I Wish You a Merry Quilt-a-Long

Have you seen the I Wish You A Merry Quilt-a-Long going on in a group on Facebook?  It's fabulous! 

The first block is a snowflake and I'm a sucker for snowflakes, so I was debating whether or not to join in.  And then I went on vacation and hit up some quilt shops and found some fabulous Christmas batiks to add to what I already have.  Here are my fabric selections including some fabulous Island Batiks of course!

Now to pick fabrics for the first block and get playing!

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Free Motion Friday - Picking Fillers

So last week I was working on this quilt and playing with rulers.  Once that was done I had to decide how to fill all the spaces I'd created.

 I knew I wanted something really dense behind the flowers.  So loopy and fun.

Here's the top at this point.

I decided to add feathers to the other side of the spikes for added contrast.  I really like it.  Then I went to fill in the large open spaces.

Here's my first attempt.  hated it.  Ripped it out.  It's not dense enough.

And my second attempt.  It's better, but I still don't like it.  I ripped it out.  Not quite dense enough. 

Here's the start of the third attempt.  I really like it.  

Here's more of the swirls stitched out.

And the final quilt all done.  I really like the contrast between all the different fillers!  (And my foot LOL).

I hope you get to quilt today!

Suzy

Clam Flower #10 - Part 2

I love the fabric that completes the flower of this block.  The wavy orange and blue makes such fun petals.

I also really like the shape of this leaf.  It's really fun.

The back.

And the final block.  Upon looking at it that bottom leaf is really dark, but when it's with all the other blocks it should be okay.

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Island Batik Ambassadors Box 2!

I absolutely love being an Island Batik Ambassadors.  I adore their fabrics and enjoy creating something new for them each month.  On Saturday I got my second box of fabrics for the year and they are stunning as usual.  Check it out!

Five inch strip rolls.  So very useful.

A new collection coming in the fall!

Some current fabrics

Another new fall collection.

A neutral piece.  Dots!  Should be fun.

Some yellow rayon.  Hmmm....a tunic for someone!  If I can figure out how to sew it.  A new challenge clearly.

And a last new fall collection.  So yummy.

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Island Batik Ambassador's July Challenge - Oh Baby!

This month's Island Batik Ambassadors challenge was to make a baby quilt.  I received a wonderful bundle of the Batiks Go Retro Collection by Tamarinis.  I knew right away that the graphic nature of these prints would work fabulously for a Passacaglia quilt.  This is one block of a larger pattern from Millefiori Quilts by Willyne Hammerstein.  My mother made one and I wanted to try it (though I did my English Paper Piecing by Machine rather than by hand.  I ordered pieces double the usual size from paperpieces.com and had a blast using the collecting to make a baby quilt!

 I started with the center star using these great orange shapes.

Then I added some blue pieces for a lot of contrast.

Next I made ten stars.  I fussy cut the purple so they would each have a starburst in the middle.  Because after all, half the fun of paper piecing is fussy cutting fabric!

Then I added diamonds to the stars and formed them into a ring.

Then I assembled the pieces and added the dark blue border.  So much fun!

Then I started quilting it and having fun.  Here's a few final shots of hte quilting.

 I tried using some echoed curls like Angela Walters does, it's not as fluid as hers, but it was fun.

As usual, working with Island Batiks was a blast!

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

My First Experiment with Rulers

I started this piece about a year ago, but just got around to quilting it.  I decided to do some divide and then design because it only has the flowers you see below.  I started with the spikes you can see.

The marking was done with a white Clover Iron Off Pen.  It works great even on light fabrics if you go over the line more than once.

This piece was also the first time I used rulers.  It was quite the adventure.

More outlining complete. 

Here I used a ruler to make these lines.  They aren't evenly spaced, but are pretty good and they are straight for the most part. 

Next I tried marking the lines first so I had something to follow.

It turned out well and was helpful.

Straight lines all done.  I love the effect that they give!

More on this quilt next week.

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Clam Flower #10 - Part 1

How did I already get to ten of these lovely flowers?!  Wow.  Here is number ten.  If you look at the orange striped batik in this block you can see that I stitched across between the petals.  I knew that a darker piece was going to cover that so I did it to make it easier on myself.

The back of layer 1

The front of layer one.  I love the shape of these leaves! 

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy