If you want to see a recap of Week 1, click HERE. Week 2, click HERE. If you haven’t seen the fabulous Log Cabin quilts, it will be well worth your time to visit the 2 Island Batik blog posts … beautiful eye candy!!! Here’s who’s in line for this week! I can’t wait to see what they create! Continue reading
Here is my January 2020 Unboxing Video with all of the goodies I recieved this month!
Last year, I got a Block on Board die from Accuquilt … Cleopatra’s Fan … it had curves. I perservered, and made several blocks. I was not happy. I liked the block in the end, but I was not happy sewing it!
This year, I received another Block on Board die … it has CURVES. (Can you hear the loud groan??? !!!)
The guild was offering a one day workshop on sewing circles. SIGH!!! I figured that I better take the workshop. Here’s a sample of what happened at the workshop. Lots of curved piecing.
Hi Everyone,
Here is the link up for the mid January Progress on you PHD in 2020. You don’t need to have a finished project, just show us progress. Hopefully you have some! If you don’t, show us what you plan to work on!
If you have a finished project, that’s fantastic! Show us that!
Remember, it’s not only the UFOs you need to complete, but all of your NEW starts in 2020!
On January 1, I discussed analysing your UFO to discover why it became a UFO in the first place. Did that help? You can see the post HERE.
Tracking your progress is a great way to see encourage yourself and to know that you are getting a project done. Which is our goal, right? Enter the Link Party to help you track your progress! Also, using the Excel sheet PHD-Tally-with-formulas 2020 will also help.
#1 Summer Solstice – one set of blocks are completed …
#2 Ode to 30s … quilting has begun …
I completed a small tote bag to hold my Accuquilt Go machine. You can read about it HERE.
Oh yes, they do!
Most of you know that I absolutely LOVE scrappy quilts. Occasionally, I do sew a quilt with only a couple of fabrics, but for the most part, I love scrappy. A few years ago, I made a series of quilts with my Grandmother’s fabric. You can see them HERE. I used pretty much all of the fabrics, without much consideration to colour. The only rule was that 2 squares of the same colour couldn’t go next to each other. There was every colour in the rainbow, shades, tints and tones and they all got mixed up together. In my opinion, all of the quilts turned out just fine.
Then came the Island Batik January’s challenge to make something scrappy! I smiled and smiled. I knew I wanted to make a cover for my embroidery machine and it would just be a small quilt, not shaped or anything. I have scraps from all the Island Batik projects that I made last year. I decided to make pinwheels. I used my Accuquilt Go to cut the pinwheels (talk about accurate!) and was mostly happy with each pinwheel. Individually, they looked pretty good. They all went well with the Island Batik grey solid. Then, when I put them together, it was blah. Like yuck! gross … ULK!!! Not something I’d like to look at every time I walked into my studio!
I quilted it with blue thread (Aurifil 1128), hoping that would add some cohesiveness. It helped … a little … but … Not doing it for me. ULK!!!
When I compared this to some of the quilts I made with Grandma’s fabric, I realize that in each of the blocks (some were the same size as the pinwheels in this piece) that the colours were all mixed up together. In this piece, there isn’t the mixed variety … each pinwheel is only 2 colours. My conclusions are that: 1. If I’m going to do scrappy pinwheels, I need to stick to a certain theme or colour. 2. Scrappy quilts work best with lots of variation and a solid, or calm piece, to pull it all together.
It’s LEARNING … and I’m just fine with that!
When I was looking at this quilt, I was wondering what I could make with it. I had said on the blog that I had started Secret Project #1 – so, I couldn’t just ignore it and hope that it would disappear. It was a project started in 2020, and therefore, needed to be finished in 2020. And, I couldn’t wimp out on my PHD in 2020! Especially this early in the year!!!
I have always fought with the bag that the Accuquilt cutter came in because it just fits and there isn’t a lot of wiggle room. AND, to top it off, the bag ripped when I pulled it out to use it to cut the pinwheels. An AH-HA moment happened. This piece would be come a bag for the cutter. A perfect solution, don’t ya think?
Here it is … and I’m thinking that it doesn’t look too bad as a bag. And the Accuquilt Go fits in it with ease!
This is NOT my official Island Batik scrappy project for January but it is a completed project. It did use Island Batik fabrics, cut with the HST Cube 8″ Accuquilt die, Aurifil thread and Hobbs 80/20 batting. I had labelled this Secret Project #1.
to join in PHD in 2020!
If you want to decrease your UFOs … and not make your UFO list any bigger, Join me for your PHD in 2020! Check out this blog post for details … and scroll WAY down for the linky party so that you can join in! You can join in on the PHD in 2020 until Jan. 14. Then on the 1st and 15th of each month, there will be a linky party for you to show your progress.
Now, you don’t have to have a blog to join … you can use Pinterest (start a separate board) or Instagram … post the direct URL in the linky party and you’re IN! Come and join us!
By Jeniffer at Inquiring Quilter with This POST about 2 works in progress. Thank you to Jennifer for hosting the Wednesday Wait Loss. By the way … it’s worth going to her blog to see all the wonderful works that are featured this week.
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Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs is having a Best of 2019 Linky Party!
It’s HARD to choose just one quilt that is my favourite for this year! SEW … as you can see, I chose 8 of them. I finished many many more, but these 8 are my favourite! Well, there’s probably a few more that are also my favourite … but I figured I needed to limit the number!
You can see the original posts for the quilts by clicking on the quilt name. All but the first quilt, Good Fortune, used Island Batik Fabrics (you can see all the Island Batik quilts HERE.) Good Fortune was made from my stash and was a Bonnie Hunter mystery. All of the quilts used Hobbs batting … 80/20 or wool … Aurifil thread was used in each project. Each quilt was quilted on my domestic sewing machine – Janome 8900.
I have no finishes this Friday, but the quilt below is ready to be quilted. I used the left-over fabric from a baby quilt I started in November. I was able to cut most of the 5″ squares from the left-overs … I was a few squares shor … mostly because I cut some at 4.5″ instead of 5″ 😦 … sew … I took the pieces that were too small and pieced a bunch of them together and then cut those pieces 5″ square. It will work. This is a pattern where you sew the blocks straight, do a few big cuts, rearrange the big cuts and you have a quilt that is on point. Missouri Star has a YouTube Video that shows basically how to make this. It’s pretty easy!
This quilt will also be donated to the guild.
This is the quilt that had the left-overs that I used for the above quilt. There were 2 fat quarters that I did not use in the original quilt … one was a mini panel with the blocks of animals and the other was the white /with leaves that is on the outside of the quilt … it was a perfect place to use these fabrics up!
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This has been a year of growth for me as a quilter. Becoming an Island Batik Ambassador has been a highlight of my year! Thanks to the monthly challenges, I stepped outside my comfort zone and made things that I NEVER would have. As well, a short photography class helped me go beyond my “quilt on a clothesline” photos!
Island Batik provided all of the fabrics for the quilts and projects this year. My heart is over-filled with gratefullness for their generousity and that of the co-sponsers (Aurifil, Hobbs batting & Accuquilt). I was totally spoiled this year by being an Island Batik Ambassador!
I am also grateful to my fellow Island Batik Ambassadors! They offered a ton of support and encouragement. Not to mention the plethora of ideas that flowed … it’s been a fun year!
The first challenge for the year was to make a mini. I wasn’t sure what to do … My love of fall colours and the desire to make something I would use, lead me to make this Suduko mini quilt. For more details, go HERE.
On the huge boulders on the side of our yard.
What happens when you have beautiful fabric, an idea and EQ7? Stars on Ice became the reality of that dream. See HERE.
All ambassadors received an Accuquilt cutter and dies. I used the 8″ cube dies to make this beautiful baby quilt. See HERE.
Me? Make a modern quilt??? Find out more about how it came about HERE.
This table runner was made for a Blog Hop celebrating the book “Christmas RAPPing” by Margaret Brewster Willingham and Nan Baker. You can see the blog post HERE.
We were challenged to try a new technique … sew, I used one of Angela Walters quilting tutorial series and this table runner was born. See HERE.
This little zipper pouch was made with my embroidery machine, using an AnitaGoodesign pattern. For more details see this POST.
I do not do Artsy-Fartsy … I’m a more traditional quilter. However, this project was enlightening. I remembered how to do some simple embroidery stitches … and with it being “Artsy-Fartsy” I didn’t need to worry about it being exact. You can read about it HERE. This bag was made for travelling and I used it on my month long trip to Europe & Africa.
One of my fellow Island Batik Ambassadors organized a group of us to make Quilts of Valour out of a wonderful line of fabric called “Freedom.” It had lots of red, white & blue fabric. Since I was making one for a Canadian veteran, I just wanted to use the red and white. I did have to dip into the blue fabric for a few squares (scattered randomly) and the binding. It is my own pattern. Read more about it HERE.
This was made for a blog hop. The line is “Soil & Seeds.” I loved the line and wanted to be able to showcase each fabric. This quilt was perfect for that. For more details, see HERE.
This quilt used the Accuquilt Die “Cleopatra’s Fan.” It was an intimidating block for me to make: it had CURVED piecing. However, I did learn that with the die, the pieces are cut perfectly and sewing the curves was not all that difficult. It was fun to design the butterfly. Except for the antenna, the butterfly was cut with the Accuquilt 8 ” Cube dies. You can read about the post HERE.
These little pin cushions were made with the “mistake” blocks from making the Christmas Rapping table runner (May). I think they are so stinking cute! And a fantastic way to use up those orphan blocks. For more details see HERE.
Nothing says “October” to me more than pumpkins. I had some great orange fabric, a great background fabric, my embroidery machine and this table runner fell into place. For more details, see HERE.
I needed new clothes … I had an ancient T-shirt pattern, I had this beautiful rayon fabric … SEW this top, which fits me perfectly, was made! Check it out HERE.
We needed to use our favourite tool. My favourite is the Tri-rec ruler … and the Shape-cut ruler … and … a zillion other tools that are necessary for my quilt making … Visit THIS BLOG POST to see a video on how I used these tools.
I forgot to take pictures as I was making this quilt. And it can easily be made with the Accuquilt Go, 8″ Cube dies. See HEREand HEREI love how this quilt used the same fabrics as the quilt above, but with a white background instead of black. It certainly gives the quilts a very different look!
Many fellow Ambassadors made various “Funky Friends” for quilt market. After my trip to Africa, I just HAD to make the Rhino! See this POST for more details.
This quilt pattern has always spoken “3D” to me. It was the obvious choice for a quilt! See HERE for more details!
I needed to make sewing machine covers for all of my machines. I used the extra fabric from the 3D quilt to make this serger cover. To find out how I did it, go HERE.
You can call it a squirrel, you can call it a DrEAMI, but I’m calling it DONE. Check out the details HERE.
Alice was fun to make! See this POST for more details!
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I have 5 UFO finishes for 2019!
The first picture shows, Ivan’s Diamonds, Carpenter’s Wheel and a Star Table runner
My 2 April finishes are Good Fortune and a Retreat Bag.
I have an Inlinks party for PHD in 2019 participants to link up to. However, you you want to link up, feel free! Just be sure to mention this blog in your blog post, Instagram or Pinterest picture!
Close up pictures of a couple of quilts: This first one was the Island Batik Accuquilt Challenge. Free Motion quilting did not call to me and it’s totally stitched in the ditch. (And yes, I used my ruler foot and a ruler for most of the quilting.) I used Aurifil Thread and Hobbs batting. The fabrics are Island Batik and mostly came from the Stash Builder Rolls or my yardage.
This is a Close up of Good Fortune and the quilting. I just did an all-over pattern that was inspired by Roseanne of Home Sewn by US, but then it morphed into my own design.
This awesome blog hop is continuing. If you haven’t checked out the great projects – be sure to do so. And, there is a chance for YOU to win! Check it out!
April 29 Joan @ MooseStash Quilting
April 30 Linda @ One Quilting Circle
May 1 Kathy @ Kathy’s Kwilts
May 2 Bea @ Beaquilter
May 3 Sherry @ Powered by Quilting
May 4 Jennifer @ Dizzy Quilter
May 5 Barbara Gaddy @ Bejeweledquilts by Barb
May 6 Nancy Myers @ Patchwork Breeze
May 7 Vicki @ Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting
May 8 Gail @ Quilting Gail THIS IS ME come back and see what I made!
