Island Batik Quilt Modern Blog Hop

The items used to make the quilt in this post were given to me by Island Batik as part of their 2021 Ambassador program.

Hey Guys,

Welcome to my stop on the Island Batik Quilt Modern Blog Hop! For this challenge our brief was to make a modern quilt using a brand new fabric collection! The fabric i recieved is called Forecast designed by Ebony Love of Lovebug Studios, a super fun collection of weather inspired prints in colour and low volume including suns, rain, thunder and clouds. The fab collection is shipping to stores this month.

I absolutely love modern quilts so this was a super fun challenge for me! i decided to start with improv crosses, making one cross in each of the fabrics from the collection, with the idea of adding negative space with the low volume prints of the line.

Once i was happy with my placement and design i stitched each block together into 8 rows of 5, and finished with matchstick quilting which i think looks so great on a modern quilt. For the stitching and quilting i used Aurifil 50wt thread in colour 2024 and Schmetz micro tex chrome needles, For the batting i used Hobbs 100% Hierloom Cotton and backed the quilt with Forecast – Ligntning Teal.

Its been aother super fun challenge with a super fun fabric collection! and i cannot wait to see what my fellow Ambassadors make, please see the schedule below to see who is posting on what days and be sure to enter each weekly giveaway here.

Week 1:

May 3:

Preeti Harris Farm Fresh

Denise Looney Farm Fresh

Brianna Roberts Farm Fresh

May 4:

Joanne Hart Forecast

Leah Malasky Forecast

May 5:

Pamela Boatright Glacier Bay

Jane Hauprich Glacier Bay

May 6:

Andi Stanfield Harvest Blue

Suzy Webster Harvest Blue

Week 2:

May 10:

Jennifer Thomas Holly Holiday

Claudia Porter Holly Holiday

May 11:

Megan Best Jewel Quest

Maryellen McAuliffe Jewel Quest

Jennifer Eubank Jewel Quest

May 12:

Gail Sheppard Napa Valley

Emily Leachman Napa Valley

May 13:

Gail Renna Plum Pudding

Michelle Roberts Plum Pudding

Week 3:

May 17:

Sally Manke Poetic License

Elizabeth DeCroos Poetic License

May 18:

Connie Kauffman Pumpkin Delight

Jennifer Fulton Pumpkin Delight

May 19:

Janet Yamamoto Smokey Mountain

Mania Hatziioannidi Smokey Mountain

Thankyou so much for reading! Until next time…

Happy Sewing!

Jo xx

Island Batik September Challenge

The items used in this post were given to me by Island batik.

Its Island Batik time and September’s challenge was to work with the BOB (Block on Board) Accuquilt Go die we recieved in our second Ambassador box. I recieved the Ohio Star.

This die comes with all the shapes you need to make the Ohio Star block and also comes with a pattern to follow if you wanted to.

For this project i used the gorgeous collection “Sunny Side Up” which came in the form of a 10″ stack pack and the coordinating yardage to go with it.

With the 10″ squares, i folded them twice to create 4 layers and cut them on the die board to get the perfect sized 4″ finished squares.

I did the same with the remaining 10″ squares and coordinating yarding to create the half square triangles. Once all my blocks were complete, i layed them out in the order i wanted to sew them, and stitched them together.

I used Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 Beached cotton batting.

I also used Aurifil 50wt thread in colour 2615 for the piecing and quilting, this is probably my most used thread colour as it blends really well into most fabrics. i did matchstick quilting for this one, it’s my favourite way to quilt at the moment, it takes quite a bit longer to do but really adds to the modern feel.

My finished quilt measures 60″ x 60″

I got some help with the photos from one of my favourite boys “Mr Darcy” of course after bribing him with treats! 🙂 and here’s the the gorgeous model himself….

This has been another really fun make! The accuquilt Go gets the cutting done in less than half the time it would take to use a ruler and rotary cutter and the sqaures are always perfect!

Thanks for reading guys!

Until next time

Happy Sewing! xx

Jo x

Island Batik May Challenge

Its Island Batik challenge time and May is ” Make it Modern” with Hobbs Batting

The brief:

Crib size or larger
Any fabrics
Must incorporate one of the characteristics of modern quilts as defined by the Modern Quilt Guild (the use of bold colours and prints, high contrast and graphic areas of solid colour, improvisational piecing, minimalism, expansive negative space, alternate grid work)

For this challenge I decided to go back to my favourite technique, Foundation Paper Piecing. I designed this simple block with the intention of just using 2 colours. I have wanted to make a black and white quilt for the longest time and thought this was my perfect opportunity.

I printed out 39 of the templates and 3 squares all measuring 7.5″ each. Once all the blocks were complete, I laid them out in the order I wanted them, flipping each square to make them look uneven then sewed them together in 7 rows of 6.

For this quilt, I used the 3 solid prints we received in our first box, Black, White and Grey, the black and white for the front of the quilt and the grey for the backing. I also added a little bit of Bubble Carnation from the SS19 Petal Pushers collection to add a little extra colour. I Used Hobbs Hierloom 80/20 bleached Batting , This is my favourite for lighter coloured quilts, it helps so much to keep that crisp white colour and its also lovely to quilt with.

I had quite a few scraps left over, as I always do with Foundation paper Piecing so I made a super fun improv cushion cover to go with my new black and white quilt.

I used Gutermann Cotton Thread for both projects, piecing and quilting. for the quilt I did matchstick quilting, I love the texture it gives and I think it looks great with a modern design.

This Challenge has been super fun, and definitely more into my comfort zone, especially improv piecing, its so nice to not follow a pattern sometimes and the end result is always one of kind.

Thankyou so much for reading guys, next month I will be trying something new!

Happy Sewing!

Jo xx