OK … in THIS POST, I talked about how I hate hand sewing on hanging sleeves. I really dislike hand sewing. period.
Making the sleeve is easy …
Edited
Measure the width of the quilt. Add 1″
Take the width of the quilt and cut a 8.5″ strip
Turn under 1/4″ on each end of the strip.
Sew this strip lengthwise with a 1/4″ seam.
Secure the sleeve to the quilt
sew the top of the sleeve just below the binding
Press the bottom of the sleeve, measure up 3/4″ on the side towards the quilt. Press
the last pressed line is what you fasten to the quilt (this leaves space for the rod to be inserted so that the quilt can hang
When I’ve done this for quilt shows, I’ve made the sleeves and pinned them on. They’re only going to hang for a couple of days, so I don’t need to worry about rust or too much stress.
Anyhow … after talking about how I HATE hand sewing, I had 2 comments that I thought were worth mentioning.
Kathleen, from Kathleen McMusing, suggested putting them on with a blind hem and using invisible thread. I thought this was a brilliant idea.
SEW … when a gal needs to get 3 quilt sleeves on, she uses her sewing machine. As you can see, I used the blind hem stitch. There was a grey thread in the bobbin (that’s what you can see) and I had Aurifil invisible thread on top. There is NO stitching visible on the quilt! Perfect.
I received “Ohana” fabric collection to use for this blog hop. Aren’t the fabrics awesome?
They made me think of flowers … Well, there are pretty flowers in some of the fabrics. H I thought of the Accuquilt die that I have, “Cleopatra’s Fan.” To me, this die never made me think of a fan, but it did make me think of flowers …
SEW … off to EQ and I played around with the design and the fabrics and came up with this …
Below is some of the pieces on the Accuquilt die. I wasn’t able to lay all of the fabric out at once because I wanted specific fabrics in specific places. So each fabric was cut and placed into the sections where they were destined to go.
I did need to have reverse pieces of each fabric for this block. However, working with Island Batik fabrics, it is seldom that I can decipher the wrong side from the right side. That made it super easy! I just needed 8 pieces of each cut and I didn’t have to worry about right or wrong sides! Island Batik fabrics are pretty cool that way!
Here are all of the blocks on the design board before being sewn together and borders added.
Here’s a close up of the quilting from the front. I outlined all the shapes and quilted little 3 or 4 petal flowers in the grey neutral portions. Wavy leaves formed the border.
And from the back showing more of the border’s wavy leaves.
Once the borders were added and the quilt quilted, … I only had 2 fabrics that I had not used in the quilt … and neither of them was good as a binding. A scrappy binding just didn’t feel right for this quilt. I was given “Marble-Purple-BE” as a coordinating fabric and it is perfect for the binding. Just a hint of the dark purple frames the quilt.
Stats:
54″ x 54″
Quilted with Aurifil #2600, light grey.
Binding attached with Aurifil #2581, dark purple.
Hobbs 80/20 batting
Pieced and Quilted on my Janome Continental M7 sewing machine.
Be sure to visit my Blog Hop Partner, Mania and see the quilt she made with the same fabric collection! Ohana!
Ohana should be arriving in stores soon!
Opportunity to Win
There are 3 opportunities to win some fabric! One from me and 2 from Island Batik.
From Me:
You could win scraps from 5″ x 10″ to 12″ squares of 12 Ohana fabrics. If you live in Canada, in the comment section, tell me how nature inspires (or could inspire) your quilting.
From Island Batik:
Click on the link below to have an opportunity to win Fat Quarter bundles of wonderful fabric: either Sweet Hearts or Love and Kisses
Disclaimer: All of the fabric and supplies (other than my sewing machine and iron) were given to me by Island Batik and the industry partners! Thank you!
Did any of you see this article from CBC Marketplace about masks? Click HERE.
After reading this article, I asked Island Batik what the thread count is for their fabric. Here’s what Elizabeth Phillips (Marketing and Graphic Design) said, “Our greige goods are the highest quality we can purchase. The thread counts are stated a little differently when buying the prepared for dyeing cotton but It’s a little higher than 600.”
So there you have it! If you’ve been making masks with Island Batik fabrics … you’ve been doing the best you can.
And yes, I’ve made masks with Island Batik fabric … here’s a picture of my purse with the matching masks!
Design Wall
Piecing:
Scrappy 4 patches: The setting triangles are added as well as the first border. I need to dig out some fabric and audition it for the 2nd border. This needs to be bigger. At the moment, it’s 38″ x 44″ … if I add a 4″ border, that will make it 46″ x 52″. I’ll be happier with that size!
Quilting:
About the secrets … Secret #1 & #2 are done … #3 is almost finished. Then I’ll add the hanging sleeves (with a blind hem and invisible thread) to #2 and #3.
Stash Report
No finished projects, no shopping …
Fabric Used this week 0 yards
Fabric Used this year: 279.5 yards
Fabric Bought this week: 0 yards
Fabric Added this year: 50.5 yards (my husbands amounts as well)
Net Fabric used 229.0 yards
Husband’s purchases: 11.5 yards (which are added into my total amount of Fabric added this year).
Stitchin’ Time
I’m aiming for at least 30 minutes a day.
January – Sept: 290 / 304
30 min days/ Nov: 15 / 15
Total days in 2020: 305 / 318
Percentage = 95%
For more Stitchin’ Time, you can check out Kate’s blog: Life in Pieces
TO DO
I’m linking up to Roseanne & Sue’s “TO DO” Tuesday. Their blog is “Home Sewn by Us.”
Well, I got the priority quilting done: IB November will be showcased on Tuesday as part of Island Batik’s “Inspired by Nature” Blog Hop. I was privileged to work with a fantastic fabric collection! Come back on Tuesday to see the quilt!
Last week’s list:
IB November: Quilt and Bind√ done
Work onSecret projects:Finish #3 not done
Work on UFO (Scrappy 4 patches) (to flimsy stage) not done
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes. √ done
This week’s list:
Secret project #3 : finish quilting, bind and photos
Work on UFO (Scrappy 4 patches) (to flimsy stage)
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes. √
No UFOs finished. One Start in 2020 finished.
I did add the remaining UFOs to my list … just so that you KNOW I have more! (grin)
Inspired by Nature Blog Hop
Click HERE to see this week’s awesome Ambassador quilts!
Yes, I’ve had a busy week. Since Covid started, my calendar has been pretty blank. A couple of weekly Zoom things, daily walks and not much else, you tend to get use to it! Then BAM … all of a sudden, I had 2 dentist appointments (cleaning and fillings), a blood work appointment, a doctor’s appointment, a short guild Zoom meeting, a family Zoom quilting day, as well as the usual 3 weekly Zooms … Oh me, oh my … I felt almost overwhelmed. And to think, I used to have all those appointments, work full time and still managed to get a lot of quilting done! Sigh … Enough of my week … back to what’s important to me: Quilting!
Design Wall
Piecing:
Scrappy 4 patches: On point was the final decision on making this little quilt. I know it looks like a mess at the moment! I have some of the setting triangles sewn on … some are pinned and one row ready to be sewn together. I got most of this done at the family Zoom quilting day!
Here’s a list of who is showing their wonderful “Inspired by Nature” quilts. As you can see, the fabric is all wonderful and the quilts promise to be wonderful as well!
Carol from “Just Let Me Quilt” mentioned this blog hop WAY back in July … and of course, I jumped on the band-wagon. What could be better than a blog hop a mere 2 months before Christmas featuring small gift ideas? Carol comes up with the BEST blog hops!
Here’s my small gift(s) … they all nest inside this one!
Here they are poking out:
What they look like inside: (sorry it was hard to get a good picture with no shadows!)
And all 4 of them:
Details:
Island Batik fabric from the Deco Revival collection was used for the lining and outer side.
Make sure you visit all of the participating blogs … there promises to be LOTS of eye candy and all sorts of projects to tempt you into making some gifts “from the heart!” Let me know which ones YOU plan to make!
I haven’t finished any UFOs this month … Scrappy Repro is close … but it’s still a UFO and it’s still NOT finished.
Here’s a recap of the UFOs I’ve completed this year! There’s a total of 15, but some of them turned into 2 or 3 quilts (Dog/cat and Florabunda) … but they counted as 1.
New Starts
I’m hosting a mystery quilt for our guild … so of course, I can’t show you that until they have all the clues.
A couple more Island Batik projects … which I will show you when the time is right!
