Connections Mini - July Island Batik Challenge

Note, the fabrics for this project were given to me by Island Batik as part of their ambassador program.

The July Island Batik ambassador challenge is to use a block that creates a secondary pattern, which was right up my alley. I love blocks that create secondary patterns! I decided to use my Connections block, which is a free tutorial from my fourth blogiversary last year.

I chose these fabulous blues, blacks and oranges along with this equally fabulous cream and decided to make 9 blocks for a 36" square mini quilt.

I cut my pieces before we went on our trip and even managed to piece some of the units and then left everything sitting on the kitchen table for when we got home. After we got back, I wasn't sewing long before I realized I had only cut half as many cream pieces as I needed...and I didn't have enough to cut the rest. Oops!

I pulled out my remaining Buttermilk fabric and decided it was close enough. Not a close match, really, but with all the variety in the other colours, it hopefully wouldn't matter that the background is two different fabrics.

Crisis averted, I pieced my 9 blocks and laid them out, only to find myself with another crisis!

My blocks were decidedly lacking in secondary pattern, which, you may remember, was the entire point of this month's challenge! GAH! I had forgotten that I needed to flip some blocks, not just rotate them. Insert forehead smacking emoji here.

I had the blocks all laid out on the floor as I stared at them, trying to figure out what to do, when my husband walked into the room. "Looks good," he said. Gotta love that support!

I thanked him, of course, and then explained the problem, flipping over a couple of blocks to demonstrate how they were supposed to connect to create the secondary pattern. He looked at them for a few minutes and then asked if it matters which side of the fabric is up. Since these are batiks, there is no wrong side, so he pointed out that I could take the blocks apart and sew them with the seams going the other way. I'd only need to do it to 4 blocks and I wouldn't have to take everything apart, just enough to switch the direction of the blue/orange connector units.

Note to self, next time you make a quilt using the Connections block, remember to flip half of the blocks so they actually connect!

After an evening spent ripping seams and then re-sewing them, I eventually had 9 finished blocks that did create a secondary pattern 😊

I used Warm and Natural batting and Aurifil thread in 2692, 4140, 2210 and 2311 and got started on the quilting.

I had fun quilting each section differently, starting with the blue rings. They got simple back and forth lines, with these flourishes in the corners. I read a post recently where a quilter (I can't remember who) said that her solution to being unable to neatly continue a motif around a corner is to do something different in the corners. Brilliant! I usually struggle to turn those corners neatly too, so this is such a great idea and it worked well here. I'll definitely use that trick again.

The orange connector units got wishbone quilting. It's one of my favourite designs to quilt and it's fast, so that's a bonus.

I debated for a while what to do in the black hourglass units and finally settled on this design that I found on Pinterest. It was fun and quick to stitch.

That left the background sections. Everything else I had quilted was rather curvy, so I wanted to stick with that, but I didn't want anything too time consuming since the end of the month was quickly approaching. I flipped through Step by Step Free Motion Quilting, by Christina Cameli and found this design, which I loved.

Just like in a field of real flowers, these quilted ones are all different sizes and their petals are all different too. And those meandering loops make me think of bumble bee trails 😊 This would make a great all-over design too, though it would have to be done at a larger scale, assuming I could make myself stitch bigger flowers. I'm thinking I might use it on my August IB challenge quilt when I get to that point, but it'll be a while since I'm only just getting started on that.

As always, I love the quilting on the back! I used the orange dot batik and I love how vibrant it looks.

Over the last year or two, I've been drawn more and more to the combination of orange and blue, so the back of the quilt with the blue binding just sings for me. All the texture from the quilting doesn't hurt, either. Did you notice that the binding is two different blues? I didn't have enough of either one to do the whole thing, but they work perfectly together.

I took the quilt for a walk along the trail for pictures. Sometimes the quilt blogger's life is rough, don't you think? 😄

This one is for my mom, who loves daisies!

On the trail there are old logs, leftover from when the river was used to float logs to the bay back in the day. They made the perfect backdrop for some of these pictures. And they're beautiful in their own right, all covered in moss.

In the process of making the 9 Connections blocks, I also made an abundance of extra HSTs. The blue/orange ones were made as bonus HSTs while I made the connector units and the random coloured ones were my leaders and enders.

It was fun revisiting an old block (screw ups and all!) and I love how this little quilt turned out. Thanks once again to Island Batik for allowing me to play with these gorgeous fabrics and fun challenges each month. I am love being an Island Batik ambassador!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to work on my August project 😊

Do Not Stand Up

Devotion for the Week...

As I mentioned last week, we rode a lot of roller coasters on our trip. One thing that amused all of us was a sign posted at the top of the big hill at the start of almost every coaster. Stretched right across the track was a sign that read, "Do Not Stand Up." What??

Who in their right mind gets to the highest point of a roller coaster, hundreds of feet in the air, supported by only a narrow track, in a moving vehicle that is poised to fly down the hill any second and decides they want to stand up?

We speculated that maybe no one has ever stood up and the signs are simply the park's way of protecting itself against lawsuits should someone ever try. Then again, maybe some people actually are that crazy and have stood up while riding.

Either way, the mere presence of the signs had me thinking about how we sometimes need help to know what is good for us. Sometimes we need advice from other people who are looking at situations from a different angle and who can see things we can't.

Take Moses, for example. He had led the Isrealites out of Egypt and the people were looking up to him as the authority among them. That meant, in part, that they brought all of their disputes to him so he could settle them. As he explained it, "When a dispute arises, they come to me, and I am the one who settles the case between the quarreling parties. I inform the people of God’s decrees and give them his instructions" (Exodus 18:16). All well and good, right? Not quite.

Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, observed the process for one day and immediately recognized a problem with the situation. He said to Moses, "What are you really accomplishing here? Why are you trying to do all this alone while everyone stands around you from morning till evening?...This is not good!... You’re going to wear yourself out—and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself" (vv. 14, 17-18).

He went on to tell Moses to appoint others to hear the lesser disputes, freeing himself up to hear only those major disputes that truly needed his attention. After Moses took the advice, the process was better for everyone. The people weren't waiting so long to have their issues resolved and Moses wasn't wearing himself out trying to deal with everything all by himself.

Do we heed the advice of others? When someone tells us that we need to do something differently, do we consider whether or not they might be right? Or do we continue on as we have been, convinced that our way is the only way?

And if someone tells us that what we're doing is dangerous in some way, do we immediately think they're trying to take away all our fun or do we stop and think that maybe they are trying to protect us?

Not every piece of advice we receive will be helpful, but if we don't stop to consider it, we'll never know. Sometimes we're so close to a situation we can't see the problems in what we're doing. Or maybe we're so excited that we don't slow down long enough to see the potential dangers.

In both situations, it's good to heed the warning signs or listen to the wise advice of the people around us. Much as we like to think we always know what is best for us, sometimes we need help.

Island Batik Ambassador Box 2

Note, everything in this post was given to me by Island Batik as part of their ambassador program.

My second Island Batik ambassador box was waiting for me at the post office when we got home from holidays and what a great welcome home gift it was!

There were so many gorgeous things in the box and I know I'm going to have a lot of fun making with them over the next few months. Let's have a look, shall we?

First, I had a surprise bundle, which I can't share yet. It was all wrapped up in pretty butterfly paper, but I tore that off before I started taking pictures, so you'll just have to take my word for it 😊 I'm dying to share it with you because the colours and the prints are all gorgeous, but we'll just have to wait for a few more months. If it's any consolation, I'll soon be sharing the surprise bundle from my first ambassador box, so that will be one less secret for me to be keeping!

Aurifil is partnering with Island Batik this year, so we had a lovely Aurifil bag with some 12 wt thread in 6728 (cinnabar) and a sampler of 2890 (dark grass green) in all of the possible weights. I'm looking forward to testing some of the new-to-me ones out.

Remember how I raved about the Buttermilk fabric? Well, this time they sent my a 5 yard cut of the same print in a different colour, called Rice. Instead of a cream, Rice is white with hints of grey and blue and I love it just as much as Buttermilk 😊

There were three precut bundles in the box this time, starting with a 2 1/2" strip pack of Spirit Rythym, along with yardage of a light and a dark to coordinate. What is your favourite pattern for using 2 1/2" strips?

Next is a 10" stack of Victoria and Albert. I love the lush blues and greens in this bundle. And those Island Batik ribbons around the stack? The ones that were in my first ambassador box found their way into the fidget blanket I made a couple of months ago (turned upside down so the writing wasn't visible). You can be sure these ones will be stashed away until I find a use for them.

There was also a 10" stack of bright Paisley Dots. Aren't they gorgeous? I see a very cheerful quilt in my near future 😊 This seems to be saying 'flowers' to me, but I'm not sure yet if that's what it will become.

Island Batik also sent some solids this time, which will be wonderful for setting off some of those bright colours. There's white, black and grey.

They also sent these fun checkered fabrics. I love the colours, but I have to admit I'm not quite sure how I'll use them yet. How would you use them?

Continuing on with the bright, beautiful colours, I had this bundle of Foundations fabrics. These prints and colours are always available, unlike the lines that are only available for a short time. I love them all!

Last, but not least, Hobbs batting is also partnering with Island Batik this year and they sent three battings. There are throw size battings in 100% wool and a cotton/wool blend along with a queen size cotton batting. I've never tried wool batting, so I'm curious to see how that works for me.

Island Batik sure knows how to spoil us ambassadors! I've had to pet these bundles of fabric a few times since I opened the box, just admiring the beautiful colours and pondering how I'll use them. A box full of possibilites is a wonderful thing, don't you agree?

And now I'm off to work on the mini quilt I'm making as my project for the July Island Batik challenge. It's about half quilted and I'm so happy with how it's turning out. I'll be back to share it soon 😊