Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Island Batik Create for a Cause Blog Hop and Giveaway

   

Okay, that's a little teaser and hint to the idea behind my quilt.  Welcome to my day on the Create for a Cause hop, with Island Batik Ambassadors.  The fabric collection I got was Melody, designed by Claudia Pfeil for Island Batik. 

This collection was in my Ambassador box in January, and will be in quilt shops soon.  It's a gorgeous mix of pink, purple, plum, and shades of green.  The tjaps (chops) have gorgeous feather quilting designs, and vines, plus circles and squares.  
This just spoke Flowers to me.  Happy Spring flowers.  Our objective this month is to make a quilt that will be donated to a charity.  I was stumped!  I knew I wanted to make something large, at least a throw size, and it needed to have flowers in a field of grass.  Which charity?  I'm still not actually sure which charity I'll be able to donate this to.  I'm contacted my church, and a local nursing home that does raffles, but haven't heard back yet.  The nursing home is one where my dad volunteered for many years.  Mom's nursing home doesn't do raffles, so I can't donate it there.  I also contacted my high school, and they would love to accept it, but aren't doing raffles or auctions at this time because of Covid.  I would love for the proceeds of this to go towards tuition for a smart girl that would benefit from being a student at Sacred Heart Academy.  It should bring in a nice sum of money if raffled or auctioned.  

So, without really knowing where I could donate it, I was stumped on the design, except that it needed to look like flowers.  I played around in EQ8 and drew something that looked like petals around a center.  I picked the 7 favorite pink/purple pieces, and 6 of the greens, plus the Circles in green, which was the 2 yard light piece included in my Ambassador box, plus some Egg White for background.  When I drew the block, I knew I was going to use the Corner Beam tool from Studio 180, plus the Flying Geese ruler by Quilt in a Day.  I was thinking of doing a pieced center with yellow and green, but decided to just use the collection colors, and a full square (faster that piecing one).  
So, 13 blocks later, plus 12 squares of the variety of greens created the center.  I used a border of the green circles, and then finished with a nice wide border from the dark coordinate in the box, the Vine in Dusk fabric, which is also the center flower.  The Flying Geese units are stitched to a rectangle of the same fabric, to make the petal shape.  Let's just call them Star Flowers, and the quilt is Garden Melody. 

Garden Melody measures about 80" square, and would be so pretty on a twin or full size bed, or hanging on a large wall.  I quilted it with Aurifil Forty-Three in 4660, Pink Taffy, a variegated thread that picks up all the colors of cotton candy to fuchsia.  It looks great on the green fabrics, too, and blends into the border.   I used the panto Maggie's Rose from Urban Elementz on my Handi-Quilter Amara with Pro-stitcher.  If you think you want to make something similar, let me know and I'll write the pattern.
The backing is a grey swirl wide back, and batting is Hobb's Heirloom Cotton with scrim, one of the queen size battings they added to our Ambassador boxes.  And I always use Schmetz needles, and love Microtex for piecing with batiks.  It's the best and lasts so long, even with doing multiple layers of binding, batting, top, and backing.  
I went to Hick's Nursery to get some photos, because the weather was too overcast and snowy for outdoor shots.  Thanks to the staff person who volunteered to hold this for me!  
Here are some other fun shots.  
Look, a garden bench painted to match!   I had to stop for another photo, lol.  I think the guy behind me on line thinks I'm nuts!! I had purchased a few house plants and a flower pot, and had just folded up the quilt.  Had to unfold it, toss it on the bench, grab the camera, then fold it again, lol.  
On my queen size bed.  It's a little small for it, or will need pillow shams.  
This fabric is my favorite in the collection.  It's one of my favorite colors, with my favorite.  I posted on Instagram that my shirt matched this the day I was sewing this block, and I do have nail polish to match, too. 
A little of the tread detail in quilting.  The color change is fun, and adds a pretty touch to the fabrics.  

Island Batik is having a give-away on their blog, and here's the Rafflecopter widget.  


You can win Mystery, the other collection by Claudia Pfeil.  It has similar tjaps, but features other colors. 

Please leave a comment on my post to enter to win some fabric from me.  I'm not sure what I'll share yet, but you'll be happy, as I'll stuff a flat rate envelope with Island Batik.  A US winner will have free shipping, and if you are from another country and agree to cover the difference in shipping, you can enter too.  This give-away will close on February 21, 2021.  Please sign up for emails of my blog posts, and consider following me on Facebook and Instagram!  Thanks!

Please visit this week's blogs for more inspiration, and to enter give-aways on their posts.  

February 8:

February 9:

February 10:

February 11:

February 12:

Blog Hop Round-Up Week 2 and Giveaway

Thanks so much for visiting!   Have fun on the hop, and get some good inspiration.  

Maryellen




47 comments:

Sues said...

I really like the colors you had to work with!!! Your flowers are lovely.

Jane, Mulberry Patch Quilts said...

It’s beautiful! The colors are so cheerful, and the pattern you created on EQ8 is wonderful.

