Berry Flare

Welcome to my stop on the Berry Crush blog hop!  Berry Crush is a signature fabric collection for my friend Jennifer Thomas of Curlicue Creations, designed by Jerry Khiev of Island Batik/Lumin Fabrics.  

 

When Jennifer asked if I'd sew something with Berry Crush fabrics, I was thrilled!  I absolutely love the pinks and purples with just a hint of orange/tangerine in Berry Crush, and the motifs of flowers, vines, and berries are so lovely.

 

I used a block I designed earlier in the year for my Stay at Home Round Robin quilt, and used just that block.  I'm calling in Flare, because the block looks like an explosion to me.  So this is Berry Flare.  

 

I used sixteen different fabrics from Berry Crush in the blocks, plus a seventeenth Berry Crush fabric as the binding.  I wanted some slightly lighter fabrics to compliment the beautiful berry colors, so I added Lavender and a yellow blender in alternating blocks.  The background is Egg White.  All three are from Island Batik's always-available Foundations. 

 

I absolutely love these fabrics!!!! Berry Crush ships to quilt shops this month. 

Be sure to check out all the stops on the Berry Crush blog hop!  And Jennifer is doing a giveaway of a fat quarter bundle of Berry Crush!!  You will find the details on her post. 

Jennifer at Curlicue Creations

Laura at Slice of Pi Quilts 

Emily at The Darling Dogwood <--- You Are Here!

Lisa at Lisa's Quilting Passion

Cat at I Heard It Through The Quilt-Vine

Victoria at Forever Quilting For You

Sandra at Textile Time Travels

Leah at Quilted Delights

 

 

I'll be Annie's sidekick any time

This month's challenge is my favorite non-quilt challenge--a By Annie bag!  Each Island Batik ambassador gets to pick out one of By Annie's fantastically thorough bag patterns and then chose fabric from one of the newest Island Batik fabric collections.  

 

I struggled terribly making bags until my first By Annie/Island collaboration challenge in 2020.  Annie's patterns activate a switch in my brain that other bag patterns never have.  I have made many and have a to-make list that grows every time she releases new patterns.

 

I chose the Sidekick pattern.  Annie designed Siddekick after an overwhelming number of requests for a bag to go on a walker.  Sidekick can also be used on camp chairs, captain-style seats in a car, or really any chair with arms. I'll use Sidekick on the camp chair during my son's YMCA soccer games, though I do like the idea of having one ready to go should I ever unexpectedly need a walker for any reason.  That's happened to 2 healthy friends of mine recently, so you never know. Sidekick has a variety of pockets on the inside and outside and was really thoughtfully designed.  

By Annie provided a kit containing all the materials needed for the bag, including zippers, hardware, hook & loop tape (Velcro), mesh, fold over elastic, and interfacing.  Additional supplies used in this bag were provided to me by Lumin Fabrics/Island Batik, Aurifil, Schmetz, and Oliso.

Sidekick calls for three different fabrics.  Annie films multiple videos about each of her patterns and for her Closer Look videos, she shows both where all the fabrics end up, and versions that use more and fewer fabrics than called for.  She showed a Sidekick model that used 4 fabrics that I really liked, using one main fabric for the big pocket and a second main fabric for the main body, so I asked for 4 fabrics from Island Batik/Lumin.  I chose 4 gorgeous fabrics from the Berry Crush collection.  Berry Crush is a signature collection designed by Jerry Khiev for my friend Jennifer Thomas of Curlicue Creations.  

  

Annie's patterns have a lot of steps but it's the thoroughness that I like about them.  The first step is to quilt your main and lining fabrics to the Soft and Stable.  I use Elmer's disappearing purple glue sticks to secure my fabric before the quilting.  I chose crosshatch quilting with Aurifil thread.

Once your fabric is quilted and cut down, the next step is to make all your bag components.  Annie recommends a topstitch needle for her bags, so I always use a Schmetz 90/14 topstitch needle for my By Annie bags, and this Sidekick was no exception. 
 

Pockets!

 

After all the components have been made, it's time to assemble the whole bag.  I love seeing it all come together!  I'm really happy with my Sidekick!  

We had to choose our bag pattern and fabrics in May.  What I didn't know then is that Jennifer would ask me to participate in the blog hop for Berry Crush.  So in addition to the four gorgeous fabrics in my Sidekick, I got to play with almost all of the collection!  The Berry Crush blog hop starts tomorrow, October 20th, and come back on Wednesday October 22nd for my project with these amazing fabrics. 

 

Crazy Petals

This month, Island Batik (under parent company Lumin Fabrics) and Aurifil have teamed up to ask ambassadors to create a project using crazy quilt techniques.  I didn't want to do traditional crazy quilted blocks, so I thought about applique instead. I decided to "dig up" an idea I considered for last year's thread painting challenge but didn't use. I was given the Sunset collection designed by Deb Tucker's 180 Design.

 

I started by pulling fabrics into general color families.  I had pink, orange, yellow, and blurple (blueish purple.)  I did the petals first, which I decided would be pink and orange.  One color family at a time, I cut strips of each fabric to use for my crazy quilted fabric.  

