Island Batik Ambassadors Mini Challenge Quilt 3 - Hand Piecing?!

I drafted a pattern for a mini quilt that ended up needing to be hand pieced.  I think that it must have been 20 years since I last hand pieced.  However, in this case, it was easier for me.

I started with pulling out some of my gorgeous Island Batik fabrics.

Next, I drew my paper piecing designs on a stabilizer that I was going to use to piece on so I didn't have to rip paper later.  I was glad I was only doing one block!

Here you can see the drawing before I cut it apart into pieces.

Here's what the pieces looked like when the paper piecing was done.

This is the back.

Here's another finished section.

A progression on the hand piecing.  It's getting better!

Done!  All the hand piecing is complete!

Here's a picture with a pencil for scale.

A close up of the center.  I steamed the top and it made it lay really flat!

I added some black around the edge to make the quilt square. 

Come back Wednesday to see the quilting!

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Island Batik Ambassdors Mini Challenge Quilt 2 - Part 2

                   

My inspiration for this project came from post-it notes I collected during a meeting.  I then dug through my Island Batik stash looking for the right colors.  I decided on the four below.  The bright pink was really not in my stash, it's very neon.  I decided this darker pink provided the right amount of contrast.

After playing around in EQ7, I decided on the block below.  In retrospect, I chose to change my dark orange to one with less contrast because the pieces were going to be so small.  This finished block is 3 inches square and those little squares are only 1/2 inch.  I did decide to paper piece the oblong triangles to make sure they were accurate.

Here are the blocks complete.

And of course I started playing with how to lay them out.

Once I'd made my final decision I started thinking about how to quilt my project.  Lines,  feathers...hnm.

Swags, paisleys...

This was my final decision.

Here it is with the lines all quilted.  I love how they add directionality to the piece.  I chose to again use Hobbs silk batting in my mini.  I love the way it drapes and I thought that property would be helpful in a mini to keep it flexible instead of stiff.  I also chose to use my favorite Aurifil threads to quilt my piece.  I love how they blend in to fabrics.

I decided then to do some feather quilting in the pink.

I love how it looks on the back!

The whole quilt quilted.  I thought about stitching the oranges, but decided against it since the quilt is so small.

I decided to try something new on this quilt and use a 1/8 inch binding on this project.  I also used bias and it worked PERFECTLY.  I sewed it on with a zipper foot for ease.

Here's a closeup of the corner.  AMAZING.  I think I am becoming a bias binding convert.

I hope you get to quilt today!

Suzy

Island Batik Ambassadors Mini Challenge Quilt 2 - Picking Color.

I love Post-it notes.  Who doesn't?  I have a problem however when it comes to going to district meetings because they have collections of all these pretty ones!  I grabbed a couple.  I'll admit that my neighbor was wondering what was going on.  I explained I was going to use them to pick colors for a project.

Here's my starting point.

Here's the first combination I tried.  I love this!

What if I add turquoise?  Nah.

Lime?  No.

A second turquoise?  Too many colors.  It starts to get overwhelming.

Nope.

I like this, but the bright pink was better than the salmon.

Okay, but not singing to me.

As you can see, I kept playing....

Funnily enough, I finally settled on my first color combination.

I dove into my Island Batik stash looking for these colors.  Here's what I found for the dark orange.

The hot pink...

Turquoise...

Cheddar...

And here are my final choices.

You never know where you're going to find inspiration!

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy