Island Batik Ultimate Home Decor Blog Hop

Welcome to Santa Fe!  This collection is so pretty, with aqua, teal, mauve and eggplant, and shades of brown, tan, and a touch of grey.  The tjaps include feathers, Navajo inspired graphic designs, and gingham, as well as wheels and suns, plus the moon and stars fabric.  This fabric should be in stores soon.  Island Batik provided a very generous 1/2 yard bundle and 2 yards each of the light and dark used.  Accuquilt provided the GO! cutter and 8" cube.  All other items were purchased by me. 

What is Home Decor?  I think it's anything that makes your space more comfortable for you.  It's your favorite chair, the photo on the wall, the touches that make you comfortable.  I know many Interior Designers have their own look, but for me, Home Decor is what I add to that, to tell my story, and make it say HOME.  

This is the Surprise bundle I got in the January Ambassador box. 

I recently went on a trip to Arizona and Utah, and saw many Navajo style blankets and designs. I knew I had this collection to work with, and that I wanted to do something that was inspired by the weaving I saw.  I googled Navajo and Southwest design quilts, as well as looked for blocks on EQ8.  

This was from Ruby's Inn, a shop near Bryce Canyon, Utah. 

My first idea was to do a wall hanging.  But I ended up going bigger.   

I found the center block, Santa Fe, on EQ8.  I also saw lots of use of Bear's Claw blocks, and one of the fabrics had bear and animal hoof prints.  Yes, I did the obvious, and used the Bear's Paw block to highlight the teal Bear's Paw fabric, lol.  I loved the check in the mix of colors, and used that for the center.  I cut the 2 blocks with the Accuquilt GO! BOB die, Bear's Paw.  Those blocks are 14", and the best way to use the Santa Fe block was to make it 24", so I added to the top and sides of the Bear's Paw to make them work for the center section.  I used the 8" cube die #4 for the triangle patches in the Santa Fe block.  The Seminole style blocks for the 2nd and 4th rows are made with die 55002, the 4 7/8" triangle, and the Hovering Hawks blocks (top and bottom, on point) used the 55009, 3" HST.  

Here's the EQ8 version, without the added pieces.  

This was just the blueprint.  In making a "strip" style quilt, I was limited to the size of the block available.  I knew I was only hoping to design up to 60" wide, and the center block, at 24", would make the 2 side blocks narrower.  I didn't want to do extra math, and had the BOB die, so I knew I would have to measure for the frame pieces.  The Hovering Hawk blocks were planned at 12" finished, but on point is 17".  That doesn't equal 60" either, so I needed to add to the sides of the strip.  I used the aqua check fabric.  I didn't want to do 2 sashings to separate the blocks. Once I picked the fabrics for the frames on the Bear's Claw blocks, I changed the direction for the Seminole style rows.  I wanted to break up the browns.  

Here's my finished version.  It measures 74 by 84", and is large enough for a topper on a queen bed, or perfect for a throw on my patio chairs.  I think it adds a sweet reminder of my vacation, and a touch of Southwest style to my outdoor space.  

I purchased the vase at the Cameron Trading Post, Cameron, Arizona.

I used Warm & Natural cotton batting, and the Navajo panto from Urban Elements.  Aurifil 40-3 thread in 2312, Ermine, was the perfect accent.  It blends with the background, and adds a touch of color to the borders.  Quilted on Vanna, my Handi-Quilter Amara with Prostitcher.   Backing is a beige wide back from Hancock's. 

I do wish I had made it before the trip, and would have loved getting photos of it on location.  

Here would have been perfect. 

This is Lake Powell, the boat dock to the hike for The Rainbow Bridge.   Too bad I don't know enough about photography to make the 2 photos merge, lol.  

Island Batik is sponsoring a give-away, 2 prizes, of River Valley.  

Enter at the Rafflecopter widget.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For my give-away, I'll be sending a few FQs and some 5" squares of Santa Fe to someone who leaves a comment.  Have you ever visited Arizona and Utah?  I'll ship free to US, but if you don't mind paying the difference for shipping to your country, please enter.  I'll use Random.org to choose a winner May 28th.  

Please also visit the other Island Batik Ambassadors, especially Gail Sheppard, who is also featuring Santa Fe today.  

Thanks so much for visiting.  I hope you are inspired to make your home more comfortable, decorated by you!  

May One Monthly Goal

What's your goal?  Mine is to finish the Island Batik Blog Hop, Home Decor project.  Here's my fabric collection, called Santa Fe. 

Click on the above link, see the posts so far, and enter to win this week's collection of fabric.  My day is Wednesday, May 13, and I have lots to do before then.  I'll have a give-away, too.  Santa Fe will be in stores soon.  Ask your favorite to get it! 

My other goal is to get my Crystal Ball Jewel Box quilt done.  It's on Vanna, the Handi-quilter Amara, and maybe about 1/3 done.  It's a huge quilt, 100 by 120" or so, and will be going on my bed.  My "new" room is almost ready, so I want to sleep under this on the first night.  We'll see if I get it bound in time. 

Island Batik fabric, a wide backing, Aurifil 40-3 thread and Warm and White batting. 

The Santa Fe project needs to be finished, too.  

Hope you are all staying well, and doing things that make you happy. Thanks for visiting!  

