After realizing that Gail's post was where I was supposed to share my center block, I realized that Kathleen's post was Round One.   (I was late to start and got confused. I posted my center block on Kathleen's linky - mea culpa!)  I did blog that center block - hopefully you saw it. 

Yes, the plaid quilt is finished.  This quilt is a convergence design using one (discontinued) gradient from Colorways by Vicki. The borders are from a different gradient that she wasn't happy with and used as a giveaway prize. (Lucky me!) 
I had this "no-name" batik in my stash from years ago, so I decided to use it as the backing. 

Welcome to my 3D quilt for Island Batik.   I had a beautifully sunny day to take a few photos out in the cold.  But seriously, look how blue that sky is today.  Of course I want you to feast your eyes on my quilt, also. There is a closer shot later. So don't strain.




The Island Batik fabric, Hobbs batting, Aurifil thread, and the Accuquilt Go! cutter were given to me as an Island Batik Ambassador in consideration for promoting these brands while creating the challenge quilts. Thank you all so much. I hope I can work with you again in the future.

This will be my last post as an Island Batik Ambassador as I did not apply for the program for next year.  The simple reason is that I am choosing to spend more time with my Mom and family.  I had a wonderful time creating all of my Island Batik projects and I have purchased more Island Batik fabrics - so you will see more projects featuring these fabrics.




Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Most quilters have UFOs (UnFinished Objects.)  This quilter is no different.  For a weekend at a friend's house, I grabbed a bag with what I thought was one particular unfinished project. When I arrived and opened the bag, it was a different project.  But I am happy that I grabbed the "wrong" bag.  This one is a quilt that was in five sections that needed joining together.  All the necessary fabrics were also in the bag (yaaay!)

You can read some of the backstory on this quilt here. 

One of the five sections

The reason that I did this in sections is that it makes quilting much easier on a domestic machine.  I have to say that I think this may be some of the best quilting I have ever done. I join these using the method in Maguerita McManus' book "Quilt As You Go -reimagined"   It is my favorite 'quilt as you go' technique.



When I got it all joined together, I realized why it had become a UFO.  You see it is an odd size - long and narrow.
So I said to myself,  "Okay fellow, you know you can come up with a solution to this. Think!"  Adding side borders seemed pretty obvious at this point. So I took leftover pieces of the blue, red, yellow and lavender and made 3" borders for each side.  "Hmmm..." I said,   "Fellow, those are going to be a royal pain in the patootie to quilt at that size. Back to the drawing board."  I looked at the leftover fabric, and did some calculating and decided the blue would look nice added to it.
So I sewed 2 1/2" strips of blue to the sides of the piano key borders. Here is what it will look like eventually.

I will probably bind it in red or yellow - depending on what I have enough of in my stash.  I think this quilt looks like it belongs in a circus - because of the bright red, blue and yellow colors.  But that is okay, I like it that way.

If you missed my September Post "The Absurd Bird" please go to see it.

Linking up with The Inquiring Quilter.


Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

A couple of days ago a friend and I were discussing how she might use a "difficult" fabric in a quilt.  I mentioned doing a "four patch posie"  like I did with some spiderman fabric some time back.  I was looking for instructions and found a different way.  I knew I would have to try it.

 Now it is like eating potato chips - I can't stop with one block. I just want to keep eating making these little blocks.

Basically, you line up fabric the same way as you would for a one block wonder (OBW) quilt but only use four layers. 

Then you cut squares with the four layers lined up. They need to be at least 4 inches - bigger would be better.
You cut the squares diagonally both ways.  Then each triangle stack makes a block.

You can see the how-to video that I found on YouTube below.


Now, I have a few more cut that I need to sew.  See you later, folks!



Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

The March Challenge for the Island Batik Ambassadors is  titled "Vintage Reimagined."   Since that can have so many possible meanings,  I choose to reimagine some blocks and blend them together.

I used a slightly modified log cabin block and placed it inside an Ohio Star block.  Thus, the title I have chosen for this quilt is "Cabins in the Stars." 


The lovely Island Batik fabrics were provided by Island Batik  to the Ambassadors.  I used a variety of greens and purples with a pale yellow center for the Log Cabin blocks.  The lovely cheddar colored blender made perfect star points.  This was rounded out with the Iceberg and Silverado blenders along with a bit more of that dark purple batik as my background colors. The borders are also Island Batik in black and white solids.  I love the dense weave of these fabrics.  They are a delight to work with as they have almost no fraying.

















By having the star points meet, the background creates a nice secondary diamond shape.  I changed the background for the points that meet in the center to create an area to showcase the appliqué piece that I planned for the center.

The center is appliquéd with a machine embroidered circle.  The embroidery is from Patsy Thompson's Feathered Wreath machine embroidery collection.
Rather an embroider the center, I stopped the machine so that I could appliqué a small circle of the Iceberg batik there.  I used a purple Aurifil thread (also provided to me as an Ambassador) for the purple in the embroidery. My embroidery machine loved it.

After applying the center circle, I realized that there was just a bit too much space around it.  So I used the Accuquilt Daisy die that has two sizes of circle for the center and made a few more fusible appliqué circles.  My original idea was to use them to create an arc in each corner.  As I was preparing to fuse them down, something magical happened and this arrangement occurred. I think it makes the design a bit bolder.

We took the quilt, which measures 36 1/2 inches square, to my brother's house on the lake for the photo shoot.  So here are a few more gratuitous shots from the photo outing.

My brother and I, holding the quilt so you can see the lake in the background.

Of course, you probably want to see the back of the quilt also. I had a lot of fun quilting this small quilt. I used several quilting motifs that I have learned in various classes -and I made up a few also.

The Backing is a lovely Island Batik fabric named "Whip Cream."  It has bits of blue and gray in a subtle design on the almost white fabric.

Did you notice the flange on the binding? The binding is black. After trimming the quilt backing and batting, I saved the excess backing and made the flange. It was my first flanged binding, but it will not be my last.

I should also mention that I used the wonderful Hobbs premium cotton batting in this quilt.  It quilted beautifully.

I am linking this up to Meadow Mist Designs Favorite Finish Monthly for March.

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

For the Left-Handed Quilter Sampler quilt along,  I have made my first two blocks.  Since there are 99 blocks to choose from and we are only making 25 of them, we can choose which ones we want to make.
My fabrics for this will be mostly Kaffe Fassett by Free Spirit.  The 10" squares and some charm packs were on sale and I couldn't resist the colorful delights.

The pieces were cut with my Accuquilt Go! cutter using the 8" Qube set.  These are 6 inch finished blocks, but the 2" square and 2" half-square triangles from that set were perfect for cutting these.

The Contrary Wife is the first block I chose to make.
These two blocks are in the "not too hard" category, in my opinion.  They are simple half square triangles and simple square fabric units.

For the second block, I chose an old favorite - the Friendship Star.
This block can be arranged to rotate either direction.   These fabrics certainly change the look of the blocks.  One of those yellow HSTs has blue right along the edge of the star point which seems to change the shape just a bit.  The center square has a pink burst that is seven pointed.  It is actually the veins of a leaf, but it has a nice "starburst" feel in the middle of my star block.  This was completely serendipitous - but I love it.

Only 23 more blocks to go...but I will be taking this one slow and easy.

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

There once was a quilt that was started last year or was it the year before? No, it was last year.  But it seems like forever ago.  One part of it is already quilted and ready to have the other half joined.  So this week I finished piecing the other part of the front and the back. I was planning on quilting it during my weekend "retreat" but I didn't bring the other part with me -and honestly I don't remember how I quilted it.  I do want the halves to look like the same quilt, so it will wait.  But here is a peek at it layered and basted!

