easy quilt – Blue Bear Quilts

Posted on September 21, 2023September 20, 2023 by Reed — 2 Comments

Island Batik Ambassador- September 2023 Project- Out of This World Quilt- Part of the Pieced To Perfection Blog Hop

This month’s blog hop is called Pieced To Perfection as the Island Batik Ambassadors will all be making a quilt project using different upcoming fabric collections from Island Batik and paper piecing. I am looking forward to seeing all the wonderful projects that will be created during this month’s Island Batik blog hop, as paper piecing allows such perfect points in your piecing. If you dread paper piecing because of all the paper you have to rip out, be sure to read this month’s post and watch my accompanying YouTube video to see how to do a method that uses freezer paper and then there is no paper that needs to be removed later. This is game changing! Since this month is a blog hop, you can check out the Island Batik blog and enter each week to win a fat quarter bundle of some of the fabrics the Ambassadors are using in their projects. I will show the other fabric collections later in this blog along with a link to the giveaway from Island Batik and links to other ambassador’s blogs.

Check out the fabric I was given to use: Pin Dot Floral by Kathy Engle from Island Batik. Just look at this gorgeous pastel collection of batik fabrics with a floral theme. The Pin Dot Floral collection may be found at your local quilt shop that carries Island Batik, such as Boutique4quilters in Melbourne, FL and Fabric Smart in St. Petersburg FL. This collection should be in your local quilt shop this Fall. You may find them online at https://www.boutique4quilters.com/ or call them at (321) 768-2060 or www.fabric-smart.com or call them at (727) 914-8850. Another online option for you to shop for this fabric would be Hancocks of Paducah: Hancocks of Paducah

The quilt I made is 57″ x 57.” It has various shades of pink, blue and green, along with black and white. The Pin Dot Floral collection has many floral elements like leaves, ferns, berries, flowers and butterflies. I named this project “Out of This World”, as it has a retro spaceship feel to it and there is an optical illusion that gives the quilt a rounded or global image. Making this quilt was easy and fun using the freezer paper piece method. I will have a pattern for the Out of This World quilt available on my website later this fall.

Here is a closeup of the Pin Dot Floral batik bundle I was provided. Aren’t these fabrics just glorious?

I used Electric Quilt 8 software to design this quilt, which is shown in the 1st photo below. The second set of 4 photos, below, are alternative versions of the quilt which I thought of making and they all use the same block. This block is so easy to work with and you can see that it created a stunning array of quilts. The 6th photo, below, is a recolored version of a Quilt of Valor I designed for Love of Quilting magazine a few years ago, which can also be made with the freezer paper piecing method.

The first thing to get started on this project is to get your supplies and tools all lined up. You of course will need some beautiful batiks like the Pin Dot Floral collection from Island Batik. Some Aurifil 50 wt. cotton thread will do a good job of piecing and quilting later on. You will also need pins, a ruler, rotary cutter, cutting mat and some snips. You will need Reynolds Freezer Paper, the plastic coated kind, and an ink jet printer. A nice firm postcard will allow you to fold the template on the line with a nice sharp crease and will provide an edge for the Add-A-Quarter ruler to butt up against. Finally, two optional tools are the Add-a-Quarter ruler and a light box so you can see the lines through the paper for the placement of your fabric. If you want to see, in detail, a demonstration of me using these supplies to make the Out of This World quilt, I will provide a link below to a YouTube video where I show how I made this quilt.

Below is a photo of a completed block. Notice the sharp, skinny, black points you are able to achieve with this method of paper piecing.

It is important that you cut pieces that are large enough to cover the shapes in the block. I measured how big the shape was for covering the first batik piece and then cut strips that size. The upcoming pattern will have the measurements for these strips that need to be cut from the colored batiks and the black and white fabrics.

Next, you press the block pattern, which has been printed onto the paper side of the freezer paper, with the plastic coated side onto the wrong side of the batik. This is what holds the fabric in place while you are sewing. The plastic on the back of the freezer paper template is easily removed later and does not leave a residue on the fabric.

It helps to pre-crease the lines on your block pattern template. You fold the freezer paper template on the first line, on the paper side, with your postcard edge on the line, and then trim the fabric that is sticking out with either an Add-A-Quarter ruler or the 1/4″ line on a regular ruler. This creates a straight edge for you to line up the next piece. The beauty of the Add-A-Quarter ruler is that it butts up nicely against the folded edge of the freezer paper and postcard.

Line up the straight edge of the next black piece with the straight edge of the green piece you just trimmed. I pin it in place so that it does not shift when sewing. The green piece is adhered to the freezer paper, but the black piece is just floating on top of it.