Borders and Bindings

Thanks for stopping by to read about my version of the Borders and Binding Challenge for Island Batik Ambassadors. 

I love that Island Batik challenges us, and provides gorgeous fabrics for us to use for the challenges.  

In April of 2017, I started the applique part of this top.  

Here's the blog post about it, and the inspiration, but I'll share that again.  During a visit to the The Cloisters, part of the Met museums,I saw a number of Tiffany inspired Stained Glass windows.  I love the look of stained glass, and the quilts that can look like them.  I found this bookmark in the gift shop that day, and wanted to make a quilt based on the glass and this bookmark.  

I started the top, and had finished all of the satin stitching around the applique and "leading", the black Clover fusible bias tape.  And couldn't decide how I wanted to do the border.  When this challenge was announced, I had tons of ideas, but couldn't pick just one.  I played around with a few designs, and realized that most of them centered around a panel.  But making masks, dealing with my mother's Covid-19 diagnosis (she seems to only have had the fever and possible taste/smell issues, no cough) trying to finish other quilts, shipping 2 quilts to Island Batik for Fall Market, and trying to do everything else, I decided to finally finish this Stained Glass design.  My idea was to make it look like you were looking through an Arbor, or Trellis, to see the branch of Dogwood blossoms.  I went to EQ8, and searched for trellis blocks, or arbor.  There wasn't anything specific I saw that really struck me, until I found this X block called Overlapped Snowflake Corner.  I didn't see a snowflake, but the shape worked.  I played, and with making the front X bar white, the "back" one grey, and the triangles sky blue (similar to the background of the branch, but not the same), I could get it to look like a trellis.  After measuring the top, I realized it was short of the size I would need to make the 6" blocks work.  So, I added a side and top, as if you're looking through the frame of an arbor.  I even played with the idea of making a picket fence gate instead of trellis blocks at the bottom, but decided to stick with the trellis block.  I used mostly fabrics from the Basics collection, but the pink came from scraps of another group, and the blue for the border blocks was from Stash Builder rolls.  Solid White and Grey make the blocks.

To make this block as 6", you'll need a 4 1/2" block of blue, cut diagonally in 4.  (X).  You need 2 2 5/8" by 4 1/2" pieces of grey, and a white rectangle 2 5/8 by 14 1/2".  I figured this out by printing out the foundation piecing block, but didn't want to use the paper.  It's actually pretty simple.  

First, sew the triangles on both sides of the grey pieces. 

I kept seeing a rocket design, but you need to line up the triangle with the flat short side, and stitch 1/4" seam.  Press towards the grey. 

Finger crease the center of the grey between the blue triangles, and the center of the white strip.  Line the Rocket unit right sides together on the white, at the center and stitch.  

 Next, square the block.  Make sure the 3 1/4" lines are at the intersection of the X, the point of the blue triangle, and trim to 6 1/2" square.  Try to notice where the center diagonal line is on the white strip, too.  I pressed to the grey/triangle units, so if the blue triangles line up, the seams nest.  Not all of mine did line up, but I'm okay with that.

To finish the quilt, I put it on the Long Arm and used a ruler foot and Ditch ruler to quilt the seam between the blue sections and the "trellis" part, and did a Free Motion stipple on the stained glass part.  I used 40wt Aurifil in 4663, Baby Blue Eyes.  I used a piece of Warm & White cotton batting, and Island Batik White solid for the back.  I didn't quilt the grey or white sections, except for stitch in the ditch.  I love how it turned out.  I sometimes think less is more.  I don't often quilt something to death. lol. 

To finish this off, I did a Facing style binding, and added hanging loops.  I pinned the loops on first, then added the triangles for the corners, and the facing strips.  I just googled and found info on All People Quilt, for the specifics.  

Although I wanted to take this and the Storm on Point quilt someplace for good photos, today was not a good day for it.  It was really windy.  I did get a few more shots of this outside, on a chair, and hanging in a room.  

I also finished the March Island Batik Challenge, featuring the Accuquilt GO! BOB Storm at Sea die.  I did an on-point setting, after playing with the design on EQ8, and used the Steampunk Gears panto from Intelligent Quilting.  It's not an easy panto to use, and I've learned so much by using it on the 2 quilts I made with the gear print fabric.  This one is Graphic Gems.  I also used Aurifil 40-3 to quilt it, in 4670, Silver Fox.  Even though the panto is a challenge to use, it looks so perfect with the fabric.  I used purple for the binding, and a wide Cuddle fabric for the back, in grey.  This has Hobb's Heirloom Natural Cotton with Scrim for batting.  Look at that texture!  It measures about 69" square.  

This quilt also has something "fancy" for border, using the center Square in a Square block for the corners.  Sometimes just adding a little something to the border adds so much.  

Thanks for reading this far.  I also wanted to let you know that Island Batik Ambassadors are doing a blog hop in May.  Details will be out on the Island Batik blog tomorrow, and there will be chances to win fabric.  We're featuring Home Dec ideas, for the new collections that should be arriving in stores soon.  So, if you see something you want, please check with your local LQS, who can really use your support now, or check with me, in my Etsy store.  If you need a group that you can't find, let me know, and I'll see if I can get it.  

Please have a great weekend, spend time doing something you love, and keep the faith that the restrictions will lift soon, and we can enjoy Spring.  Thanks! 

Maryellen