Island Batik Ambassador EPP Challenge featuring Sunset Tree

This is my last Island Batik Ambassador project for 2021.  I've been working on this quilt since February.  It has over 1500 hexagons, all made from my Island Batik scraps.

Disclaimer:  The products used to make this project were given to me by Island Batik and industry partners.

The challenge for December was to make an EPP (English Paper Piecing) project using any of our Island Batik fabrics.  The requirement also stated that our projects could be as small as 12" x 12".

I adore English Paper Piecing.  I usually have a project or two going on at a time.  I enjoy using the traditional hexagon shape and have a crazy fantasy that someday I will have all of my scraps basted into hexagons and sorted by color into boxes, ready to use.  Kind of like an artist's palette.  I like to make my hexagons 3/4" per side.  They fit nicely into cross stitch floss boxes for organization.  I enjoy hand basting with thread.  All of the hexagons for this project were cut using the Accuquilt hexagon die.

I've been wanting to create a hexie quilt from a photo for a while.  I decided this would be the right time for it.  This Oak tree is in front of my home. It's the view I have from my favorite front porch stitching spot.  I used this photo of the tree at sunset for my guide.  I imported the photo into EQ8 and played with the settings a bit until I came up with a workable plan.

This is the tree quilt with the actual tree in the background.  It's a slightly different angle than shown on the quilt top, but still fun to see them together.

I finished the hand piecing of the hexagons at the end of November.  Then I layered my quilt sandwich using Hobbs fusible batting, and took it to the machine to quilt.  It was a little scary quilting something I had hand stitched for so long.  I used six different colors of Aurifil thread for the quilting and Schmetz needles.  I quilted pebbles and swirls into the sunset parts of the sky.  I quilted back and forth lines in the blue parts of the sky.

I used a purple Aurifil thread to quilt a knotty tree bark design over the tree area.  I feel like the purple color adds to the feeling of twilight.

I quilted wavy purple lines along the bottom edge to suggest grass blowing in the breeze.

The back of the quilt is also beautiful!  

I just can't get enough of these beautiful Island Batik fabrics!

I bound the edge of my quilt with a solid black Island Batik fabric.

Sunset Tree

Quilt Stats:

Finished Quilt Size:  55" x 45"

Finished Hexagon Size:  3/4" per side

Fabric:  Assorted Scraps by Island Batik

Batting:  Hobbs Fusible

Thread:  Aurifil

Needles:  Schmetz

Dies:  Accuquilt Hexagon

Designed in EQ8

I hope you enjoyed reading about my Sunset Tree quilt as much as I enjoyed making it!  To see the EPP projects made by my fellow Island Batik Ambassadors, click on the links below:

Megan Best ~

Bestquilter

Pamela Boatright ~

Pamelaquilts

Elizabeth DeCroos ~

Epida Studio

Jennifer Eubank ~ Archipelago Quilting

Jennifer Fulton ~

The Inquiring Quilter

Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts

Joanne Hart ~

Unicorn Harts

Mania Hatziioannidi ~

Mania for quilts

Jane Hauprich - Stitch By Stitch Custom Quilting

Connie Kauffman

~ Kauffman Designs

Emily Leachman ~

The Darling Dogwood

Denise Looney ~

For The Love Of Geese

Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights

Sally Manke ~

Sally Manke, Fiber Artist

Maryellen McAuliffe ~

Mary Mack Made Mine

Claudia Porter ~

Create with Claudia

Gail Renna ~

Quilt Haven Threads

Brianna Roberts ~

Sew Cute And Quirky

Michelle Roberts ~

Creative Blonde

Gail Sheppard ~

Quilting Gail

Andi Stanfield ~

True Blue Quilts

Jennifer Thomas ~

CurliCue Creations

Suzy Webster

~ WebsterQuilt

Janet Yamamoto ~

Whispers of Yore

Be Creative ~ Sew Something Beautiful Today.

Jennifer Thomas

Curlicue Creations

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