Have I mentioned that I love orange/cheddar quilts and Halloween?? Well, I do!! So, the new Island Batik Halloween collection - Moonlight Hollow- was a delight to play with and create.
I really love the raven fabrics and the pumpkins. And the polka dots and stars and moons and cobwebs, etc.
As you may have guessed by now, this month the Island Batik Brand Ambassadors are creating New York Beauty Quilts using new Island Batik Collections and Island Batik is giving away these Collections each week on their blog (scroll down for details).
Each month, we get a new challenge and this month was definitely challenging! We had to use a special secret fabric collection that we didn't show in our unboxing videos and we had to make a NEW YORK BEAUTY. Yikes, not a 9 Patch or a Churn Dash but one of the truly epic patterns. Curved piecing is not for wimps.
My sister and I worked on designing a paper piecing pattern and a plan with the help of EQ - Electric Quilter. I created preview templates to make sure no ravens were harmed in the making of this quilt. Aren't they perfect for fussy cutting.
It was daunting to create so many little sawteeth and sew the arcs to the backgrounds. Curved piecing is challenging. Lots of pinning was involved and very slow stitching. I will do a special post sharing some of the tips and tricks I've learned in the process.
And after all the 36 blocks were sewn. I then had literally hundreds more straight sawteeth to sew for the inner and outer borders. They do look pretty cool, though. I used my new AccuQuilt cutting system to cut the black sashing strips and the plain borders.
Yes, all the work was worth it! Here's my Crown of Thorns, Rocky Mountain Road, or New York Beauty. Because of the crow/raven fabric and because I'd never made a NYB before (and may never again) - I christened it "Quilt the Raven, Nevermore". Of course, my witch doll had to join in the photoshoot fun, and Oliver the Owl from the Funky Friends Factory March challenge flew in too.
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To see more amazing New York Beauty Quilts and join in the Giveaways, visit my fellow 2022 Island Batik Brand Ambassadors' Blogs and the Island Batik Blog :
June 9 - Nightshade
June 10:
Blog Hop Round-Up Week 1 and Giveaway at Island Batik Blog
WEEK 2
June 13- Pumpkin Spice
Lisa Pickering, Lisa’s Quilting Passion
Connie Kauffman, Kauffman Designs
Preeti Harris, Sew Preeti Quilts
Leah Malasky, Quilted Delights
Emily Leachman, The Darling Dogwood
Brenda Alburl, Songbird Designs
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