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