“From the Heart” blog hop is later this month, and that project is still a WHIMM (Work Hidden in My Mind)
I was going to link up to Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs for my Favourite Finish for September. At the time this is going live, I don’t see her link … I’m going to post it anyways and will link up when it’s available!
This purse, pattern byAnnie, is my favourite!!! I also think this is my favourite purse EVER!!! I’ve been using it a lot! It has tons of pockets and I’m able to keep everything organized! You can read about it HERE. This purse was made for the Island Batik blog hop “It’s in the Bag.”
I just feel like I haven’t gotten a lot done this month … but that is probably because I was away for almost 2 weeks!
3 Housekeeping / Updating things
First
Did you see my post about when we were visiting friends who live off-grid in the wilds of British Columbia? I showed a picture of a quilt being made by one of the girls. I thought she was at least 14 or 15 … and it turns out she’s actually 13!!!! WOW!! Oh to be able to quilt at that level, using scissors (no rotary cutter) is amazing. You can see the post HERE.
That’s right! Alpacas! We visited a dear friend, Carmen, I’ve known her for ages and ages … she has an alpaca farm … just a few alpacas! It was a ton of fun! Her farm is called Prairie Spirit Alpacas,
Every single alpaca has a name! I can remember a few of the names, but Georgia is the only one I can identify! She’s the one with the spots on her. We were in the barn and it was feeding time for the gals and young gents that need extra food.
Each one has a different face and expression! I don’t think they liked me very much – many of their ears were back. And some of them looked at me as if to say, “who are you?”
I hope you enjoy the slide show … and can you pick out Georgia??? And to make this about quilting … look at all the various neutrals in their fleece!
The alpaca fleece is very soft – especially from the young. One thing I love about alpaca fleece is that it is hypoallergenic. AND, it’s warmer than sheep’s wool. Now if you’re interested in trying any alpaca products, from Prairie Spirit Alpacas, put “Gail” in the purchase code and you will receive a 10% discount! I’ll be putting in an order for some socks for my cold feet!
Ah yes, shopping. While we were visiting my sister in Edmonton, we just happened to visit a couple of quilt stores!
Our first stop was Quincy’s Quilting in Leduc (just south of Edmonton). I bought a couple of rulers and no fabric. And yes, there was a lovely sleepy dachshund in the store!
At Lori’s Country Cottage I bought a few Studio 180 rulers and my husband bought some fabric … I didn’t buy any fabric. Do you remember in August, for the Island Batik challenge, I used the “Four Patch Square Up” ruler and how much I LOVED it? (see HERE) Well, I bought 4 more Studio 180 rulers. I can’t wait until I’m able to play with them!!!
Design Wall
Piecing:
I finished all the blocks that I need for the Scrappy Repro quilt. And here’s some of the blocks – ready to be organized into groups to start sewing them together.
Quilting:
I’m working on October’s Island Batik challenge (sorry, no pictures, yet)!
Stash Report
No finishes, but my husband bought fabric from the sale area at one of the quilt stores. He rationalized it all. The red might be enough for a backing, the bug fabric will go in the quilt he’s planning (for me to make) and the green is to add to my stash because he thinks I need more green). I think he is an enable-er.
Fabric Used this week 0 yards
Fabric Used this year: 261 yards
Fabric Bought this week: 0 yards
Fabric Added this year: 35 yards
Net Fabric used 237.5 yards
Husband’s purchases: 11.5 yards
Stitchin’ Time
On Sept. 6, I stated that I had stitched 13 out of 13 days in September … that was SEW incorrect! Impossible to stitch for 13 days when only 6 days had passed … it should have read “6 / 6“!!!
I only sewed one day while we were away.
January – July: 239 / 243
30 min days/ Sept: 10 / 20
Total days in 2020: 249 / 263
Percentage = 94%
For more Stitchin’ Time, you can check out Kate’s blog: Life in Pieces
TO DO
I’m linking up to Roseanne & Sue’s “TO DO” Tuesday. Their blog is “Home Sewn by Us.”
2 week’s ago list:
Work on Scrappy Repro√ done
Welcome Fall project√ done
Work on Oct. Island Batik project √ done
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes. √ done
This week’s list:
Work on Scrappy Repro
Work on Oct. Island Batik project
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes.
