Back in August Island Batik Ambassadors had the Beat The Heat Blog Hop with new lines of Island Batik fabrics. I mentioned that my first project using the Quiet Shades Collection had been picked up for publication and I couldn't show that project yet. If you'd like to see the second project I made, you can go back to the blog post and see it here.
Now my quilt has been released and I can share with you that is in the March/April 2020 issue of McCalls Quilting Magazine.
(photo courtesy of McCalls Quilting)
The quilt is called Meridian and is 44" x 60". I used the Quiet Shades Collection by Kathy Engle for Whirligig Designs. The collection has 20 different fabrics and I used 13 of the fabrics for this quilt.
(photo courtesy of McCalls Quilting)
I also used the 8" block die collection from Accuquilt Go, 80/20 Bleached Cotton Hobbs Batting and Aurifil Thread.
I used several Westalee quilting rulers - Straight Edge ruler, 4" and 6" Arc rulers, Continuous Border Loop 3 , and Spinifex #4. These rulers are wonderful and save a lot of time quilting.
I originally named this quilt "Sweet Dreams", but as often happens, the magazine renamed the quilt. The published name is Meridian. I wasn't sure why they named it that, so I looked up the definition- "a circle of constant longitude passing through a given place on the earth's surface and the terrestrial poles". Interesting...
The colors in these fabrics are lovely, soft and soothing. I hope you check them out at your local stores.
(photo courtesy of McCalls Quilting)
Disclaimer: Fabrics from Island Batik, Batting from Hobbs and Thread from Aurifil were provided thru the Island Batik Ambassador Program
Well, the 2020 Island Batik Ambassadors have been posting their unboxing videos online. This is where you get to see the beautiful fabrics and supplies that came in the first Island Ambassador box this year to each Ambassador. You can watch the videos on the Ambassadors posts or follow Island Batik on Facebook.
Once again I'm very happy to announce that I am an Island Batik Ambassador for the coming year!
I actually found this out the middle of December- what a gift that was! Along with that news came the first of two amazing shipments of fabrics and supplies that I get to work with this year.
*Notice the TEAM LIFT label? That tells you a bit about how heavy this box was!
Below is a short video of what was in this amazing box.
Here are close up photos of what was in the box. Aurifil Threads is one of the sponsoring companies and they supplied two boxes of their Color Builder Threads. The Color Builder thread Collection is a group of 12 mini boxed collections of threads that are inspired by the colors of Italy where Aurifil Threads are made. Each box contains three spools of thread in a light, medium and dark in one colorway. These are great for expanding your thread collection. I received Milan Grey and Pompeii Red. These spools are 50 weight which is the weight I like the best.
Accuquilt is again one of the supporting companies and sent each Ambassador one of their Block on Board (BOB) cutting dies. A Block on Board die cuts all the pieces necessary to make the block on the same die which is handy. The die I received is called Hattie's Choice and makes an 8" block.
Hobbs Batting is another one of the supporting companies with the Island Batik Ambassador program. In this box was sent a King size Premium Cotton Batting and King Size Natural Cotton Batting. That will go a long way!
This year a new supporting company is Schmetz needles. They sent a Pocket Guide to their needles which is very helpful. They have a wide variety of needles and it can be overwhelming when at a store to know which kind of needle you are needing. They also sent two packages of their new Super Nonstick Needles. I had heard of these and since I often work with fusible applique, I'm excited to try these out. They also sent two packages of their new Microtex (Sharp) Needles that are Chrome Professional Grade. I'm excited to also try these. I use Microtex needles almost exclusively, but have never tired their Chrome needles. I'll post more about these after I've tried them out.
Now for the Island Batik fabrics! The first bundle is the Prairie Skies Collection by Kathy Engle. This bundle is all half yard cuts with light and dark coordinating yardage (2 yards each). The light fabric is called Sprinkles. These are beautiful blues with some lovely prints. You'll be seeing these in a project I'll be making and posting in Feb. These fabrics will be arriving at shops this Feb.
Below is a 2 1/2" precut strip package of Sundance by Kathy Engle with a light and dark coordinating fabric (2 yards each). I love these fabrics and will have a project published in a magazine sometime this next year as well as something made for one of my blog posts. This fabric will ship to stores in May.
The collection below is a 10" x 10" precut package called Sunset Blooms by Kathy Engel for Chris Hoover of Whirligig Designs. We also received a coordinating light and dark fabric (2 yards each). I just love how the teal color pops!.
Each Ambassador received a large bundle (4 yards) of one of their Neutral fabrics. I got the color Doughnut, and it's as yummy as it sounds! They know that it is really handy to have Neutrals in our collections and we are well supplied! We also received a variety of 8 half yard cuts from their Basics and Blenders fabrics. These colors are always available and blend so well with their collections. We also received half yard cuts from 5 of their new Solids Collection. They now have 12 solid fabrics that are available now. Be sure and check these out!
Stash Builder bundles are great! Each roll is 4 strips 5" x WOF (width of fabric). Each strip is a different color. Each package contains 5 rolls. I've used these many times.
The last two bundles are ones that I can't show yet because they aren't in the stores yet! I'll be making a project to show you in May when we have a Blog Hop- be sure and check back then to see what is inside!
Later another package arrived from Island Batik with 4 yard cuts of the solids White, Gray and Black.
It looks like a lovely year! So much beauty and so many interesting challenges coming up this year!
I hope you have some personal quilting challenges. Watch all the Island Batik Ambassadors blog posts for some great ideas.
What a great way to start the new year- with a Scrappy Challenge! The first monthly challenge for the 2020 Island Batik Ambassadors is to make a Scrappy Quilt. I LOVE scrappy quilts. I love my Island Batik fabric so much that I save every workable scrap I can. This year Island Batik has a schedule when we post our unboxing videos. My posting day is the 24th, but we could go ahead and work on our Scrappy Challenge- so I did!
This quilt has a large variety of scraps. I've been an Island Batik Ambassador for the past 6 years- this starts my 7th year. I've been very blessed to work with a wide variety of colors and prints and these were all taken from my scrap bin.
One way to add variety to your fabric collection is with the Stash Builder Bundles which Island Batik carries. Each roll contains 4 strips 5" x WOF (width of fabric), and each bundle contains 5 rolls. Check these out- they are great.
I named this quilt Star Crossed- can you see the stars? Sometimes you see diamonds and sometimes stars. I quilted lines running thru part of the stars which gave me the name Star Crossed. Here is a close up of some of the quilting.
The quilt is basically a two block quilt so it was easy to create using scraps. The blocks in the borders are a bit different with one block only have two triangles in the corners and some blocks just a solid square.
Can you guess how many fabrics are in the quilt? Hint- each block (except for the solid blocks in the borders) has two different colors...
I'm happy to announce that I am an Island Batik Ambassador again for this coming year! This will be my 7th year as an Ambassador. It has been such a tremendous experience to work with this company and their fabrics and the other supporting companies with the Ambassador program. I look forward to all the challenges and blog hops we will be having this year.
This year there are 25 Ambassasdors. I encourage you to check out their blogs and follow along with all the wonderful projects we will be showing this year.
