Year end Book Sale

Year End Book Sale

Come one come all to see the great deals on Books at Inchworm Fabrics. There are quilting books for any interest. From Applique to machine quilting. Visit today at this book link. With every book order you will receive a free fat quarter.

Thank you for your patronage. Have a Happy New Year.
Jeanette

Table Scraps Island Batik December Challenge.

Quilters Digest had this free pattern for this gorgeous table topper it is often called Strata Star, Spinning Star and Card Tricks. My version  uses reindeer and snowflake fabric from Island Batik. I made mine for the Table Scrap Island Batik December Challenge. 

You can find it here http://quiltingdigest.com/spinning-star-table-topper/

I spent most of my time before Christmas making the Clematis Wristlet by Blue Calla Designs. I made 8 of them and they are so cute when they get finished. These two I used Island Batik fabric. You can get the Free Pattern from Blue Calla Design.

 I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and I wish you a Wonderful New Year to come.
Jeanette

New Christmas Fabric

I was spoiled this last week. Mom (Jeanette) dropped off some of the NEW Christmas fabric from the store for me to play with!!! So today I am going to show you three of the fabrics. These are from the Patrick Lose Fabric line "Christmas Cheer".

Unfortunately my picture is on the dark side, but the white fabric has snowflakes all over it just like the blue.

Here is what I made with them. The horse and rabbit patterns are from the book "Storybook Toys" by Jill Hamar.

The table topper is Happy Holiday Table Topper by Atkinson Designs.

I was tickled pink with how they all turned out. The red star points and the green saddle were bits and pieces I had in my stash, but they matched the Christmas Cheer fabric really well. And my girls already swiped the toys from my sewing room. This line of fabric is super cute. Be sure to visit the store and pick some up before it is all gone!!

Bev

Borders and Binding Island Batik Challenge

This months challenge for Island Batiks was borders and bindings.

 I have a great book that I was wanting to try out it is by Jill Reber called Borders The Basics & Beyond. The instructions were great. I didn't have to fudge any of the borders because they turned out perfectly. I used Island Batik scraps that I had and it turned out to be a perfect 45" square. I started with a 12" Dutchmans puzzle followed by a 2.5 inch solid border, then a four patch border, they a hour glass border followed by a solid border and I used the same fabric for the back as I did for the last border. I did a border an evening. It was the quilting that took till the end of the month. My machine is a Sunshine Quilter and it is real finicky and I had a lot of trouble getting it to work. I was thinking of using it on my dining room table for Thanksgiving.

Back to School Blog Hop and Give Away

 

Today is my day for the Island Batik blog hop.  I used the collection Vineyard.

I love purple and I love green but what I love even better is putting them together. They are so striking when paired together. I have a little confession to make. My project is a collaborative effort among three people. My two daughters and myself. The youngest daughter wanted to make a lone star with the vineyard collection and I liked it so much that I made a twin size quilt out of it. I was at my oldest daughters house for a week at a conference and in the evenings I worked on the quilt. She has a new quilting machine and I wanted to try it out. Well I got about half way done and ended up with a migraine so I was just going to take it off the frame and bring it home and finish it on my machine but she volunteered to finish it for me so that I wouldn't have to do that. So here is a picture of our quilt.

I am also having a give away.

Leave a comment for a chance to win a package of 5--5 inch rolled strips similar to the package shown below. In the post before this one is a list of all the ambassadors and their websites and their day and the line they are featuring. Also, Island Batik is having a give away so be sure to check out their web site by clicking here.

Back to School Blog Hop

Island Batik Ambassadors are having a Back to School blog hop

You can go to their blog and enter their giveaway.  They are giving away three gorgeous fat quarter bundles.

Most ambassadors are have a giveaway as well...won't you join us?

WEEK 1

Monday, September 4 – Beaujolais
Quilting Affection Designs • FunThreads Designs

Tuesday, September 5 – Country Dozen
Cheryl Lynch Quilts • Inspired Layers

Wednesday, September 6 – Bonsai
Little Bunny Quilts

Thursday, September 7 – Sakura
Masterpiece Quilting

Friday, September 8 – Empress Garden
Dessert Bloom Quilting • Slice of Pi Quilts

WEEK 2

Monday, September 11 – Fresh Pick’ins
KISSed Quilts

Tuesday, September 12 – Lotus Blooms
Kathys Kwilts and More

Wednesday, September 13 – Olivera
Joan Kawano • Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting

Thursday, September 14 – Rise & Shine
Den Syende Himmel • Sally’s Quilting Corner

Friday, September 15 – Diner Days
Ark Angel Creations • Karen Overton

WEEK 3

Monday, September 18 – Seas the Day
KISSed Quilts • Whispers of Yore

Tuesday, September 19 – Vineyard
The Inquiring Quilter • Inchworm Fabrics

Wednesday, September 20 – Abalone
PamelaQuilts • Yellow Cat Quilts

Thursday, September 21 – Batiks Go Retro
Adventures in Applique and Quilting

Friday, September 22 – Captain’s Anchor
Purrfect Spots Designs • Beaquilter

WEEK 4

Monday, September 25 – Cherry Berry
Freemotion by the River • Mary Mack Made Mine

Tuesday, September 26 – Lobster Bake
Seams to be Sew

Wednesday, September 27 – Solstice
Bejeweled Quilts • heARTs Creations

Thursday, September 28 – Sour Apple
Seams Like a Dream • Kauffman Designs

Friday, September 29 – Zen
Lizard Creek Quilting • Quilt’n Party

Oh Baby, quilt and giveaway!!!!

This months Island Batik challenge is a baby quilt.

But first I would like to thank every one that entered the giveaway last month. The winner was Ida from "My sister made me do it". I enjoyed your comments on who your sewing companion was. I am like most of you, I sew by myself most of the time and I think I prefer it that way. I do talk to myself sometimes but hey it helps to talk a problem through even if there is no one there to answer.

I started the month out good, I had my project put together and just needed to quilt it and even had it loaded on the frame. Well all of you know how plans go....I was sick for a couple of weeks and didn't feel like doing anything and then I had company, my son and family from Oklahoma. So I finished the binding tonight and I am done. Now on to a wedding quilt and a couple of birthday quilts.

 

 I used a tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Company on half hexies and a layer cake called Sweet Nectar from Island Batik to make this cute little baby quilt. I had enough squares left over that my daughter was going to put them together with some teal squares to make a full size quilt. It was a super easy quilt.

I am going to give away a package of Island Batik 6in wide rolls (colors may not be exact). There is 2.8 yards in the package. Just leave a comment and let me know what projects you have lined out for the summer. You know Christmas is just around the corner and it will be here all to soon.

Stay cool and enjoy the nice weather. It sure beats the snow we had last winter.
Jeanette

Curvalicious Quilts using Island Batiks

I went to Texas last month

Yes I know I told you last month but guess who lives in Texas? Barb of Bejeweled Quilts and she just so happens to be my sister. We got to spend a little time sewing and it was only a little. Well what to do, what to do with so little time. We thought and we thought and we thought. It had to be something fun, something cute and something we could do together.

This is what we came up with.

Little Miss Muffett sat on her Tuffet eating curds and whey. Along comes a quilter and sat down besider her and stole the Tuffet away.

You can find the pattern on the Crafttsy site. "Mini Tuffet Pinchsion" by Sew Colorful LLC, Sylvi Sealy It was so much fun to work together on these pin cushions. We made six (even with Barbs little grandson running around) which was all the supplies that we had bought at WalMart in the middle of the night. It wasn't exactly what was on the supply list but we made it work. For the larger tuffets we had to enlarge the pattern but it was fairly easy. It was an interesting pattern. It looked like a picket fence but when you sewed the points together it made it so it would fit around our round piece of foam. So simple and so cute. They were a lot of fun to make.

 

We decided that we would have a give away. Check out Barbs blog here Bejeweledquilts . I have a Red Tide charm pack from Island Batik and a spool of King Tut Variegated Quilting Thread #941. So leave a comment and let me know who your favorite sewing companion is.

Modern Batik Challenge

 
I have had a busy May. I think this weekend is the only one I have been home. I went to Austin Texas for work and while there I stopped in and visited my mother and two of my sisters. It had been awhile since I had been down there and it was nice to get to spend time with them. Barbara of Bejeweled Quilts is one of my sisters and we worked on our Island Batik June project together. We had a blast.

Also my other sister was so kind to embroider some towels for my grand-kids who got baptized. I was able to stop in SLC on my way home and enjoyed time watching two of my granddaughters compete in a national clogging competition at Lagoon. They both did really well, and the 13 year old got rookie of the year and made the all American team. Also, this same weekend my sons twins were baptized and I was able to spend time with him and his family. I just dont seem to get to spend as much time with family as I would like. Maybe when I retire.











For my May Island Batik project I decided to do a star with red cream and white in honor of Memorial day.  For my father and the many family members that have served this country and still serve this country.

I saw a tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Co that gave me the inspiration to design this star. I used up various scraps of my Island Batiks because I didn't have enough of the different lines to make the design that I wanted. I have lots of colors just not much cream or red.

Have a safe a memorable weekend.
Jeanette

Island Batik Adventurous Applique

Remember cutting paper dolls as a child well this pattern uses those skills.
I have wanted to make a 2 color applique art quilt for some time and decided this month would be a great opportunity to try it out. I used a pattern from Pacific Rim Quilt Company. They have some awesome patterns. I loved these dragonflies. Island Batik fabric is perfect for these designs. Here is mine. I did raw edge applique using a fusible to hold it in place.

Island Batik March Mini Madness Challenge

 This is a paper pieced pattern called Take Wing by Lilyella Stitchery. I just loved it when I saw it. I do have to admit it was a bit of a challenge. I ended up taking it out multiple times. It took about an hour to do each section not including the ripping time and resewing. I think the most tedious part of the process is tearing the paper off the back as you can see it had lots of little pieces of paper when I got done. The Island Batik fabrics made a striking butterfly. I was beginning to hate it but now that it is done I love it. 

 A couple of weeks ago the first picture was my walk to work. Now the second is my walk to work. What a difference from the beginning of the month. Probably one of the few sunshiny days we have had. It has been rainy so much I think we are going to float away down river.

Galentines Day....Valentines Day

What is Galentines Day?

Galentine's Day is a holiday Amy Poehler's Parks and Rec character Leslie Knope created that occurs every year on Feb. 13, the day before Valentine's Day. As Leslie herself explains on the show: "Oh, it's only the best day of the year. Every February 13th, my lady friends and I leave our husbands and our boyfriends at home, and we just come and kick it, breakfast-style. Ladies celebrating ladies.

 Are these fabrics pretty or what? They are Island Batiks Valentines fabrics. I decided to celebrate by making a mug rug or cute mini quilt, what ever you want to call it. I am sending it to the favorite gal in my life, my mom. She has been there from the beginning for me, she taught me how to sew and so many things it would take to long to list. She is now in assisted living and doesn't sew much any more or for that matter get out much either. I live across country from her and haven't seen her in a year. So this is for you MOM. Love you lots.