Flip the block upside down so the fabric is now on the bottom and the freezer paper is on top. Fold the freezer paper back so that the trimmed edge of the green is showing. You this stitch along that folded line, right next to the freezer paper template, but not sewing through the freezer paper. The closer you can get your needle to the folded edge of the freezer paper, without the needle piercing the template, the more accurate your finished block will be. Also the more accurate you are in folding the freezer paper template, on the various lines, the more accurate your finished block will be.

Now you press the black onto the plastic side of the template, which will temporarily adhere the black piece to the template.

Next you fold back the template from the paper side, over the edge of the postcard, on the next line in the pattern, which will allow you to trim the black piece so you can add the next green piece.

Repeat across the block until all the pieces are in place. This is what the block looks like before it is trimmed up.

It’s time to square up the block with your straight edge ruler.

Once the block is trimmed up, you can easily peel the template off of the back of the block and reuse the template as many times as it will stick to fabric.

Here’s the block all trimmed up. Now we just need to make 41 more blocks. You can speed up the process by printing multiple templates and then chain piece each of the various steps. These blocks will be done in no time flat.

Once all of your blocks are complete, you will want to lay them out on a bed, or the floor, in a fashion that is pleasing to you. From the alternate quilts I showed above, you can see that this is a versatile block and it can make a variety of interesting quilts.

The absolute best way to paper piece is to actually sew on the lines of the paper, which will give you those perfectly sewn blocks assuming you can sew straight on the lines and don’t mind picking out small bits of paper. This freezer paper method comes pretty close, but these is the possibility of a small margin of error as your 1/4″ may be off or the fabric may slip, etc. Since these blocks have points that need to match up, I wanted to put sashing in the quilt as that would make any slight imperfections not be as noticeable. There is black sashing between the blocks and a row of sashing with cornerstones in between the rows.

The blocks are sewn together in rows with black sashing in between them. Then the strip of sashing with the cornerstones is sewn to the top of the rows.

Then the rows are sewn together in pairs.

Finally the row pairs are sewn together and borders are added and your quilt top is done. Now it is time to quilt it. I wanted to use my walking foot on my Janome 6500. I also wanted to start and stop as little as possible, so I decided to quilt following the design of the black spike triangles with black Aurifil thread.

Next I layered the quilt top, with some Hobbs Tuscany Cotton Wool Blend batting. I love this batting as it lays so nicely and is easy to quilt on a domestic machine, especially when using a brand new Schmetz quilting needle. The Hobbs batting also gives the quilt a nice drape and doesn’t retain any fold creases.

Here are a few more images of the completed Out of This World Quilt.

Below is the image of my YouTube video for making this quilt. Here is a link to the video if you would like to watch it and see more detail of how I made the quilt: Out of This World- Paper Piecing With Freezer Paper

If you like the video, please be sure to give it a thumbs up, share it with your friends and subscribe so you don’t miss any upcoming videos.

The supplies I used to make this project were provided by:

Island Batik Pin Dot Floral collection

Aurifil 50 wt Thread

Schmetz 70/10 Quilting needle

Hobbs Batting Tuscany Collection Cotton Wool Blend Batting

Thank you Island Batik, Hobbs Batting, Aurifil Thread and Schmetz Needles.

Hobbs Batting

If you are on TikTok, be sure to check out the video I have posted about the quilt. (Look for Blue Bear Quilts)

Blue Bear hopes you like this quilt. Please let him know how much you love the this quilt by writing to him in the comments!

The other amazing Island Batik Ambassadors are also posting their September Blog Pieced To Perfection projects. Check out their projects by clicking on the links next to their names to be directed to their blog posts.

WEEK 1

September 5

Elita Sharpe, Busy Needle Quilting

Denise Looney, For the Love of Geese

September 6

Sarah Pitcher, Pitcher’s Boutique

Sandra Starley, Textile Time Travels

September 7

Brenda Alburl, Songbird Designs

Preeti Harris,Sew Preeti Quilts

Connie Kauffman, Kauffman Designs

September 8

Blog Hop Round-Up Week 1 and Giveaway

WEEK 2

September 11

Brittany Fisher, Bobbin with Brittany

Gail Sheppard, Quilting Gail

September 12

Maryellen McAuliffe, Mary Mack Made Mine

Susan Deshensky, Lady Blue Quilts

September 13

Emily Leachman, The Darling Dogwood

Jennifer Thomas, Curlicue Creations

Anorina Morris, Samelia’s Mum

September 14

Claudia Porter, Create with Claudia

Victoria Johnson, Forever Quilting for You

September 15

Blog Hop Round-Up Week 2 and Giveaway

WEEK 3

September 18

Lana Russel, Lana Quilts

Lisa Pickering, Lisa’s Quilting Passion

September 19

Randi Jones, Randi’s Roost

Suzy Webster, Websterquilt

September 20

Pamela Boatright, Pamela Quilts

Leah Malasky, Quilted Delights

Mania Hatziioannidi, Mania for Quilts

September 21

Reed Johnson, Blue Bear Quilts Thanks for stopping by!

Renee Atkinson, Pink Tulip Quilting

September 22

End of Blog Hop + Final Round Up

The final of the Pieced to Perfection Blog Hop giveaways, from Island Batik, started on Sunday, September 17th!

Two lucky winners will each receive a bundle of new collections that will be featured this week – Pin Dot Floral or Park Avenue. Don’t miss out on your chance to add these beautiful batiks to your stash. Enter now during the Pieced to Perfection Blog Hop:

To enter for your chance to win one of the two prizes above, follow the simple Rafflecopter prompts below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway ends on September, 22nd at 11:59 pm PDT. Two random winners will be notified by email on September, 23rd and announced on the Island Batik Facebook page on September, 26th. If the winners do not respond within the first three days after being notified, two new random winners will be chosen. Please check your spam folders! If the winners do not respond within the first two days after being notified, two new random winners will be chosen and notified.

Make sure to follow Island Batik on social media to hop along with the Pieced to Perfection Blog Hop. Be sure to check out the Island Batik Blog.

#islandbatikambassador #islandbatik #paperpiecing #iloveislandbatik #hobbsbatting #aurifil #aurifilthread #schmetzneedles #doyoueq #Janome #tool crazebloghop #electricquilt #eq8 #HancocksofPaducah #fabricsmart #freezerpapermethod.

Posted on May 8, 2023May 7, 2023 by Reed — 9 Comments

Island Batik Ambassador- May 2023 Project- Island Pop Quilt- Part of the Tool Craze Blog Hop

This month’s blog hop is called Tool Craze as the Island Batik Ambassadors will all be making any size project using different upcoming fabric collections from Island Batik and a provided Studio 180 Design tool. I am looking forward to seeing all the wonderful projects that will be created during this month’s Island Batik blog hop. Since this month is a blog hop, you can check out the Island Batik blog and enter each week to win a fat quarter bundle of some of the fabrics the Ambassadors are using in their projects. I will show the other fabric collections later in this blog along with a link to the giveaway from Island Batik and links to other ambassador’s blogs.

I love the fabric I was given to use: Maple Island by Kathy Engle. Just look at this gorgeous collection of blue and green batik fabrics with a woodland theme. The Maple Island collection may be found at your local quilt shop that carries Island Batik, such as Boutique4quilters in Melbourne, FL and Fabric Smart in St. Petersburg FL. This collection should be in your local quilt shop this summer. You may find them online at https://www.boutique4quilters.com/ or call them at (321) 768-2060 or www.fabric-smart.com or call them at (727) 914-8850. Another online option for you to shop for this fabric would be Hancocks of Paducah: Hancocks of Paducah

The table runner I made is 22″ x 46.” It has various shades of blue and green, along with white. The Maple Island collection has many natural elements like leaves, ferns, berries, pinecones and tree bark. I originally was going call this project “Into the Woods”, but ultimately decided to call it “Island Pop” to incorporate the Corner Pop tool into the name. Making this table runner was easy and fun thanks to the Studio 180 Design tools.

Here are several closeups of the Maple Island batik bundle I was provided. The first photo shows the bundle with the Corner Pop tool and the second photo is from one of my Tik Tok videos I made about this quilt. My username on TikTok is BlueBearQuilts.

I used my Electric Quilt 8 software to design this table runner. The first photo is a quilt I thought of doing which uses the Studio 180 Design Split Rects and Corner Pop tools. I decided to go with the table runner in the second photo, which was made with the V Block tool and the Corner Pop tool, as it had less pieces and I think it showcases the Maple Island Collection nicely. I also like the 3d effect that the Corner Pop tool created in the dark green background. Also, another aspect of this project was to make the blocks in various sizes using the Studio 180 Design tools. I really liked how the smaller version of the blocks looked in the border.

The first step in making this table runner is to make the V Blocks aka triangle in a square blocks. Below are the completed V blocks. Don’t they look lovely in the Maple Island Collection? If you want to see in detail a demonstration of me using the Studio 180 Design tools, I will provide a link below to a You Tube video where I show how I made this runner.

The Studio 180 Design V block tool makes it so easy to make these blocks in multiple sizes. The instructions tell you what size strip to cut for the various finished sized blocks. The triangles are cut out extremely accurately using the V block tool. Look how nice this cut out triangle looks.

Next, you cut out the side triangle pieces. they are cut from strips that are the same size as the triangle. When you have the folded strip right sides together you will get the required mirrored image pieces that you need to make the V block.

Cutting triangle sides with V Block tool

It is important to lay out the block before sewing so that you have the left and right side triangle pieces in the correct location. This is not as necessary with batiks, but it is something to be mindful of. A little known fact is that there really is a right side to batik fabrics. You can keep track out the right side of a batik fabric by being mindful of the fold as it comes off of the bolt. The fabric is always folded with the right side on the outside of the folded fabric.

The pieces are easily sewn together by matching the tips on both ends and then sewing 1/4″ along the edge. I pressed mine toward the dark green fabric.

The V blocks are oversized and are easily trimmed up with the tool. Below are pictures of the large and small V blocks all trimmed up. You wouldn’t believe how easy it was to make these blocks in several sizes using the Studio 180 Design V Block tool.

Now it is time to use the Corner Pop tool, from Studio 180 Design, to give the V Blocks some pop in the corners.

The Corner Pop tool has two sections to it. The first section is where you trim off a corner of a previously made block. In my case, the V blocks. This is similar to a stitch and flip method, but with less waste of the fabric. If you know what size square you need to do a stitch and flip, the instructions tell you which line to use to cut off the corners of the block. The instructions also tell you what size squares to cut out and then cut in half diagonally to make the oversized half square triangle corners. You cut the corners off with the ruler and then sew the oversized triangles onto the corners. It is easy to sew these corner triangles on as they are centered over the edge that you trimmed off the block.

After you have sewn the corners on, it is necessary to trim up the block as the corner triangles are oversized. This trimming up allows you to have a perfect sized block when putting the quilt together.

Here is what the block looks like after is is all trimmed up.

Once the blocks are trimmed up, they are ready to be sewn together to make the quilt top.

Next I layered the quilt top, with some Hobbs Premium wool batting. I love this batting as it gives the quilt some puffy definition and is so easy to quilt with. It also gives the quilt a nice drape and doesn’t retain any fold creases.

Here are a few more images of the completed Island Pop Table Runner.

Below is the image of my You Tube video for making this quilt. Here is a link to the video if you would like to watch it and see more detail of how I made the quilt: https://youtu.be/x2aNL1xX5Uo

If you like the video, please be sure to like it, share it with your friends and subscribe so you don’t miss any upcoming videos.

The supplies I used to make this project were provided by:

Island Batik Maple Island collection

Studio 180 Design Corner Pop tool

Aurifil 50 wt Thread

Schmetz 70/10 Quilting needle

Hobbs Batting Heirloom Wool Batting

Thank you Island Batik, Studio 180 Design, Hobbs Batting, Aurifil Thread and Schmetz Needles.

Studio 180 Design

Hobbs Batting

If you are on TikTok, be sure to check out the video I have posted of the table runner. (Look for Blue Bear Quilts)

Blue Bear hopes you like this table runner. Please let him know how much you love the this table runner by writing to him in the comments!

The other amazing Island Batik Ambassadors are also posting their May Blog Hop Tool Craze projects. Check out their projects by clicking on the links next to their names to be directed to their blog posts.

WEEK 1

May 1

Susan Deshensky, Lady Blue Quilts

Randi Jones, Randi’s Roost

May 2

Elita Sharpe, Busy Needle Quilting

Mania Hatziioannidi, Mania for Quilts

May 3

Brittany Fisher, Bobbin with Brittany

Pamela Boatright, Pamela Quilts

May 4

Denise Looney, For the Love of Geese

Connie Kauffman, Kauffman Designs

May 5

Blog Hop Round-Up Week 1 and Giveaway

WEEK 2

May 8

Reed Johnson, Blue Bear Quilts Thanks for stopping by!

Sandra Starley, Textile Time Travels

May 9

Gail Sheppard, Quilting Gail

Lana Russel, Lana Quilts

May 10

Emily Leachman, The Darling Dogwood

Claudia Porter, Create with Claudia

Anorina Morris, Samelia’s Mum

May 11

Brenda Alburl, Songbird Designs

Jennifer Thomas, Curlicue Creations

May 12

Blog Hop Round-Up Week 2 and Giveaway

WEEK 3

May 15

Victoria Johnson, Forever Quilting for You

Maryellen McAuliffe, Mary Mack Made Mine

Leah Malasky, Quilted DelightsLisa Pickering, Lisa’s Quilting Passion

May 16

Sarah Pitcher, Pitcher’s Boutique

Renee Atkinson, Pink Tulip Quilting

May 17

Preeti Harris, Sew Preeti Quilts

Suzy Webster, Websterquilt

Lisa Pickering, Lisa’s Quilting Passion

May 18

End of Blog Hop + Final Round Up

The first of the Tool Craze Up Blog Hop giveaways, from Island Batik, started on Sunday, April 30th!

Two lucky winners will each receive a bundle of new collections that will be featured this week – Sorbet by Claudia Pfeil of Claudia Pfeil Design or Sea Cookies, designed Kate Colleran by Kate Colleran Designs, LLC. Don’t miss out on your chance to add these beautiful batiks to your stash. Enter now and every week during the Tool Craze Blog Hop:

To enter for your chance to win one of the two prizes above, follow the simple Rafflecopter prompts below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway ends on May, 12th at 11:59 pm PDT. Two random winners will be notified by email on May, 13rd and announced on the Island Batik Facebook page on May, 16th. If the winners do not respond within the first three days after being notified, two new random winners will be chosen. Please check your spam folders! If the winners do not respond within the first two days after being notified, two new random winners will be chosen and notified.

Make sure to follow Island Batik on social media to hop along with the Tool Craze Blog Hop. Be sure to check out the Island Batik Blog.

#islandbatikambassador #islandbatik #studio180design #iloveislandbatik #hobbsbatting #aurifil #aurifilthread #schmetzneedles #doyoueq #Janome #tool crazebloghop #electricquilt #eq8 #HancocksofPaducah #fabricsmart

Posted on March 14, 2023March 14, 2023 by Reed — 10 Comments

Island Batik Ambassador- March 2023 Project- Teal Appeal Quilt- Part of the It’s All Up To You Challenge

The Island Batik Ambassadors are getting creative this month. This month’s challenge is called It’s All Up to You and the Island Batik Ambassadors are free to make whatever project they want using fabrics from Island Batik. I can’t wait to see what the other ambassadors come up with and I know you are going to see some awesome projects this month. Links to the other Ambassador’s blogs may be found at the bottom of this post.

03 - It's All Up To You — 03 – It’s All Up To You

Since I could come up with any project I wanted for March, I decided to design a 2-1/2″ strip quilt pattern using a strip pack from Island Batik. I love teals and the fabric I chose to use is Tantalizing Teal. Just look at this gorgeous collection of blue and green teal batik fabrics. The Tantalizing Teal collection may be found at your local quilt shop that carries Island Batik, such as Fabric Smart in St. Petersburg FL. You may find them online at www.fabric-smart.com or call them at 727-914-8850. Another online option for you to shop for this fabric would be Hancocks of Paducah: Hancocks of Paducah

Here is a closeup of the Tantalizing Teal collection.

The quilt I made, Teal Appeal, is a large lap sized quilt- 52″ x 52.” This gorgeous quilt has shades of teal blues and greens and is highlighted with black. This quilt was easy and fun to make. This quilt will be offered as a pattern later this year, after my pattern testers have finished testing it. If you think you would like to be a Blue Bear Quilts pattern tester, please send me an email asking me for information about the group.

I used my Electric Quilt 8 software to design this quilt. The first photo is a version I thought of doing, which is in the genre of a Row By Row Quilt and it really showed all of the different looks you could create from this block. The block is in the second photo. The block looks complicated, but it really is not. It’s just teal and black 2-1/2″ strips cut into segments. Then you would use either the Creative Grids Folded Corner Clipper Tool, or the stitch and flip method, to create the half square triangles at the end of teal rectangles. The next six photos are alternate versions of the quilt. They can be made using the same blocks by rotating their orientation. They all had a good shot at being the quilt I would make, but I chose the one I did as I liked the secondary patterns that were created in the quilt. It had a more modern look. Quilt alternate #6 had a very good shot as a more traditional looking quilt. You would be able to make this one by rotating the blocks differently than they are in the pattern. Quilt alternate #4 has some white substituted for black. Quilt Alternate #1 has sashing and corner stones to separate the blocks. You may notice that the actual finished quilt looks slightly different that the computer image. This is because you may layout the quilt blocks in any order that is pleasing to you.

Here is the finished Teal Appeal quilt. The next photo is the teal quilting on the black backing fabric. The black backing fabric really shows off the quilting. The quilting was done by Diane from Quilting in the Harbor. If you would like to send your quilt to her to be quilted, you will find details about her long-arm business on Facebook.

This blog post is more about the design process of creating the quilt than it is about the actual making of the quilt. The pattern that is coming out later this year will give specific instructions for how to make the quilt. I also made a YouTube video where I show how I made this quilt.

Here is a link to the YouTube video if you would like to watch it and see more details of how I made the quilt: Making the Teal Appeal Quilt

If you like the video, please be sure to like it, share it with your friends and subscribe so you don’t miss any upcoming videos.

The supplies I used to make this project were provided by:

Island Batik Tantalizing Teal collection.

Aurifil 50 wt Thread

Schmetz 70/10 Quilting needle

Hobbs Batting Hobbs Heirloom® Premium 80/20 Black Cotton Blend Batting

Thank you Island Batik, Aurifil Thread, Hobbs Batting and Schmetz Needles.

If you are on TikTok, be sure to check out the video I have posted of me with the quilt. (Look for Blue Bear Quilts)

Also, please follow me on Instagram (Blue Bear Quilts) as that is where I occasionally have giveaways.

Blue Bear hopes you like this quilt. Please let him know how much you love the this quilt by writing to him in the comments!

The other amazing Island Batik Ambassadors are also posting their March projects. Check out their projects by clicking on the links next to their names to be directed to their blog posts.

Emily Leachman, The Darling Dogwood

Sarah Pitcher, Pitcher’s Boutique

Claudia Porter, Create with Claudia

Brenda Alburl, Songbird Designs

Elita Sharpe, Busy Needle Quilting

Reed Johnson, Blue Bear Quilts Thanks for stopping by!

Suzy Webster, Websterquilt

Preeti Harris, Sew Preeti Quilts

Renee Atkinson, Pink Tulip Quilting

Denise Looney, For the Love of Geese

Gail Sheppard, Quilting Gail

Anorina Morris, Samelia’s Mum

Sandra Starley, Textile Time Travels

Susan Deshensky, Lady Blue Quilts

Randi Jones, Randi’s Roost

Brittany Fisher, Bobbin with Brittany

Lisa Pickering, Lisa’s Quilting Passion

Victoria Johnson, Forever Quilting for You

Mania Hatziioannidi, Mania for Quilts

Lana Russel, Lana Quilts

Pamela Boatright, Pamela Quilts

Jennifer Thomas, Curlicue Creations

Maryellen McAuliffe, Mary Mack Made Mine

Leah Malasky, Quilted Delights

Connie Kauffman, Kauffman Designs

#islandbatikambassador #islandbatik #iloveislandbatik #hobbsbatting #aurifil #aurifilthread #schmetzneedles #doyoueq #Janome #electricquilt #eq8 #creativegrids #HancocksofPaducah #fabricsmart

Posted on February 8, 2023February 8, 2023 by Reed — 14 Comments

Island Batik Ambassador- February 2023 Project- Puff Quilt- Part of the All Puffed Up Blog Hop

Ready for some fun? This month’s blog hop is called All Puffed Up as the Island Batik Ambassadors will all be making puff or bubble quilts using different fabric collections from Island Batik. These quilts are so much fun to make! I know you are going to see some awesome quilts with this month’s Island Batik blog hop. Since this month is a blog hop, you can check out the Island Batik blog and enter each week to win a fat quarter bundle of some of the fabrics the Ambassadors are using in their projects. I will show the other fabric collections later in this blog along with a link to the giveaway from Island Batik and links to other ambassador’s blogs.

The February project was to make a puff quilt using an upcoming fabric line from Island Batik. I love the fabric I was given to use: Double Dutch by Kathy Engle. Just look at this gorgeous collection of blue and white batik fabrics. I just love blue and white quilts. The Double Dutch collection may be found at your local quilt shop that carries Island Batik, such as Fabric Smart in St. Petersburg FL. This collection should be in your local quilt shop between now and July of 2023. You may find them online at www.fabric-smart.com or call them at 727-914-8850. Another online option for you to shop for this fabric would be Hancocks of Paducah: Hancocks of Paducah

The quilt I made is a large lap sized quilt- 42″ x 42.” This ombre puff quilt has shades of light blue, blue, dark blue and white. This is called an ombre pattern as the fabrics in the quilt transition from light to dark to light again. The Double Dutch collection has a nice variety of shades to be able to do this. Making this quilt was a fair amount of work, but it was easy and fun. This quilt is now a favorite in my home and if you make one, it may be a favorite in yours as well. The puffy Fiber-Fil makes the quilt nice and warm and it is so much fun to pat the puffs. Humans love this quilt, but here’s a secret- pets really love it to, so you could make a much smaller version for your favorite furry friend.

Here are several closeups of the Double Dutch batik bundle I was provided. What a beautiful selection of blue and white batiks. The first photo is from one of several Tik Tok videos I made about this quilt. My username on TikTok is BlueBearQuilts.

I used my Electric Quilt 8 software to design this quilt. The first photo is a version I thought of doing which is in the genre of an Around the World Quilt. I really liked this version. I decided to go with the ombre version in the second photo. You’ll notice that I originally thought of putting a white border around the quilt, but when I was ready to put the border on, I like the look of those lovely navy blue batiks from the collection, so I made a last minute design change. You will also nice that the actual quilt is larger and has more squares in it than the original design. I decided that the quilt was not large enough, so I added a couple of extra rounds of squares around the outer edge of the quilt. This expanded the light areas of the quilt.

