Tag Archives: Island Batik

Whimsical and Wonky: December’s Island Batik Project • 6 Comments

sarah • December 3, 2018

The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik.

This month our Island Batik Ambassador challenge is Whimsical and Wonky. I knew just what I wanted to make. One of the quilts that I have given away and miss the most is the Improv Tumbler Mini that I made for the 2017 MQG swap. This month I'll be making a larger scale Improv Tumbler quilt with my Bright Paisley Dot 10" squares.

These tumbler block units were cut with a rotary cutter without the use of a straight edge or template. I started by slicing the 10" square roughly in half, so they are all about 5" tall, but then I just chopped those strips up. I'm looking forward to getting this lovely rainbow pile up onto the design wall.

Stay tuned!

Jungle Cabin: Finished Quilt • 8 Comments

sarah • November 30, 2018

The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik, including products from Aurifil and Hobbs.

Our November Island Batik Ambassador challenge was to use log cabins. Log cabin blocks are so versatile. Many of us decided to utilize our 2 1/2" strip precuts. I thought this would be a great opportunity to do just that and brought out my Jungle Cruise strips. This collection is full of color in a variety of prints: tortoise shell, giraffe, snake skin, cheetah, reptile, and fern/leaf. My accompanying yardage was snake skin in hay and giraffe in citrine.

I chose to feature some of the brighter colored 2 1/2" strips with Snake Skin in Hay as my light neutral to contrast. I considered starting with a rectangle in the center of my single large log cabin, but eventually chose to start with an 8 1/2" center square (unfinished). It was once I had added my fourth side to the log cabin that I decided I really did want a rectangular center section. So I chopped off the side to trim down my center piece to (what would have started at) 6 1/2" x 8 1/2". There wasn't anything magical about this size except that the finished dimensions were both multiples of 2, since the 2 1/2" strips would finish at 2" wide.

From this point I worked improvisationally, auditioning colors for the next strips as I went. I had a slightly different vision in mind (which I'll consider for a future project), but I'm pleased with the final composition. It finished at approximately 38" x 40".

I opted to try out Hobbs Tuscany 100% wool batting for the first time with this project. I was a bit concerned that the higher loft than I'm used to would create a problem quilting on my domestic machine, but it was very easy to work with. My quilting all had the same density, but I think I'll be using some of the batting scraps to play around with mixing in some more dense quilting to really make the less quilted areas pop. Compared to my default cotton batting, this quilt is puffier and lighter weight. The wool batting seemed to cause less drag as I pushed the quilt around to do the quilting.

Jungle Cabin was quilted with Aurifil 50wt #2310 Light Beige thread. I opted for ribbon candy in the colored strips and I created a 1-inch grid of wavy lines in the background.

Giraffes are one of my favorite animals. I just love this giraffe print I chose for the back. Sometimes the favorite print going on the back of a quilt is a great way to enjoy a large piece of it.

And you know how I love a machine binding!

Thanks for visiting!

P.S. Kathleen and Laura both opted for super sized log cabins this month, too!

Butterfly Mug Rugs • 16 Comments

sarah • October 31, 2018

The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik and Aurifil.

It's been a busy month of sewing... but not so much in the writing department. I have lots that I need to get onto the blog to share with you. Today I'm sharing the three mug rugs I finished this morning. As I finished up the binding before school it struck me that it would make more sense to be putting the finishing touches on costumes, but those were already all in order. Happy Halloween to all who are celebrating.

Our Island Batik theme this month was paper piecing. I opted for three little mug rugs featuring Cricket, Gidget, and Pepper, the Butterfly Charm Blocks by Lillyella.

I opted to use my Paisley Dot Brights 10" squares from my July box for the butterflies. Choosing the color combinations was the hardest part. So many to choose from! I ended up choosing another Island Batik print as inspiration for the palette on each mug rug. I used it for the backing/binding as well as the rectangle to the left of each butterfly block.

This first mug rug features Cricket. This beautiful red print was leftover from my Valentine's Day mug rugs. I couldn't help thinking of the Red Hat Ladies as I worked on this one because of the purple and red paisley dot print.

The orange mug rug features Gidget, and used a sunflower print leftover from my Bold and Brave All About Angles quilt. I had the most fun quilting this one, following the petal on the sunflower print.

The third butterfly is Pepper. She's my favorite. This feature print was also from Morning Sunshine (same as the sunflowers).

On each mug rug I started the quilting by stitching in the ditch around the edge of the butterfly using Aurifil 50wt #2600 Dove, then I quilted the background (solid of the butterfly in the same color. For the printed section to the left of each butterfly I picked a thread color that blended. From the top, I used Aurifil 50wt #2588 Light Magenta, #3920 Golden Glow (variegated), and #2510 Light Lilac. This same thread was used for the binding on each. For the first time I bound by wrapping the backing fabric around to the front. Here's a close up of what that looked like from the front.

I look forward to using these in the kitchen. I like using mug rugs for people to be able to keep track of which glass it theirs.

Thanks for visiting! I hope you enjoy seeing my mug rugs. These little butterfly blocks go together really quickly. I used them long ago on a mini quilt. I love seeing the variety of ways people have used them.