Welcome! It's time to Beat the Heat with Island Batik, and today is my day to post the project I made using the "secret" fabrics I received in my first Island Batik Ambassador Box in 2019. The line I received is called
Enchanted Forest, and it is truly enchanting! And the colors definitely make me think of a cool green forest with light dappling in between the leaves.
Aren't the colors so beautiful? Right away I knew exactly what I wanted to make with these lovely fabrics...a quilt for our guest room. This room features a light green carpet, orchid walls and plum trim - courtesy of our youngest daughter and her decorating before she left home. I rather like the colors, so they are staying. Anyway, you can see that they will look wonderful in there. Now all I needed was an idea for a design. And it didn't take very long for me to decide to make a new version of a project I designed several years ago - a sampler style quilt that I've taught as beginner's class.
I had such fun deciding where to place all of the lovely fabrics in my design! I call this a sampler style quilt because it uses several different blocks, but there is a definite pattern to the way everything is put together, so it has a lovely effect that is a bit different than your usual sampler.
The Almond neutral that I received was absolutely perfect for the background. As you can see, it really allows the colors to shine! I found a spot for each and every fabric in this bundle, and they all look so gorgeous!
I really do love every inch of this quilt, from the chunky dresden plate blocks to the petite 9 patch cornerstones. I squeezed every smidge I could out of that purple I used for the inner border! If you love this quilt as much as I do, the
pattern is available in my Etsy shop!
I think the biggest challenge of this project was to get a full picture of this large size quilt - it measures 92 x 92 inches square. I used the Hobbs Bleached cotton batting I received in my first box, and it was great to work with, it has a nice loft, and the white really kept the colors of my quilt looking nice and crisp.
I used the rental longarm at Threads That Bind to quilt this in a pattern called Periwinkle. It features flowers and swirls, and I thought it was perfect for the lovely designs in the fabric. I used a lovely lilac colored thread, which is so pretty.
I had to settle for pictures in my backyard, but if I had a bit more time I definitely would have attempted to make a road trip and take some fun pictures at a fun theme park near Salem, Oregon, which is also called the Enchanted Forest - wouldn't it have been pretty taken with this castle? What I wouldn't give for the opportunity for that photo op!
Anyway, every time we drive past I'll definitely think of these lovely fabrics now!
If you would like to make your own version of this quillt, my pattern is available on Etsy as a pdf
or a printed copy:
Stepping Stones Quilt pattern
Make sure you go see what Kathleen did with her bundle of Enchanted Forest! It's gorgeous, too - and she is giving away some 2 1/2 strips from the collection.
If you haven't visited the Island Batik Blog yet, you need to head there, check out the rest of this weeks participants and enter the giveaway there:
Thanks for reading my post!
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