I am thrilled to have been chosen for a second year as an Island Batik Ambassador. It was an honor to find out that I will be participating in another year of challenges and exciting fabric reveals.
For our January challenge, we were tasked to make a Step By Step quilt using gradations of one color and how they change from light to dark and vise versa. I received a fat quarter bundle of Glorious Greens. This bundle comes from Island Batik's Foundation line that is available all year. The bundle included 20 shades ranging from dark forested greens to bright vibrant hues. These fabrics can be found in your local quilt store.
I decided to use Eggwhite (Soft white with swirls of dots.) to offset the greens and this background fabric can also be found in there Foundation's Line as well.
Thinking about a design took a while. I really wasn't sure how I wanted to display the greens. I decided on an orange peel design. I drew up the orange peel unit pieces so that I could form the quilt. I wanted to piece the quilt so the unit pieces were all sewn to each other to form rows of greens from dark to light. I then changed up the center by flipping the orange peel pieces from horizontal to vertical. Orange peel quilts can also be appliquéd but I chose to piece my quilt.
I initially used the more muted greens in the quilt and pulled the bright ones from it. Then I decided to take the bright greens and add four appliquéd circles. I also used the bright greens in the binding. I combined them along the binding to give it an ombre or variegated look. Try using several different color strips or printed strips for your binding. It can be fun and also provide interest along the edge of the quilt.
Using the greens in this manner gave the quilt some focal points to draw the eye toward the center.
Each unit had the central piece with can be split or used as one piece to fussy cut a design. There are four adjacent pieces, two on each side. Since it is all curved piecing, The pieces are eased in along the curve. The curved units formed columns rather than traditional blocks.
I was going for a modern look with this quilt and using monochromatic hues in green helps with the modern look.
Lastly, I appliquéd on four circles. I used Applipops to achieve perfect circles that have a unreturned edge so that the circle is not a raw edge. I hand stitched those on in the central region of the quilt. To finish it off, I quilted it with gentle swirls.
Finally, I bound the quilt by using the bright greens. I combined four colors along the edge to give a fun variegated edge.
Using one color family helps to make a modern quilt. It is one way to try modern verses traditional to change up a quilt style.
My little helper, Ava approved of the quilt and gave me a big PAWS up! She finds all quilts to be comfy.
Supplies Used and Provided By:
Island Batik Foundations Fabrics: Glorious Greens and Eggwhite
Aurifil 50 wt Thread (White and Green)
Hobbs 100% