Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Island Batik Ambassador 2019 Box 2 Unboxing!

Disclaimer:  The contents of this box were given to me by Island Batik and their industry partners at no cost to me.
 It's here!  I'm so excited to share with you about the contents of my Island Batik Ambassador Box 2 for 2019.  

 It's bursting with 23 lbs. of amazing fabric and supplies from Island Batik, and their industry partners Aurifil Thread, Hobbs Batting, and Accuquilt.  Thank you so much.  I'll be using these items to sew my Island Batik challenges for the rest of this year.  I feel so blessed to be a part of this talented group of quilters.

 Here's the fabrics I received in this box, beginning with Quiet Shades.  This is a 10" square collection of lovely soft colors, plus two two yard cuts of coordinating fabrics.  So beautiful ~ like an early morning mist.

 And Woo-Hoo!  I was really hoping to get some of the Black Pearl fabric collection!  These are my favorite colors, deep dramatic purples, black, and magenta with two, two-yard cuts of coordinating fabrics.  This is a 2-1/2" strip pack, so versatile!  I've sewn a jelly roll rug, plus two secret sewing projects this year using Island Batik 2-1/2" strip packs.

 This colorful bundle contains quarter yard cuts of the Clockworks fabric line.  Look at that fun gears print on top of the stack.

 Here's a side view of Clockworks, so you can see the variety of colors in this collection.  Lots of blues, browns, yellows, and a pop of orange.

 This Batik Foundations Bundle is 8 half yard cuts that coordinate with the Black Pearl fabrics, four basics and four blenders.

 This second Batik Foundations Bundle also contains half yard cuts, 4 basics and 4 blenders.  These coordinate with the Quiet Shades collection.

 And WOW!  A four yard cut each of Island Batik's white, black, and gray solids.  These are wonderful companion fabrics to set off the beauty of the batik fabrics.  I have plans to use all three of these in my upcoming project for August.

 I also received a 4 yard cut of this lovely neutral fabric, Almond.  It's white with some low contrast swirly dots.  Beautiful!!!

 Aurifil Thread contributed these two beautiful spools of 50 wt thread in colors that match my fabric bundles perfectly.

 Accuquilt contributed this Bear's Paw BOB (block on board) die.  I'm super excited to try this!  I think it's going to be used in the September challenge.  It makes a large 14" finished size block.  

 Three Hobbs battings were also tucked inside the box.  100 percent wool.  So soft and puffy. 

 A cotton wool blend.

And a queen size cotton batting with scrim. 

Thank you so much Island Batik, Aurifil Thread, Hobbs Batting, and Accuquilt!

Time to go sew, sew, sew.

I also made a video of the unboxing.  It's on my Facebook page.  Click here to view the video:
Island Batik Ambassador 2019 Box 2 Unboxing Video

Be Creative ~ Sew Something Beautiful Today.

Jennifer Thomas




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Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Artsy Fartsy In Love

Disclaimer:  The products used in the project were provided to me by Island Batik and their industry partners at no cost to me.
 This is my completed Island Batik Ambassador challenge project for July, the Love quilt.

 This challenge highlights Island Batik's industry partner, Aurifil Thread.  Our challenge was to create something "artsy" using at least three different weights of Aurifil thread.  I'm not sure how "artsy" my project is, but I really enjoyed playing with my thread.

 These are the different Aurifil threads I ended up using on my project.  I used cotton 12wt, cotton 28wt, cotton 40wt, and cotton 50wt, 

 The first thing I did was a tiny buttonhole stitch around all of my patches in cotton 50wt.  I was inspired to try the tiny buttonhole stitch by a quilt I viewed at the North Carolina Museum of History's QuiltSpeak exhibit.  You can read more about the exhibit here:  QuiltSpeak Exhibit

 I continued with the 50wt thread to do a little thread painting on the orange petals of the flowers.

 Then I switched to this light gray in 40wt to add details to the leaves.  I used this fun stitch from my Janome Memory Craft sewing machine on the large tulip leaves and stitched a simple vein down the center of the remaining leaves.

 I really enjoy hand stitching, so I drew a grid on the cutouts in the vase and combined these two threads together to get the above look.  I used an orange 50wt combined with a gray 12wt for this part of my project.

 I knew I was going to use a turquoise blue in 28wt for part of the quilting, so I went out and purchased a black in the same weight.  I echo quilted around the applique design and filled in the background with straight lines.

 I used the turquoise 28wt to accent the black quilting with a variety of fun stitches on my sewing machine.  I've been adding machine embroidery stitches to my quilting in a few projects recently.  It adds a nice touch and invites the viewer to take a closer look.

 I tried Hobbs 80/20 Black batting on this project.  I've never used a black batt before.  It did a lovely job at keeping my black background deep and dark.

 I backed my project with this beautiful golden Island Batik fabric.

I used two different blue fabrics for the binding.  They blend nicely together and accent the blue stitching and blue inner border strip of fabric outlining the block.
 I cut the blue block border strip with the 1-1/2" strip die for my Accuquilt Go cutter.  It's my favorite way to cut strips.  They always come out straight, and cut so quickly.

 Here's another look at the Love quilt slumping on my front porch church pew.

 Here you can see some of the prettiest thread accents all together.

 If you want to sew the Love applique block, too, the pattern is available in my Etsy shop, here:  Love Applique Quilt Block Pattern.

The Love Quilt
Quilt Stats:
Finished Quilt Size:  20" x 20"
Finished Block Size:  12" x 12"
Fabrics:  Island Batik
Batting:  Hobbs 80/20 Black
Thread:  Aurifil

Be Creative ~ Sew Something Beautiful Today.

Jennifer Thomas


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Monday, July 22, 2019

New in the Curlicue Creations Shop ~ Week of July 22, 2019

Country Heartworks 3 Decorative Painting Booklet, by Reed and Jean Baxter. Good condition. 66 pages. Soft cover. Copyright 1997. 

This beautiful decorative painting booklet includes 19 charming projects, a general instructions section, and a supplies section. Designs are all shown in full color and include detailed painting instructions. Designs include Happiness is Homemade, Home Sweet Home, Love One Another, A Sister is a Special Friend, Thank Heaven for Angels like You, To Teach is to Touch a Life Forever, Take Time to Smell the Roses, Angels Make Life Special, Gardening Angel, Fishing isn't a Matter of Life and Death, Let Your Light So Shine, Lil Angel, Mothers Make Life Worth Living, I Love Old Things, Especially Old Friends, Love Isn't Love Till It's Shared, Two Drawer Birdhouse, I Love You This Much, and Keep a Dream in Your Heart.

Tic Tac Toe Calico Decorative Painting Booklet, by Carolee McMullin. Very good condition. 40 pages. Soft cover. Copyright 1994. 

This beautiful decorative painting booklet includes 27 charming projects, a general instructions section, and a terms and techniques section. Designs are all shown in full color and include detailed painting instructions. Designs include Wild West Cowboy, Annie Oakley, Howdy Tavern Sign, Western Tic Tac Toe, Western Tree Ornament, Welcome Cowboy, Water Can, Calico Horseshoe Wreath, Chunky Crow, Chunky Chicken, Candle Follower, Calico Apple Wreath, Horse Pull Toy, Blossom the Flower Girl, Sunshine Gift Block, Apple Tea Pot, Wheelbarrow, Wire Button Flowers, Barnyard Animals, Calico Flowers Tic Tac Toe, and more.

Kmart Sayelle Knitting Yarn, Color Bone 426, 4 oz Worsted Weight Yarn

A beautiful worsted weight (4) yarn in an off white color. 

100 percent Orlon Acrylic. Net wt 4 oz. Machine wash and dry.

Sayelle Knitting Yarn, Color Sable 1096, 3.5 oz 99g, Worsted Weight Yarn

A beautiful worsted weight (4) yarn in a brown color. Vintage yarn destash ~ paper wrapper is worn and has a tear (see photos)

100 percent Monsanto Acrylic. Net wt 3.5 oz. Machine wash and dry.

Acrylic Yarn Destash Surprise Box, acrylic yarn, suitable for knitting, crochet, and more.

Yarn surprise box of acrylic yarn. Brands, yarn length, and styles may vary. Weights, colors, and sizes of yarn skeins may vary from photo. I will fill a USPS Medium Flat Rate box (11" x 8-1/2" x 5-1/2") with as many skeins as fit.


Be Creative ~ Sew Something Beautiful Today.

Jennifer Thomas




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