SUNSHINE AND FLOWERS

It seems all it has been doing here is raining.  We finally got a few days of sunshine but it rained last night and I hear it is going to rain tomorrow.

So I took advantage of the sunshine by doing a photo shoot with this quilt.

The quilt doesn't even have a name.  The fabrics I used were Island Batik 5" strips.  I decided to do something different and use Aurifil #2530 for the blanket stitching around the flowers.  When I say different, well, only one petal matched this thread but I think it turned out wonderfully.

I only used five 5" strips.  Two petals were out of some scraps I had left over but the thing that I so love is getting something so simple and cute practically out of nothing but gorgeous Island Batik fabrics.

What was left over from cutting the petals out I used to make the binding.

Why did I make this quilt when I have so many other things to be doing?

All I can do is throw up my hands and say "I DON'T KNOW!"

I just had an idea, and just went for it.

This next quilt is for a fund raiser that I am having at my house, the reason is on the QT so I can't disclose the purpose, just know it is a worthy cause.

This little quilt was made with Island Batik 10" squares.

Diary of a Quilter is where I got the pattern for this quilt.

Trust me when I say, this takes no time at all to make.

If you are in a hurry and need a gift, this will do it.

This quilt had been draped on my quilting frame (quilting frame is my catch all for  all projects that are not done).  For about a month I kept saying that I need to sandwich it and quilt it.  So I finally went to it on Friday and low and behold it was already sandwiched and ready to quilt.  I thought....hummmmm If I had remembered that part was done, I would have had it quilted by now.  Since when am I prone to forgetting?

-----------------------------

Life seems to just pass me by.  I don't know where February went and now March is running away as fast as time will allow.  I have had some time in my sewing room this month and have so loved it.

I hope that you too will find time to spend in your sewing room, good for a quilters soul.

TRY A TECHNIQUE ISLAND BATIK CHALLENGE

                                            
This month we were asked to try something new, different, something we have never tried before.

There were some ideas  that I found and didn't know how to do but one day in my in box I found this from Missouri Star Quilt Co.





It looked so interesting that I thought I would give it a go.  I have not done reverse applique before, nor do I think I will make a habit of doing it again.  It isn't that I didn't like it, it just is not my favorite choice.

As I have said before, I was born to the wrong family, I am an island girl for sure.
.

I decided to make the top of the pineapple in oranges and yellows to represent the sun.

The black is Paisley Dots by Island Batik and Island Batik scraps.

I had originally planned to make this a quilt but since I have spent so much time on it thinking, scraping ideas, thinking some more that I just decided to get her done....time is a wasting!!

I also did not use batting, I am sure it would look and hang better with a sleeve and rod.

Of course, you have to size your pattern.  I should have taken it to the print shop but decided to just resize it to 125% and then to fold it in fourths and do a fourth at a time at about 170 percent.  Then I taped it all together.

For the life of me I can not find my pictures.  I know I took pictures.

Also...the pieces I cut out, I numbered them and ironed them onto a piece of fabric making another pineapple but I didn't like the way it turned out so I scrapped it (only the pieces not the backing fabric).

I am excited about next months, it is taking a vintage quilt and redoing it, making it your own.

Thank you Island Batik for stretching me....I kept sending off smoke signals.

Hummmm WHAT TO DO WITH THE 5" STRIPS? WHAT TO DO?

We all know what to do with a 2 1/2" strip but what about the 5" strips Island Batiks makes for us?

Lately I have been working with these strips and will show what I have been doing

when the actual projects are finished.

If you love to applique like I do, then these strips are the best. They give you a variety of fabrics and the strips are the width of the fabric.

Today I made this little hand towel from one of these strips and just a piece of another.

I have another set ready to go.

I believe you can get 3 to four of these sets out of one strip.

This hand towel is for a sweet friend but I was thinking of making more for the auction that

Wesley House (assisted living) has in March and November.

Sometimes these sweet ladies want to give a gift to someone and I think this would just be the thing, or maybe they might just want it for themselves?

Here is a sneak peak of another project using the 5" strips.

As you can see I am going to use Aurifil thread to do the blanket stitch around the petals.