Botanical Dreams Table Runner with Island Batik

Welcome to the start of the Runner Up Blog Hop with Island Batik and Studio 180 Design! I am very excited to be on the kick-off day of this hop.  The details of the challenge were to take my assigned collection, Botanical Dreams, and create a table runner using that fabric and at least 12 units made with the V Block tool from Studio 180 Design.   I had an additional layer to my challenge: time.  My ambassador box with my V Block tool didn't arrive until January 16th.  That gave me 18 days from when it arrived to when I needed to post.  Subtract a day for filming my video and another for writing this post, and that left me with only 16 days for this challenge.  Even with a smaller project, that was going to be a bit tight, as I have both a full-time job and a school-aged kid. But I made it!

I absolutely love the purples combined with the oranges and peaches of the Botanical Dreams collection, and floral motifs are my absolute favorites in Island Batik's fabrics.  I decided to pair these fabrics with the neutral Muslin, which has a nice, soft, yellow glow to it.  I felt like the glow of the Muslin was a great compliment to the oranges in the collection.

My first step was to design something with the V Block unit.  I immediately thought about the classic blocks 54 40 or Fight and Road to Paradise quilt blocks.  I played with both of them and loved what I created, but it wouldn't work for a table runner.  The blocks create fabulous illusions of curves, but you need multiple blocks to get those illusions and it wouldn't work visually in a smaller project.  

 

V Block units before being trimmed to the perfect size

I needed a block that could stand on its own.  I browsed Studio 180 Designs' Blockbusters collection.  These are free block patterns that use their tools.  Many of the blocks combine several of their tools.  You can find the block busters here; you will need to scroll down a little to get to them.  There were a lot of great blocks that use the V Block!  I picked block buster #61: Sweetbrier.  This block uses both the V Block and Split Rects tools.  I had Split Rects from an ambassador challenge a few years ago, so this worked out perfectly!

 

I chose to make 15" Sweetbrier blocks and thought that 3 blocks would give me a good-sized runner as well as let me showcase a decent number of the fabrics from Botanical Dreams.  Each block uses 4 fabrics from the collection, plus Muslin.  There are a total of 14 different fabrics in this runner and it measures 19" x 50".

I used Island Batik's solid orange for the back.  I did simple organic wavy lines down the long way down the runner for the quilting.  All piecing and quilting was done with Aurifil thread and Schmetz needles.  For the quilting itself, I used a light yellow on the top and bright orange in the bobbin--I don't typically use two different color threads in quilting, but it worked well for this.  The batting is Hobbs' Thermore polyester batting; it is thin and great for smaller projects.  

 

The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik, Deb Tucker's Studio 180 Design,  Schmetz, Aurifil, & Hobbs.

 

On the conference table at my work

It's really hard to get pictures of a table runner if you don't have a nice table!  I took it to work and tried a conference table, but it was hard to get a good shot.  I also took it to my office.  It's not quite the right size for my table, but it does look great with Overflowing Heart, my ambassador challenge from August of 2023!

On the table in my office with another Island Batik quilt on the wall

Kim at Chatterbox Quilts was also sent Botanical Dreams, and she has a different Studio 180 Design tool to work with.  Be sure to go see her beautiful table runner!  And today is just the first day of this hop; Island Batik ambassadors will be showing off new collections all month long!  You can find the full schedule here.  

Round Robin #3: Stars

Welcome to the halfway point of the Stay at Home Round Robin!  Today we turn to our fearless leader, Gail of Quilting Gail, to she what she says to add to our quilts.  Gail chose Stars!

 

I'm doing 12" blocks, so stars gave me a whole lot of options!  Since I chose a fairly complicated star block as my center, I picked fairly straightforward and common stars for my 2 star blocks: Ohio Star and LeMoyne Star.  I cut both of these (and in fact most of this quilt) with my Accuquilt.

 

 

Truth be told, I originally planned the LeMoyne Star for Anja's half square triangle round last week, since I use HSTs to make the classic 8-point LeMoyne block.  But as I started narrowing my blocks from possible to actually making them, the LeMoyne Star ended up fitting better with the star blocks.  

 

Here's how my quilt looks at the halfway point:

 

Head on over to link up with Gail this week if you are sewing along.  Remember, every week that you link up earns you one entry into prize drawings at the end.  Get behind? No problem!  Link up when you are able to catch up.  We know that life can interfere with sewing sometimes.

 

I hope you love sewing up stars this week!  Here is the complete Stay at Home Round Robin schedule:

• January 13th: Center: Gail @ Quilting Gail
• January 20th: 1^st Round: King's Crown block or inspired by your first initial  Kathleen @ Kathleen McMusing
• January 27th: 2^nd Round: Half Square Triangles   Anja @ Anja Quilts
• February 3rd: 3rd Round: Stars Gail @ Quilting Gail
• February 10th: 4^th Round:   Wendy @ Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life
• February 17th:5^th Round: Brenda @ Songbird Designs
• February 24th: 6th Round: Me!
• March 24th: Finish Parade: Gail @ Quilting Gail

Runner Up blog hop

I hear that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today, giving us 6 more weeks of prime quilting weather!  The Island Batik ambassadors have been sewing away, getting ready for the Runner Up blog hop.  This hop will feature Island Batik's brand new collections that will be hitting stores this week.  Each of was sent a tool from Deb Tucker's Studio 180 Design and was tasked with making a table runner or bed runner using that tool and one of Island Batik's beautiful new collections.

I am on the first day of the hop!  Come back on Tuesday (February 4th) to see what I made with the beautiful Botanical Dreams collection.

Each Friday, Island Batik will open a new giveaway for a fat quarter bundle of one of the featured collections.  Additionally, many of the ambassadors will have bonus giveaways on their day of the hop. Here is the full schedule of the Runner Up blog hop.

WEEK 1

February 4:

• Kim Jamieson-Hirst, Chatterbox Quilts
• Emily Leachman, The Darling Dogwood

February 5:

• Brittany Fisher, Bobbin with Brittany

February 6:

• Mania Hatzioannidi, Mania for Quilts
• Carol Stanek, Stitch With Color

WEEK 2

February 10:

• Connie Kresin Campbell, Freemotion by the River
• Leah Malasky, Quilted Delights

February 11:

• Connie Kauffman, Kauffman Designs

February 12:

• Denise Looney, Quiltery
• Renee Atkinson, Pink Tulip Quilting

February 13:

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

WEEK 3

February 17:

• Jennifer Thomas, Curlicue Creations
• Susan Deshensky, Lady Blue Quilt Studio

February 18:

• Susan Michaels, Dragonfly Fiber Art
• Suzy Webster, Websterquilt

February 19:

• Gail Sheppard, Quilting Gail
• Preeti Harris, Sew Preeti Quilts

February 20:

• Sarah Pitcher, Pitcher’s Boutique LLC
• Solomae Stoycoff, Cuddle Cat Quiltworks
  
  

WEEK 4

February 24:

• Kimberly Flannagan, Kimberly’s Quilts

February 25:

• Tina Dillard, Quilting Affection Designs

Round Robin #2: Half-Square Triangles

Welcome to prompt #2 of 2025's Stay at Home Round Robin!  Today we look to Anja of Anja Quilts to tell us what to add, and she chose those incredibly versatile quilting units, the half-square triangle.

Half square triangles are great because there are so many ways you can use them.  Since I'm doing a sampler-style quilt with 12" blocks this time around, I chose blocks that primarily used half square triangles.  I started with a pinwheel block.  I saw this block online somewhere and liked it, a pinwheel inside a friendship star with accents along the edges.  This one uses 2 different sizes of half-square triangle.

For my second block, I wanted to design something myself.  I played around and got this.  It looks like something out of the original Avatar: the Last Airbender cartoon to me, like maybe what Katara gets when she's water-bending, or Ang when he's air-bending.  I don't know, but I like it, so into the quilt it goes!

So here's how my quilt looks so far, keeping in mind that the EQ rendering is not a prefect match for fabric.

If you are sewing along, the linky party is with Anja this week.  Important: if you are linking up, we need to be able to figure out who you are, including an email address.  If you aren't getting comments from your link from several of the hosts, especially from Gail the SAHRR Mastermind, something went wrong with your link and we can't contact you. We've had 2 or 3 link-ups that we can't identify or contact the linker.  If you think one of them may be you, contact Gail.  

 

I'm so excited to see what you do with Half Square Triangles this week!  Here is the complete Stay at Home Round Robin Schedule:

Here is the schedule for the Stay at Home Round Robin:

• January 13th: Center: Gail @ Quilting Gail
• January 20th: 1^st Round: King's Crown block or inspired by your first initial  Kathleen @ Kathleen McMusing
• January 27th: 2^nd Round: Half Square Triangles   Anja @ Anja Quilts
• February 3rd: 3rd Round: Gail @ Quilting Gail
• February 10th: 4^th Round:   Wendy @ Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life
• February 17th:5^th Round: Brenda @ Songbird Designs
• February 24th: 6th Round: Me!
• March 24th: Finish Parade: Gail @ Quilting Gail

Island Batik unboxing #1

I am very excited to be starting my seventh year as an ambassador with Island Batik!  I truly love their fabric and really enjoy working with it.  The biggest perk of being an ambassador are the ambassador boxes sent to use twice a year, stuffed with gorgeous fabrics and goodies from Island Batik's industry partners.

I filmed a video showcasing everything I was sent for the first half of the year.  

If you don't want to watch the video or just want more info, keep reading!  I'll recap everything I was sent.

First, the industry partners

There are so many industry partners this year!  Schmetz needles are my favorite sewing machine needles, they sent several packs of needles.  Aurifil sent 3 spools of their 50 weight thread.  Hobbs sent an amazing four battings, one each of premium cotton, cotton w/ scrim, 80/20 in black, and their Tuscany collection 100% wool batting, plus a bag of their Simply Stuffing for toys or pillow.  And Oliso sent their mini M3Pro iron in Coral, and a carrier for the iron!! I'm excited to plug in my new iron and and use it!

