I made a quilt for the current Island Batik Blog Hop and I used Studio 180 rulers along with the “Flourish” fabric collection.. You can read about this quilt HERE.
It was a LOT of fun to use the Studio 180 Corner Pop ruler to make this quilt! However there were a LOT of little triangles that were cut off the corners. They were all exactly the same size!
I HAD to do something with them! With no concrete plan in place, I used them as leaders and enders while I finished a few blocks, webbed the quilt and put on the borders.
They became these little 3 3/4″ blocks, with 4 of them shown on my wonderful Prairie Spirit Alpacas Alpaca/Wool mat.
I set them on point with 3 3/4″ squares of Dots-Brown Brownie and used the same fabric for the setting triangles and the borders.
And they became 2 little table toppers that will be used on bedside tables.
Fabric: Island Batik, all from the Flourish collection. The light orange is Vertical Vine – Orange, the darker orange is Dots-Brown Brownie and the pinwheels are various fabrics from the collection. The binding is a combination of Vertical Vine-Multi Brown and Floral Leaves – Multi Brown.
Go to Island Batik’s blog to enter the Rafflecopter for your opportunity to win a fat quarter bundle of Honeycomb or Cheers! Click HERE. And, you can also see all of the quilts from this week’s hop!
I received this fantastic fabric collection: Flourish by Kathy Engle, along with 2 yards of Dots-Brown Brownie and 2 yards of Vertical Vine-Orange
And the collection of 20 half-yard cuts of Flourish s to be paired with Studio 180’s Corner Pop tool.
I browsed through the Studio 180 Blockbuster blocks for a block that used the Corner Pop ruler, plus some of the other Studio 180 rulers that I have. I found Blockbuster #52, Sparkler and Blockbuster #17, Salem Star. I drew the blocks in EQ, changing them slightly and came up with this quilt:
One requirement is that I use 30 units using the Corner Pop ruler! No problem!!! This quilt has WAY more Corner Pop units! The Salem Star has 160 Corner Pop units and the Sparkler Star has 80 Corner Pop units – for a total of 240 units!
And, of course, true to how I work, the colours in each block would change. This quilt used 18 of the 20 fabrics in this collection on the front. But, knowing how I work, I knew at this point, I would divide the blocks into 2 fabrics and go from there.
Before I started cutting, I visited online instructional videos at Deb Tucker’s Studio 180 Design YouTube channel to learn more about the corner pop ruler. I did not need to review the Tucker Trimmer video or the V-block video as I have used them several times!
I was so excited to get started making the 10 Salem Star blocks that I forgot to take any pictures! {groan} Let me tell you, there was a LOT of trimming, but I must admit, the points came together perfectly! And, if you know me at all – perfection is not my claim to fame!
I used a lot of the Vertical Vine-Orange in each block, with Dots-Brown Brownie in the corners and the border.
Here’s the 10 Salem Star blocks completed:
Here I am, using the Corner Pop ruler to cut the large corner of the Sparkler block. The Vertical Vine-Orange looks very faded in these to pictures.
Here is the Prairie Spirit Alpaca / Wool mat making pressing the blocks perfect! Using the mat and trimming the blocks makes for perfect blocks! I’m amazed!
This picture shows a truer colour of the Vertical Vine-Orange. As well, it shows the completed corner using the V-block ruler. And pressing on the Prairie Spirit Alpaca/Wool mat = crisp seams!
The 2nd trim on this block … looks like I need to adjust the ruler just a smidge!
More trimming! The first picture is using the Tucker Trimmer ruler and the second picture is using the Corner Pop ruler.
Swirling those centers of the pinwheel block. I love the look of the tiny pinwheels and I really LOVE the ease with quilting over that area without dealing with lumpy seams!
Here is a close-up of some of the quilting. All quilting is done on my domestic Janome M7.
Here is the completed quilt with Floral Leaves-Brown for the binding.
When I make Island Batik Blog Hop quilts, I attempt to use ALL 20 fabrics in the quilt. Well, there were a couple of orange fabrics that blended in too much with the background and corner triangles, so I used them on the back, with a few other fabrics from the collection!
Here’s a close-up of the quilting from the back:
A Give-away!
I’m giving away this little bundle of fabric that is left-over from making the quilt. If you live in Canada and would like to receive this bundle, leave a comment or email me. In your comment (or email) tell me what you might make with the fabric … At the end of the Blog Hop, I will put all of the names in a hat and my husband will draw the winning name.
This blog hop is to celebrate National Sewing Month. ?? National ?? the hosts are in the US and I live in Canada, so I’m declaring it International Sewing Month. Works for me!
