Beat the Heat Blog Hop - Blue Sparkler

Note, the fabric and batting for this project were given to me by Island Batik and their industry partner as part of the Island Batik ambassador program.

I'm excited to kick off the Island Batik ambassador Beat the Heat blog hop today! All month long the ambassadors will be showcasing new Island Batik fabric lines in fantastic projects, plus there will be giveaways galore 😊

One of the questions on the ambassador application is about your favourite colours. Last year I chose to leave it blank and just see what they decided to send me. I loved the fabrics I received (how could I not??), but I also drooled over the blue collections that were sent to other ambassadors, so this year I made sure to include the fact that I love blue. Boy, did they deliver! Just look at all the different, beautiful blues in the Blueberry Patch line that they sent me 💙😍💙

It took me a while to decide what to make for this blog hop, but then I realized that I could cross off two things on my to-make list with one quilt. Paul loves my Sparkler quilt design, but the original is a little too pink for his taste so he asked for a more masculine looking version. I figured all of these blues would certainly make for a more masculine Sparkler and Island Batik had sent me enough yardage of both a light and a dark to make the pattern work. (If you want to make your own version of Sparkler, the pattern is available in my Etsy shop. Click here to get your copy.)

I had to leave out a few of the prints in the Blueberry Patch line because they were too close in value to the light or the dark I was using as the main parts of the design. Don't feel sorry for them, though. I'll find a way to use them before too long, they're too pretty not to use!

I love how Paul's Blue Sparkler quilt turned out! In fact, he might have to fight me to get to use it.

I love that with this design there's so much to look at. There are the prominent dark blue sparklers, then there are all of the other sparklers, with their varying shades of blue and their different prints to enjoy. What stands out most to you?

I love the swirls and the ladybugs.

And these mushrooms are really cute.

I considered using Hobb's black batting because I knew there would be a lot of white fluffy bits on the darkest blue with white batting, but the black batting made those white feathery lines on the sashing print look slightly grey and I wanted them to stay white. Instead, I used Hobb's 100% cotton batting and removed all of the white fluffy bits after the quilt was finished.

Paul wanted the quilt to stay soft, so he specifically asked that I not do really small quilting. After I made a couple of suggestions, he decided he wanted the same sparkler motif I quilted on the original Sparkler quilt, this time using Aurifil 2780.

This design is fun and quick to quilt! I love how the Aurifil 2780 shows up on the solid navy back. It makes the sparklers kind of glow, doesn't it?

I used the darkest fabric for the binding, which frames the whole quilt nicely. My parents, Zach and I took the quilt to a nearby rocky beach for these pictures. It's one of my favourite places to visit and to take quilt pictures.

Don't forget you can get your copy of the Sparkler pattern from my Etsy shop 😊

I mentioned giveaways galore at the start of this post, didn't I? Island Batik is hosting a different giveaway each week of the hop, so be sure to enter each week. Plus, many of the ambassadors will be hosting their own giveaways on their blogs.

For my giveaway, I'll choose two winners who will both receive their choice of any 2 of my PDF patterns. To enter, leave a comment telling me your favourite colour. For extra entries, follow me on Instagram and Facebook, then leave a separate comment for each telling me you're following (along with your IG or FB name). I'll randomly choose the winners the morning of September 1st and contact them through email, so make sure I'll be able to reach you if you win.

I'd love it if you'd pin this for future reference and to help other quilters who might like it as well 😊

Thanks for stopping by! Here's the full schedule for the Beat the Heat blog hop. You won't want to miss any of these posts!

Monday, August 5
Leanne Parsons (you are here!)
Sherry Shish

Tuesday, August 6
Bill Locke
Lisa Nielsen

Wednesday, August 7
Sandra Walker
Terri Vanden Bosch

Thursday, August 8
Pamela Boatright
Kathleen McCormick

Monday, August 12
Karen Neary
Carol Moellers

Tuesday, August 13
Michelle Roberts
Laticia “Tish” Stemple

Wednesday, August 14
(Debora) Anne Wiens
Gene Black

Thursday, August 15
Tina D Dillard
Bea Lee

Monday, August 19
Joanne Hart
Carla Henton

Tuesday, August 20
Connie Kauffman
Vasudha Govindan

Wednesday, August 21
Vicki Schlimmer
Mania Hatziioannidi

Thursday, August 22
Gail Sheppard

Monday, August 26
Maryellen McAuliffe
Jennifer Strauser

Tuesday, August 27
Connie K Campbell
Joan Kawano

Summer Basics Tank Dresses

My adventures in garment sewing continue with three new dresses. I used the Summer Basics Tank and Dress pattern from Love Notions. The pattern includes a tank top, a knee length dress and a maxi length dress.