 

There are also some partners who sponsor individual challenges.  Deb Tucker's Studio 180 Design sent me their V Block tool; it will be used in the February challenge and blog hop.

Accuquilt is back as an industry partner.  They sent me their Irish Chain die that makes a 10" block: one pass through the cutter creates all the pieces needed for a block.  They also sent a 6' x 24" mat to be used with the die. The Irish Chain block, made with the Accuquilt die, will be featured in May with another block hop showcasing Island Batik new collections.

Not pictured or mentioned in the video is a pattern from Funky Friends Factory.  We each got to pick a toy pattern and will show off our Funky Friends in June.  Hobbs Simply Stuffing will also be used for this challenge, to make our Friends plump and cuddly!

And now for the fabric!

First, there was a half yard bundle of the upcoming collection Botanical Dreams.  Included with the bundle is a 2-yard cut of a dark fabric from the collection and a light fabric from the collection.  Botanical Dreams will be part of the February blog hop featuring new collections.  Fabrics will start shipping to shops in February as well.

Next, there was a strip pack of another collection hitting stores in February, Meadow Hues.  This is a signature collection for former Island Batik ambassador Claudia of Create with Claudia.  I love the pinks and purples with greens in this collection.  I was sent yards each of Mint and Grass to go with it, both from the always-available Basics collection

Speaking of the Basics collection, I was sent two pre-cuts of Gradations collections.  These are sets of 20 fabrics in a single color way that represent the spectrum of that color.  I was sent a 10" stack of Ravishing Reds and a 2 1/2" strip pack of Tantalizing Teals.

The next bundle is a surprise that I can't show yet.  This is one of the collections that will be in stores in May or June, and will be featured in blog hop in May.  These are the fabrics that I'll use with the Irish Chain die from Accuquilt, above.  

I also have a 10" stack of another collection that will be featured in May, thought pre-cuts are shipping to stores now.  I got Essence, a beautiful collection of aqua and purple, as well as 2-yard cuts of Honeydew and Hunter. 

Then there was a bundle of 1/2 yard cuts that coordinate with the full collections I was sent. These are all from the always available fabrics, and include Basics, Blenders, and Solids.

There were also 3 packs of Stash Builder strips.  These are 5" by width of fabric strips and are assorted.  I love how versatile these strips are!  You can cut them into 5" charm squares, 2 1/2" strips, or use for applique or scrappy quilts.  I have done all of those!  Sadly, I didn't get a picture of just the stash builder strips.

And last but certainly not least are the background fabrics.  I was sent 4 yards each of White, Black, and Dark Gray solids, as well as 6 yards of the neutral Bone.  Once again, I didn't get a solo picture, but here is the assortment of everything again, which includes the background farbcis and the stash builder strips.

I am very excited to be creating with all of this over the next 6 months and beyond!  Many thanks to Island Batik for choosing to work with me for a 7th year!

Round Robin #1: King's Crown

Welcome back to the Stay At Home Round Robin!  Today, Kathleen gets to pick what we add to our quilts.  She turned to her first initial for inspiration and picked the King's Crown block.  There are a few variations of this block; Kathleen has details of those variations on her post.  As a third option, you can do as Kathleen did and look to your first initial for inspiration as to what to add to your quilt.

Since I'm doing this year's SAHRR as a quilt sampler, I chose to make the King's Crown blocks in two different variations.  One of variations is fairly simple and worked really well as a 12" block.

The other variation is on a multiple of 5, so it made a 10" block.  To bring it to the size I needed, I added 1" squares on each side.  This ended up giving my crown a little jewel on top, which I really liked.  I also particularity like this block on point, which is what my layout is, and chose to put it in the top row in the center, much like a crown would be.

Here's what my quilt looks like with the blocks so far.  Keep in mind that the rendering from EQ8 is not perfect, some of the fabrics display differently and one of the fabrics is as close to the real fabric as I could find, but it's not actually the same.
 

If you are sewing along, link up with Kathleen this week. Each week you link up earns one entry into our prize drawing at the end of the Round Robin.  Here is a list of prizes and sponsors:

• Island Batik donated 3 fat quarter bundles:
  • Flutter Fields
  • Shadow Blooms
  • Bubbles curves and corners!
• Oliso Pro Plus Iron
• Batting from Hobbs Batting
• A pattern of YOUR choice from A Quiltery
• A quilt pattern from Devoted Quilter
• A pattern from Sew Fresh Quilts  
  

 

Here is the schedule for the Stay at Home Round Robin:

• January 13th: Center: Gail @ Quilting Gail
• January 20th: 1^st Round: King's Crown block or inspired by your first initial  Kathleen @ Kathleen McMusing
• January 27th: 2^nd Round: Anja @ Anja Quilts
• February 3rd: 3rd Round: Gail @ Quilting Gail
• February 10th: 4^th Round:   Wendy @ Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life
• February 17th:5^th Round: Brenda @ Songbird Designs
• February 24th: 6th Round: Me!
• March 24th: Finish Parade: Gail @ Quilting Gail