Feb. Blog Hop - Row by Row Challenge and drawing

Colleen's Garden - Made by Connie Kauffman

Pattern by JoAnn Hoffman

42" x 65"

Today is my day for the Feb 2022 Island Batik Blog Hop, and I'm excited to show you the quilt I made. The challenge this month was to make a Row by Row quilt using the fabric bundle we were sent from Island Batik.  

I received the fabric collection called Contempo designed by Kathy Engle for Kate Colleran Designs.

Contempo is a Fall 21 collection and will be shipping to stores in Feb.  There are 20 fabrics in the collection and they were perfect for the pattern I decided to use.

Row by Row quilts are not my favorite to make.  Most of the ones I've seen are made with pieced blocks.  Each row has one block made over and over in the row, but each row has a different block.  I searched a long time and found a pattern I was in  love with.  It's called Colleen's Garden by JoAnn Hoffman.  This is a Raw Edge Applique pattern and definitely has a row by row of patterns, but they seem to blend together into a whole picture that is very interesting.

The colors of Contempo were exactly what I needed for the applique pieces.  I used all 20 fabrics in the quilt - you might have fun hunting where they were used!  I did draw from other Island Batik fabrics in my stash for the background pieces and the black, gray and bits of white, but the colors of Contempo in the applique pieces are what shines in the quilt.

This was a FUN project- but oh my it had a lot of pieces!  Sometime I should count them all...

I used Lite Steam a Seam 2 as the fusible for all the pieces.

One of the great things about batiks are that the color is often mixed or swirled in the fabric and you can use one fabric for a couple different pieces.  It does make your fabric rather holey though!  

There were four greens in the collection and it worked great with the shading in the fabrics to give me a lot of variety for the plants in the quilt.

Here are just some of the pieces cut out for the top row.  Aren't they lovely!  Lots of cutting!

Some pieces were pretty small.

I used Hobbs Fusible Batting which is my all time favorite batting.  I knew it would hold the fabric layers together well while I quilted.  I also used Schmetz Super Universal 80/12 NonStick Needles which work really well when sewing appliques with fusible on them.  

I drew from my wonderful collection of Aurifil thread to do the quilting.  This is my 9th year as an Island Batik Ambassador and I think Aurifil has been a sponsor most of the time so I've acquired many lovely spools to work with!  How many colors of thread do you think I used?  Twenty!

I decided to make the quilt in 4 sections somewhat like a Quilt as You Go to make the quilting easier as this is a pretty big quilt to sew around applique pieces. 

Here are two of the sections

After quilting the rows I trimmed them, laid them right sides together and sewed only the top layers together.  Then I turned it over and folded the backing back and trimmed the batting so that both sides touched.

Then I whip stitched the batting together to secure it.  

Then I turned the edges and stitched the backing sides together.  It worked great!

Quilting is not my strong suit, but I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out.  I even did some free motion quilting.  Here's a photo of the back which shows the quilting best.  I used the gray solid batik for the backing.

Here are a few close ups of the quilt.  It  is just so cute!  Be sure and look for all the critters. The colors of the Contempo fabrics are really bright and cheerful.  

Be sure to visit the other Island Batik Ambassadors (see the schedule and links in my earlier post) to see their collections and what they made for their Row by Row projects.  

Be sure and visit Island Batik and enter their great drawing for this week. - Contempo is one of the prizes!

Leave a comment below telling me if you've ever made a Row by Row quilt to enter my drawing for two lovely Stash Builder Bundles. USA entrants only due to postage costs.  Be sure that I can contact you if you win.  I'll draw a winner at the end of the Blog Hop.

Many thanks to Island Batik, Aurifil Thread, Hobbs Batting and Schmetz Needles for supplying products to use in this project thru the Island Batik Ambassador program