Wednesday, March 30, 2016

March Madness with Island Batik

Hi!  Thanks for visiting!  This is a #MiniMadnessIB post, plus announcing the winner of the #Creativenewquilts blog hop.  


First, the winner.  Random.org picked #29, so I've contacted Janet for her information.  

Now, onto the #MarchmadnessIB challenge. 
Island Batik has challenged the Ambassadors to come up with something each month, using the fabrics we've gotten in our boxes.  Since this is my 3rd year as Ambassador, I have a small stash of pieces, and I've been using it for challenges for other blogs.  My schedule was a little crazy, aka madness, lately, so I decided to finish at least 1 of the minis I made using Island Batik for last year's Aurifil DOM (designer of the month) challenge.  I was hoping for more, but it's March 30.  Maybe I'll get the others finished soon. 

So, Kimberly Jolly designed this mini. 

Kimberly Jolly photo from Aurifil's blog post

I was working with a gorgeous rainbow of FQs from Island Batik, from the 2015 Full Bloom collection.  It was the gorgeous collection of colors used in the 4th and 6th designs Block of the Month quilt, the appliqued flowers in various sizes.  

I played with the design from Aurifil, using colored pencils, and came up with this version.  

And I put it in a project bag, until I could figure out how I wanted to quilt it.  And it sat!  For a year!  Until the Ambassadors were challenged to create a mini.  But I must admit I never liked the pale yellow border.  It just didn't balance with the clear, bright colors in the rest of the quilt, although it did match the center yellow square.  I just didn't know what else to use for a border.  

If you've been following me, you know I recently moved, and I'm (still) in the process of organizing and painting my new studio, but I do have my main machine set up in my basement apartment.  The studio is on the 2nd floor in my parents' house, and needs some more work.  When I pulled out the minis to finish, I looked through my Island Batik box to see if there was something I liked better for the border.  I pulled a deeper purple, and a brighter yellow, and even one of the oranges from Coral Reef Ocean Waves quilt (you can see that on the link).  And it still wasn't right.  

Then I decided to organize my little cutting space in the basement, and found the perfect border.  Yes, it's from Coral Reef!  It's the multi colored print, with all of the colors from this mini and I think it looks so much better.  

 I LOVE the border now.  It has orange, hot pink and purple, and even a touch of green and yellow (although my mini doesn't have green).  I also love that the collections from other years go so well with the newer collections from Island Batik.  
 I quilted it with concentric feathers, to accent the colors in the radiant rows.  I used Aurifil 50wt cotton in 4651, named Bari, a mix of yellow, pink and lavender pastels that looks great on the yellow, orange and light pink sections.  I used Aurifil 50wt 4020, Fuchsia, for the deeper pink diamond, and finished with Aurifil 50wt in 2540, medium lavender, for the lavender, purple and border areas.  

So, sometimes, a UFO gets finished because of a challenge.  Yay for challenges!  I used Warm & Natural batting, and a scrap of the peach mottle dyed muslin for the backing, and added a hanging sleeve.  I'm very happy that it's now done, just in time for #marchmadnessib.  

I did make 2 mug rugs, too.  Those are minis, right?  I used the scraps from Coral Reef Ocean Waves to make these.  I did a craft fair, and usually make a few mug rugs, and offer one for the vendor raffles, if asked.  

 Yes, that's the same purple/fuchsia/green fabric from the border on the larger mini.  These measure about 8 by 9", and they're perfect for using scraps, practicing free-motion quilting, and putting under your favorite beverage and cookie snack.  


Have you made a mini or a mug rug?  I have more to make!  I realized some of the Sea Salt Sandy FQs I have that I didn't use on the pyramid quilt would be great in the Aurifil Winter Stars mini, and would match the towels in my new bathroom.  That may be next on my list, after I finish painting the bathroom.  

If you want to see more of the Island Batik Ambassador's mini quilts, please visit Joan at Moose Stash Quilting.  She's sharing links to all of them!  

And I know what I want to make for the April Showers challenge!  

I hope you'll visit again to see how we play with @IslandBatik.  Thanks!

Maryellen

1 comment:

Quilts for Sale said...

Every one of them is very nice indeed! The fabric colours are wonderful!