Sunday, April 28, 2019

Ready. Set. Go! Quilt Challenge




It's that time of the month again!  Time to share what I have made for the Island Batik Ambassador Challenge.  This month Island Batik and their partner AccuQuilt challenged us to make a baby quilt using the Go! Cutter and dyes provided to us by AccuQuilt.  





Picking out the main fabrics I wanted to use was easy.  I've been drooling over this stack of 10" squares from the Crystal Ball line ever since I opened the ambassador box.  


After playing with the three solids Island Batik sent, I decided on the black.  Look how those colors just pop against it!  **One thing I want to say about Island Batik solids is...I'm in love!!!  I usually do not work with solids because they seem to fray, no matter the brand.  These solids are the same texture of the hand dyed fabric and there is hardly any fray at all...if any.  If all solids were created like these...all I can say is prints watch out.**

The big question was what to do with them.  A quilt that has been on my bucket list for a while is the Layer Cake Pop Quilt by Fat Quarter Shop.  I quickly realized that by using the 4.5" and 2.5"square and 2.5" strip dyes, I could cut this quilt out in a quarter of the time it would have taken with my rotary cutter.







Thanks to the ease of cutting ,piecing this quilt took no time at all.


Once the top was all together, quilting decisions had to be made.  One of the goodies in my ambassador box was a queen size roll of 80/20 black batting from Hobbs Batting.  


A quilt with a black background seemed like the perfect opportunity to give this batting a go.


So what did I love about this batting?  Everything.  When I was quilting there were no whispy white fluffs of batting coming up through the needle holes...you couldn't see any needle holes!


For my thread choice I went with Aurifil #2785 Very Dark Navy.  It blends nicely into the background yet is a bit easier on the eyes than using black thread on black fabric.  Instead of using my walking foot for the straight lines, I did it free motion style using quilting rulers and my Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen.


After two evenings of quilting, this fun and modern baby quilt came together.  I'm calling it Crystal Ball Pop.  I love the way the purples, blues and white's pop against the black background!










Do you like what you see?  Want to make one of your own?  Good news.  The fabulous Hancock's of Paducah, who is celebrating their 50th anniversary this week, carries all lines of Island Batik in their store (you can also find Hobbs Batting and Aurifil Thread).  If you are lucky enough to be at Quilt Week in Paducah, the store will be running a shuttle every 1/2 hour from the show to the store.  Go!!!  Touch all those fabrics...you know you want to.



So a huge thanks to AccuQuilt, Hobbs Batting, and of course Island Batik for making this project possible.  Make sure you come back next month to hear about the challenge project that will not be happening and the challenge project that will be happening.


Today I'm linking up with Let's Bee Social, Favorite Finish and What I Made Monday.

21 comments:

Vicki in MN said...

Perfectly done Tish!

chrisknits said...

What a gorgeous pop! I think the stars almost shimmer with their coloration.

beaquilter said...

Awesome quilt. That's a lot of straight lines with a ruler!

Karen said...

Well done!! I love the stars on the black.

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

Oooh, I'm curious about what is and isn't happening next month. Beautiful baby quilt and it was such a perfect choice for the black batting. I do love how batiks don't fray!

Kathleen said...

This is a great quilt and I second your feelings about the solids. That cutter is a dream isn't it? I loved the black batting too, and next month it is reappearing in my quilt! So tell me about that ruler...my simply sixteen is on its way - hope to confirm an installation date in the next day or two. Now you got me wondering....one plan out the window and one took over??

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Oh that was a perfect use for that fabric!! ( and black batting ha ha) Its quite beautiful!

Stitchin At Home said...

Beautiful quilt! I love black batting as much as you. I may have to get some dark blue thread to use on blacks.

Sharon said...

Beautiful! 😁

Laura said...

Good for you for trying all these new things and creating a delightful quilt. The AGF solids are also tightly woven and don't ravel. Love the way the black pops your fabrics.

piecefulwendy said...

What a pretty quilt! It glows, especially the photo of it hanging on the line. So cool.

Louise said...

Brights against black? Yes, please!! Your quilt is just scrumptious! Oo la la, what a beauty. Congrats on a wonderful finish for your IB and GO! challenge :)

BTW, I have also been using dark, dark navy thread instead of black. Every once in a while, I get a spool of Aurifil that seems defective. The bad thread breaks and shreds. It's usually a dark color and my last spool of black was one of them. So I switched to navy out of desperation and it works just fine. The Quilt Police would have to have very good eyes to tell the difference!

Anja @ Anja Quilts said...

I love this!! The black makes the colours pop. I'm heading over to get the pattern.

Alison V. said...

Absolutely beautiful!

Becca // Pretty Piney Quilts said...

So striking! Great tip on using the navy blue thread to quilt on black. I'll have to give that a try. Thanks for linking up to What I Made Monday!

Allison said...

That's a great quilt - I really like the way you used colour and black to make the patchwork pattern stand out.

Emily said...

This is absolutely gorgeous, Tish!!!! I'm super jealous of your Crystal Ball stack--beautiful colors! They do look great against the black background and I love your straight line quilting. So lovely!

Karen @runsewfun said...

I've never used black batting and I would never have thought to not use black thread on black fabric. Good info for me so thank you for sharing. The quilt is beautiful!

Lisa J. said...

This is a great quilt Tish. The colours just pop against the black and I like the straight line quilting as well. Do you use a stitch regulator with your sweet 16?

Susan Smith said...

A lovely quilt in gorgeous colours. Well done & thanks for sharing. Take care.

Vivian said...

Ooh, this came out so nice!! I have a package of black batting that I had purchased with plans to make an Amish style quilt. However, reading your post I realized that a stash I was recently looking at and had purchased years ago that is built around using a black TOT print for a background might just have to be made up in this FQS pattern! Christa Watson says she likes Aurifil #4241 (a very dark grey) for sewing on solid black fabric as well. I've used it for that and it works too!

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