Megan said...

Love the quilt! Such a pretty block setting for it.

Gene Black said...

You know how much I love batiks and this collection is no different. Great quilt....and hey -it may seem crazy but I need photos for my blog!

Joyce Carter said...

It is a very beautiful quilt Maryellen. I love the colors in this collection. I am sure which ever charity receives it will be happy to get it.
Thank you for your giveaway.

Elizabeth said...

Another great quilt from great fabric

Emily said...

So pretty!! This absolutely reads as flowers! Love it!

Jennifer Thomas said...

Great quilt and I'm sure it will go to a great cause eventually! I love the Melody collection as well, I cut up the rest of my pinks from my 10" squares this morning. So sad to use them all up! I really like the flower block you created. I could see this used in a lot of different ways. Have a fabulous day!

Bonnie58 said...

I love the colours. They look so fresh and springy. Thanks

Lori said...

wow your quilt is gorgeous. yes those fabrics do speak flowers dont they? thanks for sharing and inspiring. quilting dash lady at comcast dot net

ShirleyC said...

Your quilt is gorgeous! I know whoever gets it will love it.

I follow you on Bloglovin', but I'm looking for you on FB.

Diana G. said...

It's wonderful to find new people! I followed your link from Kauffman Designs. I think my only talent I can take pride in is my love I put into quilts for people <3

QuiltingGranny said...

The choice of flower colors against the green background are perfect.

Linda Williamson said...

I love the spring colors. grinnie1961@gmail.com

Quilting Tangent said...

Pretty flower garden for your bed. 24Tangent@gmail.com

Sharon Aurora said...

Your quilt is so delightful that it puts me in a mood for Spring! I love the idea of charity starting locally.

@lutzcats said...

What a happy quilt! This is a MUST HAVE collection...we share the same name!

Lisa England said...

I am very good at paper piecing and have made some things with that technique that I am quite proud of.

Anna brown said...

You never disappoint very very pretty hun great job... happyness04431@yahoo.com

Diantha said...

This collection is so pretty - and your quilt is great and spring like!
Good luck finding a charity to donate to.

mumbird3 said...

Lovely quilt - the flowers are wonderful! Mumbird3atgmaildotcom

Christine said...

Beautiful quilt!

Julie said...

thanks for sharing your quilt.

Angie said...

Beautiful quilt. Really nice fabrics! Enjoy your day! 🦉🦋 angielovesgary2 atgmail dotcom

Cindy Shelley said...

This quilt is gorgeous. I love it. Thanks for sharing.

Kathy E. said...

I've always loved lime green and of course, anything goes well with it! I am so impressed with your accurate points in each block. Not a one, that I can see, is cut off...awesome work! I am a Bloglovin' follower of yours.
duchick at gmail dot com

Michele T said...

I am very proud of my needle turned appliqué pieces.

JANET said...

Very cheerful quilt! Your story made me chuckle! First we went out of our way taking pictures of our kids, now it is our quilts!

tac73 said...

Love the colorful quilt you created.

Tara Wright said...

Beautiful quilt Maryellen! A great way to add Spring cheer during winter blah.

Jollygirl said...

I like your star flowers. Your quilt is lovely.

GranChris said...

I love the quilt. You are talented.

Carolyn said...

Your quilt really caught my eye! Lovely combination of colors!

Joyce Carle said...

You are very talented and I like how you use color placement.

Brenda said...

Beautiful!
I'm not really good at piecing or quilting but I really enjoy trying!

MissPat said...

This collection has some of my favorite colors. And how clever to think of going to the greenhouse for pictures. I couldn't have left without buying some plants either.
Pat

OhioLori said...

Your Quilt is Beautiful!! Love the Spring look of it too :D Thank you for chance to win your Give-a-way :)

For the love of geese said...

Its a wonderful finish and I love that you went to a nursery. Hopefully this spring I can be a little more creative with my photos.

Carol Andrews said...

It is such a beautiful quilt, lovely fabrics and whichever charity gets to have it to raise money for their cause will be so grateful. Thanks for an inspiring post, great story and a fun giveaway.

Cecilia said...

Beautiful quilt! I love the colors in this collection.
cecilialyoung at gmail dot com

Carol Ethier said...

Beautuful quilt! A charity will be lucky to raffle it off!

Beth said...

What a pretty, cheerful quilt. Island Batik colors are always so vivid.

Barb said...

Such beautiful colors and perfect for flowers!
barbkaup(at)(yahoo)(dot)(com)

Diane Cullum said...

Your quilt is gorgeous! Thank you for the chance to win!

cghundley said...

Love the pretty
flower design
and lovely colors.
Carla from Utah

Patty said...

Very inspiring! It’s shared projects like yours that motivate me to keep trying new ideas!

Dawn F said...

This is a fantastic pattern and the fabrics make it so bold and beautiful. I hope you have some luck finding a place to auction/raffle it soon so somebody can enjoy this amazing quilt!