It's time for my monthly Island Batik Ambassador post - the products I used for this project were provided to me by the Island Batik Ambassador program and as part of the Missouri Star Quilt Company Affiliate program.
This month's Island Batik Ambassador Challenge was a very gratifying one - have you heard of Sleep in Heavenly Peace? Deb Tucker's Studio 180 Design has begun an initiative to provide a quilt for each bed that is delivered - isn't that a fantastic idea? I am happy to be a part of providing bedding for a child to have a good night's rest! Make sure you read to the end of this post, because you can download a free pattern to make a quilt of your own to donate!
It's called Quilts Across America, and I encourage you to visit that link to find out more about how you can get involved. Each of the Island Batik Ambassadors is making a quilt to donate this month, which I love! We each received a tool from Studio 180 Design, plus could use any of the fabric and batting in our first Ambassador box for this task. I chose to go scrappy and was able to use strips from the Stashbuilder rolls for my project! The neutral is Almond, plus I used the solid gray to add a little more dimension.
The tool I received from Studio 180 designs is the
V Block. This is one of my favorite units in quilt design, so I was excited to work with this great tool. I wanted to make 12 inch blocks for my quilt, and I discovered that starting with a 5 inch strip was the perfect size to make the units the size I wanted. As you can see, I had a number of Stashbuilder rolls with bright green, yellow, orange, and purple. I added some strips of blue and was all set to make a fun and bright quilt!
I found the V Block ruler to be very simple to use - as with the rest of the Studio 180 design tools, the pieces are cut oversized so you can trim the blocks to perfection. And they are perfect, plus easy to sew as you don't have to be overly fussy about lining things up when you sew. Of course, I used my favorite
Aurifil 50 weight thread, and a new
Schmetz 12 microtex needle for the piecing!
I decided to use my colors in a random and scrappy way. These are such happy colors!
It was sure nice to have my new
Oliso iron! It pressed all those seams as sharp and smooth as can be! It gets nice and hot, plus the automatic lift makes it lots easier on my wrist because I don't have to set the iron on its heel every time I press. Got to watch out for those joints, you know...
To you see how nice and sharp those points are? The V Block tool really is terrific for making these units. I used four patch units for the corners and center of this block, putting the light gray in the corners.
The next step was to make half square triangles. I paired them with the gray background as well.
I tried out my new scissors from
Missouri Star Quilt company to trim the dog ears, and they are terrific! (Use the affiliate link here or on my sidebar to save 20% on an order of $50 or more - plus I earn a small commission)
The moment of truth, how are these colorful blocks going to sew together? I wasn't sure if it would be chaos or joy...
I think it's pure radiant joy! I love the bright colors mixed up in a happy jumble!
I chose the
Poly Down batting provided by Hobbs. This is a great batting for quilts that will be well used and laundered. Plus it's super soft and snuggly, perfect for a bed quilt!
I always like to get a basting picture! I decided to quilt this in an overall swirl with white thread.
I had one more roll of strips, so I decided to use them to make a scrappy binding to match the quilt!
This quilt came out to be quite a colorful and fun creation - I love it!
The Shoo-Fly block and the 54-40 or Fight block together make a wonderful circular design. I'm calling this Radiant Chain. I have created a free pattern for you to use if you would like to make a project to donate! I only request that you not make multiple copies to share, but instead refer people to my site to download the pattern for themselves. Thank you so much!
I hope you have enjoyed this project! I surely enjoyed making it and am excited to send it out for donation. I hope the child that receives this quilt sleeps well and has happy dreams!
Thank you to Island Batik for the lovely fabrics, Studio 180 Designs for the
V block ruler,
Oliso for the great iron, and
Hobbs Batting for the lovely Poly Down batting. Thanks to
Aurifil thread as well as
Schmetz needles as well, they are truly my sewing room staples! And to Missouri Star Quilt Company for the lovely scissors! I am truly blessed by being a part of the Island Batik Ambassador program!
3 comments:
Beautiful Quilt . . .
Beautiful and so very happy! Plus I love curvy quilts, especially when you don't have to sew actual curves. Have a great day.
What a fabulous quilt! Happy 4th of July!
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