May 9 Michelle @ Creative Blonde
May 10 Maryellen @ Mary Mack’s Blog
May 11 Denise @ For the Love of Geese
May 12 Maria @
Click on the Rafflecopter giveaway link to have a chance to WIN 9 Island Batik FQ’s and 3 Aurifil spools of thread to 2 lucky winners!
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I haven’t had a lot of time to sew in the last few days … but I’ve done a bit!
QuiltingThe March Island Batik project is sandwiched! The theme for this month is “Vintage Reimagined.” It is a fun theme to work with! I used these fabrics on the right!!! Oh – what a joy it is to use this beautiful fabric!!! I’ll show you more when it’s quilted.
I completed 2 UFOs this month! YEAH!!! To see close-ups of these 2 quilts visit the original blog posts Ivan’s Diamonds (left) and Carpenter’s Wheel. (right)
This is our Island Batik February challenge. We were instructed to use any Island Batik fabric in our box, but not the “surprise” fabric. It was to be smaller than 24″ x 24″. Once I decided what to do for my mini … the rest was easy. Decision: A smalll Sudoku Quilt!
For my mini, I needed 9 fabrics plus a background. I received 8 wonderful fall colours. I added a vibrant green from a stash builder’s roll. And I used the neutral fabric for the sashing, border and back (the yummy butter fabric).
The next step was to cut all of the 2 ½” squares. I used the GO Cutter to do this … Once the strips were cut, I lined them up on the GO cutter and the squares were ALL cut all at once as they went through the cutter!!! (Sorry, I didn’t take a picture of this! But it was pretty quick work!)
I found a Sudoku puzzle and wrote it out so that I would have an easy visual to use.
I have numbered pins, but they are scattered all over … SEW, I took a piece of selvage with the coloured dots on the side. I cut the dots individually and stuck a pin through them. It made it easy to keep track of which colour was which number!
I then began sewing … one block at a time. No rushing this one. I would have had a lot of ripping to do if I did. As I finished a block, I added the sashing to the left of the block.
The corners were able to be twirled or swirled, but it took me a bit to figure it out. (I LOVE twirling where the seams meet – it makes it sew smooth when free motion quilting!)
The blocks were all joined together … and I checked carefully to ensure they were all in the correct placement. The quilt was sandwiched with Hobbs 80/20 batting, using a spray baste.
I started quilting on my domestic machine. I used Aurifil thread 50 wt (top & bobbin). 
I stitched in the ditch along each seam and extended out into the borders. In the sashing, I sewed wonky ¼” seams. (I call them wonky because they were not all perfectly straight! grin!) I thought I was done quilting, until I looked at it closely and saw that the 2 brown fabrics, although quite different, read almost the same colour. As well, one of the oranges had a lot of green in it, and definitely did not read the same colour throughout. No Problem! I decided to just quilt a tiny motif in each block to hopefully define each colour … Thankfully, I have lots of Aurifil thread in many colours … SEW that was easy. Then I had to decide which motif to use. Eventually, they all spoke to me and soon it was done! This little mini measures 22″ x 22″.
The wind is blowing up to 90 km gusts today, so it was hard to get a picture without the quilt being blown away.
I tried to be a bit artistic with my photos … The one on the tree (left) is the closest to the true colours … the right and bottom one are both washed out a bit.
Can you see the tiny motifs in the 2″ squares?
If you want to see the Magniifcent Minis that are already posted, go to these blogs:
There will be many many more minis being posted during the rest of the month. You don’t want to miss them! There is a tab at the top of my blog that lists all the 2019 Island Batik Ambassadors. If you go to each of their blogs and “follow” each one, you will ensure that you don’t miss a single post of all of their creations!
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Guess what ???????????????
I was chosen to be an Island Batik Ambassador! WooHoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You can see their official announcement HERE.
Can you tell HOW EXCITED I AM????
