Floating Flowers- McCall's Quilting

 My quilt Floating Flowers is in the May/June 2022 issue of McCall's Quilting

                                                                    Floating Flowers

                                                                            39" x 31"

                                                    Designed and made by Connie Kauffman

This issue will be on newsstands starting 3/29/22 and available digitally starting 3/15 at Quilting Daily.com.

The leaves on the flowers use lots of different colors of green;  this gives great variety and movement to the design.  It was fun to dig through scraps to find colors for each of the nine flowers.  By placing the flowers on a blue background, I was reminded of water lilies and how they float on the water.

March Aurifil Challange 2022

 

                                                               

                                                         Florence Italy by Connie Kauffman                                                                                                                          13 1/2" x 14 1/2"

The March Island Batik Challenge is with Aurifil Threads.  Aurifil sent each Ambassador one of their Color Builder thread boxes.  Each of the boxes focused on a city in Italy.  The box I received was for Florence Italy.  The colors were three shades of tan/brown in 50 weight.  I also used a blue and green to finish the quilt.  I like the 50 weight for both piecing and quilting.

The challenge was to use the threads and make something about the area it represents.

I added a couple more threads for the quilt.

Florence is the capital of Tuscany.  It is a city known for it's history, art and architecture.  It is said to be the birthplace of the Renaissance.  You will find many masterpieces from such artists as Michelangelo, Botticelli, da Vinci and Raphael.  Cypress trees, rolling hills and vineyards surround the city.  It would be an amazing place to visit!

Many photos I viewed showed scenes overlooking the city with all the roofs a mix of terracotta colors. I received a 10" stack of Wondrous Island Batik fabrics by Jerry Kiev that had some greens and reddish/terracotta colors that I decided to work with in my mini quilt of Florence. 

I wanted the quilt to overlook a part of the city and decided looking out from an enclosed balcony was what I wanted to do.  I designed a wrought iron railing with black solid batik.  The mini houses are VERY small and had to be handled very carefully!  All the applique pieces are fused with Lite Steam a Seam 2.

Working with small pieces it is especially important to work with a thin thread.  Aurifil 50 weight works very well with mini quilts as well as larger projects.  I used Hobbs Thermore Batting as it is very thin and doesn't add bulk to a small project.  Schmetz Micro Tec needles are also wonderful for small quilts as the needles are very thin and don't leave a large hole in the fabric.

Thanks to Island Batik and sponsors Aurifil Thread, Schmetz Needles and Hobbs Batting for supplying products for this project thru the Island Batik Ambassador program.

*The prize winner from my blog for the Row by Row Challenge is  Sharon.  Her fabrics are on the way!

Week 4 Row by Row Blog Hop

 This is the last week on the Row by Row Island Batik Blog Hop.  See the Ambassadors that will be posting this week below and be sure and go back and see the other Ambassadors if you have missed any.

I will be selecting my drawing winner on the last day- so if you leave a comment, be sure that I can contact you if you are the winner!

Also be sure and enter the drawing on the Island Batik Blog for their great fabric drawing this week!

February 21:

Gail Sheppard, Quilting Gail
Jennifer Fulton, Inquiring Quilter

February 22:

Mania Hatzioannidi, Mania for Quilts
Lisa Pickering, Lisa’s Quilting Passion

February 23:

End of Blog Hop and Final Round-Up

Row by Row Blog Hop Week 3

 Here are the postings for week 3 of the Island Batik Row by Row Blog Hop

February 14:

Michelle Roberts, Creative Blonde
Jane Hauprich, Stitch by Stitch Custom Quilting

February 15:

Claudia Porter, Create with Claudia

February 16:

Anorina Morris, Samelia’s Mum
Preeti Harris, Sew Preeti Quilts

February 17:

Elizabeth DeCroos, Epida Studio
Gail Renna, Quilt Haven Threads

February 18:

Blog Hop Round-Up Week 3 and Island Batik Giveaway.  These are the fabric giveaways this week

Garden Quilt Theme Song

 I've never had a theme song for a quilt until now.  Subscriber Sharon said that my Colleen's Garden quilt reminded her of the John Denver song called Garden Song.  I like John Denver songs and had forgotten this one.  It fits perfectly with the quilt.

The words start:

Inch by inch, row by row

Gonna make this garden grow

All it takes is a rake and a hoe

And a piece of fertile ground

Here is a link to the song- I hope you listen and enjoy  

Garden Song by John Denver

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

Week 2 Row by Row Blog Hop Schedule

 Here is the schedule for week 2 of the Row by Row Island Batik Blog Hop.

Remember my day is Tues Feb 8 - be sure and check it out.  I LOVE the quilt I made for this challenge!

February 7:

Emily Leachman, The Darling Dogwood
Leah Malasky, Quilted Delights

February 8:

Suzy Webster, Websterquilt
Connie Kauffman, Kauffman Designs

February 9:

Reed Johnson, Blue Bear Quilts

February 10:

Brianna Roberts, Sew Cute and Quirky
Sandra Starley, Textile Time Travels

February 11:

Blog Hop Round-Up Week 2 and the great Island Batik Giveaway!