Note: All products in this post were given to me by Island Batik as part of their Ambassador program.
My first challenge as a 2019
Island Batik Ambassador is: Magnificent Minis. The rules were to use any technique, using any fabric (except the Surprise fabric) to make a maximum 24 x 24 inch mini during the month of February. An easy task I thought...until I sat down to design something. 😊
As I was looking for inspiration, I found a book in my sewing room that I didn't know I had and have no idea where or when I got it --
The Modern Quilt Workshop by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr. When I picked up the book, it fell open to a brightly coloured pattern called Confetti, using batik fabrics.
Here is Tumbling Triangles -- my version of the pattern. I printed the templates at 85% to get a 18-inch mini.
Once I decided on which fabrics to use, I only cut fabric for a couple of blocks to see how piecing went and to see what size block I'd end up with. I used the Snowman print from the Icicle fabric collection for the triangle centres.
Piecing went quickly, so I cut more fabric and continued sewing. And before I knew it, there a quilt top. And then I realized I hadn't taken any in-progress photos. Oops.
I used the
Island Batik Stash Builders for the background. These are rolls of 5-inch strips of fabric. There are so many awesome prints and colours. It was difficult to choose which ones to use. I can't wait to play with them again.
I did a loopy stipple in the background and a wishbone motif in the triangle centres using
Aurifil thread #5008 Sugar Paper.
I used
Hobbs Thermore batting. It's a thinner batting used for clothing and miniatures.
I was feeling pretty good about my efforts...until I saw what other Ambassadors had made. Wow! The talent is amazing. I generally don't compare myself to others, but I felt my mini was inadequate and didn't come close to the skill level of the other Ambassadors. I encourage you to check out some of the fabulous projects -- see the Ambassador list at the end of this post.
So I decided to make another mini. The end of the month was quickly approaching, but there was still time. I decided on floating triangles using the black solid fabric as the background. And then on Sunday, the theme for the next
Project Quilting challenge was announced -- Pixel Play. So I decided to use floating squares instead of triangles to complete two challenges with one project.
I was travelling on Monday to attend my aunt's funeral, and we stopped to have something to eat. We ended up at McDonald's, and this was their wallpaper. I decided to re-create a part of the wallpaper (as shown in the green box) for my mini.
As we continued driving, I was thinking that the wallpaper reminded me of roads. And then I started thinking of the times in the summer I spent with my cousins and being at my aunt's house. It's a small town, and we walked everywhere (not that there was a lot of "everywhere" to go LOL). The term running the roads was commonly used. I remember walking down the road to Blueberry Hill to pick blueberries with my aunt and cousins.
Here is my fabric pull. And once again, I forgot to take in-progress photos. I need to put a note on my sewing machine that says: Stop and Take Photos!! 😊
I used the Island Batik solid gray for the background (to represent the roads/pavement) and the
Island Batik Stash Builders for the squares. I quilted a diagonal grid using
Aurifil thread #2600 Dove and used the
Hobbs Heirloom Premium 80/20 batting, which is my go-to batting of choice.
This mini finishes at 15.5 x 19 inches, and it's called Running the Roads.
I'm linking up at:
2019 Island Batik Ambassadors:
