October Island Batik Challenge

This month's challenge with Island Batik's Brand Ambassador Program is a partnership with fellow Utahn Annie Unrein of ByAnnie.com. I picked the Room With a View pattern and paired it with 3 different new Island Batik Collections including the Flower Pot Collection by Jennifer Fulton to create 3 cool containers. *It was pretty scary but I managed to get one completely finished in time for Halloween photo with friends. Stay tuned for the other two.

From our partner By Annie -I received the Room With A View box/container pattern and this generous kit with everything needed to create 3 boxes: Annie's own's Soft and Stable stabilizer, Annie's mesh, and her beautiful zippers, and Vinyl (for box windows). And Island Batik sent 3 sets of fabulous fabrics - Geometrica and Geometric Symphony by Jerry Khiev and Flower Pot by Jennifer Fulton. 

 3 Containers - small 8 1/2", medium 10 1/2", large 12 1/2"

Sandra Starley 2024

Room With A View Pattern ByAnnie 

Fabrics by Island Batik: Flower Pot by Inquiring Quilter

Piecing Thread: Aurifil #50 weight

Quilting Thread: Aurifil #50 weight

Needle: Schmetz Quilting Needles  

 

                                Pieced and quilted by Sandra Starley 

I quilted all the main fabrics and lids, bases to add stability. 

***Fabrics provided by Island Batik, pattern - vinyl -zippers- mesh from By Annie, thread by Aurifil, needles by Schmetz and Smart Iron by Oliso. ***

 I found the ByAnnie pattern to be extremely user-friendly and generally easy to follow*.  I made handles and sewed on vinyl, zippers, and mesh, etc. - things outside my regular quilt skills. It is always good to work your brain and learn new things.

*There were a few very tricky steps. . .  thank goodness, the pattern included a coupon for a fabulous BONUS; an "Add-On Video Tutorial". This is a series of videos that show you how to create the containers. Annie demos a section of the pattern on the video and then you do that step on your own box and then come back for the next step.  Annie shares lots of great tips to make the process doable. 

One more bonus - the pattern includes instructions for 3 different sized/shaped containers. What a cool pattern! Thanks Annie!

To see more awesome bags and containers from By Annie, visit my fellow 2024 Island Batik Brand Ambassadors for the What's in Your Bag Challenge:

Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs
Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting

Megan Best - BestQuilter
Pamela Boatright ~ PamelaQuilts
Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts
Brittany Fisher ~ Bobbin with Brittany

Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts
Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts

Jane Hauprich ~ Stitch By Stitch Custom Quilting
Kim Jamieson-Hirst ~ Chatterbox Quilts

Victoria Johnson ~ Forever Quilting for You
Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs

Connie Kresin Campbell ~ Freemotion by the River

Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood
Denise Looney ~ A Quiltery
Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights
Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack Made Mine

Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion
Sarah Pitcher ~ Pitcher’s Boutique
Lana Russel ~ Lana Quilts

Julia Schweri ~ Inflorescence Designs
Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail

Carol Stanek ~ Stitch with Color
Sandra Starley ~ Textile Time Travels
Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations
Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt

September - Island Batik Blog Hop - Adventurous Applique with Aurifil

  

This month’s challenge for Island Batik Ambassadors is “Adventurous Applique with Aurifil Thread”. We each had a specific new fabric collection to use and were to make a lap size or larger quilt using  the edge coloring applique technique by Fourth and Sixth Designs - Barbara Persing. It is a new to me technique and I had fun experimenting with it. Here is an example of each lovely batik square I made using the technique and the matching thread that was provided by Aurifil

 Rather than make a floral or other standard applique design, I chose to use it as a substitute for piecing. I decided to make another Rolling Stone quilt but instead of piecing the 4 square in a square corner blocks (the standard construction method) I used the edge coloring applique to place the on point square onto a background square.

I then used regular strip piecing to make the 2 color strips and joined the 9 segments with standard piecing.

The method is well explained on the Aurifil Blog by Barbara and also on her Youtube videos. But basically, one uses washable glue to baste applique pieces (along their edges) to a background  fabric that is stabilized with tear away  stabilizer. Then you use 40 weight Aurifil thread  that matches the applique piece and use a straight stitch and reverse straight stitch to "color" along the glued edges. You stitch a bit then reverse, forward, reverse, repeat. No need to be perfect, in fact, messy works fine! It is a very freeing technique and I can't wait to work with it some more.

I love the new Flora Nova Collection and the coordinating Aurifil Thread is pretty yummy too.

I chose the traditional Rolling Stone for this project. It is a perfect showcase for these beautiful fabrics.

The inspiration quilt made in Pennsylvania in 1852!  And here is my new updated version

Buzzing Flower Garden

45” x 45”

September 2024

Sandra Starley

Edge Color Applique and standard piecing

Machine Quilting

Original Design

Fabrics: Island Batik Flora Nova Collection

20/20 fabrics

Batting: Hobbs Thermore Batting and 

Applique - Aurifil 40 Weight

Piecing and Quilting Thread: Aurifil #50 weight

Needle: Schmetz Quilting Needles 

Pieced and (soon to be) quilted by Sandra Starley

 ***Fabrics provided by Island Batik, batting by Hobbs, thread by Aurifil, and needles by Schmetz and Smart Iron by Oliso *****

It is SEW nice when your iron matches your fabric

 

    BLOG HOP

The Adventurous Applique Blog Hop is in week 3. 

 Visit the Island Batik Blog all month to follow along and enter the great giveaways and see all the amazing quilts made by my fellow Ambassadors and check out all the new beautiful fabrics arriving soon in a store near you!

Marvelous Mini Challenge - Island Batik Ambassador - Flying Geese Mini

 This month's challenge as an Island Batik Ambassador is one of my favorites - a miniature quilt challenge. I love working small and recreating pieces of the past. I did both this month, recreating an antique doll quilt and making it even smaller.

I picked the beautiful Playful Posies Collection - stacker set of 10" squares

Here I was separating the fabrics into the different colors - purple, red, yellows, neutrals, and blues.

Such a fun collection. It lives up to the Playful Posies name!

I really like how the new colors mirror the antique fabrics and give the antique a new updated look. I reduced the original by 25% to make it a bit smaller.

I machine quilted, outlined aka stitch in the ditch around the geese and the sashing but then I added hand quilting in the sashing and borders. It was nice to add a little bit of a hand touch.

Here's the antique doll quilt.  It measures 16" x 18"

And my reproduction

Playful Little Geese

11.5" x 14"

Original Design

Sandra Starley 2024

Traditional foundation paper pieced geese -fabrics by Island Batik: (Playful Posies Collection)

Backing:  IB Latte (Foundation Basics)

Batting: Hobbs Thermore Polyester Batting

Piecing Thread: Aurifil #50 weight

Quilting Thread: Aurifil #50 weight

Needle: Schmetz Quilting Needles 

                                Pieced and quilted by Sandra Starley 

***Fabrics provided by Island Batik, batting by Hobbs, thread by Aurifil, and needles by Schmetz and Smart Iron by Oliso *****

There are sew many great miniature quilts this month. Visit my fellow 2024 Island Batik Brand Ambassadors to see their new fabulous MINIS.

Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs
Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting

Megan Best - BestQuilter
Pamela Boatright ~ PamelaQuilts
Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts
Brittany Fisher ~ Bobbin with Brittany

Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts
Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts

Jane Hauprich ~ Stitch By Stitch Custom Quilting
Kim Jamieson-Hirst ~ Chatterbox Quilts

Victoria Johnson ~ Forever Quilting for You
Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs

Connie Kresin Campbell ~ Freemotion by the River

Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood
Denise Looney ~ A Quiltery
Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights
Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack Made Mine

Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion
Sarah Pitcher ~ Pitcher’s Boutique
Lana Russel ~ Lana Quilts

Julia Schweri ~ Inflorescence Designs
Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail

Carol Stanek ~ Stitch with Color
Sandra Starley ~ Textile Time Travels
Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations
Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt

2024 Island Batik Ambassador Unboxing Video #2 - Preview of projects for the 2nd half of 2024

I'm sew excited to share my 2nd 2024 Island Batik Ambassador Unboxing Video showcasing all the wonderful fabric, batting, bag making supplies, and thread I'll be creating with over the next 5 months.

Click on the arrow below to watch the video and then scroll down to see my photo gallery from the video shoot with more information about each collection/product.

Here's my unboxing photo gallery. It is really fun to get a box jammed full of beautiful fabrics from IB and wonderful tools for our industry sponsors. Here's just a few of the treasures revealed. Note the green  Surprise package -a beautiful collection that will be revealed in November.

Let's start with the beautiful Island Batik fabrics. 

The new Playful Posies  Collection by Kathy Engle-  10" squares with coordinates of  white and red. They pair well with the next group too -

2 collections of IB Gradations Gradations are 20 steps in one color going from very light to very dark.  - Naturally Neutrals  in 1o" squares and  Ravishing Reds  2.5" strips which also work well with ...

Two sets of stash builder strips - strips are 5" wide by 42" and there are almost 3 yards in each package!

Awesome new collection - Peach Blossom  in 2 1/2" strips with a light and brown coordinates.

 Island Batik also has solids! Here are the classics - black, white, and grey  (4 yard cuts). And see the brights in green, yellow, orange, and grey below. 

A dozen half yard cuts of solids, neutrals, and prints from Island Batik Foundations

A fabulous new collection: in 1/2 yard cuts: Flora Nova designed by Kathy Engle with light and dark coordinates. And note the coordinating thread from Aurifil. 40 weight thread to do edge coloring applique for our September Challenge.

And I received beautiful fabrics from several new  collections to use for the October Challenge: By Annie's -"It's In the Bag". I'll be making the cute Room  With A View containers. Look at those colorful zippers :) Annie sent the pattern, stabilizer, zippers, mesh, etc. - everything I'll need to make my new containers!

 

I received a box full of FIVE batts! Hobbs Heirloom cotton batting in fusibile natural, and black and a Hobbs Thermore Polyester batt too along with 2 Tuscany batts - silk and cotton! Great for a variety of quilting. They are  our long time sponsor.

Thank you also to Schmetz Needles who sent a great selection of needles and other treats in our 1st box and Oliso sent us a beautiful yellow Smart Iron and Studio 180 who sent the fun Split Rects tool.
 

Thank You!

Create for a Cause with Studio 180 Design - June Island Batik Ambassador Challenge

Create for a Cause Project

This month's Island Batik Ambassador Challenge is a special project. We received a Studio 180 Design - Deb Tucker Tool and a brief to create a bed sized quilt for a child in need. Deb Tucker initiated Quilts Across America to get quilts made for children and is working with Sleep in Heavenly Peace which provides beds for needy children. She aims to provide a quilt to go with every bed made by Sleep in Heavenly Peace. Such a great cause - to get children "off the floor, into a bed, and under a quilt!"

I received the Split Rects tool - It is a great way to make this angled block which is hard to make with traditional piecing and kind of a bother to paper piece.

.

I  was amazed at how many different blocks/designs can be made with the ruler. 1st - it makes 8 different sizes of half rectangle blocks, from the tiny 1/2" x 1" to 4" x 8" finished with 6 sizes in between. But the real magic is how easy the tool makes creating the tricky angled block. It cuts the tight angle  You cut the pieces slightly bigger, sew them together, and then trim them down to size.  

I grabbed a wide variety of Island Batik fabrics and added a solid grey IB to keep things from getting too wild. After a LOT of sewing and trimming, I had a bunch of blocks.

 

I needed to decide how to use my blocks. I initially planned on using single split rectangle blocks arranged in rows like sawteeth or shark fins. 

And then I started experimenting with different arrangements with pairs of blocks creating triangles and then diamonds.

I finally decided on a zigzag diamond setting. But oh no, I had pressed all my seams to the patterned batiks and now I needed to press open almost 200 seams with lots of bias, But it did reduce the bulk at the points and intersections. After a lot of piecing/joining in vertical rows, etc. VOILA

Zigzag Diamonds

48" X 72"

Original Design

Sandra Starley 2024

 Batiks: Assorted fabrics from Island Batik (stash builder strips)

Batting: I'll be using Hobbs Thermore Poly Batting

Piecing Thread: Aurifil #50 weight

Quilting Thread: I'll be using Aurifil #50 weight

Needle: Schmetz Quilting Needles 

Split Rects Ruler: Studio 180 Design

Smart Iron: Oliso

***Fabrics provided by Island Batik, batting by Hobbs,  Split Rects Ruler/Tool by Studio 180 Design,  thread by Aurifil, and needles by Schmetz and  Smart Iron by Oliso. ***

Remember to visit my fellow IB Ambassadors and see the beautiful quilts they are donating to this great cause.

Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs
Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting

Megan Best - BestQuilter
Pamela Boatright ~ PamelaQuilts
Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts
Brittany Fisher ~ Bobbin with Brittany

Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts
Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts

Jane Hauprich ~ Stitch By Stitch Custom Quilting
Kim Jamieson-Hirst ~ Chatterbox Quilts

Victoria Johnson ~ Forever Quilting for You
Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs

Connie Kresin Campbell ~ Freemotion by the River

Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood
Denise Looney ~ A Quiltery
Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights
Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack Made Mine

Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion
Sarah Pitcher ~ Pitcher’s Boutique
Lana Russel ~ Lana Quilts

Julia Schweri ~ Inflorescence Designs
Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail

Carol Stanek ~ Stitch with Color
Sandra Starley ~ Textile Time Travels
Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations
Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt