Welcome! Today I get to show off the quilt I made for the Tool Craze Blog hop! I love it! This quilt was made using the beautiful Let It Snow fabric line designed by Kathy Engle and the Studio 180 Designs Rapid Fire Lemoyne Star ruler (plus more!) I also used Aurifil Thread, Schmetz Needles and Hobbs batting, which were all supplied to me as part of the Island Batik Ambasador program. (Make sure you read all the way to the end of my post for an opportunity to win some of this fabric!)
The fabric I received from Island Batik is Let It Snow - a pretty wintery blue and white mix of fabric with snowflakes, reindeer, holly leaves and swirls! Since I love blue, I was delighted with the selection!
Believe me, it's even prettier in person! I love the variety of blues in this collection, from deep dark blue, to snow white with pale blue dots. And two 2 yard pieces from the collection as well!
The ruler I received is the Rapid Fire Lemoyne Star. I was excited to try it - Lemoyne stars without set in seams sounded like a great thing to me! I've made plenty of them the traditional way, and it is very fussy and a bit tedious as well!
I designed my quilt using the EQ8 design software. They actually have this block included in their standard blocks, so that made it easy! I thought it would be neat to divide my background for the blocks into light and dark sides as an additional design element. I used five 12 inch blocks, then added six inch blocks into a square in a square setting so I could use my large Square Squared ruler as well!
I like that EQ8 allows you to print out your fabric yardage, it's a big help! It was interesting trying to organize all my fabric, but with the printouts I was able to keep things organized.
I started out by making my small square in a square units for the outer border. I just had to fussy cut the reindeer, they were the perfect size to fit into my squares! I used eight of the fabrics for this border - it was perfect for getting a nice shaded effect! I used a pale blue 50 weight Aurifil thread for the pieceing. I love how nicely it works for piecing, it's all I use! I think it helps me to get accurate seams because it's so nice and fine. I put in a new Microtex 80/12 needle from Schmetz. The Microtex needles are great for sewing with Batik fabrics because they have a super sharp point! They hold up really well too - I get a lot of use out of each needle!
Now I was ready to tackle those Lemoyne Stars. I would definitely recommend making a few practice blocks with this ruler - it's a bit tricky, especially if you are using two background fabrics, but with a bit of practice you are ready to create blocks in a jiffy!
I started with the 6 inch blocks - look how the seams all come together! It sure makes sewing these fast and easy!
So pretty! Now on to the 12 inch blocks!
They came together so fast! No wonder they call it a Rapid Fire ruler! Now to finish up with the rest of the borders.
And voila! A finished top, waiting to be quilted! Plus a few bonus practice stars that will become mug rugs sometime soon! (Practice blocks really are a good idea, you know!) I'm calling this quilt Snow Dazed.
I had so much fun with the 6 and 12 inch blocks, I thought I would try out the 3 inch size! So cute! This is one of the things I love about the Studio 180 Designs rulers - they always make it possible to make blocks in a range of sizes - I love mini quilts, so this is an option I love!
And I discovered that trimming these up was easy as pie with the Studio 180 Designs Tucher Trimmer! I had forgotten how handy this ruler is! The diagonal lines are so helpful for making sure your block is properly squared before trimming. I had so much fun, I made three more blocks and decided to make a mini quilt out of them.
Would you believe I managed to use all 20 fabrics in this little quilt? Three are on the back, but I used them all! It finished at 13 x 13 inches.
I used Aurifil thread in a medium blue, and quilted this in straight lines with my walking foot. I think it took me all of 20 minutes to finish the quilting - one good reason to love making mini quilts!
Back to the main quilt! I quilted it on the rental longarm at work. I guess I did a pretty good job, but you really can't see the quilting much. I used a throw size Tuscany Cotton Wool Blend Batting from Hobbs Batting. I received this in a previous Ambassador box, and was happy I finally had a quilt the right size for it! It's a great batting, very soft, and is supposed to resist creasing. That will be nice for a seasonal quit, I think!
The quilting design is Fresh Snow by Urban Elementz. It's nice and swirly - I love swirly quilting!
I used the large pieces for the backing. Isn't the dark blue reindeer print stunning? I even managed to get the reindeer all right side up! Though I did have to reload the back on the longarm to accomplish it, I am really glad I realized my mistake before I started quilting!
It was wonderful to have a sunny day for my photo session, too. That was definitely a win in my book, especially after the last few rainy months! Looks like the only snow we'll be seeing for a while is in this fabric! That's a good thing for sure! Snowdazed finished at 52 x 52 inches.
Where to buy these beautiful fabrics?
Over the next few months, Let It Snow will be shipping to so many shops! Not every shop will carry all the fabrics, but they will all have at least a bolt or two and they will be arriving throughout the summer! It's a long list, but there are some cute shops here if you want to check them out!
B&F Variety SD
Cotton Weeds ME
D & D Sewing NH
Fab Fabrics UT
Gruber's MN
Options TX
Quilt Passions-CA
Quiltex Inc ONTARIO
Sew Inspired CT
Sew Storm SD
Topstitchery WI
Giveaway Time!
I have some scraps, plus some 5 inch squares I cut from the leftover fabric that I would like to give away to a lucky winner!
Make sure you visit Brittany Fisher at Bobbin with Brittany to see what she made with this collection!
