The Darling Dogwood: July 2023

Monday, July 17, 2023

Christmas in July -- Cookie Mats

Welcome to Christmas in July! When Siobhan of CDM365 Studios asked me about participating in her Christmas in July blog hop, my first thought after "Yes!" was that I needed to pick a project. I remembered back to Christmas 2021 when my son & I made a cookie mat to put Santa's cookies on--we put our cookies on the side of the fireplace, so we wanted something nice to be there for Santa. I decided that making some new ones would be a fun project for us the weekend of July 4th.

I got out my box of Island Batik scraps and some of my AccuQuilt dies and we went to town! I had set out some lighter scraps for backgrounds and let Fire Monkey (age 9) dictate which he wanted and what size. We both started with the dinosaurs and added Santa-inspired hats.

Then we moved on to Snowmen. Fire Monkey really got into it, he picked his fabrics, I added fusible web, then he ran the fabric through the Accuquilt cutter--he loves cranking the handle! He wanted to fuse in the shapes in place on his background, so I let him use the iron for that, with me hovering nearby. I hate stitching the fiddly little tiny circles for eyes, so we used fabric markers and drew on eyes instead.

This could be a fun holiday project with the kids of grandkids. Finished size doesn't really matter, we ended up with 2 that are essentially mug rugs and 2 that are more like placemats, and one sort of in-between. If you like the larger size, you could have kids make custom placemats for the holiday season. It doesn't matter if you use these for Santa's cookies or your own!

We used Accuquilt to cut our shapes, but don't despair if you don't have one. Trace cookie cutters for lots of fun shapes! When I was pregnant with Fire Monkey, my friends hosted a baby shower and we made a mobile by tracing shapes from cookie cutters onto felt. You can do the same thing with quilting cotton--fuse your fusible web to your fabric, then trace your cookie cutter shape and cut it out. You can do that beforehand with younger kids or have older kids do it themselves. Don't want to mess with tiny little decorations like we did? Use fabric markers!

Fire Monkey picking out fabric and Accuquilt dies

I used Hobbs Thermore batting because it's really thin and therefore good for placemats. For three of our cookie mats, I layered the top, batting, and backing and just used the satin stitching around the applique shapes as my only quilting. For the larger snowman mat, I did not stitch the appliques down but instead did a 1/2 inch crosshatch quilting, knowing that would keep all my applique shapes down. I used scraps of leftover bindings for all of them, so this entire project was all scraps. The 5th cookie mat, the one with the actual cookie in it, did not get finished in time, but I think I can have it done by the time Christmas actually rolls around! 😀

I hope you enjoyed these fun and fairly fast cookie mats. Be sure to visit all the other bloggers helping to make it Christmas in July.

July 10th- Siobhan of www.cdm365studios.com

July 11th- Joise of www.hiddenstitches.com guest blogging on www.cdm365studios.com

July 12th- Lissa of www.lovinglylissa.com

July 13th- Jen of www.dizzyquilter.com

July 14th- Swan of www.swanamity.com/blog

July 17th- Emily of thedarlingdogwood.blogspot.com/

July 18th- Siobhan of www.cdm365studios.com

Thursday, July 13, 2023

Island Batik Upboxing #2

Twice a year, Island Batik Ambassadors receive shipments of their ambassador boxes. This is always a very, very exciting day because the boxes are stuffed with gorgeous Island Batik fabrics and other quilting related goodies that are meant to be used in the next 6 months' worth of challenges.

My July boxes (there were 2) weighed 28 pounds and were packed with fabric fun! I made a video showcasing everything I received. You can view it here. If you have trouble with that link or just don't want to watch a video, here's an overview of what I got and when you'll see it in projects. First, the industry partners.

Accuquilt sent their North Carolina Star die. I'm particularly excited about this, because I live in North Carolina! Each ambassador got the same die and you'll see our projects using the block or components from it in October. I just finalized my design in EQ for this challenge and I am soooo in love with it! I'm itching to get stitching!

Hobbs sent four (4!) different battings. There is Thermore, a thin polyester batting, Heirloom Premium wool batting, 100% cotton batting with scrim, and cotton/wool blend from the Tuscany collection.

Aurifil sent 5 spools of thread, each a different weight. The red spool is wool thread in 12 weight (color Light Blue), the orange spool is 50 weight (color Peacock Blue), the wooden spool is 80 weight (color Mist), there is a spool of Aurifloss (color Shining Green) and a spool of monofilament thread.

By Annie sent a kit to make a bag of my choice. This is one of my favorite challenges every year! I spend all year deciding which bag I want to make next and Annie sends me everything I need to make it--pattern, hardware, supplies, and naturally Island Batik fabric. I am using fabric from a line called Limerick, which will be in stores in December. I chose the Out and About pattern, which is a small backpack absolutely loaded with pockets. We will all showcase our bags in November, though truth be told, I'll have a hard time waiting that long to make mine!

And then there's the fabric! First, I have a half yard bundle of English Lavender, an absolutely gorgeous collection of purples and blues. I love this collection! With it, I have 2 yards each of foundation fabrics Frosting and Eggplant. English Lavender is a spring collection; pre-cuts are available now and yardage will be coming to quilts shops soon. Spring collections will be featured in a September blog hop.

I received a 10" stack of Buds & Blooms, another spring collection, plus 2 yards each of the foundations Moonstone and Dandelion in Plum. I love the colors in Buds & Blooms!

I was sent two more pre-cuts, both gradations. Gradations are from the always-available Foundations fabrics and include 20 fabrics of the same color family. I got a strip pack of Glorious Greens and a 10" stack of Ravishing Reds.

A good neutral is frequently a must for a quilt, and I was sent a whopping 6 yards of Almond, one of the neutrals from Foundations.

Almond

Then there is a surprise bundle! This is a half yard bundle of one of the collections that will be in shops around December, so I can't show it to you yet! These collections will be highlighted in November. I didn't get a picture of it wrapped up.

And finally, a Foundations bundle of half yard cuts that coordinate with English Lavendar and my surprise collection. All of these are from the always-available Foundations fabrics, of which there are three families: Solids, Blenders, and Basics. Solids are what they sound like, Blenders have a pattern to them, and Basics are subtle batik dyed fabrics. For solids, I was sent Green, Turquoise, Dark Gray, and Amethyst. For Blenders I have Round Petal Floral in Lemonade, Small Pointed Floral in Turquoise, Wavy Dots in Bluebird, and Small Petal in Purple (my favorite!). And in basics I have Purple, Teal, Jade, and Sky.

I just love all the beautiful fabrics and fun goodies! I can't wait to show you what I make with all this bounty in the next 6 months! Many thanks to Island Batik, Accuquilt, Aurifil, By Annie, and Hobbs!

Monday, July 10, 2023

Christmas in July blog hop

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Wait, that's not right. But isn't it? Today is the start of the Christmas in July blog hop hosted by Siobhan of CDM365 Studios. Sibobhan kicks us off with a fun and easy project you can do with kids. We were clearly thinking along the same lines, as my project is also one that is great to do with kids! Come back next Monday to see what I put together with my 9-year-old, Fire Monkey.