 

 

I randomly sewed 2 together, then pressed with my Oliso mini iron, then went over the seam with a "fancy stitch." Fancy Stitches is what my son, age 11, calls the decorative stitches on my machine.  He loves the fancy stitches and for much of the crazy quilting, he would choose my decorative stitches.  

 

Several years ago, I realized that I used the decorative stitches infrequently enough that I would forget which ones I liked when stitched out.  So I made myself a stitch reference!  You can see how I did that here; it's been a really handy reference to have.  Fire Monkey would sit on my bed with the stitch reference binder and call out the number of the stitch he wanted me to use next. 

 

We were given the chance to choose 4 colors of Aurifil thread for this challenge.  I also pulled a lot of other colors from the Aurifil spools I already had.  I used both 50 weight and 40 weight threads, choosing based on color and not on weight.  Here is a list of the thread colors I used:

50 Weight:
1104 Neon Orange
1148 Light Jade
2115 Lemon Yellow
2530 Blossom Pink
2810 Turquoise
2884 Green Yellow
4250 Flamingo (Variegated)
5003 Wine
red-ish color with a number sticker that is long gone

40 Weight:
2520 Violet
2545 Medium Purple
4020 Fuchsia
4648 Desert Dawn
5006 Light Turquoise

 

Once I had large enough pieces, I cut out the petal shapes.  I wanted pretty big petals, so my 4" Accquilt orange peel die was not going to be good enough, though I did end up using that die for the leaves. I looked online for a printable orange peel template as large as I could find.  Caroline of Sew Can She has a free printable template for 3 three sizes of orange peel.  I used the largest size.  I printed the template onto printable freezer paper, which can be ironed onto fabric, traced, then peeled off and used again.  

 

My original source of inspiration was Rob Appell's Strata Flower.  For his petals made from strip sets, he sewed the petal shape to fusible interfacing, so that it is not raw-edge applique.  I did that, too, using Shapeflex 101.  

 

 

 

For the center of the flower, I planned to use another Accuquilt die.  The largest circle I have is 5".  I made one, but it wasn't big enough for my vision.  I have Creative Grids' set of circle rulers that I use making By Annie bag patterns; the largest one is 6 1/2" in diameter. That looked much better against the big petals.

 

 

I decided to quilt my background before adding the flower shapes, so I layered the lovely Scuba from Island Batik's always-available Basics collection with Hobbs Thermore batting and a backing pieced from 4 fabrics in the collection. I quilted a cross-hatch design using Aurifil 5006 Light Turquoise (40 wt).  

 

Back

Then I laid out the petals on the now-quilted background.  Once I was happy with the layout, I fused the petals down. I picked out a variegated thread specifically for the outside of the petals.  Desert Dawn really captures the colors in Sunset.

 

ready to iron in place

There are 22 fabrics in the Sunset collection; I used all but one in this project. Island Batik always sends a variety of coordinating fabrics from the Foundations lines for the blog hop collections, and this time I used more of the coordinating fabrics than I ever had before!  Specifically, the Basic Lotus is the stem, and I've added solid red, solid orange, and 2 blenders that I don't have the names for to the petals.  

  

I'm calling it Crazy Petals.  It measures 30" x 44".

My friend Connie of Kauffman Designs also made a crazy quilt with the Sunset collection.  Be sure to hop over and check out her quilt!

Capybara!

A friend of mine has had a rough year medically.  She was in the hospital from early December through late February.  During that time period, I visited her several times.  I wanted to make a quilt that would cheer up her hospital room a bit.  I made it fairly small, 45" x 52", so it wouldn't get in the way of any medical equipment and was therefor less likely to annoy the medical staff.  

She is a bit obsessed with capybaras, so I looked for a capybara pattern.  I found a great pattern on etsy from the shop TextileOutpost.  It has 4 variations of capybara blocks.  I used the basic block 4 times.  All fabrics are by Island Batik: Lizard, Roast, and Toast for the capybaras, and Milkshake for the background.

 

After I made the capybaras, I wanted to some leaves to go around them.  I use assorted greens (also Island Batik) and arranged them in what I felt was a leafy pattern.  When it was up on the design wall, I asked my husband if the green looked liked leaves or just green squiggles.  He said, "oh, it's leaves?  I thought they were standing in the grass."  Grass = good enough for me!

Backing

 

The backing is an older Island Batik fabric: Acorn in Wheat from the Napa Valley collection.  I used cross hatch quilting. She was quite pleased with it.  I've been waiting to post because her health was so touch-and-go for a bit, but I'm pleased to say she's doing really well and is now even back at work. 

 

Threaded Chaos blog hop with Island Batik

This month, Island Batik Ambassadors are going crazy!  We were each sent one of the newest Island Batik collections and are tasked to make a crazy quilt.  

I was sent the Sunset collection by Deb Tucker's Studio 180 Design.  Sunset is a beautiful collection with colors that mimic fabulous sunsets.   I'm the very last day of the hop, so you'll have to wait until September 25th for my quilt using these fabulous fabrics. 