So now I will start some four patches made from 5"squares that will then later be cut with my rag quilt die cutter for another rag quilt. I thought some pieced rag squares would be fun.

The past week I have been a little "lazy" - choosing to relax and refresh for a few days.  However, my need to "make something" kicked in Friday evening and I got started on a simple rag quilt.  With the AccuQuilt Go cutter and rag die, this is super easy.  I cut a number of fabric squares and a number of batting squares.  (twice as many fabric as batting!)  For this one I used the same fabrics for both sides of each square.  That way my design is the same on both sides.  The only difference is that one side doesn't have the ragging.
So of course I am showing you the ragged side.


I did two pictures so that you can see the continuation of the design.  This quilt was finished in less than 24 hours. And, yes, that includes sleeping and eating. It is approximately 42" by 48" -or maybe a little larger due to the fringe on the edges.  I don't know if you can tell from the picture but on this side I carefully lined up the navy  batik with palm trees so that all the trees are upright.  I also tried to align all the red fabrics in the same orientation. Those are the only two with a directional design.
This isn't ragged well as it has only been washed and dried once.  It needs at least one more washing/drying cycle to get a nice fluffy ragged trim.
Has only reading ever made a rag quilt with pieced squares?  I am just wondering if that would be a fun project.
I also did some sewing on my latest handwork project last night.  I did a LOT of french knots on it.  I did learn to leave room for quilting it after all the hand work is done.  How did I learn this?  I re-watched the video on The Quilt Show. It seems I need to watch something several times to get all the details in my head.  However, Carol Ann Waugh has nothing to fear, my style with it is very different from hers.

This morning I read an interesting post on Walks in the Woods blog by Frieda Anderson.  She made a very interesting statement about failure. Go there and read it, if you will...then come back-I'll be right here.

Often when I was painting I would be told "I can't draw a straight line"  -  guess what?  Neither can I, without a ruler.  Surprisingly most art doesn't have many straight lines - and rulers are abundant if you need one!

Daughter of the Moon by Gene Black

There are some  almost straight lines in this piece, but not really.  The interesting thing about this piece is how it came to be.  I had help on this one. Magic happened.   When you "get into" your creative zone, magic is not uncommon.

The one thing you have to do with art is keep trying. This applies to quilters too.  Most quilts are works of art.  Granted I have seen a few that weren't, but a quilt made with passion is a work of art.

Oh, in case you didn't read my comment over at Frieda's post; here it is:
"..... I have had people tell me that they are not creative. I do not believe them. Everyone is creative if they find their voice. You hit the nail on the head: We only fail if we don't try. Other than that, each "less than perfect" is a learning and growing experience."
Yes, you are creative. Find your voice and let it sing!

The hand work has been temporarily abandoned.  Why?  So that I can work on a sweet little quilt for a soon to be born baby boy.   The Mommy is decorating the nursery in sail boats with the main colors being red white and blue.  When I was told this, I went looking for fabric   I found a fun line at Connecting Threads.  It is called "Smooth Sailing"    I ordered the Mariner's Star design in Silver Lining.
I got some red, blue and gray at the local quilt shop.  I also ordered the 10" square sampler.  I will use some of it in the pieced backing.
I designed a quilt top in Electric Quilt 7.  I also designed my own sailboat block (after looking at several online.)
Here is one of my early drafts:

Of course as I started working on it, I changed a few things.  So here is the finished top.

It is raining here today so I had to do an indoor picture.  It isn't the greatest picture, but you get the idea.
I love the way this came out.  I just have to say Thank you!  to Connecting Threads and to Electric Quilt for such wonderful products.


There is a cool giveaway featuring some Connecting Threads fabric at Hilachas' blog

I am working on the Tumble 4 Ya quilt again.  I have now quilted all three sections.  Here is the layout with all the Tumblers together.  The blue lines are where the joining strips will be.

Of course while it is still in sections, I had to try flipping the middle section just to see how it would look.