Thursday, September 19, 2024

Adventurous Applique - Island Batik Ambassador Challenge for October

 This month's Island Batik Ambassador was an interesting one - we were tasked with creating a project using the applique technique used in the Full Bloom quilt by 4th and 6th design.  This is a great project to highlight the beautiful Aurifil thread and new fabrics we received in our Ambassador boxes!  



Truthfully, I don't typically enjoy applique, I'm more of a piecer, but I am always game to learn something new, so I gathered all the things I would need to try out this technique.  I watched a video, and it seemed pretty simple, so I was encouraged to jump in with both feet!


I received the lovely Geometrica collection designed by Jerry Khiev - love the colors and the fun geometric designs!  (You can purchase this at Mill End Store and Creekside Quilts here in Oregon!)  It was fun to lay them all out and start dreaming about how to put my quilt together.


I used some flowers and a butterfly from EQ8 - there were so many choices!  I really love how easy it is to make the blocks the size you want them to be.  I made most of my blocks 12 inches, but did make one flower larger at 18 inches.


It was a little tricky to remember to put the freezer paper on the right side of my fabric!  Luckily, with batik it often doesn't matter much which side you use!  After ironing the templates on and cutting them out the next step is to use glue to attach your templates to the background.  This was a little sticky at times, but worked great to secure the pieces.  So far so good!


After everything is ironed and glued down, it's time to choose thread!  Aurifil provided me with some nice choices that worked so well with my fabrics!  These small spools are so great for a project like this!
I used a size 12 Schmetz Microtex needle, and it worked perfectly!  No sticking or shredding at all!



See how nicely the stitching accentuated the edges of the pieces?  It's super simple to go back and forth, building up a nice layer of thread for the outline.  It doesn't matter if you get a little messy - and it looks great!  The stabalizer on the back keeps puckering at a minimum.  For my machine, I found that using my normal straight stitch foot worked best - I did get more puckering when using my free motion foot when I tried it.  I think the thick stitching almost looks like a narrow cord around the pieces.

After finishing my blocks, I set to work cutting out 6 inch squares to add to my design and bring it up to a lap size.


I thought it was pretty, but it needed a border to pull it all together.


The Oliso iron I received was perfect to use with the Fusible batting by Hobbs!  Nice and hot so it gets everything fused the first time!  This batting is definitely a favorite of mine - it's so nice to not have to baste with pins.



For the quilting I did wavy lines with my walking foot across the width of the quilt.  I like how it doesn't stand out, even using the 40 weight teal thread from Aurifil!


For the back I used squares of the fabric - so it's a two sided quilt!


Here's a good shot so you can see the stitching - so pretty!  I love this method of raw edge applique and will definitely use it again.  Glue basting was a neat technique to discover, and I hear it works great for attaching binding as well.  The tear away stabilizer really improved the look of the applique as well and kept it from puckering.  So, I learned a lot from this challenge and discovered some great products that I'll use again in the future.  And I made a lovely quilt!


Thanks so much to Island Batik, Aurifil Thread, Hobbs Batting, Oliso, and Schmetz needles for the wonderful products I was able to use for this challenge!

Make sure you visit MaryMackMadeMine and Pink Tulip Quilting to see what they made with this gorgeous collection!

This is the final day for the blog post, I hope you will go check out the other great projects by the 2024 Island Batik Ambassadors!


Sunday, September 01, 2024

Welcome, September!

 It's September, fall is just around the corner, and it's time for another Island Batik Ambassador Blog Hop!  This month all of the Island Batik Ambassadors will be showcasing the newest collections of fabric coming to quilt shops using the innovative applique technique made popular by Barbara Persing in her Full Bloom Quilt.  I'm looking forward to trying this out (my quilt will be shown on the last day of the hop, so I haven't actually started yet).


The blog hop starts on Tuesday, so here is the schedule for the week:


September 3:

September 4:

September 5:



As always there is a weekly giveaway from Island Batik and many of the ambassadors will offer giveaways as well, so if you want to win some free fabric, make sure you hop along with us!  This week's giveaway has already started, so here are the details:



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure to watch my Instagram and Facebook accounts for some sneak peeks at my project!  Off to the sewing room to get started now!