My mother taught me to sew at a young age. By the time I was in Grade 8 and taking Home Ec, I was pretty bored with making an hair kerchief and an apron. My next project was a skirt with a zipper in it. The teacher put the zipper in to demonstrate the insertion. When I got the final marks for the project, she gave me 2/10 for zipper insertion. WHAT???? Unfortunately, I had NO assertiveness skills at that time and didn’t argue with her. When it was time to choose courses for Grade 9, I definitely knew that Home Ec was one course I wasn’t going to take! By the way, I had the same teacher for cooking and was not impressed with having to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for our first project! Can you blame me?
I made this V-neck top! It was a quick easy project! Even though I haven’t been sewing garments for a LONG time! It’s a nice cool top for the warm summer days!
There are PRIZES!
That’s right! Lots of prizes that you could win! Click on the Rafflecopter and follow the prompts!
Look at this beautiful Naturescape pre-cut that I received from Island Batik! Along with 2 yards of Glacier and 2 yards of Large Netting-Pineneedle. PLUS, 4 spools of Aurifil Thread:
50 wt: #4250: Variegated Flamingo
50 wt: #2890: Very Dark Grass Green
40 wt: # 2410: Pale Pink
40 wt: # 2770: Very light Delft
I’m dreaming of what wonderful quilt I can design with these beauties!!!
And, I also received this stack of fabrics “Positively Pink,” Breast Cancer Awareness with coordinating yardage for the Pinktober Blog Hop.
Kate, from Life in Pieces, is hosting “Stitching Stuff” and the goal is to sew for at least 15 minutes a day. I use Kate’s guideline, but my personal goal is to sew for 30 minutes a day. On those “blah” days, it does motivate me to sit at my machine and 30 minutes often turns into several hours. Thank you Kate for the motivation!
January – Aug: 209 / 242
Sept: 4 / 4
Total: 203 / 236
Percentage = 86%
Stash Report
Donna at Quilt Paint Create hosts a weekly linky party where you can display your stash numbers. This has really kept my stash from growing (somewhat!) Before I buy anything, I am always mindful of the fact that I need to report it on my blog … That sometimes stops me in my tracks!
I saw this and immediately thought about PHD in 2022! For those of you that have joined me in this, I think we all know how many UFOs we have (or don’t know) and can feel overwhelmed. Well, as this meme says, Get Started! … and the rest will come!
August’s Accomplishments!
I finished one UFO this month. It was a UFO that was hiding in a closet where quilty things are not stored! Anyhow, it got quilted and it is a finish for August! Only 2 more UFOs to go … and a few starts in 2022 to finish and I’ll have my PHD in 2022!
The Tally Sheets
Here is an Excel File for you to use (if you want).
This month, it’s Cinnamon! I LOVE Cinnamon … And these luscious fabrics from Island Batik just sing Cinnamon!!!
This pattern is free until the end of the month … so hurry … you can get it HERE: Patterns by Jen.
Here are all 8 of my blocks:
I don’t have a lot of “Cinnamon” quilts, but this one, using the Island Batik Evergreen & Pine collection is one that was made for the Island Batik catalogue. You can see it HERE. It’s the Fall/Winter 2021 catalogue & the quilt is called “In the Woods.” It is free motion quilted on my domestic sewing machine with Aurifil Thread and Hobbs Batting 80/20.
Stitching Time
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Kate, from Life in Pieces, is hosting “Stitching Stuff” and the goal is to sew for at least 15 minutes a day. I use Kate’s guideline, but my personal goal is to sew for 30 minutes a day. On those “blah” days, it does motivate me to sit at my machine and 30 minutes often turns into several hours. Thank you Kate for the motivation!
January – July: 185 / 218
August: 28 / 28
Total: 199 / 232
Percentage = 85%
Stash Report
Donna at Quilt Paint Create hosts a weekly linky party where you can display your stash numbers. This has really kept my stash from growing (somewhat!) Before I buy anything, I am always mindful of the fact that I need to report it on my blog … That sometimes stops me in my tracks!
I finished these projects since the last update:
the 3 yard quilt … 3 yards for the front, 3 for the back & half a yard for binding …
Last Saturday, our guild had a “Boot Sale” … or a garage sale. We met in the parking lot of a local church and spread out our items.
The guild had a lot of fabric spread over several tables. Here’s a picture of just ONE of the tables.
Our new vice President collected money from the guild sales and also helped some to renew their membership for next year.
Don’t you LOVE the antique suitcases that Linda showcased her fabric in?
And a laundry rack for displaying beautiful fabric!
It was a beautiful sunny summer day, but you could buy a toboggan or winter quilts!
More treasures:
Guild Library books for sale:
More quilting gems!
And I sold a few of my smaller quilts, placemats and wall hangings.
