really small, delicate pieces, but for my larger pieces they worked great!  The butterfly bodies were small enough that I did decide to use fusible web for those. My Oliso iron worked wonders with all of the pieces.

I wanted my butterflies to look like they were flying, so I used a Blender from the always-available Foundations collection, Wavy Dots in Bluebird, as my background.  Once I had all the butterflies parts paired up and the edges glues down, I was ready for the applique!  You can see a demonstration of this technique by one of the creators here. There is also a newer video here that uses fusible web instead of glue. 

 

The stitching (& stabilizer) from the back

 

The videos I watched on the method said it is ok if it looks messy and goes outside the lines.  Which is good, because I did go outside the lines!  But I'm happy with how it looks, and once I got into the back-and-forth rhythm, I liked the method.  I did find that I needed a stabilizer on the back of my block during the applique, and I used the tear-away stabilizer I had on hand.  The Schmetz nonstick needles were perfect for all of the stitching, including the edge stitching.  

 

https://www.schmetzneedles.com/

I used the five beautiful threads Aurifil chose to coordinate with Geometric Symphony and simply chose the thread that I thought looked best with each fabric in the moment.  So the same fabric in one butterfly may have a different thread color in another butterfly.  I laid them all out as I finished and stitched together with simple sashing.

My finished top was 40" x 52".  I had a throw sized batting of Hobbs Silk Blend batting from their Tuscany Collection. I layered that with the top and used the 2-yard cut of a golden swirl fabric from the Geometric Symphony for the back.  I quilted with organic wavy lines and I love how it looks like the butterflies are flying.

Backing fabric also from Geometric Symphony

I named this The Geometry of Flight because I like the combination of the nod to the fabric collection and the natural flight of the butterflies.

Two other Ambassadors are playing with Geometic Symphony and applique today.  Be sure to visit both Preeti of Sew Preeti Quilts and Leah of Quilted Delights to see what they did with these fabrics!  It's always fun to see such different looks from the same fabric collection.

What's a blog hop without lots of giveaways?!  I cut a bunch of extra 5" squares of Geometric Symphony fabrics.  (Sorry, I didn't get a chance to take a photo in time, I had a family situation come up.)  Leave me a comment between now and September 21st and I'll pick a number randomly for a winner.  Any comment is fine, but if you need a prompt, tell me what applique method you like.  Edge painting?  Needle turn?  Fusible?  Raw Edge?  Something Else?  None of the Above? (Preeti & Leah also have giveaways, as do many of the ambassadors on this hop.  You can see the full schedule on my previous post. )

Adventurous Applique blog hop

It's time for another Island Batik blog hop to introduce new collections!  This time, we were all tasked to create an applique quilt using an edge painting technique developed by Barbara Persing & Mary Hoover of 4th and 6th Designs. We were each sent a variety of 40 weight Aurifil Threads that coordinate with our assigned collections.

 

The blog hop starts today and continues for most of the month of September.  Every Friday, Island Batik will have a new giveaway.  Additionally, many of the Island Batik ambassadors will include a bonus giveaway as part of their posts.

I was sent the Geometric Symphony collection designs by Jerry Khiev.  Geometric Symphony features purples, magenta, and golds with heavily geometric designs.  You'll have to wait until September 17th to see my project, but there is lots of other inspiration in the meantime!  Check out the full schedule of the hop:

WEEK 1

September 3:

• Mania Hatziioannidi, Mania for Quilts
• Sarah Pitcher, Pitcher’s Boutique LLC

September 4:

• Connie Kauffman, Kauffman Designs
• Denise Looney, Quiltery

September 5:

• Connie Kresin Campbell, Freemotion by the River
• Brittany Fisher, Bobbin with Brittany
• Lana Russel, LanaQuilts
  

WEEK 2

September 9:

• Brenda Alburl, Songbird Designs
• Lisa Pickering, Lisa’s Quilting Passion

September 10:

• Megan Best, BestQuilter
• Gail Sheppard, Quilting Gail

September 11:

• Kim Jamieson-Hirst, Chatterbox Quilts
• Jane Hauprich, Stitch by Stitch Custom Quilting

September 12:

• Carol Stanek, Stitch With Color
• Julia Schweri, Inflorescence Designs
• Victoria Johnson, Forever Quilting For You

WEEK 3

September 16:

• Suzy Webster, Websterquilt
• Jennifer Thomas, Curlicue Creations

September 17:

• Preeti Harris, Sew Preeti Quilts
• Emily Leachman, The Darling Dogwood
• Leah Malasky, Quilted Delights

September 18:

• Sandra Starley, Textile Time Travels
• Susan Deshensky, Lady Blue Quilt Studio

September 19:

• Pamela Boatright, PamelaQuilts
• Renee Atkinson, Pink Tulip Quilting
• Maryellen McAuliffe, Mary Mack Made Mine

Cock-a-Doodle-Doo!

For our August challenge, Island Batik asked the ambassadors to make a mini quilt.  I enjoy mini quilts as they are a great way to try out new techniques.  I decided to use this month's challenge to finish a project I already started.  Last fall, my quilt guild offered a class with Ann Shaw.  We had our choice of a few of her patterns for the class, and I picked Gallus Gallus, which is a rooster.  I'm thrilled to finally have finished it!

photo by Nichole Witushnsky

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

People who know me will be surprised that Ann Shaw uses a paper pieced technique.  For me to knowingly paper piece when I don't have to is rare!  But I was really interested in her technique, which involves freezer paper and a lot of marking.  I signed up and attended both days of the 2-day virtual workshop.  She has you pick out and cut your pieces and build the piece on a foam board (I bought mine at the dollar store) so you can see it all together before sewing a single stitch.  I used Island Batik scraps, mostly in purples and turquoise.  I had the rooster on the board for months, sitting in my sewing room, watching me. 

One completed rooster leg!

My son asked me for months if I was ever going to finish the rooster!  I finally assured him that I was.  The only thing I had left to do was choose background fabric.  One of my build members broke up the background by choosing a "ground" fabric and a "sky" fabric.  I liked that look, so I did that for mine.  The ground is Wicker and the sky is Thistle.  I tried a blue for the sky but didn't like it; the super pale purple of Thistle looked a lot better.  I wasn't sure I wanted a border but my son told me I did need a border.  I used the blender Marble in Blackberry for both the border and the binding, and I now agree that the border sets off the rooster nicely.  

 

While I don't love paper piecing, this was an interesting take on it.  The pieces went together fairly easily.  The freezer paper was easy to use.  My Oliso iron kept my fabrics on the freezer paper really well, and it was still easy to feel off when it was all assembled.  Ann was really nice and offered great tips to those of us in the class.  She kept repeating, "when in doubt, add lime green."  I'm not a big lime green person, but I tried it when I was stuck on what to use for the beak and it worked!!

I used an older Island Batik fabric from the Nappa Valley collection for the back.  The design is Wheat Field.  I thought that wheat was appropriate for a rooster!  I layered Mr. Rooster with Hobbs fusible batting and the backing wheat fabric, and I quilted in a cross-hatch design using Aurifil thread #2562 Lilac.  All piecing and quilting was done with Schmetz needles.  I added triangles on the back to make it easy to hang.  My finished mini is 19" wide by 21" high, so perfect for the "anything under 24" square" parameters of the challenge.  

 

I've known for months what I wanted to do with my rooster.  In February, QuiltCon was in Raleigh.  Being so close, I was able to go.  My cousin Tim, who lives in Missouri, had the good fortune of marrying a quilter, Nichole, who I adore.  Nichole and her mother Sue traveled to QuiltCon.  I've spent a fair amount of time with Nichole in the 11+ years since she joined the family, but this was only the second time I met her mother, the other being Nichole & Tim's wedding.  Sue was particularly interested in some chicken-themed quilt patterns she saw at QuiltCon, and I remember that she has several chickens.  So I really felt like the rooster was destined for Sue.  I saw Nichole last month for a family vacation and asked if giving the rooster to Sue would be weird.  Nichole assured me her mom would love it.  I was so glad!  Sue has now received the rooster and does indeed love it.  It is displayed in her home, I believe where the chickens can see it! It's always great when the right recipient of a project becomes obvious.

photo by Nichole Witushynsky

Flutterfly for a baby girl

My friend and coworker Erin recently had her first child, a baby girl named Annie.  Erin and I have worked together for 8 or 9 years.  She's always been an admirer of my quilts and I know that handcrafts in general are meaningful to her; she appreciates the time, effort, and skill that goes into them.  I've made a baby quilt for every child born to a coworker since I started working there, so Erin knew that there would be a quilt for her baby girl.

I normally choose a baby quilt completely on my own, but since Erin knew I'd be making one and I knew it would be really meaningful for her, I asked for her input.  She told me they were going with a nature theme.  She gave me some inspiration images and told me they were focusing on pink, green, and cream.

It didn't take me long to settle on the pattern Flutterfly by Laura of Slice of Pi Quilts.  I've had my eye on this pattern for a while.  I've made Laura's Exploding Heart quilt before, and Flutterfly is similar in construction. I was worried it would be too big for a baby quilt, so I made it with smaller units.  Laura is open that Flutterfly (and Exploding Heart) can be cut with Accuquilt's quarter square triangle die.  Instead of using the size in the pattern, I used the die for units finishing an inch smaller. I planned to add in the borders at the top and the bottom, but ultimately left them off.  The pattern is well written and is great for chain piecing.

The fabrics in the top are all Island Batik.  I used as many different pink fabrics as I could find in my various Island Batik scrap bins.  I picked 2 green fabrics for the butterfly body, and the background is Milkshake, which has a nice creamy look to it.

I recently visited a fairly new local-ish quilt shop for the first time, SewEndipitous in Rock Hill, SC.  While there, I looked for a fabric to use as the back.  I picked a Lewis & Irene fabric with hummingbirds and hibiscus flowers.  I wanted something that wasn't directional and would go well with a bright pink binding.  I really like it, and it turns out that the dad-to-be's grandmother was a huge fan of hummingbirds.  When Erin got the quilt, she was thrilled to find "Nana Birds" on the back.  A serendipitous choice, for sure!

 

Erin absolutely loves the quilt, and I hope baby Annie gets years of fun and comfort from it.

Red Sparkle

Two weeks ago, my family went to the local minor league baseball game.  While there, we ran into the principal of Fire Monkey's school, Ms. L, who was there with her daughters.  Seeing Ms. L reminded me that I still hadn't posted two of last school year's teacher quilts, including the one for Ms. L!

If you don't know what I mean by Teacher Quilts, every year I make quilts for my son's teachers.  My son, called Fire Monkey on the blog, is currently 10 years old and just finished 4th grade.  He is in a dual language school, so he has two teachers each year, one for English (and social studies and health) and one for Spanish (and math and science).  I've also done quilts for the Specials teachers like Art, PE, & Music, knowing that those teachers often get overlooked.  Fire Monkey asks each teacher their favorite color at the start of the school year, I get busy sewing, and we gift them during the last week of school.

a peak at the backing

We were at an event at the school at the beginning of last year and got to talking to Ms. L, who is always at every school event.  I realized she hadn't yet gotten a quilt so we added her to the list for the 2023-24 school year.  Fire Monkey was able to find out a few weeks later that Ms. L's favorite color is red. Truth be told, I struggle with red quilts.  I think it's because I like scrappy, and there just aren't that many shades of red.  Too light and it's pink.  Too dark and it doesn't feel like red anymore either.

block as created for SAHRR 2024

I struggled with what to make and this was the last one/last pattern I decided on this year.  Finally I picked a block I designed for my SAHRR that I really liked.  I set it on point for visual interest.  I cut everything with my Accuquilt.

I used four fabrics, all from Island Batik.  The background is Milkshake, the light triangles are Shell, the main red is a red blender that I don't know the name of, and there's a bit of solid black.  I'm happy with how it turned out!

Island Batik Unboxing #2

One of the most exciting days of the year for an Island Batik Ambassador is the day our boxes arrive.  We get generous shipments twice a year.  I am excited to show you what I will be working with for the second half of 2024!

You can see my unboxing video here.  If you want more details or if you simply dislike videos, read on for descriptions of what was in my box.

 

First, I have half yard cuts of the full collection of Geometric Symphony.  This is one of the new collections that will be hitting stores around September.  Geometric Symphony was designed by Jerry Khiev and has bold geometric designs in magenta, purple, and gold. All the newest collections will be featured in a September blog hop.

Next I had a 10" stack of another of the upcoming collections, Floral Fun.  I love the greens and purples in this!  Floral Fun is a signature collection for Terri Vanden Bosch of Lizard Creek Quilting, designed by Kathy Engle.  I also received coordinating yardage from Island Batik's always-available Foundations: Whip Cream and Cheerio in Navy.

Speaking of the Foundations fabrics, I was sent a bundle of 12 half-yard cuts that coordinate with Geometric Symphony and my Surprise bundle that will be revealed in November.  These Foundations have 3 families: Basics (Shell, Oatmeal, Steel, and Twilight) , Blenders (Marble in Frog, Wavy Dots in Bluebird, Bubbles in Raspberry, and Small Petal in Purple), and Solids (Cobalt, Pink, Green, and Lime Green).

 

I also have two of the Gradations collections, which are Basics put together in color families.  I have a strip pack of Opulent Orange and a 10" stack of Precious Pinks.

 

Next were 2 packages of Stash Builder strips.  These are 5" by width of Fabric and area great for a variety of projects.  I enjoy that you can get a nice variety of colors in each package.

 

I also got fabrics to use as background.  There are 4 yards each of white, black, and dark gray solids, as well as 6 yards of Sprinkles.  I have had Sprinkles before and it's a great background, not quite bright white with little dots in it. 

Industry partner Aurifil sent 5 colorful spools of 40 weight thread.  These specifically coordinate with Geometric Symphony for use in the September challenge.

Hobbs Batting sent a wide variety of batting, including silk batting, Thermore thin polyester batting that I love for wall hangings, and their fabulous black batting that is great for quilts with dark backgrounds.

And finally, there was a kit to make the By Annie pattern of my choice.  I am making the Totally Trendy Totes pattern, which makes a tote bag in 3 sizes.  I have fabrics from the Flower Pot and Daisy May collections, plus the pattern and all the other supplies I need to make these fabulous totes!  It was the By Annie challenge in 2020 that taught me that I really can make bags when I use Annie's patterns, and now it's one of my favorite challenges all year.

I'm so excited to play with all these beautiful fabrics!  Stay tuned for the second half of 2024 to see them in action!