Kauffman Designs: February 2019

Monday, February 18, 2019

Feb. Island Batik Mini Challenge

It's February and time for the first Island Batik Ambassador challenge for 2019. This month the challenge is a mini quilt of some kind using Island Batik fabrics that we received as part of the Ambassador Program.

I LOVE minis and this is about my favorite challenge. Usually I do something with paper piecing because you can do such accurate, small blocks, but this time I decided to go with raw edge applique.

I like the 6" wire stands from Ackfeld Wire and the adorable buttons from Dress It Up. I made a 6" Nativity quilt that was published in The Quilt Pattern Magazine (online magazine) last Oct. using the stand and Nativity buttons. I posted about it last Dec. You can see it here. I thought it would be fun to make a series of mini quilts that I could change out perhaps monthly.

One quilt seemed so small, so I decided to make four! The first quilt I made was from a pattern called Cool Cardinal published in American Quilter Nov 2017. I love the artist Charley Harper, and this pattern is made from one of his cardinal designs. His crisp, sleek designs could all make beautiful quilts. I was happy to see this pattern available in the magazine. Keri Duke is the pattern designer. She is the only approved quilt and applique pattern maker for Charley Harper's Modernistic designs available from The Meredith Collection, exclusive needle arts licensee of the Charley Harper Art Studio.

This mini is 6 1/2" x 6 1/2". I used scraps of Island Batik fabrics and mini frosted snowflake buttons from Dress It Up. Also a small red seed bead for the eye, and Hobbs Thermore Batting which is very thin. (Hobbs Batting was also provided to the Island Batik Ambassadors to use in our projects.) When making the mini I used the pattern from the magazine just as it was. The magazine called for enlarging the pattern 200%, but I kept it as it was printed to keep it small.

I love this mini and look forward to Keri publishing more quilt designs.

Remember I said I would make 4 mini quilts? I did! I created my own designs for the other three quilts using Island Batik fabrics and various Dress It Up Buttons, and Thermore Batting and they turned out very nice also. These three quilts have already been accepted for publication in The Quilt Pattern Magazine so I can't show them to you now - you will have to wait until they are published! I guess that leaves you with something to look forward too!

Mini quilts are so much fun. They don't require much in materials and they are quick to make. So take a break between other quilting projects and make a mini!

The winner from my last blog post contest for the March/April issue of Quiltmaker is Anonymous. Your issue is on the way! Thanks for entering.

Monday, February 11, 2019

Quiltmaker March/April 2019

My quilt Compass Points is in the March/April 2019 issue of Quiltmaker Magazine.

This quilt is made with Island Batik Fabrics called Dragonfly Dreams and white basic Island Batik. The white fabric really lets the colors pop. I like to use coordinating buttons which the magazine forgot to list in the material section, but you can easily see them in the quilt photos.

Quiltmaker gave me an extra issue to offer as a giveaway. Please comment below to be entered. USA entries only due to shipping costs.

Monday, February 4, 2019

Island Batik Ambassador 2019 - Unboxing

This year started off with the great news that I'm once again an Ambassador for Island Batik! This will be my 6th year as an Ambassador and it's hard to express what a wonderful experience this has been and continues to be. As a designer, working with these fabrics and supplies has opened up all kinds of experiences and new design possibilities.

The first year Island Batik had Ambassadors, there were about 12 of us involved. This year there are 50 Ambassadors! That's a lot of inspiration and I hope you follow along with us as we all create a new project every month with these beautiful fabrics and supplies.

The first excitement every year for the Ambassadors is getting a huge box with supplies to work with.
Here is my box from Island Batik that I received in January.

This box was heavy and filled with quilting goodness! This is what was inside-
Two packages of stash builder rolls- 5" strips of a variety of prints. So wonderful to work with!

A large package of one of their neutrals- this one is Sprinkles- one of my favorites! Also large cuts of their black, white and gray basics. I've used the black and white before and they are wonderful. When I use them with other Island Batik prints, I think the prints really pop. I haven't used the gray yet, but I look forward to trying it out. That is one reason this Ambassadorship is so wonderful - we get to try out new things all the time!

There are two surprise bundles. These fabrics will not be in shops until after Fall Quilt Market, so I can't show them yet. I will be showing them to you in a project during our August Blog Hop- so stay tuned!

Next is a bundle of half yard fabrics. These are from Island Batik's Foundations line. These are just beautiful and the foundations fabrics are available all the time. Check them all out on their website.

Also included were 5 spools of Aurifil thread. Aurifil is also a supporting business partner with the Island Batik Ambassadors and has been sending us thread in different weights to try out. In July the Ambassadors will be making projects highlighting Aurifil threads.

There is a beautiful 10" Stack pack of Moroccan Bazaar that I can't wait to work with! The colors just shine. The pack also came with a light and dark coordinating fabric. Island Batik has wonderful people in their workrooms that send these combinations to us- thank you Island Batik!

Another bonus they sent us was a bundle of rayon fabrics to use. Rayon sews a bit differently than cotton fabrics, so this is a different challenge. They also sent this beautiful red rayon scarf. You can check out their scarves and rayon fabrics on their website www.islandbatik.com.

Hobbs Batting is another wonderful supporting partner with the Island Batik Ambassadors. This year they sent us a variety of 6 different batting to use. Did you know they had so many different kinds of batting? If you are a quilter like me, you tend to find one batting you like and use that all the time. Trying out these different battings opens up a lot of exciting possibilities!

Here are all the wonderful products in the first Island Batik box. Did I tell you that we receive two boxes a year as an Ambassador from Island Batik? One comes in January and one for the second half of the year comes in July. Isn't that just amazing!

But wait- this year we recieved a surprise second box! This year Accuquilt has joined as a supporting partner also! What a surprise this was!

This box contained the Ready Set, Go! Fabric Cutter Starter Set. These sets are wonderful and contain everything you need to get started. You can check them out at their website www.accuquilt.com.

This kit contained an Accuquilt Go! cutter, a 2 1/2" strip die and the Go! Qube Mix & Match 8" block set (shown open in the photo below) and the Quilt in a Day Go! Qube book by Eleanor Burns.. The Ambassadors will be making projects using these dies in April. This block set is pretty great- you'll be hearing more about all of this during the year.