Monday, December 27, 2021

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 ~
Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts
Joanne Hart ~
Mania Hatziioannidi ~
Emily Leachman ~
Denise Looney ~
Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights
Maryellen McAuliffe ~
Claudia Porter ~
Gail Renna ~
Brianna Roberts ~
Michelle Roberts ~
Gail Sheppard ~
Andi Stanfield ~
Jennifer Thomas ~
Janet Yamamoto ~

Be Creative ~ Sew Something Beautiful Today.

Jennifer Thomas
Curlicue Creations


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1 comment:

  1. WOW!!!!! Jennifer, this is amazing! I don't know where to start. I love the idea of using the picture of your favorite tree. The colors are amazing. Your quilting is stunning (and I agree about the purple thread adding to the feeling of twilight.) And the overall number of hexagons is staggering. AMAZING!

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