Lovers Kiss in Maple Island

 Being an Island Batik Ambassador is so much fun, I really enjoy the challenges and they are so generous with their boxes of fabric!  I am challenging myself this year to try to use or give away all the fabric that is sent - so I will be sharing some bonus quilts that I am making that use the current collections, but aren't part of the official challenges.  It's a great opportunity to make some new samples for my current patterns!  I loved this strip pack of Maple Island, but it didn't fit into any of the Challenge prompts so I decided that it was perfect for making a new quilt from my Lovers Kiss pattern!

I think it's my favorite one to date!  This is a great pattern for batik strips, and this Maple Island collection is so beautiful!  The background fabric is Ice and the dark green border and binding are Spinach.  I used the solid gray for the backing.  If you are interested in these fabrics, I noticed that Creekside Quilts in Oregon carries all of them!  As a matter of fact they have an amazing selection of Island Batik fabrics, so well worth checking out.  Next time I'm in the area I plan on stopping by for a visit for sure!

Lovers Kiss finishes at 58 x 74.  I used Hobbs Heirloom cotton for this one.  I meander quilted it using Aurifil Silver Fox variegated (4670).  Dark green (5012) was a great match for the Spinach when I topstitched the binding!  Schemtz Microtex 90/14 was perfect for the quilting, I had no problems with skipped stitches or breakage when quilting this one.

This quilt is available for purchase in my Quilt Shop on Etsy I think it would make a fabulous gift for Father's Day or a graduation!  

And I got a bonus project done from the leftovers!  I used my Pacifica Tote pattern to make a fun quilted tote bag with the leftovers.  I had enough leftover strips to piece two squares 18 x 15 for the sides of the tote and a square that was about 10 x 8 for the pocket. I used Ice for the lining of the bag and pocket, and Spinach for the binding and handles. I did walking foot quilting for this project, and really liked the results!  In the end I just had a couple small squares of fabric left from the strips and the Ice neutral, and less than a yard of the spinach.  I'm happy not to have a lot of leftovers to add to my bin from this one!  

I've got a couple custom projects to work on this week, but I'm itching to start something new - I have a plan, just need some time to work on it!  Still working on reducing my scraps - bit by bit!