Stepping Up Tutorial

Wow,  the response to my "Stepping Up" quilt was fantastic. I think it was seen over a thousand times counting this blog and Facebook.  The interesting thing is how well it hides the construction method.  I received so many questions.  If I were a pattern writer, I would certainly write up and publish a pattern. Lucky you,  I will just show you in this post how it is constructed. 

First let's look at the quilt again.

I promise you that it is so much easier than it looks.  Let's see how I made it.

First I pulled out fabrics and the die to make it. In fairness, I used the Qube 8" companion set angles in the original quilt.  For the demo, I am using a single die, Triangle in a square.  I think it is smaller.

This is an older single color foam die.  I marked the shapes with a marker.

Then I started cutting fabric in strips. For this size die, I cut the strips 4.25" wide.  Then I cut a colored fabric on the big triangles and a gray on the side triangles.

I repeated that step with another color and black instead of gray.

If you are using a print fabric you will need to be sure to cut the gray face up and the black face down (or vice versa) so that you have both angle directions to complete the block. Since I am using batiks, I didn't have to worry about that.

I then made a single unit.

It is important that you consistently place the black on one side and the gray on the other the same every time. This makes the layout work. 

Then on a design wall or on a table (or even the floor) - lay your design out and look at it. In this demo mine are not sewn, but you can, and probably should,  sew all the units before you lay them out.

The reason I didn't sew these first is so that you  can see the individual pieces.  You may notice that this is NOT the exact layout for my quilt.  I only cut a few pieces to take photos for this demo.  I realized that the layout was different after I was already writing the post. (Bad me, I did not redo the photo.)

So what will I do with these pieces?  I am going to make a companion pillow for my quilt.  A special thanks to Island Batik for providing me with these fabrics as an Island Batik Ambassador.  I am sure I will eventually use every scrap possible.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Child's Play -The Absurd Bird - Island Batik

Welcome to my take on the Island Batik Ambassadors' September Challenge.   We were challenged to make a juvenile inspired quilt using Island Batik Fabrics and an Accuquilt Block on Board die that was supplied to us in our July shipment.  The block I received is the Accuquilt Spiderweb 6" finished die.
Confession time - I saw this die and said "What can I make with that except a Halloween quilt???!?!"  So I was determined that my quilt would not be overtly "halloween."  I wish that I were a writer of children's books.  You see after lots of playing with ideas and what ifs, and Electric Quilt designing software, I saw a full fledged character.   He needs a book to tell his story.

 May I present to you------The Absurd Bird!

In my mind, he is a type of super hero, although just a bit off kilter. 

I had a wonderful time using the Spiderweb die

and the wonderful bundle of Island Batik fabrics - Electric Desert - designed by Jackie Kunkel. 

I cut lots of pieces using the Spiderweb die.

Then I sewed several spiderweb sections. 

And I constructed the bird's face.

As you can see, the entire rectangle that makes his face is all "spiderweb" blocks. 

I cut his spiky "hair" with another Accuquilt Go! half square triangle die. 

I used that same die for his beak/neck.   

Then I used other dies to make his body and wings and the top and bottom "slanted checkerboard." 

For the outer borders, I used strip dies and a small tumbler die. 

The bird really wanted to fly around and play. So we went to a local park where he 

enjoyed the kids playground. 

Then the Absurd Bird went to a small dogwood tree to rest for a bit. 

 But the sun was very strong and hot here in Alabama on an early September day,

 so we decided to go home.

But here are a few more pictures - just in case you haven't seen enough just yet. 

Tumblers in the outer border.

Fun quilting textures

More texture in the quilting

 For now, the Absurd Bird wishes you happy quilting and lots of smiles. 

Note:
Quilt Details:  Designed, Pieced and Quilted by Gene Black.
Quilt Size: 44" by 61"
Batting: Hobbs Heirloom Cotton
Fabrics: Island Batik
Thread: Aurifil.

The fabrics, batting, cutting die and thread were supplied to me at no cost as an Island Batik Ambassador.       

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Beat The Heat - Blog Hop

Today is my day for the Island Batik Beat the Heat Blog Hop featuring  the Spring 2019 fabrics from Island Batik.   My fabric line to share with you is Graphic Gems.  This collection won my heart.

So how do we "Beat the heat" in Alabama?

We have lots of methods.  One classic way is to enjoy the early morning cool and the late evening cool.  And I am going for the late evening way of beating the heat.   It is a true delight to take a blanket - or better still a quilt - outside to place on the ground (or perhaps a truck bed.)  Then we lay out in the cool(er) breeze of the evening and look at the wonder of the stars.  To me, stars have always shown the magnitude of creation.  So, my creative soul chose to make a star quilt with these lovely fabrics.  

I used the AccuQuilt Go! Qube 8" set and the two companion sets (Angles and Corners) to make my stars.  Lots of pieces were carefully but quickly cut and laid out into blocks.

These were sewn together to make 12" finished blocks. Since the 8" Qube makes 4"sections, it was simple to use those sections to make a 12" block.

I love the richness of the colors and how the patterns in the batiks play together so well.  The low volume "whites"  really add interest to the background in this block.

As I had planned the quilt in Electric Quilt 8,  I printed out one of each block to make the sewing easier.  I didn't sew the wrong pieces together using this method.

I hope you have been noticing the lovely visual textures and designs of these batik fabrics.  There are rich darks and  amazingly rich colors.  And I have to share my favorite fabric(s) in this line.

Yes, I love these Gears fabrics.  The gears, propellers and concentric circles make my heart just sing.  I particularly love the lower one because of the multiple colors in the fabric.

Have I talked and teased too much already? I have a lot of glamour shots of this lovely quilt.  So let's look.

 The quilting is a simple stipple design done on my domestic machine with an off-white/bisque Aurilfil thread.  The batting is Hobbs Cotton Batting with scrim - one of my favorites for quilting on my domestic machine. This quilt has been washed to get the lovely "crinkly" texture that makes me so happy.

Stars in the Southern Skies

You know you wanted to see the backing  

 For the backing I used two of the fabrics from the quit and added a different Island Batik fabric called Raindrops in Grape from the "All A Flutter" collection that I purchased specially for this quilt.  you should know that various lines of fabric from Island Batik play very nicely together.

A puppy was playing with her owner in the park and she came to give her approval to the quilt. She was so sweet!

How about a few close-ups?

For the binding I also used the Grape Raindrops fabric, but I added a flange with a teal from the Graphic Gems collection.

Here are a some closeups of some of the blocks. You get the opportunity to 

enjoy some of the fabrics up close also.

I even added a few raw edge appliqué stars in the "blank" areas in the top and bottom rows. 

The fabrics for this project were provided by Island Batik.  The batting was provided by Hobbs Batting an industry partner for the Island Batik Ambassador program.  Some of the thread was provided Aurifil - an industry partner.  The Go! Cutter and some of the dies used were provided by Accuquilt - another industry partner.  Thanks so much to all of you.

You should really visit all the stops along this blog hop.  You will be blessed with inspiration.

The official Island Batik Blog is having a giveaway each week of the hop. Below is the current widget for the giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also check out the other Ambassador's posts as some of them are having giveaways also.

Monday August 5

Leanne Parsons - The Devoted Quilter

Sherry Shish - Powered by Quilting

Tuesday August 6

Bill Locke - Studio BIll Locke

Lisa Nielsen - Lisa Lisa and the Quilt Jam

Wednesday August 7

Sandra Walker - Mmm! Quilts

Terri Vanden Bosch - Lizard Creek Quilts

Thursday August 8

Pamela Boatright - Pamela Quilts

Kathleen McCormick - Kathleen McMusing

Monday August 12

Karen Neary - Sew Karen-ly Created

Carol Moellers - Carol Moellers Designs

Tuesday August 13

Michelle Roberts - Creative Blonde

Laticia "Tish" Stemple - Tish's Adventures in Wonderland

Wednesday August 14

(Debora) Anne Wiens - Sweetgrass Creative Designs

Gene Black - Gene Black (you are here) 

Thursday August 15

Tina D Dillard - Quilting Affection Designs

Bea Lee - Bea Quilter

Monday August 19

Joanne Hart - Unicornharts

Carla Henton - Creatin’ in the Sticks

Tuesday August 20

Connie Kauffman - Kauffman Designs

Vasudha Govindan - Storied Quilts

Wednesday August 21

Vicki Schlimmer - Vicki's Crafts and Quilting

Mania (Magdalini) Hatziioannidi - Mania for Quilts

Thursday August 22

Gail Sheppard - Quilting Gail

Monday August 26

Maryellen McAuliffe - Mary Mack's Blog 

Jennifer Strauser - Dizzy Quilter

Tuesday August 27

Connie K Campbell - Freemotion by the River

Joan Kawano - Moosestash Quilting

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Artsy Fartsy Bluebirds

As an Island Batik Ambassador we get a new challenge for each month. 

Products are provided by Island Batik and industry partner Aurifil for these projects.
Thanks Aurifil and Island Batik.

The July challenge is called the "Artsy Fartsy" challenge.  We were challenged to create an some type of artistic piece that uses three weights of Aurifil thread.  I had a great time gathering my threads and fabrics and deciding on my project.
I confess that there was not a lot of planning in this quilt. Rather, I put fusible onto some chosen fabrics and cut shapes.  Then I had some play time arranging and re-arranging the pieces. (then I fused and cut some more because I wanted more of some of them.)

Once I had an arrangement that I liked I fused it all into place. Then I started stitching.
I realized that I didn't have enough petals on the red flower, but I had some lovely red Aurifil thread #1103 in a 40 weight.  It went on the machine and I did some thread painting with it to create more petals. The 40 weight does nicely for free motion thread painting. I also used it to stitch down the other petals.

You can see that this was taken mid-process.
 The flower changed a bit more before it was finished. 

Meanwhile, this bluebird wing was cut from the exact same fabric as the background.  OOPS!  So let me fix that, but how?  Again, Aurifil thread to the rescue.  The wing is a rather delicate structure so a lighter weight thread seemed in order.  I had some 50 wt.  Aurifil #2730 that looked perfect for this.

The thread painting changed the look of the wing so that it doesn't blend into the background.

I did thread painting on several of the elements including this little broderie perse appliqué flower.

In a few places I got out of the lines, but I don't worry about that too much.
This is 28 wt Aurifil thread.

All of the broderie perse appliqué pieces were cut from a strip of Island Batik

 fabric that came in a Stash Builder package.  

This strip was all flowers and birds just perfect for this project

This odd little fantasy flower was embellished with some 40 wt thread.

The flower petals and blue birds were cut with a couple of Accuquilt dies that I have had for a long time.   After the green leaves were cut, I used the "waste" fabric, trimmed slightly to create the grass.

The grass was fused in place and later thread painted with both 50 wt and 28 wt Aurifil thread.  The 28 worked great in my machine with a size 90 needle and a 50 wt Aurifil thread in the bobbin.  I adjusted the tension to be sure that the bobbin thread did not come to the top.

The same red used for the flower petal was perfect to sign my quilt with free motion stitching

Finally, I fused the backing fabric over all the stitching and added a binding.   The binding was hand sewn to the back using 28 wt thread.  Surprisingly, it doesn't show at all.

 Two more broderie perse close-ups 

And that red flower....

It has more petals and embellishment on it. 

And now the final reveal

Isn't it delightful?  

Aurifil thread and Island Batik fabrics are a match made in heaven. 

(p.s.  I can hardly wait to show you my August project!  

      It is a new fabric line that I love and I think you will too.) 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.