Birthday Prisms with Reflections

 I received the Reflections collection from Island Batik for this challenge.  I had a hard time coming up with a holiday for it!  I finally decided that this is a great collection to celebrate a birthday, which is definitely a holiday to be celebrated in my opinion!  

I made this quilt for a friend who is celebrating a birthday this month, and I hope it brightens up her day.  I received the fabric and other supplies used for this challenge as part of the Island Batik Ambassador program!

Reflections features some lovely pinks, blues, purples and greens!  This line was designed by Kathy Engle as a signature collections for Jennifer Fulton of The Inquiring Quilter.  So beautiful! 

 I decided that it was time to learn how to paper piece with freezer paper for this challenge.  I was sorting through some old magazines one evening and was excited to find the Pieced Prisms pattern - which was exactly what I pictured making with these fabrics!  (In the Feb 2021 edition of American Patchwork and Quilting, if you are interested.)

The prism block is easy paper piecing, two templates with just two seams on each one.  I watched a couple of YouTube videos on the technique and got my templates traced.  I loved using my Oliso Smart Iron on this project!  It gets nice and hot, so the freezer paper sticks quite well!  It also has that nice pointy end which allows you to press close to the stitching line, which was nice.  One of the first things I found out was that if you make an error and have to take out your seam, it's super nice that you don't destroy your template!  

I also liked the fact that I could see where I was sewing because the freezer paper gets folded back so you are just stitching a regular seam.  That really helped, and it was nice that I could use my fabric clips to hold the fabrics together.  It really made the process so much easier!  I was able to easily use each template 5 or 6 times, so I didn't have to trace a ton of them.  I used Aurifil thread (50wt) and new Schmetz size 12 needle.  Since I wasn't stitching through the paper, I'll be able to use this needle to continue stitching my next project, too!  I used several purples from Aurifil, using up those partial bobbins sitting in my drawer!

When I got my prisms done, I started on the four patches for the alternate blocks.  

Things were going great until I started to clip them apart and then this happened:

I guess my scissors were sharper than I thought they were!  A follower on my Instagram page nicely suggested a thread cutter that uses a rotary blade, and when I made my first order as a Missouri Quilt Star Company affiliate, I got one!  Next time I do chain piecing I won't have to worry about snipping my fabric.  (This is the Quick Cut Thread Cutter - remember, you get a 20% discount and I get a small commission when you use my affiliate link.)

After replacing that snipped piece, the rest of the sewing went without problems, I am happy to say!

My next decision was what to use for the inner border.  I was provided with enough of the Reflections fabric in deep purple for the border, but wanted an inner border that would set off the center.  I really liked this green.

But I equally liked the blue!  So I asked around and found out that the recipient's favorite color is blue!  So that made my decision simple.

I received a package of the Heirloom 80/20 bleached white by Hobbs Batting and it was perfect for this quilt with so much white!  I love that Hobbs makes such a great variety of battings, you can always find the right one for your project.  I used Island Batik's Blender:  Dot-sky for the backing.

I opted for simply quilting this one with straight lines - it was quick to finish, and hopefully the recipient will not think it's too fancy to use!  I chose another darker blue for the binding (I think it's Ocean).  

Like the prisms in the movie Polyanna, I hope this quilt will bring joy and happiness to my friend, Andie!  She is a very sweet lady, and I am glad I can bless her with something to enjoy for her special day.

Don't forget to check out Sarah Pitcher, Pitcher’s Boutique LLC to see what she makes with this gorgeous collection as well!  Yardage is shipping to shops near you soon, keep your eyes out for you!

Thanks to the sponsors of this project:

Island Batik

Aurifil Thread

Schmetz Needles

Hobbs Batting

Oliso Smart Iron

I'm giving away two packages of 5 inch squares cut from my extra fabric from the Reflections collection.  You can enter to win them on the Rafflecopter widget below!

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