Saturday Surprise- Island Batik box 2

I knew it was coming but expected it a few days later....

As an Island Batik Ambassador- each year we get two boxes of beautiful fabrics to work with.  I knew that this second box had been shipped, but didn't expect it until Monday. So....I thought it would be great to do up a bushel of apples into applesauce on Saturday so I would be free to dive into the fabrics on Monday when they came.

Well....I was up to my elbows in applesauce when the box arrived on Saturday!

Yumm!  Can you smell it?  I used Lodi apples and it came out so creamy and delicious!  Lucky for me - I had a few minutes while the next batch was cooking so that I could open my box.  I just couldn't wait to see what was inside!

This is just a quick sneak peak.  The bundles inside are from some of the newest lines that won't be out until later this fall.  On top is a light neutral that I just love- I use a lot of neutrals.  The dark navy print is actually a rayon.  Island Batik also make beautiful rayons- you can see them on their website.  This is enough to make some kind of a top.  I haven't made clothing in awhile, so this will be another challenge.  Once again Island Batik sent fabrics in colors that I especially love.

I'll share more about all these beautiful fabrics in future posts.  Meanwhile- you might want to search out some Island Batik fabrics at your local shops and select some of your favorite colors to create with!

July - Oh Baby Island Batik Challenge

The July challenge for the Island Batik Ambassadors was to make some kind of a baby quilt.  What a great challenge!  Who doesn't like to make baby quilts!

Once again, my mind was spinning with what to make with the fabrics I'd been given.  I wanted to do something with a lot of color, so I went to some of the small strip pieces we'd been given.  They were about 3" x 10".   That gave me some nice color.  I should have taken a photo of the colorful strips- but I jumped into cutting before I thought about it.  I cut the blocks 3" x 3".

What pattern to use?  I usually make baby quilts that look very cute and baby-ish.  This time I was still thinking about the modern challenge we had a couple months ago, and thought maybe I'd do something with squares and with more of a modern look.

Have you ever gotten ideas in your head that don't go away?  When we had the modern challenge, there were all sorts of patterns I thought about using.  Then we had the curves challenge and all I could think about were curves - ha!  This baby quilt let me use one of the modern patterns that I liked.

Here is a photo of the finished quilt - with a little friend.

The quilt measures 37" x 37".  This quilt was different for me as I didn't start with a pattern.  I started with the colored block size and went from there.  I used a yellow  batik called Swirl Leaf - Blond Ale  from the Twilight Blush collection for the sashings, center squares, backing and binding.

It usually takes me awhile to decide how to quilt, but this time I knew from the start that I wanted to use straight cross hatching.  I used a nice Blendable thread from Sulky. - 4126 for the quilting.  You can't really see it from the photo, but it picked up the colors in the blocks, and looked nice on the back too.

This is a great quilt for using scrap blocks.  It goes together easily.  

Do you need a quick baby quilt?  Give it a try!

Quilt Garden Quilt- quilting with rulers

In my post a week ago, I showed you the local quilt garden and my quilt Crossroads that goes with this years garden block.

I wanted to show you some of the quilting that is on the quilt.  I used some of the new Westalee Rulers for domestic machines.  They are SO wonderful- I can't say enough about them.  I was able to do a variety of quilting designs using them on this quilt and they make quilting so lovely and SO much easier!

Here is a photo of the feathering done on the green fabric- it is very hard to see, but looks very nice.  I used the feather and straight ruler for this area.

Here is a photo of the corner blocks where I used a circle ruler.  These turned out great.  I added a small button to the center for embellishment.

The red area was fun using circle rulers and large arc rulers.  The Spin-E-Fex Ruler No. 4 worked perfectly in the yellow center.

If anyone is interested in learning to do machine quilting on a domestic machine using rulers, be sure and check out the Ruler Foot and Westalee Rulers at SewSteady.com 

McCall's Quilting- Guest Blogger

Today I'm a guest blogger with McCall's Quilting Editors Blog.  Check it out at:
http://www.mccallsquilting.com/blogs/blog/2017/07/13/16975/#more-16975
and be sure to enter the drawing for a strip pack of the lovely Island Batik Surf & Sand fabrics.

McCall's Quick Quilts - Waterway

My quilt Waterway has been published in the Aug/Sept 2017 issue of McCall's Quick Quilts.

The cool refreshing look of this quilt comes from the Surf & Sand fabrics by Island Batik.  I especially loved the focus fabric that had the blue/green curvy lines that looked like seaweed in motion.  I quilted along those lines which made the quilting fast and easy.

You can find more info on the quilt and purchase a digital copy at McCall's Quick Quilting.

McCall's has provided two sample issues as a give-a-way.  Just leave a comment below to be entered. USA residents only please.

2017 Quilt Garden and Quilt

It's summertime and time for another beautiful quilt garden and garden quilt.  Nappanee IN is part of The Quilt Gardens Along the Heritage Trail in Elkhart County IN.  This year is the 10th Anniversary of the Quilt Garden Tours.  There are 19 gardens on the tour along with garden murals in many spots.

I've helped to plant the gardens for several years and also design and make a quilt each year with the garden block highlighted in the center of the quilt.

The garden in Nappanee this year was a quilt block with no name, so they called it Crossroads.

The symbolism is that it portrays the two highways that go thru our town (US 6  and St Rd 19).

The directional sign in the center of the garden shows the distances from this location to the other towns in the county that also have gardens on the tour.  This garden is very unusal this year as the color comes from non- flowering plants!  I'm sure this is a first!

This year the tour also includes 56 life-size sculptures by Seward Johnson.  You can find out more about all these sculptures at:  www.EpicArtAdventures.com These sculptures are wonderful and our garden is graced by one of the smaller sculptures called There, Now You Can Grow.

Isn't she adorable!  I'm sure she will take good care of our garden this summer!

Here is a photo of the quilt that accompanies the garden.  It is hanging in the Nappanee Center next door.  Be sure to stop in and see the museum and several quilts from past gardens.