Getaway Blog Hop

I hope you have been traveling thru the stops on the Island Batik Ambassadors Getaway Blog Hop.  This is week 4 of the hop and my day to post.

The fabric collection that Island Batik sent me to use for this blog hop is called Midsummer's Night.

Here is a photo of the beautiful fabrics I received.  Aren't they beautiful!  I got the fabrics months ago and had to wait until now to show them to you.  They are available in shops now.

 

Our challenge with the collection was to make a quilted project using as many of the fabrics as we could.  Hmm....what to do?  To me these fabrics are in two color ways, making it hard to combine into one project.

One earlier thing we had to do was make a small project 12" x 18" to send to the Island Batik reps as a sample they could show customers of the whole collection I solved my color challenge by using one colorway on the front and one on the back. Beautiful fabrics!

The theme of the blog hop is Getaway.  How to incorporate the theme with the fabrics?  Many of the Ambassadors have thought about vacation travels.  I was thinking about a one day getaway event.  It wouldn't have to be to a far away location- it could be something near home.  Maybe an activity with a special meaning...

I have a good friend who has two sons, the younger son (a teenager) is autistic and the older son started a special race in honor of his brother to benefit Autism Speaks.  Autism Speaks is a special organization that supports families with autistic children.  Wouldn't a Run be a fun thing to do on a Getaway day!  This spring (May 4th) will be the 5th year for  David's Run for Autism.  The Run ( a 3K and 5K Run/Walk)  includes a silent auction of donated items.  Every year I try to make something special for the auction, so I was wondering about making something with these fabrics.

I decided to keep the colors in two separate groupings, and make not one, but two quilts for donation!
The symbol for Autism Speaks uses a puzzle piece, so I designed the quilts with puzzle pieces.  The quilts are smaller lap size quilts 36" x 54".

Here is the purple puzzle quilt.

And here it is in greens and browns.

I like each one!  It was hard to get a good photo of both quilts together, but here you can see how the different colors highlight the puzzle pieces.

I quilted them very simply.  The green quilt was finished with straight lines and the purple one with wavy lines.

Aurifil Thread and Hobbs Batting also partner with Island Batik and sent the Ambassadors supplies we could us in our projects.

Aurifil sent me these beautiful threads that went so well with the fabrics.

Hobbs Batting sent 100% cotton batting that I used for both quilts.  Many thanks to Island Batik, Aurifil and Hobbs for making these projects possible.

Island Batik is having a special drawing of not one but TWO 20 piece fat quarter bundles - so there will be two winners!  Go to their blog at Island Batik and fill out an entry.

I am having my own drawing for two half yard cuts of fabrics from Midsummer's Night that I didn't use in my quilts.  They are lovely and I hope you all leave a comment below to be entered.  There are only a few days left in the hop- so be sure to enter today!

 David's Run for Autism is May 4th in Nappanee, IN if anyone is interested in coming to run (and maybe even bid on my quilts!)

There are only a few days left in the blog hop, but you can still go back and look at the earlier posts.

Getaway Blog Hop Schedule

WEEK 1

Monday, January 7 – Crystal Ball

Maryellen McAuliffe –Mary Mack’s Blog
Sandra Walker- mmm! quilts

Tuesday, January 8 – Ditty

Stephanie Jacobson –Steph Jacobson Designs
Michelle Roberts- Creative Blonde

Wednesday, January 9 – Elk Lodge

Connie Kresin Campbell – Free Motion by the River
Anna Branch –Ark Angel Creations

Thursday, January 10 – Feline Fine

Bea Lee –Bea Quilter
Sharon Parcel- Yellow Cat Designs

Friday, January 11 – Flea Market

Geraldine Wilkins – Living Water Quilter
Jessica Caldwell- Desert Bloom Quilting

WEEK 2

Monday, January 14 – Fortune Teller

Sarah Goer –Sarah Goer Quilts
Sherry Shish –Powered by Quilting
Jennifer Fulton –The Inquiring Quilter

Tuesday, January 15 – Gypsy Rose

Jen Strauser –Dizzy Quilter
Janet Yamamoto- Whispers of Yore

Wednesday, January 16 – Paisley Park

Dione Gardner-Stephen- Clever Chameleon
Nancy Scott –Masterpiece Quilting

Thursday, January 17 – Soul Song

Carole Lyles Shaw- Carol Lyles Shaw
Toby Lischko –Gateway Quilts & Stuff

Friday, January 18 – Twilight Chic

Jackie OBrien –If These Threads Could Talk
Tina Dillard- Quilting Affection

WEEK 3

Monday, January 21 – Winter Park

Jennifer Thomas- Curlicue Creations
Anita Skjellanger- Quilt In a Not Shell

Tuesday, January 22 – Bazaar

Karen Overton- The Quilt Rambler
Alison Vermilya- Little Bunny Quilts
Turid Bakken- Den syende himmel

Wednesday, January 23 – Blossom

Karen Neary –Sew Karen-ly Created
Leanne Parsons –Devoted Quilter

Thursday, January 24 – Boho

Laura Piland- Slice of Pi Quilts
Suzy Webster- Adventurous Applique and Quilting
Myra Barnes- Busy Hands Quilts

Friday, January 25 – Brookview

Vicki Schlimmer –Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting
Amy Warner –Sew Incredibly Crazy

WEEK 4

Monday, January 28 – French Blue

Pamela Boatright –PamelaQuilts
Joyce Mullis –Hearts Creations

Tuesday, January 29 – Midsummer Night

Kathleen McCormick –Kathleen McMusing
Connie Kauffman – Kauffman Designs

Wednesday, January 30 – Oh Deer

Jen Shaffer- Patterns by Jen
Jeanette Jones –Inchworm Fabrics

Thursday, January 31 – Snow Berry

Sally Mannke –Sally Manke Fiber Artist
Joan Kawano –Moosestash Quilting

Friday, February 1 – Candy Cane Lane and Icicle

Icicle
Terri Vanden Bosch – Meanderings along Lizard Creek
Anne Wiens –Sweetgrass Creative Designs
Candy Cane Lane
Mania Hatziioannidi –Mania For Quilts
Barbara Gaddy –Bejeweled Quilts by Barb 

Icicles Cover Girl

My quilt Icicles is on the cover of the Jan/Feb issue of McCall's Quilting

It's always a thrill to be featured on the cover.  They did a lovely job on the photography.

I have a free magazine to giveaway.  Leave a comment below to be entered into the drawing.  Make sure I can contact you by email if you are a winner.  USA only for drawing due to shipping costs.

Jan 2019 Getaway Blog Hop

It's time for another blog hop with the Island Batik Ambassadors!  This blog hop is the Getaway Blog Hop- how appropriate for the winter month of January!  Join the Ambassadors as they travel thru patterns and colors that will warm you up and get you inspired!

I've listed the schedule for the whole blog hop below.  Be sure and visit each blog and enter for some great prizes.  You won't want to  miss any of them!

My day isn't until Jan 29, so be sure and check it out.  I'll be showing you projects with the beautiful Midsummer Nights collection.

Getaway Blog Hop Schedule

WEEK 1

Monday, January 7 – Crystal Ball

Maryellen McAuliffe –Mary Mack’s Blog
Sandra Walker- mmm! quilts

Tuesday, January 8 – Ditty

Stephanie Jacobson –Steph Jacobson Designs
Michelle Roberts- Creative Blonde

Wednesday, January 9 – Elk Lodge

Connie Kresin Campbell – Free Motion by the River
Anna Branch –Ark Angel Creations

Thursday, January 10 – Feline Fine

Bea Lee –Bea Quilter
Sharon Parcel- Yellow Cat Designs

Friday, January 11 – Flea Market

Geraldine Wilkins – Living Water Quilter
Jessica Caldwell- Desert Bloom Quilting

WEEK 2

Monday, January 14 – Fortune Teller

Sarah Goer –Sarah Goer Quilts
Sherry Shish –Powered by Quilting
Jennifer Fulton –The Inquiring Quilter

Tuesday, January 15 – Gypsy Rose

Jen Strauser –Dizzy Quilter
Janet Yamamoto- Whispers of Yore

Wednesday, January 16 – Paisley Park

Dione Gardner-Stephen- Clever Chameleon
Nancy Scott –Masterpiece Quilting

Thursday, January 17 – Soul Song

Carole Lyles Shaw- Carol Lyles Shaw
Toby Lischko –Gateway Quilts & Stuff

Friday, January 18 – Twilight Chic

Jackie OBrien –If These Threads Could Talk
Tina Dillard- Quilting Affection

WEEK 3

Monday, January 21 – Winter Park

Jennifer Thomas- Curlicue Creations
Anita Skjellanger- Quilt In a Not Shell

Tuesday, January 22 – Bazaar

Karen Overton- The Quilt Rambler
Alison Vermilya- Little Bunny Quilts
Turid Bakken- Den syende himmel

Wednesday, January 23 – Blossom

Karen Neary –Sew Karen-ly Created
Leanne Parsons –Devoted Quilter

Thursday, January 24 – Boho

Laura Piland- Slice of Pi Quilts
Suzy Webster- Adventurous Applique and Quilting
Myra Barnes- Busy Hands Quilts

Friday, January 25 – Brookview

Vicki Schlimmer –Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting
Amy Warner –Sew Incredibly Crazy

WEEK 4

Monday, January 28 – French Blue

Pamela Boatright –PamelaQuilts
Joyce Mullis –Hearts Creations

Tuesday, January 29 – Midsummer Night

Kathleen McCormick –Kathleen McMusing
Connie Kauffman – Kauffman Designs

Wednesday, January 30 – Oh Deer

Jen Shaffer- Patterns by Jen
Jeanette Jones –Inchworm Fabrics

Thursday, January 31 – Snow Berry

Sally Mannke –Sally Manke Fiber Artist
Joan Kawano –Moosestash Quilting

Friday, February 1 – Candy Cane Lane and Icicle

Icicle
Terri Vanden Bosch – Meanderings along Lizard Creek
Anne Wiens –Sweetgrass Creative Designs
Candy Cane Lane
Mania Hatziioannidi –Mania For Quilts
Barbara Gaddy –Bejeweled Quilts by Barb 

Merry Christmas

Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas!

Nativity 

6 1/2" x 6 1/2"

by Connie Kauffman

Published in The Quilt Pattern Magazine Oct 2018 

Dec Whimsical and Wonky Challenge

The December Challenge for the Island Batik Ambassadors was to create something Whimsical and Wonky.  Sounded like fun!  What to do?

I was torn between wanting to make something with a Christmas look or something just fun even though it is December.  Island Batik Ambassadors receive two boxes a year with fabrics to use and promote and I didn't have any fabric with typical Christmas fabrics in my box, but I did have this super cute and bright package of 10" squares of the fabric line called Paisley Dot Brights.

This is a a far cry from Christmas colors, but aren't they just the cutest colors!  I wanted to be sure and use them before the year was over so decided to go ahead with them.

This time of year people are thinking of making Christmas gifts.  Sometimes it is hard to know what fabrics people might want in their homes.  If that is the case, I always think it is safe to make something seasonal.  With these fabrics I was thinking of something that looked like Spring.

I had a pattern called Color Fun Daisies by Linda Sullivan that had colorful daisies that I thought would work well with these fabrics.  The pattern fits the theme of whimsical and wonky.

Here are some of the daisies getting put together.  I also used some of the white Island Batik I had been sent as a background.  The white makes the colors pop.  (Please excuse my messy work table!)

Fusible applique is quick and easy.  Now for the quilting.  Aurifil is great thread and our Ambassadors boxes have included some wonderful colors to work with.  I call it eye candy!

For batting I used Thermore from Hobbs which had also been included in the Ambassador box.  Thermore is thin and very soft which is nice for smaller projects.

 I sewed tabs at the top for hanging.  I don't usually do this as I think it takes more time than a traditional hanging sleeve, but I thought it worked well with this project.  I used leftovers from two of the blue fabrics for the tabs.

It was fun to pick out and add a button to each daisy center.

I hope this quilt brightened your day!

November Log Cabin Challenge

The November challenge for the Island Batik Ambassadors is called Cozy Cabins Log Cabin Challenge.  We were given instructions to make something from the fabrics sent to us with the Island Batik Ambassadors program (we are given 2 boxes a year with fabrics to use and promote).  Our instructions for November asked us to incorporate a log cabin block or some kind of log cabin variation into our project.  We could use any fabrics in our boxes and it was to be 36" x 36" or larger.