A Recent UFO finish
This quilt was my most recent UFO finish! It was started in 2009, when I did Bonnie Hunter’s Carolina Christmas mystery quilt. These blocks were left-over and were sandwiched with Warm and Natural and tucked into a closet. Now, I haven’t used Warm and Natural for a zillion years … I’m sure I’ve gone through at least 5 full rolls of Hobbs 80/20, plus more Hobbs that I’ve received through Island Batik. When I quilted this a couple of weeks ago, I was reminded as to why I LOVE Hobbs batting so much!! The W&N has way more lint and it doesn’t quilt as smoothly as Hobbs 80/20. (Now – this is just MY opinion).
The Challenge: Create something to do with TRAVEL. Anything from places to go, to how you get there, and anything in between. Maybe even an alligator? You decide! The theme is really your own interpretation, surprise us!
A few weeks ago, I told you that I was going to use this awesome fabric to create something for this blog hop:
However, a fat quarter was not enough fabric for me to make what I wanted … so I added an striped ombre mauve/purple fabric … and this is the creation:
It’s the large size Retreat Bag from Emmeline Bags. The pattern is free, but you need to purchase the wires if you want it to stand open. Here are the links to the Pattern and the Internal Wires – B.
I’ve made this bag several times … It’s easy to make (if you follow the instructions!).
Check out the other See ya Later Blog Hoppers!
Make sure you check out the rest of the blog hoppers to see what they made!
A bunch of us got together to paint some barn quilts. Our host’s husband (George) very kindly prepped all of the 2′ x 2′ squares for us. He even primed them and sanded them!!
Each of us picked a different pattern! It was fun to see the variety! We started out, using a pencil and marking our boards in grids. Then the painter’s tape was applied and the painting began!
Robin had taken a class, but the rest of us relied on Youtube! (grin!)
I forgot to take my phone, so the credit for these pictures goes to Robin, Judy and Linda!
Linda, Robin, Judy, Gail & Amy
Most of us used acrylic paints. I bought mine at Michaels. My husband coated it with a varathane.
I finished the 3 yard quilt. (Remember I started it when my cousin, Connie, was here visiting!)
I quilted it with Silly Moon “Beanie” rulers. (I LOVE their rulers). My plan was to do a Baptist fan over the whole quilt. Well, uh, I changed my mind and just did the Baptist fans in the border. On the rest of the quilt, I used the 4″ Beanie and did circles which made orange peels. I liked the finished look! Would you believe that the backing is actually a dark dark brown? It certainly doesn’t look like it in the pictures! I used Glide thread “wheat” and Hobbs 80/10 batting.
This quilt is from a pattern called “Dream Weaver” from the book “Quick as a Wink 3-Yard Quilts.” It was a quick and fun quilt to piece … however, when I went to put on the binding, I realized that the instructions called for 1.25″ binding. I obviously wasn’t thinking straight when I cut the red fabric for the binding. I ended up with strips of 1.25″ and I wasn’t about to make binding with it. And this quilt was definitely NOT calling for a flange binding! I didn’t have enough of the red fabric left, so I went to my stash and found the darker beige fabric. The moral of this story is to THINK about what you’re cutting and don’t just follow the directions!
Stitching Time
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Kate, from Life in Pieces, is hosting “Stitching Stuff” and the goal is to sew for at least 15 minutes a day. I use Kate’s guideline, but my personal goal is to sew for 30 minutes a day. On those “blah” days, it does motivate me to sit at my machine and 30 minutes often turns into several hours. Thank you Kate for the motivation!
January – July: 178 / 211
August: 14 / 14
Total: 192 / 225
Percentage = 85%
Stash Report
Donna at Quilt Paint Create hosts a weekly linky party where you can display your stash numbers. This has really kept my stash from growing (somewhat!) Before I buy anything, I am always mindful of the fact that I need to report it on my blog … That sometimes stops me in my tracks!
I finished the 3 yard quilt … 3 yards for the front, 3 for the back & half a yard for binding …
I taught a class at Essem Textiles on how to paper piece WITHOUT sewing on the paper.
They all worked on a Storm at Sea block. This was the block they had for inspiration: (made with Island Batik fabric, Hobbs batting and Aurifil thread was used for the quilting.)
I don’t have anything new that is finished … but I have had a couple of finishes in the last week or so.
The first finish was my July Island Batik project that used the Accuquilt Tree of Life Block on Board. The 73 pieces of the block can be cut in one run through of the die. But of course, I had to do it differently and make it scrappy. You can read more about the quilt at this BLOG POST.
I must admit that I am very pleased with how this quilt turned out.
Yes, this quilt used Island Batik fabrics, Hobbs batting and Aurifil thread for the quilting.
Oh, and Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs hosts a favourite quilt of the month linky party, and this happens to be mine!
My 2nd finish is my post for the UFO blog hop. This kit had been languishing in my “To Do” box and was on my UFO list both last year and this! You can read about it HERE. Here’s a picture:
Monthly Colour Challenge
Jen, of Patterns by Jen holds a monthly colour challenge. This month’s challenge is purple.
Here is my purple block, made with the rich colours of Island Batik fabrics!
And all of my 7 blocks so far for this year … I think it will be a very pretty quilt when it’s finished!
I don’t have a lot of purple quilts … but these are a few that I’ve done in the past couple of years.
This blog hop came from the creative mind of Joan at Moose Stash Quilting!
Many of us have lots of UFOs ! These are known in the quilting world at UnFinished Objects. In the past I had over 100 UFOs. I thought I only had 80-something, but I kept finding more and more! On my blog, I run a PHD in (the year). PHD stands for Projects Half Done, but is a cute play on the academic PhD. The idea is to complete at least 12 UFOs and finish every project you start that year. This Blog Hop fits nicely into my PHD in 2022 and I managed to get another UFO finished!
One of my UFOs on the list was called “Kit – Narrows.” This was a Row by Row kit from Fiber Lilly in St. John’s, Newfoundland. I bought the kit 5 years ago when my husband and I were there. Fiber Lilly is a lovely quilt store, and one I would frequent if I lived nearby!
I know that I’ve been frequently known to call applique “CR-APplique.” I have hated applique. But, I am determined to do more and hopefully, one day, I might even like it!
I used HobbsThermore for the batting. It is a thin polyester batting that is low loft and does not beard. I find it is perfect for small projects!
Here is the quilt, after the pieces were fused on and before the quilting.
Then, it needed quilting and the button houses attached. The land, and boat were all outlined with an applique stitch. I did a large meander for the clouds in the sky and waves in the water. The iceberg is easy to see, but can you spot the whale’s tale?
I took my time with the quilting and used the following Aurifil Threads:
# 5004 – Grey Smoke (land, whale & motor)
# 2311 – Muslin (Iceberg, boat, fisherman)
# 4655 – Storm @ Sea – variegated (sky)
# 4669 – Stonewash Blues – variegated (water and binding)
In my latest Island Batik box, I received a lovely pressing mat from Prairie Spirit Alpacas. I’ll talk more about it in a future post, but I LOVED using it !
I went to this quilt show on Saturday. It was absolutely fabulous!
A friend picked some of us up at 5:45 in the morning (that’s super super early for me!) and we caught the 7 am ferry. Here are a bunch of us on the ferry … Amazingly, we are all awake! Although several people needed a few cups of coffee! {grin}
Here’s what Island Batik told us about this challenge:
AccuQuilt just launched its exciting GO! Tree of Life Block on Board Die! This die assists quilters in quickly cutting the seventy-three pieces needed to create a 3-color, 14” traditional tree of life (also known as the tree of paradise) quilt block after one pass through a fabric cutter. The GO! Tree of Life Die was specially designed with no y-seams – making it accessible to quilters of all skill levels. There is no need to cut all the pieces by hand or use multiple dies to create this popular quilt block.
When you finish, AccuQuilt would like you to give the project you have made to someone you know who needs a little joy or donate it to a charity of your choosing to gift it to someone. When gifting the completed project, be sure to take photos, so this moment of kindness and love can be shared on social media!
Here is a picture of some of the purples cut with the Accuquilt Tree of Life die:
All of the Island Batik Ambassadors received an Pressing Mat from Prairie Spirit Alpacas. I used it to press everything as I made this quilt. The Alpaca/Wool mat made the seams crisp and perfect!
And here’s a couple of pictures of the quilting in progress. I used Silly Moon rulers for a lot of the quilting. The left hand picture shows me using the 8″ Beanie ruler and the right hand picture is some border quilting using “Rocket”. The burgundy “thing” is called “Dude” and is perfect for measuring exactly where the ruler needs to sit. Aurifil Thread #2600 (Dove) was used for the quilting.
For a unique photo shoot, we went to Redwood Park here in Surrey. Here’s what the City of Surrey says about the park:
The unique forest found at Redwood Park is a legacy of Peter and David Brown, twin brothers born to one of Surrey’s earliest pioneering families. In 1893, their father gifted them this large plot of land, logged and ripe for farming. However, the brothers instead filled the vast space with their favourite trees from all around the world. Fully committed to their forest sanctuary, the eccentric duo built a treehouse where they lived in solitude until their deaths in 1949 and 1958. Today, a replica of their treehouse stands in the centre of the park.
A picture of the quilt at the treehouse.
And under the Treehouse:
And in the Fairy Forest:
My finished quilt is being mailed to a dear friend of mine. I would LOVE to be able to hug her in person, but that is not possible at this time.
Quilt Stats:
Size: 49.5″ x 49.5″
Fabric: Scraps of Island Batik from many collections along with Solid White. The purple tree and the binding used Roast.
Quilting Gail 