Welcome to my day for the Inspired by Nature Blog hop with the Island Batik Ambassadors!
I immediately had an inspiration when I read the guideline for this challenge - "What in nature inspires you: flowers, insects, animals, trees, the ocean, the sky? There are so many places to find the inspiration you need for this challenge!" There is definitely so much to be inspired at this time of year, with the beautiful earthy colors of fall, along with the ever changing weather - wind, rain and frosty mornings. Fall is definitley my favorite time of year!
I've been so excited about this project - it's always so much fun when you have the perfect project in mind for a set of fabric. And I am so thrilled that it came out exactly like I pictured it! All of the products I used in this quilt were provided to me as part of the Island Batik Ambassador program, and I will give you the details as I tell you about what I created! First of all - the fabric:
This line is Tread Brightly designed by Bella Nonna Design studio for Island Batik. Just look at all the awesome color in this line! So fun! I just love those woodcut prints, and the dots. If you look at the previous fabrics from Bella Nonna Design Studio, you'll see more of the rich colors and fun designs. I really was drawn to these even thought they aren't my usual type of choice for working with. Tread Brightly is part of the summer collections by Island Batik that are shipping to quilt shops right now.
I can see so many of the colors of the fabrics I was working with in these colors that my daughter and I collected on a nature walk!
I went to EQ8 to find a project that I had made several years ago - Autumn Winds. It was super easy to make it the size I wanted to work with - the center is 24 x 36 with the border. I printed full size applique templates, and after piecing together 12 sheets of paper I had my pattern to work with and started putting together the center. One good tip is that when you are working with larger pieces of applique, cut out the center so you can reduce the stiffness of your work. I chose the lightest fabric in the collection for my face, and this fun stripe for the background. The bonus is that you can use those center portions for your smaller pieces.
Very nice start, but I think she needs a crown of flowers and some leaves blowing in the wind to complete this piece. EQ8 has lots of great flower and leaf motifs, so I pulled a variety, printed them out at the size I wanted and traced them onto the fusible web, then had fun choosing fabrics for them!
As I unwrapped the batting, I noticed a slight smell - kind of like vinegar, but it quickly faded. I also noted that the batting had a bit of a tacky feel, and I had to work a bit to unroll it, but it really wasn't a problem. I cut the batting just a bit bigger that my top so it would be a little smaller than the backing to make it easier to press.
I added a bunch of inspiration pins to my board on pinterest - so many cool examples of flower crowns! I could do a whole series of quilts just playing with this theme! And I'm tempted to buy a flower crown for myself to wear, too!
You can see how well the fusible batting performed - not one single pucker or wrinkle on the back!
After getting the basic center done I added this lime green border to frame it! I used EQ8 to audition several pieced borders to showcase all of the lovely fabrics, and in the end decided to keep it simple with strip pieced sixteen patch blocks. I decided to use the gray solid as a background, to add a little touch of our rainy fall days to the quilt.
I should have taken more pictures, but I got so into working on my quilt that I didn't even think about it until I had made my final choices of placement! Well, as you know, making the top is just getting half way done I still had the quiting to go. For this piece I decided to try out the fusible batting that Hobbs Batting included in the second Ambasador box that I received. I was curious to see how the batting would work - I had used a fusible batting years ago, and I was really hoping to find that the Hobbs version would be better. And it definitely was!
It was pleased at how easy it was to work with this batting. I just used my regular ironing board and started at one end, working my way carefully to the other end, then moved the sandwich up to press the next area. I had to press with the iron for about 10 seconds to get a good bond on both sides, even so it probably only took me about 15 minutes to press the entire quilt. I was super happy to see that the back looked great when I was done, too! I did have to repress the edges from the back, and when I started quilting I decided to start out with stitching around the edges just to make sure I didn't have any problems.
When I saw how easily that was accomplished I decided to add some straight stitching to the border while I was at it, and I discovered that I love this batting because I got none of those annoying puckers, and everything stayed perfectly straight! It also did not make my quilt feel stiff at all. I suspected at the beginning that I might have to re-press at some point, but I didn't. I'll definitely keep this batting in mind for future projects, especially if I'm going to be doing cross hatching. It stitched very well when doing the free motion as well and I can't say that the finished feeling isn't any different than regular batting, so definitely a win for the fusible cotton batting!
For the center of the quilt, most of the quilting consisted of quilting around the appliques. I am very grateful for my stash of Aurifil thread because I was able to find a thread for every color in this quilt!. I do wish I would have remembered to cut out the centers of the layered flowers because it's pretty stiff in that area, but since this will be a wall hanging it's ok.
I used the nonstick needles by Schmetz, and I do think that they reduced the amount of skipped stitches and broken threads. I easily stitched through one or two layers of fusible, but did struggle a bit through the thicker portions. Still a vast improvement over the usual stitching on fusible, though so I am happy with them! Don't forget to change your needle when you start a new project - it really does make a difference in your stitching....
After binding my quilt with the lime green I took it outside for a photo shoot - the sun was starting to go down and was so gorgeous on my tree! Luckily the wind wasn't blowing at the time, but I think this quit really captures how I feel on a gorgeous fall day when the wind is blowing and the leaves are falling from the trees - all the wonderful color and smells make my soul soar!
I love how the colors mix and match with each other!
This was such a fun quilt to work on. It was so enjoyable to just play with the colors and do something whimsical! I hope you enjoy my quilt, too! Autumn Winds finished at 48 inches wide and 36 inches tall.
I cut some of my leftover fabric up into five inch squares and I have two sets to give away. Each set has two each of 19 fabrics (I used up all the background fabric, so can't share that).
Don't forget to visit Michelle Roberts at Creative Blonde to see her project using these great fabrics!
Here is the rest of the schedule for this week, followed by the Island Batik Giveaway for the week:
November 23:
- Connie Kauffman, Kauffman Designs
- Suzy Webster, Websterquilt
November 24:
- Pamela Boatright, PamelaQuilts
- Michelle Roberts, Creative Blonde
November 25:
- Vasudha Govindan, Storied Quilts
- Leah Malasky, Quilted Delights
November 26:
- Sally Manke, Sally Manke Fiber Artist
- Gail Renna, Quilt Haven Threads
November 27:
End of Blog Hop and Round-Up
Last, but not least - a big Thank You to Island Batik, Hobbs Batting, Schmetz Needles, and Aurifil Thread for the fantastic products used to make this challenge quilt! I loved working with them and am so happy with my finished quilt!
I am thankful for being able to be an Island Batik Ambassador - what a fun year 2020 has been - one more challenge, and our year will be coming to a close! Can't wait to share what I'm working on, and I'll be giving you a chance to join in with my Winter Mini Madness as well...stay tuned for more info this weekend!