 

I've done two previous crazy quilt projects with Island Batik fabrics.  The first was a scrappy challenge in January 2020.  I made a crazy-quilted sewing machine cover.  April 2023 was a crazy quilt challenge and I made crazy-quilted notebook covers.  

 

We're in the second week of the blog hop and there have been some really fun projects so far.  Be sure to visit all the Island Batik Ambassadors, and check back here next week to see my crazy quilt!

 

Week 1

Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs – 09/08/2025 – Aurora
Sarah Pitcher ~ Pitcher’s Boutique – 09/09/2025 – Berry Crush
Solomae Stoycoff ~ Cuddle Cat Quiltworks – 09/09/2025 – Berry Crush
Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting – 09/10/2025 – Colorbust
Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion – 09/10/2025 – Colorbust
Connie Kresin Campbell ~ Freemotion by the River  – 09/11/2025 – Earth Essence

Week 2

Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations – 09/15/2025 – Everlasting
Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts – 09/15/2025 – Everlasting
Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts Studio – 09/16/2025 – Fossil Finesse
Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail – 09/16/2025 – Fossil Finesse
Denise Looney ~ A Quiltery – 09/17/2025 – Frosted Foliage
Kimberly Flannagan ~ Kimberly’s Quilts – 09/17/2025 – Frosted Foliage
Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts – 09/18/2025 – Garden Glory
Tina Dillard ~ Quilting Affection Designs – 09/18/2025 – Garden Glory

Week 3
Carol Stanek ~ Stitch with Color – 09/22/2025 – Geode Glow
Kim Jamieson-Hirst ~ Chatterbox Quilts – 09/22/2025 – Geode Glow
Brittany Fisher ~ Bobbin with Brittany – 09/23/2025 – Quiet Charm
Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt – 09/24/2025 – Stone Strata
Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights – 09/24/2025 – Stone Strata
Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs– 09/25/2025 – Sunset
Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood – 09/25/2025 – Sunset

The Perfect Travel Purse

Since I discovered By Annie patterns five years ago, I have made many of her patterns and I have more on my to-make wishlist.  I recently saw a sample of On the Go (the updated version, 2.0) and it was larger than I thought from the photos I've seen.  My family took a week long trip to New York City earlier in August and I thought I'd try the On the Go.  I made it with about a week to spare before our trip.

Let me tell you--this is the perfect travel purse!  I used the vinyl pocket on the inside for my hotel room key, so it was easily accessible.  I put my credit card and cash in the slots on the inside so I didn't need to carry a wallet, which is good because mine is a little bulky.  I could fit my sunglasses case, tissue packet, and snacks in the purse itself, and my phone fit perfectly (and securely) in the back slip pocket.  I wore it cross body most of the time, though it also works over the shoulder.  

Some people in the By Annie enthusiast group on Facebook have made On the Go just a little wider.  I might try that next time, but honestly, I was happy with the size as written. 

 

 

I used some older Island Batik fabrics from a line called Lemon Grass.  I had a 1/2 yard cut of my favorite from the line, blue with dragonflies.  The lining fabric, also from Lemon Grass, is Leaf Tendrils. The binding fabric is from a different collection, Limerick, and is Spots in Purple Jelly (and was the main fabric in this By Annie backpack that I made 2 years ago). There is also some solid Lime Green on the inside for binding and some of the card slots.   

In action on the NYC subway

It's a little small for me for a day to day purse, but I know this will be my travel purse for the foreseeable future!

 

Hot Stuff with Island Batik

This month's Island Batik challenge is little different.  In January, each ambassador was sent an Oliso M3Pro mini iron and a felt carrying bag.  For our August challenge, we are to use Island Batik fabrics to decorate the carrying case.

With a blog named after my favorite flowering tree, I knew immediately how I would decorate my case--dogwoods!   While Accuquilt does not have a dogwood blossom die, one of the flowers on the Flower Bunch die has four petals.  I was able to cut an indentation our of each petal to make it look more like a dogwood blossom.   I also used the Stems and Leaves die to cut, well, stems and leaves!  

 

 

The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik & Oliso.

 

I used fabrics from Island Batik's always-available Foundations for everything except the leaves.  The blossoms are Carnation, the one darker dogwood is a pink blender, the branch is Roast, and the dogwood centers is Bubbles in Sprout.  I love how the dots in the green fabric mimic the textured centers of dogwood blossoms.

 

I used Heat n' Bond lite for the applique shapes.  I had trouble with it staying on the sides of teh bag; I think it was a combination of the curved surface, the felt, and the fact that the Heat n' Bond was fairly old.  The shapes stuck fine on the top and back, but I could see the applique shapes lifting away from the surface.  My fellow Island Batik Ambassador Connie of Freemotion by the River suggested Aleene's OK to Wash It.  I had never heard of this fabric glue!  It worked great, though it took a bit to peel off of my fingers 😀 

 

So here it is: a dogwood iron carrier for The Darling Dogwood!