No changes from the last report …
BLOG HOP
This is Week 3 of a delightful blog hop. So many projects that are not quilts, but are using Island Batik’s wonderful amazing fabrics! Make sure you visit the other Island Batik Ambassadors that are showing their byAnnie creations!
For your opportunity to win some AWESOME fabrics – a fat quarter pack of Urbanization or Nouveau Soul check out the Rafflecoper at Island Batik’s blog.
Yes, HOLIDAYS! We loaded up the camper and went to northern BC and then over to Alberta … I’ll tell you more about a few of the visits in future blog posts, but this is about our first stop …
Off Grid
We visited some friends that live in the wilds of northern British Columbia and they are off-grid. We had a wonderful time. They have a parcel of land and have homesteaded and … well, it’s just great. If you want to know more, visit their website or youtube channel and watch some of their videos …
An exciting part for me was Christina and her quilt. (I forgot to ask, but I think she’s about 14 or 15). She has an electric sewing machine (they have power from solar panels) and she is making a quilt for one of her sisters. This is the first quilt she has made. No rotary cutter … totally cut with scissors … What a LOT of work!!!
The pictures were taken with natural light from outside … Here’s a closeup of the piecing … I was in awe!!! Where the pieces are suppose to meet up – they are PERFECT!
Here is a picture of Christina – about to measure the width of the quilt because she wants to add borders to make it bigger.
I can’t wait to see the finished quilt!
It’s in the Bag Blog Hop
Week 2 of the blog hop is finished! What an awesome week with many wonderful bags! To see all the bags, go to this POST and follow all the links.
Go HERE to have an opportunity to win some AWESOME Island Batik Fabric!
This month’s Island Batik challenge is to make a ByAnnie bag. There are SEW many bags to choose from and I choose the “Bowl Me Over 2.0” bag.
When I did my unboxing video from Island Batik in July, the kit to make this bag was in the box. (You can see the video HERE.) Annie had picked out the Island Batik fabric from the Deco Revival fabric collection. Everything to make the bag was included: Soft and Stable batting, the hardware, zippers, mesh, elastic and webbing … Everything I needed to make the bag. There was also a coupon with the pattern to access the videos to assist in making the bag. Here are the fabrics from the Deco Revival collection that I was to use:
Deco Revival is shipping to stores now!!! It’s a wonderful line of fabric … can’t you just imagine all the wonderful bags and quilts you could make with it?
The Bag
Here’s a picture of the kit that was in my box!
When I make bags, I usually end up doing my own thing … but I needed to follow directions with this one.
Making the Bag
The instructions first told us to print out a sheet with labels on it to keep all of our cut fabrics organized. WOW!! Am I glad I did that! It helped a LOT!
Before I cut the coordinating fabric, I needed to decide what I wanted for handles. I choose Option 1 which gives me an over the shoulder strap along with short handles. It was fantastic to be able to choose how I would carry the bag! We all carry our bags differently and have our favourite ways!
I quilted the fabric with Soft and Stable (byAnnie) between 2 batik fabrics. The pattern suggested either straight lines or quilt as desired. Of course, I chose to do my own thing and quilted lines that sort-of followed the fabric. Aurifil #4225, a purple that came in my July box, was used for the quilting.
As I followed the cutting directions, I carefully labeled each piece, using hair clips to hold each label on. There are a LOT of pieces and the labelling was both a life saver and a time saver! A life saver because I didn’t become frustrated with which piece was which! And a time saver because I could identify each piece easily as I followed the pattern.
One of the inside pockets gave me the choice of using fabric or mesh. Well, since I had never sewn with mesh fabric before and I like the idea of seeing what’s in the pocket, I chose the mesh. For that pocket, I used Aurifil #2625 – Grey – to match the grey zipper.
As I followed the pattern, each of the components were made as directed.
Finally, I was able to put the bag together. Using clips was a great way to go. As you can see in the photo below, I used a couple of hair clips (on the right) because I had run out of the “cool” clips. The hair clips easily popped off. I obviously need to get some more “cool” clips!
Schmetz Super Nonstick 80/12 was used. It was the perfect needle, especially at the end when I was sewing through 6 layers of batik and 3 layers of Soft & Stable.
Then the bag was done!
The Front View … the flap at the front has a magnet closure and it’s nice and strong!
The Back View … there is a nice roomy pocket with a zipper.