Friday, August 30, 2024

August Magnificent Mini Challenge for Island Batik

 It's been a great month, and I have been having a blast working on this month's Island Batik Ambassador challenge - super exciting when I get to do a mini quilt!  I am absolutely in love with miniature quilts, and have spent much happy time in my sewing room creating this month's challenge! As always the fabrics and notions used in this post were provided as part of the Island Batik Ambassador program.

The parameters for this challenge were to create a mini quilt using any technique and no larger than 24 x 24.  I thought it would be fun to revisit my June Mini Madness quilt from 2020 and make it in these fun soft colors!  


Tranquil Moments was designed by Carol Moellers - I really enjoyed playing with these soft colors, they make me think of sherbet!  Perfect for a hot summer day!  I also used a stack of Naturally Neutral for the backgrounds, I like using a variety of backgrounds in a quilt and these worked great for that!  Tranquil Moments Stacks are available at Ace Sewing and Vacuum here in Oregon!



I designed June Mini Madness back in 2020 as a summer distraction, and it was really fun!  The blocks start out fairly simple, like this four-patch.


They are all nine patch blocks, and they get a little more difficult step by step!  This churn dash is a favorite of mine!


Some blocks are pretty tricky!  But they are oh so cute!  Using a good thread like Aurifil 50 weight and a size 12 Schmetz needle really help those seams to be accurate to keep your points nice and pointy!


And my iron from Oliso really helps with pressing the seams nice and flat - I love the pointy tip for getting those seams just perfect!


By the end, you will have built the skills to make lots of classic quilt blocks in a small size!  


Once the sashing and cornerstones are added it makes an impressive display of piecing skills!  I decided to keep this one in order of piecing because I liked seeing the progression of skills!


Hobbs Thermore batting is a great choice for mini quilts as it is a thin and lightweight batting that isn't too bulky, but gives your quilt a soft feel. It's really the perfect batting for a quilt when you want to minimize bulk.


All basted and ready for the quilting!  I decided to use the same dove grey 50 wt from Aurifil that I used for the piecing.  In fact I used the same Schmetz needle as well and just changed to my walking foot for the quilting.  I've been liking a tight grid on the diagonal for quilting mini quilts lately, and started out doing that, but as I worked on the quilting I decided that this would be a cute doll quilt to give my grand-daughter for her fourth birthday.  So I didn't do as much quilting as I would if I were going to display it on my wall.  I think it will be so cute for her!


 So sweet!  I think she will love it!  It measures 20 x 24, a perfect size to snuggle on a baby doll or stuffed bear!


And the colors just make me smile!


I think Scamper likes it, too!  Maybe he might snuggle in there with Teddy!  

Thanks to Island Batik for the beautiful fabrics, Hobbs Quilt Batting for the Thermore batting, Aurifil for the thread, Schmetz for the needles, and Oliso for the wonderful iron!  

Visit the rest of the ambassadors to see their mini projects for this month!  So many different projects, every one of them just amazing!  Next week we start our Adventurous Applique Blog hop - stay tuned for great projects, giveaways, and lots of fun as we explore a new technique for applique!

 Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs

Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting

Megan Best ~ BestQuilter

Pamela Boatright ~ You are here!

Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts Studio

Brittany Fisher ~ Bobbin with Brittany

Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts

Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts

Jane Hauprich ~ Stitch by Stitch Custom Quilting

Kim Jamieson-Hirst ~ Chatterbox Quilts

Victoria Johnson ~ Forever Quilting for You

Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs

Connie Kresin Campbell ~ Freemotion by the River

Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood

Denise Looney ~ A Quiltery

Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights

Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack Made Mine

Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion

Sarah Pitcher ~ Pitcher’s Boutique

Lana Russel ~ Lana Quilts

Julia Schweri ~ Inflorescence Designs

Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail

Carol Stanek ~ Stitch with Color

Sandra Starley ~ Textile Time Travels

Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations

Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt