It's All Up to You Island Batik Ambassador Challenge ~ Just Another Fish in the Sea Band Banner

This is my project for the December Island Batik Ambassador challenge.  I made a banner for the local cover band that I play bass guitar in.  A different sort of project, to be sure!

Disclaimer:  The products used to make this project were given to me by Island Batik and industry partners Schmetz, Aurifil, Hobbs, and Oliso.

This month was a free challenge.  We were given the creative freedom to make whatever we would like!  My band had previously asked me to make a banner, but I never seemed to have time to squeeze it in between my other projects, so this was the perfect opportunity.

I designed the banner in EQ8, by importing a scan of our business card.  Then I enlarged the words to the size I needed and printed it out on 8-1/2" x 11" sheets of paper.  After that, I taped the pages together across my living room floor.  I traced the edges of the letters with a black Sharpie marker.

Then, I flipped my paper pattern over and traced the outlines of the letters on the back, so it would be easy to trace them again onto fusible web. 

Tracing the letters onto the fusible web.  Everything needs to be in reverse to come out facing the right way on the fabric.

I cut out my letters with paper scissors and fused them onto this turquoise blue cheerio fabric with my Oliso iron.

I fused my letters onto this large 20" x 68" piece of Bridgewater fabric from the Tantalizing Teals collection.  I wanted to get an ocean-y under the sea feel for my project.  This fabric fit the bill, and is always available.  Check your local quilt shop!

Next, I zigzag stitched the edges of all of the letters with a vinyl needle from Schmetz ~ they are great for fusible web projects ~ and this matching Aurifil thread in color 2810.

I loaded my banner onto my quilting frame with Hobbs Thermore batting.  It's a thin batting, perfect for small, lightweight projects.  I quilted waves and bubbles across my quilt, again going for an under the sea vibe.

Here is the finished project!

Just Another Fish in the Sea Band Banner

Quilt Stats:

Project Size:  20" x 68"

Fabric:  Island Batik various from my stash

Thread:  Aurifil 2810

Batting:  Hobbs Thermore

Needles:  Vinyl by Schmetz

Iron:  Oliso

Designed in EQ8

If you're curious, here's a pic of our band, Just Another Fish in the Sea, just before Christmas at a local venue.  If you visit my area, North Topsail Beach, North Carolina, please come out and see us!  We will be playing this Saturday night at The Salty Hawg in Sneads Ferry, NC with the new banner.

Check out my fellow Island Batik Ambassadors to see the inspiring variety of projects created for the month of December here:

Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs

Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting

Megan Best ~ BestQuilter

Pamela Boatright ~ PamelaQuilts

Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts Studio

Brittany Fisher ~ Bobbin with Brittany

Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts

Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts

Jane Hauprich ~ Stitch by Stitch Custom Quilting

Kim Jamieson-Hirst ~ Chatterbox Quilts

Victoria Johnson ~ Forever Quilting for You

Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs

Connie Kresin Campbell ~ Freemotion by the River

Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood

Denise Looney ~ A Quiltery

Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights

Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack Made Mine

Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion

Sarah Pitcher ~ Pitcher’s Boutique

Lana Russel ~ Lana Quilts

Julia Schweri ~ Inflorescence Designs

Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail

Carol Stanek ~ Stitch with Color

Sandra Starley ~ Textile Time Travels

Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations

Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt

Be Creative ~ Sew Something Beautiful Today!

Jennifer Thomas

Curlicue Creations

Click here to visit the Curlicue Creations Etsy Shop

Connect with me:

Subscribe to the Curlicue Creations Newsletter

* indicates required

Email Address *

Butterfly Haven Blog Hop and Giveaway

Hello!  Welcome to the first day of the Butterfly Haven blog hop.  Thanks for stopping by.  Butterfly Haven is my first signature fabric collection with Island Batik, designed by Jerry Khiev.

Butterfly Haven features gorgeous hues of purple, pink, and green.  The designs include butterflies, bursts, stars, flowers, and foliage.  There are 20 fabrics in this collection.  

A few of the stores where you can find Butterfly Haven include:

Creekside Quilts ~ OR

Fabric and Quilting Delights ~ HI

Fabric Square ~ OH

JellyRollFabric.net ~ IN

Roosters Mercantile ~ UT

Mike & Mollys ~ CO

Villa Rosa Designs ~ CA

Here I am holding my favorite fabric in the Butterfly Haven collection.  I was so excited to receive the fabric to make my quilts!

Disclaimer:  The fabric used to make these projects was provided to me by Island Batik.

A peek inside one of the boxes of Butterfly Haven bolts.  I got right to work and made four new quilts and patterns to support the Butterfly Haven fabric.  Here are my quilts:

Wings

Butterflies playfully flit this way and that way across this sweet quilt.  This can be made with a 10" stack or yardage.  Pattern available in my Etsy Shop.

Concert on the Green

This pattern showcases several of the green fabrics in the collection.  Small pink triangles dance across this quilt, like music lovers at an outdoor festival.  It's playful with a bit of a modern twist.  Pattern available in my Etsy Shop.

Ramble On

This quilt is quick and easy to sew with a fun chevron design. It uses a variety of colors in the collection.  Pattern available in my Etsy Shop.

Wonderland

This quilt showcases the entire Butterfly Haven collection.  Colors fade one into the next to create a snowflake design.  This pattern can be made in a light or dark version (dark version shown here).  Pattern available in my Etsy Shop.

I am giving away a complete 20 piece fat quarter collection of the Butterfly Haven fabric along with one of my four new patterns to one lucky winner.  To enter, please sign up for my newsletter (at the bottom of this post) or follow me on Facebook or Instagram.  You will receive one entry for each.  Please comment how you follow me in your entry and let me know which pattern you would like if you are selected as the lucky one.  Open to USA residents only, due to shipping costs.  Please be sure you leave me a way to contact you as well.

Thank you so much for visiting today.  The Butterfly Haven blog hop goes from today through December 7th.  I can't wait to see what everyone made for the hop!  It's going to be fun.  Here's the list so you can visit all the blogs this week:

December 2:  Curlicue Creations (you are here)

December 3:  Bobbin with Brittany

December 4:  Lisa's Quilting Passion

December 5:  The Darling Dogwood

December 6:  Dizzy Quilter

December 7:  Quilting Gail

Connect with me:

Subscribe to the Curlicue Creations Newsletter

* indicates required

Email Address *

Dresden Plate Blog Hop featuring Dresden Interrupted

Welcome to my day on the Island Batik Ambassador Dresden Plate Blog Hop.  This is my quilt, Dresden Interrupted.

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

For the month of November, the Island Batik Ambassadors were asked to make a lap sized or larger quilt with a Dresden Plate theme.  I had never made a Dresden Plate quilt before.  It was a lot of fun.  

We got to use the Surprise bundle of fabric that we received in our July Ambassador boxes.  Here is the collection I was sent:

Paradise Palms, designed by Kathy Engle.  It has beautiful oranges, greens, and beige colors with a hint of yellow, and some of the fabrics have a cute turtle design!  This fabric is in local quilt shops now.

A few of the shops carrying this fabric collection include:

Creekside Quilts ~ OR

Jelly Roll Fabric.net ~ IN

Quilt Country ~ TX

I didn't have an initial plan for my quilt, but I had a general idea of what I wanted to do.  First I cut a strip from each fabric in the collection (20 fabrics).  I sewed the strips into sets of five each.

Then I used this mini wedge tool that I bought eons ago and never used before to cut as many wedges as I could from each pieced strip.

Next I made the Dresden blades.  They were a lot of fun to sew.  I think they look kind of like ties.  My Oliso iron pressed everything nice and flat.

I love the variety.

Using the ten degree wedge tool, it would take 36 Dresden blades to make a complete circle.  Using that math, I sewed my blades into groups of three, still not sure what I was going to do with them.  At this point, I went to EQ8 and played with designs until I came up with something I liked.

 I used Island Batik's solid dark gray for the background fabric.

Dresden Interrupted with seashell collection.  It seemed fitting with the Paradise Palms fabric.

Here is a close up of the center "interrupted" circle.  I used Hobbs Tuscany Collection Cotton batting (my favorite!), Aurifil Thread, and Schmetz needles.

Here's one of the corner Dresdens.

Lower right corner detail.

I took a lot of photos.  The colors fit in nicely with Autumn and November.

Binding corner detail.

Folds.

Dresden Interrupted

Quilt Stats:

Quilt Size:  59" x 59"

Block Size:  12" x 12"

Fabric:  Paradise Palms by Kathy Engle for Island Batik

Batting:  Tuscany Collection Cotton by Hobbs

Thread:  Various by Aurifil

Needles:  Schmetz

Iron:  Oliso

Designed in EQ8

Island Batik is giving away bundles of two new collections this week, Misty Mornings, and Midnight Garden.  Visit their blog to enter at this link:  Island Batik Blog

I hope you enjoyed seeing my quilt and the new Paradise Palms fabric collection.  Visit all of the Island Batik Ambassadors during the hop to see all the new collections and the fabulous Dresden Plate quilts.  I'm so inspired!  I hope you are, too.  Here's the complete list:

WEEK 1

November 4:

• Maryellen McAuliffe, Mary Mack Made Mine
• Lisa Pickering, Lisa’s Quilting Passion

November 5:

• Pamela Boatright, PamelaQuilts
• Connie Kresin Campbell, Freemotion by the River

November 6:

• Mania Hatzioannidi, Mania for Quilts
• Gail Sheppard, Quilting Gail

November 7:

• Megan Best, BestQuilter
• Connie Kauffman, Kauffman Designs

November 8:

Blog Hop Round-Up Week 1 and Giveaway

WEEK 2

November 12:

• Lana Russel, Lana Quilts
• Julia Schweri, Inflorescence Designs

November 13:

• Brenda Alburl, Songbird Designs
• Denise Looney, Quiltery

November 14:

• Jane Hauprich, Stitch by Stitch Custom Quilting
• Jennifer Thomas, Curlicue Creations

November 15:

Blog Hop Round-Up Week 2 and Giveaway

WEEK 3

November 18:

• Preeti Harris, Sew Preeti Quilts
• Susan Deshensky, Lady Blue Quilt Studio

November 19:

• Renee Atkinson, Pink Tulip Quilting
• Brittany Fisher, Bobbin with Brittany

November 20:

• Leah Malasky, Quilted Delights
• Suzy Webster, Websterquilt
• Sarah Pitcher, Pitcher’s Boutique LLC

November 21:

• Carol Stanek, Stitch With Color
• Emily Leachman, The Darling Dogwood

November 22:

Blog Hop Round-Up Week 3 and Final Giveaway

WEEK 4

November 25:

• Sandra Starley, Textile Time Travels
• Victoria Johnson, Forever Quilting For You

Be Creative ~ Sew Something Beautiful Today!

Jennifer Thomas

Curlicue Creations

Click here to visit the Curlicue Creations Etsy Shop.

Mark your calendar for the Butterfly Haven Blog Hop, featuring my first signature fabric collection with Island Batik.  December 2 - 7, 2024.  See you there!

Connect with me:

Subscribe to the Curlicue Creations Newsletter

* indicates required

Email Address *