The mesh pocket inside is large enough to hold my iPad!
The pocket with fold-over elastic is in 3 sections … will be perfect for my phone, reading glasses and a small notepad …
I LOVE it!
I had some fabric left over … SEW … I made a couple of coordinating masks using by Annie’s free mask pattern. The mask on the left was made with the alternate fabric for the inside pocket (where I used mesh). Annie’s mask pattern is a different from the usual pleated masks … there is a small pleat at the bottom which helps the mask fit better.
Questions:
Would I make this bag again? Absolutely! Even though I’m not a great bag maker, it was made and I’m very happy with it!
Was it hard? It was challenging for me. However, the videos that Annie provides for the difficult, or more challenging steps, made those sections a lot easier.
Did I like “Soft and Stable?” Yes. It was easy to use and it gives the bag fantastic body!
Was the mesh hard to put in? Absolutely not … Annie has a unique way (to me) of inserting zippers and it was easy peasy!
Do I have any suggestions for someone who is thinking of making this bag? Yes … go to ByAnnie’s website and make the free pattern, “Easy Does It.” I watched a lot of the videos for this bag as I was making my Bowl Me Over 2.0 and it helped tremendously.
Would I make another byAnnie pattern? YES!! I already have the patterns for “Running with Scissors,” “Take a Stand,” “Easy Does It,” and “Clam Up.” Obviously, ByAnnie’s patterns appealed to me prior to making the “Bowl Me Over 2.0” bag!
Disclaimer: All products used for this bag were provided by Island Batik and the industry partners: byannie, Aurifil and Schmetz needles.
BLOG HOP
Make sure you visit the other Island Batik Ambassadors that are showing their byAnnie creations! It’s a wonderful blog hop!
Yes! We Zoomed again … although it was only Terry and I quilting. Cousin Connie felt she needed to be outside in her garden and at the lake (can you blame her?) and my sister, Lynn was not feeling well, but she did visit with us from time to time.
I finished my “Hello Fall” project! So you’ll see that during the “Hello Fall” Blog Hop … my day is Sept 22. And if you ask me, it’s just stinking cute!
The other project I worked on was the “Scrappy Repro” UFO … I managed to finish up all the blocks and decided on a layout where I won’t have to match seams. Yup, I know that’s being lazy – but I’m not totally in love with this project any more, so it’s just got to be DONE.
Carol from Just Let Me Quilt has organized this blog hop. It is to feature quilts from “Then” or from “Now” or both. Make sure you wander through the blogs and see how things have changed (or not) from Then and Now.
THEN
Years ago, I took a paper piecing class to do this quilt. There was NOTHING said about needing prior paper piecing experience. It’s not a large quilt, so I had hoped that it would be done in a couple of days. The teacher laughed at me and said that even she couldn’t finish it in a couple of days. It is a pretty complex pattern for a beginner!
And she was right – it took me several years (working on it in short bursts of time) to finish it. The fabrics were in a kit and there was not enough of the background fabric, so I had to take out some of the piecing and replace it with a different fabric. But it got done & I LOVE it!
NOW
The snowman table runner was a free pattern from Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting. and the towels were embroidered with free patterns from Little Santa and Redwork Snowman from Kreative Kiwi.
And yes, I did make the snowman previously with Island Batik fabrics and you can see it HERE.
And I’ve already shown you my Island Batik “Christmas in July” project. You can read more about it HERE.
Make sure you check out the other blogs that are participating in this blog hop! There is LOTS of Christmas eye candy! You will see mice, Santas, Christmas trees, stockings, quilts, FREE patterns, perhaps a give-away or two and more …. much much more! Perhaps you’ll be inspired to start on something for Christmas.
She said, “It’s time for some sunshine in many ways.” I agreed and emailed her that I’d like to participate. This Blog Hop starts today!
Here is my “Sunshine Quilt”
This was a pattern from an OLD Quiltmaker magazine, March/April 2007. The designer is Robin Applegarth.
A friend of mine (Diane) made 2 or 3 of these quilts and was working on them at a retreat YEARS ago. I fell in love with the quilts and knew I needed to make one in the future. This blog hop was the PERFECT time to make this quilt.
I changed the pattern a little … but I basically followed the directions.
STATS:
This quilt was made from a variety of Island Batik fabrics …
“Coconut” is the background fabric.
The yellow sun is “Butter”
the orange part of the sun is “Nasturtium basics.”
the squares were from a variety of different Island Batik fabric collections.
Several different Aurifil threads were used.
Hobbs 80/20 batting.
I used the 2½” strip die for the Accuquilt Go! cutter to cut most of the 2½” squares.
Blog Hop
Make sure you visit my fellow “Stitching Sunshine” Blog Hopper … I know you’ll see some beautiful sunshine quilts!
Well, I have completed 12 UFOs for my PHD in 2020. That’s the number I said I would complete! The UFOs that I complete in the remaining months of the year will be a bonus!
Are you interested in a Winnie the Pooh Sew-a-long? Want to join me as I make this quilt? I emailed Lorna (the designer) about hosting a Sew-a-long and she said, “Sounds fine with me Gail! I would love to have you host a quilt along featuring them.”
SEW … I’m thinking of starting on Monday, June 8. That will give you (and me) 2 weeks to pull fabric or go shopping. I’m thinking that if we do one character a day or every 2 days … we’ll be finished in just over a week. I’m not 100% sure, because I haven’t made any of them yet … But I plan to start on June 8.
Lorna emailed me today to say that the pattern has been updated … so, if you downloaded it before, you may want to download it again as there is an update. You can access the pattern HERE. (scroll down the page). There are 3 sizes to choose from. Your choice as to which size you choose.
If you haven’t visited “Sew Fresh Quilts,” you are in for a pleasant surprise of LOTS of cute, cute quilts!
Finishes
I finished 2 quilts today … Florabunda #2 & #3. These count as one UFO finish. I know … with all 3 Florabunda quilts completed, it should count as 3 UFOs … but it’s only May and that leaves me with one more UFO to finish to accomplish my UFO goal for PHD in 2020!
Florabunda #2 and #3 were quilted with swirls … lots of swirls … large swirls, medium swirls and small swirls … they were both pretty quick to quilt! Hobbs 80/20 is the batting and Aurifil #2309 was the thread.
I don’t know what I was thinking when I started this quilt. Yes, I wanted to use up floral fabric, but … I ended up with 140 blocks … enough to make 2 quilts that are 6 x 8 blocks and one that is 6 x 7 blocks.
Here are all 3 Florabunda on the clothesline …
Florabunda is a free pattern from Bonnie Hunter and you can access it HERE.
Design Wall
Piecing:
I’m still working on the baby quilt and the big brother quilt. I changed my mind and the baby quilt is a UFO that needs to be finished. Big brother quilt is in progress with these fabrics.
Can you guess what this will be? It’s part of my June Island Batik challenge. I’m using the “Kismet” fabric collection, designed by Tammy Silvers of Tamarinis. Doesn’t the black make the colours pop?
Quilting:
I hope to sandwich the UFO baby quilt and Big Brother quilt and get them quilted SOON!
TO DO
I’m linking up to Roseanne & Sue’s “TO DO” Tuesday. Their blog is “Home Sewn by Us.”
Last week’s list:
Finish the 2 new quilts! not done … in progress
Finish Quilting Florabunda #2 √ done: #3 is done as well You can see them above
Piece June’s Island Batik project not done … in progress
This week’s list:
Finish the Baby UFO
Finish Big Brother
Finish piecing June’s Island Batik project
Stash Report
Florabunda – all 3 quilts used approximately 24 yards!!!
Fabric Used this week 24 yards
Fabric Used this year: 169 yards
Fabric Bought this week: 0 yards
Fabric Added this year: 9.5
Net Fabric used 159.5 yards
Stitchin’ Time
I am aiming for 30 minutes/day – at least! I switched from 15 minutes / day to 30 minutes/day in April!
15 minute days: January – Apr. 120 / 121
30 min days/ May – 24 / 24
Total days in 2020: 144 / 145
Percentage = 99%
For more Stitchin’ Time, you can check out Kate’s blog: Life in Pieces
With the finish of Florabunda … that leaves 1 UFO to finish for my PHD in 2020. Somehow, I think I will finish more than 12 UFOs this year!
When I make bags, I usually end up doing my own thing … but I needed to follow directions with this one.
And yes, I did make the snowman previously with Island Batik fabrics and you can see it 
Quilting Gail 