November Inspired by Nature Blog Hop
My Quilted Garden by Connie Kauffman
The November Island Batik Ambassador Blog Hop has the theme Inspired by Nature. I love this theme and had so many ideas of what to do. First I waited to see what fabrics were in my surprise bundle that I was to use for my project. My fabrics were from the Tiki Punch Collection designed by Kathy Engle for Kate Colleran of Seams Like a Dream Quilt Designs.
I was excited by this bundle as they were so lovely and bright. So inspiring!
I used all but two of the fabrics in the quilt.
I decided to go with a garden theme as these reminded me of sunshine and flowers.
I don't know about you- but I have block patterns that I collect when I see something I might like to make someday. I also have favorite block designs of my own that I like, but have only used once. This seemed like a great time to pull out some favorite blocks and see what I could do with them.
I started this project VERY early and it's a good thing I did. This quilt took a long time- but it was a labor of love.
I picked blocks that were things in my garden or symbolized things found in my gardens. Once I decided on what blocks I wanted to use I had to decide the overall size and design of the quilt. I had been thinking about a medallion design with borders around a central block, so I decided to put a birdhouse in the center and have my garden blocks surround it. I don't have a bird house- but I do have several bird feeders.
One thing that took a long time was resizing most of the blocks to fit the quilt. I only had a couple blocks that would work without resizing. Then came the fun part- choosing the colors to go with the different blocks! I did add a couple fabrics from the Island Batik Basics collection (cat and squirrel and bird beaks and part of bird house)
I had a wide variety of blocks using both paper piecing and fusible applique. I used Schmetz Super Nonstick Needles which work really great with the fusible applique.
I still had some of my favorite batting to use - Hobbs 80/20 Fusible Cotton Batting. I can't say enough about this batting. It is so easy to use and saves so much time not having to baste! It's a winner!
Aurifil threads in many colors added to the quilt. It's great to have a selection on hand.
It was fun after the quilt was finished to add many different buttons and beads for embellishment.
My garden does have daffodils, forget me nots, daisies, iris, leafy ferns and beautiful butterflies. We have many birds- cardinals and orioles are some of the favorites. We also have several cats that visit our yard- none of which are ours! One of them is black.
Squirrels scamper all around- they especially like all the birdseed the birds drop from our feeders. This squirrel likes nuts.
Here in Northern Indiana we have some squirrels that are black. Some people have never seen black squirrels. I sat by the patio door one day to get a photo to show you.
I had the top finished in time to get a photo outside with some Black Eyed Susan's while they were still blooming.
Many thanks to Island Batik, Hobbs Batting, Schmetz and Aurifil for supplying products for this Inspired By Nature project.
I have a drawing for two full half yard cuts of two lovely fabrics from this Tiki Punch Collection
Please leave a comment about what is in your garden to enter. USA entries only due to postage. Winner will be drawn by Random.org at the end of the blog hop.
Be sure to enter Island Batik's Bog Hop drawing to win one of two fat quarter bundles-Venetian Marble or Tiki Punch- they are great!
Check out the other Ambassador blogs- there are only a few days left in the blog hop. Suzy Webster has a post today also using the Tiki Punch Collection- be sure and visit her site to see what she made.
- Suzy Webster, Websterquilt
Here is one more photo of the quilt top with my petunias to leave you with.
"My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece" Claude Monet
"Earth laughs in flowers" Ralph Waldo Emerson
"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need" Cicero
(I might add fabric to this list!)