After deciding on the fabrics and the design, I had to figure out how I was going to make a puff quilt as I had never made one before. I checked out a couple of tutorials online and saw that it was fairly easy, so I knew I would be able to successfully make this quilt. Speaking of tutorials; below, I will provide a link to a You Tube video where I show how I made this quilt. Between this blog post and the video, I am confident that you will be able to make your own puff quilt.

A puff quilt is made by sewing puff pockets together, which are then stuffed with Fiber-Fil. You need a smaller backing square, and a larger front square, for the puff. My smaller backing squares were cut at 4-1/2″. These can be made from scrap fabric as they will not show when the quilt is finished. My front squares were cut at 5″. These are the squares made from the beautiful Double Dutch collection as they will be the front of the finished quilt. I needed 169 squares of both the front and back fabric. I got out my Creative Grids Stripology Ruler and quickly cut out all the squares I needed to make this quilt.

In the next step, you have to lay out the squares in a pleasing arrangement. This can also be done after all of the puff pockets have been sewn as you will see in the next picture. To make the puff pockets, I sewed with a scant quarter inch around three sides of the pocket. A scant quarter inch was used as then the previous stitch lines will be concealed when the puffs are sewn together with a full quarter inch seam. When sewing along each side, it is necessary to make a small pleat along the edge. This is what makes the larger square match up with the smaller bottom square and also what creates the puff in the larger top fabric.

To create the ombre effect, I started with light squares in the lower left corner, then moved into the medium blues, and finally, followed by the dark blues. Then I reverse the placement order of the values and did medium blues, followed by the light blues. If you have trouble distinguishing the values and trying to determine if you have them in the correct location, you can turn the photo into a monochromatic one on your phone and it is much easier to see the values as you can see in the next photo. In the final quilt, I did switch two rows in the upper right hand corner as the values were not in the correct place.

The next step was to sew the puff pockets together in columns. It was really important to be organized for this step and to keep all of the puffs in the proper place. It was also important to make sure that the opening of the puff pocket stayed on the right side of the column. Thus, I only did one column at a time and then brought it back to my layout to make sure everything was in the right order. I think I only had to rip a couple of seams. Once the column was sewn, I brought it back to the sewing machine and starting filling the puffs, and I started with the top one. I filled that one with a small, round handful of Fiber-Fil and then stitched the opening of that pocket closed with a scant quarter inch, and I also remembered to create a small pleat in the seam. I used Aurifil 50 Wt. cotton thread to construct, and quilt, this quilt.

Once that first column has been puffed up, you stitch the next column to the first one with a full quarter inch. The second column is not filled at this point. Then you fill the second column, just like you did the first one, and then sew the unfilled third column on with a full quarter inch seam. You repeat this process across the quilt until you have puffed up the last column.

In the photo above, I am auditioning the navy border to see if I liked it and I thought that it framed up the quilt nicely.

One way of completing the quilt is to tie it. I would have loved to try this method, but I found that with the tight weave of batik fabrics, it was a bit of a struggle to pull an embroidery needle through the layers. So I decided that I needed the strength of my machine and a Schmetz needle. The quilt was going to be warm enough without any batting due to the Fiber-Fil, so I decided to not use any batting and to stitch in the ditch, directly to the backing fabric. All I had to do was use a walking foot and push the Fiber-fil out of the way, and it worked out perfectly. I created a nice square quilting design on the backing. If you would like to see the back, you may see it in either my TikTok video or my You Tube video. Below, you can see how I rolled the quilt and was able to do the quilting on my Janome 6600. Finally, it was time to bind the quilt and I used a method of wrapping the backing fabric to the front to create the binding. This method of creating the binding is also demonstrated in the You Tube video.

Below is the image of my You Tube video for making this quilt. Here is a link to the video if you would like to watch it and see more detail of how I made the quilt: https://youtu.be/I4rz1bIDAPo

If you like the video, please be sure to like it, share it with your friends and subscribe so you don’t miss any upcoming videos.

The supplies I used to make this project were provided by:

Island Batik Double Dutch collection.

Aurifil 50 wt Thread

Schmetz 70/10 Quilting needle

Thank you Island Batik, Aurifil Thread and Schmetz Needles.

If you are on TikTok, be sure to check out the video I have posted of me with the quilt. (Look for Blue Bear Quilts)

Blue Bear hopes you like this quilt. Please let him know how much you love the this quilt by writing to him in the comments!

The other amazing Island Batik Ambassadors are also posting their February Blog Hop Puff quilts. Check out their projects by clicking on the links next to their names to be directed to their blog posts.

