Night Fairy: An Island Batik Magnificent Mini

It's my very first Island Batik Ambassador challenge!!  February's theme is Magnificent Minis.  The only requirement is a maximum size of 24" x 24".

I chose a fairy block designed by Juliet of The Tartan Kiwi.  The date on my download is December 30, 2015 so I've had the pattern for a while.  I am so happy to now have a completed fairy mini quilt!

The fabrics were provided to me by Island Batik.  Hobbs and Aurifil also provided materials that I used in this project. 

The original pattern is a 12" block.  I enlarged it to be a 15" block and I'm glad I did--even enlarged, some of the pieces are pretty small.  I still don't love paper piecing when I'm doing it but I sure do love the results when I get an image it would be impossible to piece traditionally. The fairy's feet were really close to the bottom and I wanted a little more space between the feet and the binding, so I added a strip at the bottom.  Then, to make a clear rectangle, I trimmed a bit off the sides.  The final mini measures 13 1/2" wide and 16" tall.  I don't see the pattern for sale any more but here is the original post with Juliet's fairy.

I used only three fabrics in this mini.  The background is a blender from the basics collection called Bubbles in grey.  I imagine that the "bubbles" are stars and the fairy is flying around on a star-lit night, which is why I chose to name this quilt Night Fairy.  The fairy is also a blender, Dandelion in jelly.  The wing fabric is from one of the strips in my stash builder roll.  I wanted the wings to look like light and this blue-and-white batik really captures the look I was hoping for.

I know it looks like it doesn't blend, but given that you can't see the part I unraveled, it does!

For the quilting, I used Auriful 50 weight thread color 2783, medium delft blue.  I used Hobbs Thermore batting which is nice and thin, perfect for a mini that will hang on the wall. 

The first quilting I did was to outline the fairy herself.  I shortened my stitch length for this part for more precision in the outline.  Then, I envisioned straight lines radiating out from the fairy.  I thought about how to do this for a while.  Ultimately, I decided that a Dresden Plate wedge would give me the look I wanted.  I found this article that explained the angels for the Dresden Plate and used one of the printable templates linked in the article.  I chose the 18 degree Dresden.

My first step was to mark the vertical and horizontal axes at the halfway point.  I wanted the quilting to radiate out from the fairy so I didn't stitch any lines through any part of the fairy's body, including the wings.  Once I had the center point established, I filled in the top half of lines using my template.

I marked my lines with a Clover chaco liner.  I know a lot of quilters like a hera marker for lines but I  suspect those people are actually magicians.  My indentations are never visible and that method just does not work for me, so I use visible lines that are easily erasable.  The white chaco liner works great on dark backgrounds.  I find that most of the chalk disappears when stitched over. It can also fade when touched too much, which is why I only marked the top half to start.  Once I stitched those lines, I marked the bottom half.

You can kinda see the radiating lines in this picture. I'm happy with how the quilting turned out.

I am so happy with this fairy!  I love her bright purple color and background of stars.  I plan to add her to my recently relocated wall of mini quilts in my office.  I've got a spot picked out for her by the window so she can easily fly out and have adventures.  Thanks, Island Batik, for giving me the opportunity to create this Magnificent Mini!