This is my Checkerboard Chain quilt. I've been showing pics of it on Facebook and Instagram this week. Have you seen it?
I used yellow, blue, and white scraps to make my quilt. I love the fun mix of prints. Do you see the seahorses?
This quilt pattern is available through Connecting Threads as an instant pattern download and also as a kit featuring their Sunshine Terrace fabric collection.
I backed my quilt with this groovy blue celestial fabric, also from my fabric stash.
I bound it with solid cheddar. Yum! I've been loving this color in quilts lately. I would love to see it make a comeback.
The finished size of Checkerboard Chain is 44" x 52". Great for a baby quilt, a throw, or a lap quilt.
Checkerboard Chain close up.
Here's how it looks in the Sunshine Terrace Collection by Connecting Threads.
If you sew a Checkerboard Chain quilt, please share a pic with me on Instagram @curlicuecreations. I would love to see your quilt!
Don't forget, I'm a Missouri Star affiliate. You can get 20% off your order of $50 or more by shopping through my link: Shop Missouri Star. You get to save $$$ and I get a small commission. Win~Win for us both.
Hello! Welcome to my day on the Adventurous Applique Blog Hop with Island Batik and Aurifil Thread. This is my quilt, Mermaid. As you can see, it is just the top. I did not have time to quilt it and finish, as my husband's car had a major breakdown and I spent last week being a chauffeur. When I do finish, I will take this quilt to the beach for some more photos, I promise!
This month's Island Batik Ambassador challenge is Adventurous Applique, sponsored by Aurifil Thread. It was inspired by the Full Bloom quilt created by Fourth and Sixth Designs. Learn more about this quilt and the techniques used to make it here: Full Bloom Quilt
The Island Batik fabric collection I received for this challenge is Floral Fun. It is a signature collection for Lizard Creek Quilting, designed by Kathy Engle. Aurifil thread supplied me with five coordinating spools of thread to use for my quilt. I also received 2 yard cuts of coordinating light and dark fabrics. I used all but 2 of the dark purple fabrics in my quilt.
Floral Fun should be in local fabric shops now. Here's a few of the shops carrying this collection:
Jambearies in FL
Dutchman's Store in IA
Creekside Quilts in OR
This applique technique employs edge coloring each patch with matching thread. I've been wanting to make a Mermaid quilt for a while, so I looked online for ideas. I decided to use this coloring page by The Art Kit for my quilt. The edge coloring reminds me of coloring with crayons when I was a kid. I loved to use my crayons to darken the edges of the lines for more definition, so a coloring page seemed perfect for this quilt. You can find this coloring sheet by searching "Mermaid Cat".
The Full Bloom quilt also uses glue to attach the applique pieces to the background to make the quilt softer and easier to stitch through. Unfortunately, I got rid of all my glues and adhesives when I moved last year and had no luck finding what I needed at my local shop, so I used what I had on hand, a large roll of Steam a Seam 2. I enlarged the coloring sheet, printed it out and numbered each piece. Then I traced the pieces onto the Steam a Seam 2, numbered them, and added a little extra (marked with the dotted lines) on the edges that would be overlapped by other pieces. I had 109 pieces, plus the background.
Here I am, fusing the pieces in place. I used the 2 yard cut of Hydrangea - Purple Black for my background fabric, and the 2 yard cut of Tea Rose - Precious Pinks for the Mermaid's face, torso, and arms. My Oliso iron worked great for fusing everything in place.
After fusing all 109 pieces, I was ready to try edge coloring. I used all five of these Aurifil threads, plus two Aurifil threads I already had in my collection, a turquoise and a peach.
I used a Schmetz Vinyl needle for the edge coloring. These needles are non stick and work well with fusibles and multi layer quilts. Here I am edge coloring the kitty's mermaid tail.
I skipped around on the scales, using three different thread colors. It reminded me a lot of thread painting. If I try this technique again in the future, I think I will use multiple colors of thread in the same area to add even more dimension.
Edge coloring the letters was challenging. I should have used a stabilizer behind these thin areas. The fabric tried to pucker up on me here. Again, it's a learning process.
Detail of the Mermaid face and Mermaid Cat. So cute!
Detail of the Mermaid tail.
Scales detail.
Overall, I really enjoyed making this quilt top. The edge coloring was fun and I love the way it is turning out. I can't wait to finish and show you the quilted version!
Island Batik is having a fabric giveaway of Floral Fun and Geometrica on their blog this week. Visit their blog to enter to win some of this gorgeous fabric. Both collections are fabulous! Island Batik Blog
Be sure to visit my fellow Ambassadors on the blog hop to see all the new fabric collections and what they made! Here's the list:
Don't forget, I'm a Missouri Star affiliate. You can get 20% off your order of $50 or more by shopping through my link: Shop Missouri Star. You get to save $$$ and I get a small commission. Win~Win for us both.
This is the Sunshine Blue Skies quilt that I've been sharing peeks of with you on Facebook and Instagram this week. It's available through Connecting Threads as both a pattern and a kit. The kit includes fabrics from Connecting Threads Sunshine Terrace fabric collection, as shown in the above photo.
I made this version of Sunshine Blue Skies using blue and yellow scraps from my stash.
This quilt features two paper pieced blocks. This one...
...and this one. The two blocks together create a happy spinning windmill look.
I used Hobbs Thermore batting which is a thin lightweight batt, perfect for a summertime quilt.
Sunshine Blue Skies finishes at 41" x 50", just right for a lap quilt or a small picnic quilt.
Sunshine Blue Skies ready for some front porch sitting.
Here's a close up of the loopy meander quilting. I used a yellow color changing thread by Superior, King Tut for the quilting, Sunstone. The piecing was done with Aurifil thread and everything was stitched with Schmetz needles.
I used a piece of Bermuda by Island Batik for the backing.
I had just enough of this pretty blue and yellow flower print to use it for both the outer border and the binding.
Here it is, hanging over the front porch railing.
Sunshine Blue Skies quilt stack.
Sunshine Blue Skies
Quilt Stats:
Quilt Size: 41" x 50"
Fabric: From my stash
Piecing Thread: Aurifil
Quilting Thread: Sunstone King Tut by Superior
Batting: Thermore by Hobbs
Needles: Schmetz
Designed in EQ8
Pattern and kit available through Connecting Threads
If you sew a Sunshine Blue Skies quilt, please share a photo with me on Instagram @curlicuecreations. I would love to see your quilt!
Don't forget, I'm a Missouri Star affiliate. You can get 20% off your order of $50 or more by shopping through my link: Shop Missouri Star. You get to save $$$ and I get a small commission. Win~Win for us both.