December 5

WEEK 1

February 6

Emily Leachman, The Darling Dogwood

Sarah Pitcher, Pitcher’s Boutique

February 7

Claudia Porter, Create with Claudia

Brenda Alburl, Songbird Designs

December 6

February 8

Elita Sharpe, Busy Needle Quilting

Reed Johnson, Blue Bear Quilts Thanks for stopping by!

February 9

Suzy Webster, Websterquilt

Preeti Harris, Sew Preeti Quilts

February 10

Blog Hop Round-Up Week 1 and Giveaway

February 11

Special St Valentine’s Day Post

Renee Atkinson, Pink Tulip Quilting

WEEK 2

February 13

Denise Looney, For the Love of Geese

Gail Sheppard, Quilting Gail

February 14

Anorina Morris, Samelia’s Mum

Sandra Starley, Textile Time Travels

February 15

Susan Deshensky, Lady Blue Quilts

Randi Jones, Randi’s Roost

February 16

Special Island Batik Designers Feature

February 17Blog Hop Round-Up Week 2 and Giveaway

WEEK 3

February 20

Brittany Fisher, Bobbin with Brittany

Lisa Pickering, Lisa’s Quilting Passion

February 21

Victoria Johnson, Forever Quilting for You

Mania Hatziioannidi, Mania for Quilts

February 22

Lana Russel, Lana Quilts

Pamela Boatright, Pamela Quilts

February 23

Jennifer Thomas, Curlicue Creations

Maryellen McAuliffe, Mary Mack Made Mine

February 24

Blog Hop Round-Up Week 3 and Giveaway

February 27

Leah Malasky, Quilted Delights

Connie Kauffman, Kauffman Designs

February 28

End of Blog Hop + Final Round Up

The first of 3 All Puffed Up Blog Hop giveaways, from Island Batik, started on Sunday, February 5th!

Two lucky winners will each receive a bundle of new collections that will be featured this week – Exuberance by Deb Tucker’s Studio 180 Design or Broken Glass, designed for Swan Amity Studios by Kathy Engle. Don’t miss out on your chance to add these beautiful batiks to your stash. Enter now and every week during the All Puffed Up Blog Hop:

To enter for your chance to win one of the two prizes above, follow the simple Rafflecopter prompts below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway ends on February, 10 at 11:59 pm PST. Two random winners will be notified by email on February, 11 and announced on the Island Batik Facebook page on February, 14. Please check your spam folders! If the winners do not respond within the first two days after being notified, two new random winners will be chosen and notified.

Make sure to follow Island Batik on social media to hop along with the All Puffed Up Blog Hop. Be sure to check out the Island Batik Blog.

#islandbatikambassador #islandbatik #iloveislandbatik #hobbsbatting #aurifil #aurifilthread #schmetzneedles #doyoueq #Janome #allpuffedupbloghop #electricquilt #eq8 #creativegrids #HancocksofPaducah #fabricsmart

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Reed — Leave a comment

Week 7- September 26, 2016- Block of the Week- Log Cabin- Part 2

As we discussed in Part 1 last week, this is a excellent block for beginning quilters to learn how to quilt. It is the pattern that I used when I was first learning to quilt. The most recommended book to make this pattern is “Make a Quilt in a Day- Log Cabin Pattern” by Eleanor Burns. So many people, including me, have used this book to make their first quilt. Thus, Quilt in a Day and Eleanor Burns are endeared to many quilter’s. Eleanor was a school teacher and her patterns are clearly written and easy to follow. The book is pictured in the photo below.

Quilt in a Day Log Cabin Pattern — Log Cabin Pattern

One helpful tool that the book contains is a paste-up sheet, where you lay out all of your fabric samples to see if you have a good mixture of lights and darks. An additional trick that I learned was to photocopy this sheet with the fabrics on it as it will highlight the contrasting tonal values for you. Here is a photo of the paste-up sheet that I did for my first quilt and a photo of it photocopied. To obtain the desired pattern effects, you want a strong contrast between the lights and darks. Remember this was my first quilt and I now see that I could have done a better job of making a stronger contrast between the lights and darks. Today, I would have made the pink center square darker and the two outer light colors lighter. This palette with the floral fabrics created a very country look and today I would most likely shy away from that as well. This quilt pattern is also good for a beginner as you can quilt it yourself by quilting straight stitches in the ditch.

This pattern is very versatile and can result is many different looks, depending on how you rotate the blocks. Let’s take a look at the traditional quilt from last week laid out 8 different ways. Depending on the fabrics you use and the layout, this traditional pattern can take on a modern look. I think that Whirligig and Navajo have a more modern spin to them.