Friday, September 28, 2018

Rainbow Corona - Starstruck Challenge for Island Batik

Yes, it's time for another Island Batik challenge!  One of the perks of being an Ambassador is getting to make a project each month with the wonderful fabrics they provide. I really do love the challenge of coming up with a project for the them we are challenged with.  I feel like it stretches my creativity immensely.

This months challenge was to create any size quilt with a star on it.  I love stars, so it wasn't too hard to come up with an idea, but it was a little difficult to squeeze in the time to work on my project.  But I did manage to set aside last weekend and come up with a nice quilt.

I broke out the Paisley dot stack, and paired it with a half yard of my current favorite color - Blueberry!
I went with the top one for my background and the bottom one for the binding.
I picked out pairs of fabric and a bit of yellow for my stars.  Can you tell how small these pieces are?  I decided to make this project a mini quilt.  I decided to give the Aurifil 80 wt thread a try for machine piecing, it worked great for quilting my last mini, so I thought it might be a winner for the piecing as well.

Each of these little units only measures 1 1/2 inches after trimming the dog ears.  So cute!

I had originally planned to add a dark border, but when I tried this fabric, I loved the way the colors echo the stars!  I think this is TieDye in the Paisley Dot line.  I managed to get enough out of a 10 inch square for the borders, and have a bit left over.

One of the best things about mini quilts is....it doesn't take much time to quilt them!  I did a little stitch in the ditch in the stars, loops in the background, then swirls in the border.  I used both 80 wt and 50 wt threads from Aurifil for the quilting, and a scrap of Hobbs wool for the batting.

Close up of the back.  Aurifil 80 wt worked perfectly in the bobbin.

I love it with this cute bowl I found in a shop at the mall earlier this month.
I really am happy with that pop of yellow, and I'm glad I only used it for the inner part of the blocks.

Rainbow Corona measures 11 inches square.  Now to put a hanging sleeve on it and figure out where I want to hang it!

If you would like to purchase the pattern to create your own mini, I have it available in my Etsy Shop:

Rainbow Corona Mini Quilt Pattern


Have you ever made a mini?  I really enjoy making and collecting them. Right now I am putting sleeves on all of my mini quilts so I can hang them properly instead of sticking pins in the corners.  I'll have to post a picture when I get that project finished.

Have a terrific Saturday!

9 comments:

Lisa England said...

It's beautiful! I love the way the stars pop on the gorgeous blueberry fabric. Yes, I make minis sometimes. I have a whole collection hanging on my sewing room wall. They are such fun and satisfying projects to make.

MooseCarol said...

Wonderful!

Anita said...

Beautiful mini!

teachpany said...

Love it! So cute, and so small. I just can't figure out where you put the blue and orange units, with the light square in the center. Great quilting, too.

Brenda @ Songbird Designs said...

Pamela it is beautiful! I love the look of mini quilts, but making those tiny units is not my favorite thing!! Your pattern and fabrics are perfect!

Kathleen said...

WOW! Those teeny tiny pieces are impressive and it is a gorgeous mini. I am hanging mine with those "3M command spring clips" Love the way that works out and I can change it up if the next one is bigger. I am liking the 12" size right now.

Mania said...

Cute!

Dar said...

It’s beautiful! Do you have a pattern for this?

Emily said...

This is super cute! I had no idea it was a mini from your first picture. These are great colors together and I like the inner border; it's a nice contrast with the blues.