I love log cabin blocks so I had really been looking forward to this challenge.  Since we could use any fabrics from our boxes of fabric I spent a lot of time looking at all the fabrics I had left.  We only have this project and two more challenges left to do.

I was sent this beautiful 2 1/2" strip pack of  Lavender Sage with two coordinating fabrics that I hadn't used yet.  Here is a photo of it when it came.

It's a good thing I took the above photo when it came, because I forgot to take another one until I'd been working on the project- here are some of the leftover strips

I really love these fabrics and since the first time I saw them I thought they reminded me of Petunias!  With only a couple months left to use the fabrics I wondered about using them for the log cabin challenge. The  2 1/2" strips are wonderful to use for making log cabin blocks.  Check out all the great Precuts at Island Batik.

I still thought the fabrics reminded me of petunias - not log cabins.  What to do?

Much as I love to  make log cabin blocks, I decided to only use them as a border in this project.  I made a partial log cabin block and combined them along the border.  I just love how the fabrics in this collection work together!


In the center I made petunias using raw edge applique, using Steam-A-Seam 2 for the fusible.

The 2 1/2" strip packs are my favorite Precut to use.  In this quilt everything except the white background and the flower pot is made from 2 1/2" strips.  Pretty amazing what you can do with a 2 1/2" strip!  The white is a  basic solid white batik and the brown was from a 10" square of the Vintage Morris collection- all from Island Batik.

I was happy with the quilting for this project.  Many times I'm at a loss when it comes to the actual quilting.  Once again the new Westalee Rulers that you can use on a domestic machine were wonderful to use.  I used  6 different rulers:  a straight edge,  Rope 2/5 (I used just the arc edge), Rope 1.5, 8" arc, mini Spin-E-Fex 4, and the Mini Clamshell.

It may be hard to see here, but I used the Mini Clamshell ruler to add a decorative trim to the flower pot.

The mini Spin-E-Fex was used in the yellow corner blocks, and the arc was used in the borders.

I used the rope template in the dark purple outer border, but you can't really see it.

I can't say enough about how easy these rulers are to use and how they improve my quilting.  Check them out at Sew Steady.

Here are a few close ups of the flowers.  It's nice to have these on my wall now as the ones I have outside are almost gone.

 For Batting I used Hobbs Cotton that Hobbs had sent in our Ambassador Box.
The quilt is 36" x 36"  and I named it Pansies - of course!

Needle, Paper, Scissors - Oct. IB Challenge

The October challenge for the Island Batik Ambassadors is called Needle, Paper, Scissors.  We were given the instructions to make something from the fabrics sent to us with the Island Batik Ambassador program (we are given two boxes each year with fabrics to use and promote).  Our instructions were to make a project at least 36" x 36" using paper piecing.

I LOVE paper piecing!  The ideas were endless.....  The 36" x 36 size made me think of a baby quilt of some kind...

In last months blog challenge I enlarged a smaller block, so I thought I would do the same thing this month.  I took the  puppy pattern from my book 24 Kids' Quilt Blocks.  See the puppy on the cover?
(the book is available at Amazon.com)

The patterns in the book are 7" x 7".  I enlarged the pattern pieces to make the dog 15" x 15", and added more background sky, and grass pieces.

I used a variety of Island Batik fabrics:
Puppy - Marble-Smoke, Basics Black, Basics Sterling
Background - Mini Dot Buttercup - Victoria & Albert
Paw Prints - Bubbles - Nutmeg
Border and food dish - Candy Corn - Sunflower Serenade

I used several Aurifil threads and Hobbs Premium Cotton Batting which were also sent to Island Batik Ambassadors in our two boxes.           

Isn't he a cutie!

I added an orange border to match the bowl, and floated dog bones all around - like the puppy is dreaming of what to eat.  I named the quilt "What's for supper?"  The quilt is 33" x 42 1/2".

I quilted an easy zig zag design in the green border using the Mini Zig Zag ruler from Sew Steady/Westalee.  Quick and easy!

 I just had to add the paw prints to the back to show the puppy walking towards his bowl on the opposite side.  It gives a little fun to the back of the quilt don't you think?