Sunday, February 10, 2019

Magnificent Mini that's Bigger than a Breadbox.

Disclaimer: Fabrics  and Aurifil thread were provided by Island Batik as part of their Ambassador program. Accuquilt GO! Die cutting machine was also provided.  Other materials, Aurifil thread, the embroidery design and the die were purchased. 

I'm sharing a One project fits 2 challenges deal!  Island Batik Ambassador challenge this month was Magnificent Mini, which is anything smaller than 24".  At the same time, Project Quilting's challenge was "Bigger than a Breadbox" so it needed to be larger than 17 by 9", and must have been started and completed between February 3 and 10.  I did it!  I actually have my Island Batik challenge finished, (before the end of the month) and I'm able to finally enter Project Quilting. 

I am trying to use my embroidery machine as much as possible, and made 2 Valentine table toppers last week, but they didn't have only Island Batik fabric.  I decided to do another for the Mini challenge, and picked the grey solid for the background, and 2 pinks and Candy for the piecing and the heart.  I chose 3 colors of Aurifil thread, a variegated and 1 other, in 40wt and one in 50wt, for the applique, and got that made Saturday morning, while I was finishing the binding on a baby quilt. That will be another post.


I also used my Accuquilt GO! die cutting machine and the 3" finished half square triangle die to cut the 12 pairs of each I needed.  
I layered the fabrics right sides together (or preferred, with batiks) and ran it through the machine so I got 12 matched pairs of HST units in each combination. 
You can tell I've used that die before.  Look at the mat! 

36 pairs of triangles in minutes.  Chain feed them through the machine, and you're almost done.  No trimming needed. 

I had the top assembled before lunch.  Then I had to keep Mom company, as that's her most challenging time with Alzheimer's.  We did order in pizza, because it's National Pizza day, and my favorite place was giving a free mini pizza with any order.  I freeze the extras and we'll use them over the next few weeks when we need an easy dinner. 

After I got her ready for bed, I was able to finish the top. I layered it with a scrap of Warm & Natural cotton batting, and pulled some cream tone on tone for the backing.  I used Aurifil 50wt in 2600 for the quilting, since it was a perfect match for the Island Batik solid grey.  Added Candy for binding, and a label and some info on the back, and it's done!  

Pattern is Center Stage from Pieced Tree.  I often grab this one because it makes a fun 24" wide table topper, and changing the fabric adds to the fun.  Using the embroidered and appliqued heart as the center, rather than a great focal print, is fun. This embroidery design is from Embroidery Library.

This will be for sale in my Etsy shop.  Made by me, Maryellen McAuliffe, in Franklin Square, Long Island, New York.




Here's one of the other ones I made, so you can see the difference by just changing the fabric.  My sister-in-law wanted one for her table, so she helped pick the fabrics, and pieced the triangle and most of the top.  She loved watching the embroidery machine, too. I'm hoping she wants to keep learning.  This one is a gift for a friend.

Thanks for stopping by.  
Linking up with Project Quilting 10th season, and Island Batik monthly challenges. 

Maryellen


10 comments:

Sally said...

Your embroidery is just exceptional. Love this!

Quilting Gail said...

Beautiful!
I'm always facinated by the difference that different fabrics make! They both look wonderful!
quiltinggail@yahoo.ca

Carla said...

Love that you showed a different color way. So different but I really like them both. Very pretty.

Nikki said...

Lovely!!!

Denise said...

I love it. Your feathers around the center are a nice finish.

Pamela said...

So lovely! The gray for the background is really a nice choice!

Mel Beach said...

The embroidered heart is just as lovely as your quilted feathers!! I also appreciated seeing the different color/fabric variations!

FlashinScissors said...

Gorgeous quilting! Love those feathers!
Barbara x

PersimonDreams said...

absolutely beautiful! The quilting is beautiful!

Clipping Path said...

Nice article as well as whole site.Thanks.