I started with this berry pink solid cotton/spandex jersey knit fabric with the intention that it would make a wearable muslin (which translates to mean it would be a test version, to allow me to tweak the fit, but I hoped it would be good enough to actually wear) and it worked 😊. The dress is incredibly comfortable!

My only complaint about the pattern is that it doesn't include pockets, which seemed like a big oversight. So, garment sewing expert that I am (ha!), I decided to add inseam pockets. Well, that didn't go well at all! I added them fine, which was a nice boost to my confidence, but they looked awful. The added weight made the pockets gape open weirdly, which was not a good look at all. I asked in the Love Notions fb group for suggestions for how to fix it, only to be told that this was exactly why pockets weren't included in the pattern. Well, I guess now it makes sense! I ended up removing the pockets, which kind of stretched the fabric so there are ripples in the side seams, but it's still much better than the pockets were.

The back of the skirt is made in two pieces, to conserve fabric, so even the maxi dress can be cut out of 2 yards of fabric, up to the XL size.

Initially, I had measured myself to figure out which size to cut, which meant I cut out an XL bodice grading to a M skirt. It fits fine, but there's a little extra fabric under the arms. I wondered if I could get away with a smaller size for the second one, so I asked Paul to measure me to see if there would be a difference. Ummm, yeah, there was. Turns out I actually need the L bodice, not the XL, which explains the extra fabric on the sides.

For my second dress I used this gorgeous wavy stripe fabric to make a maxi version and I love wearing it! This is also a cotton/spandex jersey knit, which feels like a slightly heavier than usual tshirt fabric. I cut two inches off the length, but I may only take an inch off next time.

My SIL saw me wearing the dress and asked where I bought it, so you know I loved that 😊

When I sent a picture of the maxi dress to my mom, she said she thought she needed one, too, so I told her to bring some fabric with her when she came to visit. She chose a polyester/spandex jersey knit, which drapes really nicely. She wanted the maxi length as well and because the dress is so simple to put together I was able to get it all done in a day.

Mom brought other fabrics for me, too, so there will be more summer basics dresses and/or tank tops before the summer is over. And I bought myself a couple of other fabrics for a different dress, also from Love Notions. Wearing something I've made myself feels wonderful, even if there are still some imperfections because I don't fully know what I'm doing yet.

Thanks to Mom and Dad for taking these pictures, especially to Mom for being a much more knowledgeable photographer than I usually have for pictures of me wearing garments I've made. I'm still not a comfortable model, but her photography skills made up for it 😊

Note, this post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on a link and then make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. This does not affect the price you pay.

Road Trip Hand Stitching

We've taken a couple of trips so far this summer that involved a lot of driving (really, going anywhere in Newfoundland usually involves a lot of driving), which means that I've been doing some road trip hand stitching.

My Hexie Rainbow quilt is coming along slowly. The next round I need to attach will be a round of black hexies, but I want to add some new black fabrics into the mix. Towards that end, I bought four new black prints while we were away the first time. I was supposed to get them washed and ready for basting before our second trip, but I put it off too long and didn't get it done. There were also some great black fabrics in the second Island Batik box, which arrived recently, so I'll use some of them as well.

Since I couldn't work on the black round, I went ahead and stitched together the strips needed for the first round of the blue that will go on after the black ones. All six strips are now ready to be sewn on once I get the black ones done.

I love pulling the basted hexies out of the container, mixing the light blues and dark blues, while remembering where each fabric came from or what quilt it was used in. Scrap quilts really are the best!

I also love the rocks at this beach. They're full of fascinating holes, ripples, stripes, etc. I should probably have become a geologist because I really wish I understood more about what I'm seeing when I look at different rocks.

I've also been stitching some of these EPP stars to their backgrounds. This is another long term project, but I love working on each and every block, so I'm quite happy for it to take a long time. So far this summer I've stitched these 6 stars to backgrounds, with another few prepped and ready to be stitched. These background fabrics are both from Island Batik.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that ladder stitching the stars onto the backgrounds can be done while driving (well, while Paul drives, lol 😉). I wasn't sure if our terrible roads would make it hard to do ladder stitch, but it doesn't at all.

Do you stitch while traveling? What do you work on?