Friday, September 28, 2018

Starstruck September


Have I mentioned I love being an Island Batik Ambassador?  Even the blog photo is inspirational.  I really do want to make something like that one of these days.  

For September, the Island Batik Ambassadors challenge was Starstruck.  Anything with a star, and any size.  I planned to try to work on a UFO that has lots of stars, but decided to make something new, because we're supposed to use more current collections.  I pulled a variety of fabrics, knowing I needed at least 1/2 yard for the borders and binding.  I tried a few different colorways, but this one spoke the loudest.  I used some of the scraps from the August Spring Blossoms quilt, especially the pink bird design.  I had a piece of pink with little dots, grabbed some scraps for the background, a larger dot, and the dragonfly fabric from Spring Blossoms, too.  

I made my Friendship Star, or Ribbon Twist Star runner.  I wanted to show you that even your "non-batik" designs can use batiks, just as well.  

Here's the Island Batik version. 




But wait!  I just made this in traditional Christmas fabrics.



I've used traditional colors, too.  Blue and yellow; yellow, gray and red; strawberries, with red and blue, so many others.


See?  You can use batiks in anything.  I happen to love how the twist makes the star disappear.  It looks like a ribbon is weaving around squares.  

If you haven't tried Island Batik, you really should.  The colors are gorgeous, and the fabric is wonderful.  I am so spoiled.  When I make something with Island Batik, there's hardly any fraying.  When I work with other brands of fabrics, the fraying edges seem so bothersome and numerous!  It's so annoying to work with other stuff, now.  I was finishing something recently, with another brand of quilting fabric, and was really surprised at how many strings had to be trimmed, from units, blocks, the border. It felt like such a waste of time, because I seldom have to do it with an Island Batik project.  I know part of it is that the fabric is washed so many times, that it's shrunken, and the fibers are now meshed and closer together.  It's also because Island Batik starts out with a great base fabric, to begin with.  It does matter.  

Try it, and let me know.  

On a side note, the family of my Airplane commissioned quilt send this.  Little C looks so happy to have his Aeronautics quilt.  The quilt is about 62" square, so it looks like he'll be snuggling with it for a while.  I'm so happy he's happy!  


Also, I received my Teal Mini Quilt from my swap partner.  I think she did a wonderful job for a very new quilter.  The wing is the teal fabric that we were given to use.  I know this bird will make me smile.   Becky also sent a Kansas pin to add to my collection.  The Map quilt was given to me by my partner the first year I participated.  I'm collecting pins from other states I visit as well, but missed a few. lol



That's all my news for now.  Thanks for visiting!  
I'll be sharing the quilt I'm sending to Becky soon. 

Monday, September 10, 2018

Winner and a Finish for Great Outdoors Blog Hop

Hi.  Thanks for stopping back! 

Random.org picked 34 for my winner, which was the comment by Vicki saying she loved ice cream floats. She's also looking forward to trying Island Batik.  I think she'll be as spoiled as I am.
Now I need to get an Ice Cream float!  lol  Vickie will be getting a variety of 10" squares from the Spring Blossoms collection, and 1/2 yd piece of red, plus a copy of one of my patterns.  I appreciated all the comments and new follows on Facebook and on my blog.  Thanks so much for following along on my adventure.  There will be more give-aways, so please enter again.

I did get a chance to finish my quilt. but it's been raining so the photos are not the best.  



I got some wide backing from JoAnne's, and layered it with Hobbs Heirloom Natural Cotton batting with scrim, which was provided in the Island Batik Ambassador box.  It was a queen size, and I wanted to try it.  It's the first time I've used one with scrim, which is a light non-woven layer that supports the cotton batting.  I found it easy to pin and quilt.  The loft is a little less than I usually use, so the quilting isn't as defined, but it's still very cuddly and I'm sure someone will love it.  



I used Aurifil 50wt 4651, Bari, for the main part of the top, including the setting triangles.  I quilted a flower in each block, and feathers in the triangles.  I love how the thread kind of melted into the blocks, with just a little bit of color showing to add interest, but the setting triangles really sparkle.  The variegated thread has pastel shades of pink, lavender, and yellow, with white, and adds just a subtle touch of color in the Almond setting triangles.  


I used 1125 Medium Teal thread for the inner border, quilting a leaf and vine design, and 2425 Bright Pink for the outer border, which has feathers.  I used the same fabric for binding.  

I'm so happy it's done!  I'm doing a craft fair this weekend at my church, and wanted to have it to display.  

I also finished a UFO from 2013.  This was the Eastern PA shop hop quilt, possibly from 2012.  I finished the top in 2013, and had it pinned and ready to quilt.  I couldn't decide on the design, and guess I needed to improve my skills, so it sat for a few years.  I decided to quilt it to also have it ready for my show.  


I think most of the fabrics are from Andover, and the block designs were done for each shop.  I designed the setting.  I used Aurifil to piece and quilt, also.  I used a few navy colors and a cream for the blocks (depending on whether the block had more blue or more cream) and red for the setting triangles, and cream for the borders.  I didn't note the color numbers this time, but did finish a few bobbins and a spool of blue.  I did a feathered wreath in each block, a swirl design in the sashing, and feathered designs in the setting triangles and border. Yay for an empty spool!  And for a UFO finished!




I'll be sharing my September Star challenge with Island Batik soon, so please visit again!