Oh kitty! See Shadow doing a photo bomb in this pic? How considerate of him to stay off the quilt top. This is getting so exciting! I'm almost finished filling in the corners. I might finish that bit tonight. What are you working on?
Disclaimer: The products in this post were given to my by Island Batik at no cost to me.
Introducing the Star Sweeper quilt. This is my April challenge quilt for Island Batik Ambassadors.
This month we were challenged to sew a baby quilt using our Accuquilt Go.
I chose to use Island Batik's Winter Park fabric collection, plus Custard, the large yellow fabric on the bottom of my stack. If you want to get your hands on some of this gorgeous fabric and can't find it locally, check out Hancock's of Paducah. They carry the complete line of Island Batik fabrics.
I designed my quilt using two blocks from the Quilt in a Day Go Qube book. This book makes it so easy by providing a cutting chart for each block, plus full color diagrams and written instructions to sew each block.
Using the Accuquilt Go, it was easy and fun to cut out all the pieces for my quilt in one evening.
Trail Mix helped. (Not recommended)
My blocks are set on point. The center block is a variation of Mosaic #15. I used the same pieces as the book, but changed the color placement a bit.
The blue, white, and yellow fabrics play so well together.
It looks pretty on my sewing porch. This is where I do hand sewing, right outside my studio door. It's like an outside extension of my sewing room.
I quilted Star Sweeper with my white Aurifil thread in straight lines out from the center.
I tried Hobbs 100% Wool Batting in this quilt and loved it! This was my first experience with wool batting. It quilted beautifully with no problems at all. It says it "doesn't hold creases" ~ how nice. And I'm sure it makes a super warm quilt, too.
I used the same blue fabric as the outer border for the binding.
This quilt was a joy to create.
Star Sweeper Quilt
Quilt Stats:
Finished Quilt Size: 46" x 46"
Block Size: 8" x 8"
Fabric: Winter Park by Island Batik
Batting: 100% Wool by Hobbs
Thread: Aurifil
The Spring Clean Your Studio Blog Hop begins tomorrow! Be sure to follow along to see great studio inspiration by a variety of designers. I'll be on the tour on May 1st. I need to finish up 'cause it's still looking a little crazy in here!
Be Creative ~ Sew Something Beautiful Today.
Jennifer Thomas
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Today is the day! Today I get to share with you all of the fabulous goodies I will be using to sew my Island Batik Ambassador projects for 2019. I hope to bring you much inspiration throughout the year. I would like for you to be just as excited about Island Batik fabrics as I am. So many colors....I love color so much. I know you do, too. So without further ado, it's time for "Unboxing Day"!
All the products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik, Aurifil, Hobbs, and Accuquilt at no cost to me.
This is the tremendous box of sewing goodies I received from Island Batik. This box is huge! 24lbs. It was hard to get into the house.
But....that is not all! This year Island Batik is partnering with Accuquilt for the ambassador program. I also received this equally large and cumbersome box from Accuquilt! Wow, am I doubly excited now!
Let's open the box from Island Batik first. Here's what I see when I remove the packing paper. The surprise package is some fabric for the big blog hop in August. It's a tease ~ I can't show it to you until then. But look at that pretty yellow on the right! Oooh and aaaah! I've been into yellow lately.
The yellow fabric is part of this beautiful foundation bundle. Look at this colorful variety this includes to use in my projects this year. Oh yes there's some pink. I adore pink.
Next I spy a spool of Aurifil thread in more sunshiny yellow! Awesome!
This is not the best photo. I apologize, but I'm so excited! These are some solid fabrics in gray, white, and black to coordinate with the batik fabrics. We received some of these last year and they were invaluable. All three of these solid shades really show off the batiks and make the colors pop. Thank you, Island Batik.
This is my favorite fabrics in the package - Twilight Chic. It's a strip pack in yellows, purples, and blues with coordinating yardage. What an amazing color combination. I can't wait to sew with these.
Did you know Island Batik also offers a large selection of rayon fabrics? Do you do any garment sewing? These are just wonderful feeling fabrics. I received 2 yards of this purple dragonfly rayon. What should I make with it? A summer top? Maybe I could combine it with the black rayon I have from last year and make a long, swirly, summer skirt. Hmmmmm.....if you have any suggestions, please leave a comment.
These are rolls of 5" x 40" cuts. These are great for applique, scrappy projects, or when you are looking for that "just right" bit 'o color for your current project.
I found a few of these Island Batik buttons stashed in my box too. I have one pinned on my tote bag that goes everywhere I go. So pretty in pink.
Here's another gem. It's a rayon scarf in bright beautiful colors. Thank you so much!
I love it so much, I wore it for my new profile photo.
This large piece of Neutral Yardage (5 yards) is Tortiseshell Straw. Another pretty yellow fabric to play with. Yes.
Ooh look! Another spool of Aurifil thread. This one is a shade somewhere in between a cool minty green and a fresh new spring green. I like it.
Another one of those "not the best photo - I'm too excited", but two more spools of Aurifil thread. One peachy color and one plum.
Next, let me show you the different battings that were so generously included by Hobbs. There are so many batts in this box! This one is 80/20 Black.
Natural Cotton with scrim - Yay! I love this kind of batting.
Silk Blend? I didn't know there was a silk blend batting. I'm curious to try this one out.
Thermore. Yes! I really enjoyed my previous experience with the Thermore batting. This quilts so beautifully.
80/20 Bleached.
And cotton in a crib size. Altogether, that's a lot of batting!
Oh looky! One more spool of Aurifil in an orangey-tomatoey color.
And in the very bottom of the box....a quilting kitty! Haha! It's Fuzzy, the photo bomber. He always seems to be around when I'm photographing things.
So here's a pic of all the spoils from the first box. It's almost time to sew....
But first we must cut! Let's open the Accuquilt box, shall we?
Inside the Accuquilt box is a 2-1/2" strip cutter! This will be super useful for everything.
It comes with a new strip cutter sized cutting mat.
Look at this beautiful Go Qube block pattern book by Eleanor Burns. I've already peeked inside this book. It's wonderful. There are patterns and directions to sew a bevy of traditional style quilt blocks in here. I'm excited to get started.
So...the Ultimate Cutting System comes with an 8" Qube Mix and Match Block set. I'm curious to see how this works.
Green storage bag to keep your Accuquilt Go safe from dust and travel.
The Accuquilt Go!
Here's what the Qube package looks like inside.
There's a DVD (very helpful and fun to watch), general directions, a cutting mat, and a small pattern booklet.
The dies included in the 8" Qube are: Half Square Triangle,
Square on Point
Parallelogram
Rectangle
4" Square
2" Square
A larger sized Half Square Triangle
And a Quarter Square Triangle - this is going to be fun!
And in the bottom of the Accuquilt box ~ another kitty. How coordinated! This is Trail Mix. She's Fuzzy's sister and likes boxes, too. Fuzzy and Trail Mix are so thankful for the wonderful boxes. Thank you Island Batik. Thank you Accuquilt.
Here's a photo of all the goodies from the Accuquilt box. I feel super spoiled and ready to sew!
I hope you enjoyed my unboxing day post. Stay tuned for lots of fabulous future projects with me, Island Batik, Aurifil, Hobbs, and Accuquilt.
