Winding Wheels -- Songbird blog hop

Welcome to my stop on the Songbird Blog Hop!  I was so excited when Jennifer of Curlicue Creations asked me if I would make something with her newest signature line with Island Batik/Lumin Fabrics!  

Songbird is a beautiful collection of pinks and purples with touches of cream and dark blue.  

I used a total of 9 different fabrics from Songbird, plus Almond and Bluebelle from Island Batik's always-available Foundations line. 

 

Winding Wheels

My block for this project is large--20" finished. The design uses 2 different colorations of my large block, with six of each color way.   

I love the fussy-cut bird in the center of the darker blocks!

I made the six lighter blocks first. My original plan was to have a sashing row that continue the chain from the corners, but when I completed the first 6 blocks, I had them up on my design wall touching each other.  I liked the pattern so much, I decided to drop the sashing.  I love it!  Sometimes the best design ideas are essentially accidents! 

 

Original layout, EQ8 rendering

I like to think of the main shape as a wheel.  I named this Winding Wheels.  Winding Wheels measures 64" x 84".  It's so big, it doesn't fit on my design wall!  Here's a photo before I added the outer border of the dark fabric with songbirds in it.

 

I was really in a hurry to get this done!  I had a major delay in getting started: my machine was skipping stitches so I took it in for service, and ended up being in the shop twice as long as I had planned.  I was able to do almost all of the cutting while Willa the Wonder Machine was in the shop, but I was still a bit under the wire after losing so much time. Everything was cut with my Accuquilt and the 8" cube plus 8" Angles companion set, except for the 4-patch corner units in each block, which I strip-pieced.

 

Songbird is arriving in quilt shops now.  Be sure to visit all the great designers who are showcasing the Songbird collection through August 19th!  And Jennifer has a giveaway for fat quarter bundle of the full collection on her page!

August 10:  Curlicue Creations 

August 11:  Freemotion by the River

August 12:  Lisa's Quilting Passion

August 13:  Songbird Designs

August 14:  Sew Cute and Quirky

August 15:  Textile Time Travels

August 16:  The Darling Dogwood  🠄 You Are Here!

August 17:  Quilted Delights

August 18:  Heard it through the Quilt Vine

August 19:  Pamela Quilts

 

Solar Flare

School supplies are already in stores and I didn't finish showing off last year's teacher quilts!  Because we moved around the holidays and it took me a while to get my sewing machine set up, I lost a lot of sewing time during the first half of this year/second half of the school year.  I found myself under the wire to finish.  Mr. H, the band director, said his favorite color was blue.  I was looking for something stunning but simple and decided on the pattern Solar Flare by Villa Rosa Designs.  

 

I used a 10" square pack of Brilliant Blues by Island Batik plus their solid white. The "focus fabric" for the main pinwheel and the outer border is Cheerio in Navy, also by Island Batik.  It's the only fabric with a design on it to set it apart. I cut everything with my Accuquilt. This was a quilt where I'm really glad I have a design wall.  I laid it all out and really tried to integrate all the different values of blue so no one section felt weight too light or too dark.

 

 

I quilted it with a medium blue Aurifil thread and used wavy line stitching--I call it Preeti quilting, as my friend Preeti frequently uses that stitch to great effect. 

I wash all the teacher quilts before gifting and was sorry to see that this one did bleed.  (I had the same problem with my Magnificent Mystery quilt but didn't notice the bleeding until after my post.)  I did some research and found reports of many quilters swearing by the methods from this VickiWelshMakes post.  There are also some good tips here from SuzyQuilts.  I bought Dawn dishsoap and used my tub, as outlined in Vicki's method.  My son was kind of fascinated by the process, and he did help me agitate the quilt at one point, singing "Rock-a-bye qui-ilt, In the bath tub."  I found it hilarious but managed not to laugh because I knew it would mean he'd stop.  I'm happy to say that the magic process did work, and I managed to get the bleeding out of both quilts.  I do find that blues are the most likely color to run these days, more so than reds.

I am thrilled with how this turned out and it was very quick to make.  This is a pattern I will come back to!

 

 

Rainbow Spice

Welcome to my stop on the Sunflower Spice blog hop!  Sunflower Spice is a signature collection for Jennifer of Curlicue Creations by Island Batik/Lumin Fabrics.  The bright colors in this collection are so fun, and perfect for bright summer days!  I really wanted to emphasize the rainbow in the collection, so my design is color order.

 

I used thirteen fabrics from Sunflower Spice and will use a fourteenth for the binding.  I had a rough spring and wasn't able to get this quilted, but I have a really lovely fabric with red ginko leaves for the binding.  I really love the motifs in this collection: sunflowers, oak leaves, acorns, and ginko leaves.  The background fabric is a neutral called Flour.

 

I cut everything with my Accuquilt.  I love sawtooth stars and combined them with square-in-a-square units as accents.  I think of them like jewels among the stars!

 

I named it Rianbow Spice.  Rainbow Spice is currently 58" x 70". I might still add a skinny border of background before I quilt it.

 

 

Want to win some Sunflower Spice of your own?  Jennifer has a giveaway on her blog, and be sure to visit all the stops on this blog hop to see what everyone made with these beautiful fabrics. 

June 1:  Curlicue Creations 

June 2:  Freemotion by the River

June 3:  Lisa's Quilting Passion

June 5:  Textile Time Travels

June 6:  Lady Blue Quilt Studio

June 7:  Sew Preeti Quilts

June 8:  Quilted Delights

June 9:  Sew Cute and Quirky

June 10:  The Darling Dogwood ⮜You Are Here!

 

 

 

Bears & Stars

The last day of school is tomorrow!  I got all the teacher quilts done in time (the last one went to school today!) but I'm behind in posting.  This one is for the PE teacher Mr. W, who said his favorite color is light blue.  

 

I've been particularly drawn to bear paw blocks lately and have been playing around with designs using those blocks.  This is my favorite of the designs I came up with.  I always love sawtooth stars and think they go with everything!  I really like this combination of bear paw blocks & sawtooth star blocks, so much that I named this Bears & Stars.  Not super original or creative, I know!

All fabrics are Island Batik, including the solid black background.  The colors aren't coming through gretat in the photos, but the bear paws are a light blue (Sky) and the stars are white with blue designs. The Irish Chain blocks are a blender called Blue with Wavy Dots.  I cut everything with my Accuquilt.  

 

I'm excited to use this design again, maybe in some bolder colors.   

Red Flare

May sure hustled it's way through my life!  I think I blinked and missed it!  I've been busy getting the teacher quilts ready for the end of the year.  This year's homeroom & English teacher, Ms. W, stated that red is her favorite color.  Red is frequently a struggle for me.  I think partly because I don't tend to have much of it and partly because it's hard to do scrappy. 

I decided on my pattern Flare, which I made previously for a blog hop for Berry Crush, a previous signature collection for Jennifer of Curlicue Creations.  (The blog hop for Jennifer's next signature collection starts tomorrow!) I have made all but the very first teacher quilt usig Island Batik fabrics, mostly because I have so much of it.  But as I said, I don't have a lot of red.  I did have a fair amount of leftover from a wide back from a previous year's red quilt, so I decided to use that as my red fabric and paired it with black, white, and gray Island Batik solid.  

 

Using the two types of fabric together was not a problem.  They are both cotton, the batik just has a little bit of a tighter weave.  Now that it's been washed, I can't feel a difference! 

 

I also want to show two quilts I've posted previously, but they weren't completely finished yet. The first is Emerge, which I made for The Inquiring Quilter's blog hop in January.  The fabrics are Starry Seas for Island Batik. I didn't quilt have the binding done on my day for the hop.  Now here it is, bound and washed!

 

The second is my version of the Magnificent Mystery, made during the QAL led by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs.  I was working against Cheryl's deadline for the finish parade and just squeaked by with a finished top.  It's now been quilted, bound, and washed.  All fabrics are Island Batik.  

 

 Despite my lack of posts in May, I was actually busy with finishes! 

  

 

Emerge: Starry Seas blog hop

Welcome to my stop on the Starry Seas blog hop!  Starry Seas is a new signature fabric collection for my friend Jennifer of The Inquiring Quilter, made by Island Batik/Lumin Fabrics.  Jennifer asked if I'd make something to celebrate the collection and I enthusiastically agreed!  

 

I leaned heavily into the dark blues and turquoises of Starry Seas, with just a touch of the golden orange for accent.  I am calling this pattern Emerge. 

There are eight of the SKUs from Starry Seas in Emerge, plus Island Batik's foundation neutral Cream.  Emerge is 60" square.

 

Starry Seas is arriving in quilt shops now.  Want to win some Starry Seas fabric?  Jennifer is giving away a fat quarter bundle of the collection on her blog.  And be sure to visit every stop on the Starry Seas blog hop!

 

January 12th - Jennifer @ Inquiring Quilter  

January 13th - Kathleen @ Kathleen McMusing

January 14th - Preeti @ Sew Preeti Quilts

January 15th - Emily @ The Darling Dogwood 🠄 You Are Here!

January 16th - Laura @ Slice of Pi

January 17th - Lisa @ Lisa’s Quilting Passion

January 18th - Gail @ Quilting Gail

January 19th - Sandra @ Textile Time Travels

January 20th - Leah @ Quilted Delights

January 21st - Jennifer @ Inquiring Quilter (WINNER ANNOUNCED!)

The Ultimate Purple Island Batik Quilt

Welcome to the final Island Batik ambassador challenge of the year!  This month, it's up to us!  We each got to make whatever we wanted featuring Island Batik fabric.  I started planning my quilt early in the year.  I wanted to make a scraptastic quilt featuring as many purple Island Batik fabrics as I could find.  I chose two of my favorite classic blocks, the sawtooth star and the log cabin, and combined them into a design I was really excited about.  

Everything was cut with my Accuquilt (specifically the 8" cube) and all piecing was done with Aurifil thread--scrappy, because a scrappy quilt is a great time to use up partial bobbins.  And as always, I sewed with a Schmetz needle, the only needles I use.   

Star Blocks

 I did agonize a bit over what color to use as the center of the log cabin blocks.  In my EQ8 mock-ups, I started with yellow.  It was ok, but honestly a little boring.  I really like purple with blue, so I also looked at a light or medium blue, or even aqua.  While I liked the blues and the aqua, I didn't like the attention it took away from the purple. I then saw some Sangria yardage from Island Batik's always-available Basics, and that felt like the right choice.  First, it's kinda close to red, one of the traditional colors for log cabin centers.  It's also close in color to the purples while still being a little different visually.   

The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik, Schmetz, Aurifil, and AccuQuilt. 

 

I finished the top in late June because I knew I wanted it longarmed and I wanted to be sure to beat the Christmas rush.  Sara at Stitch Lab Quilting is local to me and she did such a great job with it!  I picked an edge to edge quilt design called Elizabeth that I really like, and Sara used a light/medium purple thread.  I got it back right before my move, so I have not been able to bind it yet.  I'm at a loss as to what to bind it with.  Dark purple?  Dark gray?  Sangria?  I hope to get my sewing machine set up in the new house very soon, so I can get to work getting this bound.  It's huge!!!  Easily at least Queen size.

I mentioned that this is the last Island Batik Ambassador challenge of 2025.  It is also my last challenge as an Island Batik Ambassador.  After seven amazing years, I made the difficult decision not to apply for 2026.  I am so grateful to Island Batik for the chance to work with them and their beautiful fabrics for so long.  I still have quite the stash and I am a true fan of their fabrics, so I will continue to sew with Island Batik fabrics for years to come! 

 

Symphony of Seven Stars

Welcome to the final day of the Timeless Traditions blog hop, featuring the newest Island Batik collections by Lumin Fabrics.  I've had to wait ALL MONTH to show you what I made!  My collection is Under the Sea, designed by Jerry Khiev as a signature collection for Swan Amity Studios. We were given a list of 10 classic blocks and quilting units and challenged to use at least 5 in a quilt using our assigned collection.  Here is my quilt!

The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik, Schmetz, and Aurifil.

First, a point of clarification on how I interpreted the prompt.  If a unit, like a flying geese unit or half square triangle, appears in a block on the list (like quarter square triangles are part of an Ohio Star block), then I only counted the block.  But if a block not on the list used, say, a flying geese unit, I counted that unit. I used 7 of the 10.  Let me walk you through the 7 elements I included in my quilt.  

1. Ohio Star Block: there are 4 Ohio Star Blocks.

 

2. Variable Star Block: there is one Variable Star Block. 

 I then used variations of the Variable star to include:

3. Quarter Square Triangle 

 

and

4. Four Patch 

 

 and

5. Half Square Triangles.  There are two half square triangles in the center of this star.

 

 

6. Flying Geese: while all the variable star blocks include flying geese units, I specifically added some to my center star.  

 

The center star also includes multiple half square triangles.  

 

I didn't remember to photograph just the center star, but I do have the original design that I created in EQ8.  I did change which fabrics went where slightly from the EQ8 design to the actual sewing. 

 

That got me all my blocks in the center of the quilt and 6 of the different elements, enough that I could have stopped there.  But it didn't feel finished.  So I added 

7. Friendship Star Blocks.  There are a whopping 32 Friendship Star blocks.

I am calling it Symphony of Seven Stars, because there are 7 different star blocks and it uses 7 of the specified units for the challenge.  I pieced with a brand new Schmetz needle and Aurifil thread. Almost everything was cut with my Accuquilt Go--that's my favorite method for both flying geese and half square triangles, as there are no dog ears to cut off and no trimming is necessary.   

I used 17 of the 20 fabrics in Under the Sea for the Symphony of Seven Stars, and I have an 18th picked out for the binding.  That's right, this is only a top,  (Just the 2nd time in my 7 years as an ambassador that I don't have a completed project.)  My family is in the middle of a move (we close on the new house today!) and the second I finished attaching the outermost border, I packed up my sewing machine and started packing my sewing space.  Quilting and binding will need to wait until after our move. In addition to most of the Under the Sea fabrics, I used Moo Milk for the background a just a touch of Lavender for accents in around the center star; both are part of Island Batik's always-available Foundations collections.  

Kim of Chatterbox Quilts is also sewing with Under the Sea; be sure to hop on over and see what she came up with.  And if you missed any stops on the Timeless Traditions blog hop tour, be sure and check them all out.  This has been a particularly good challenge for Ambassadors' creativity!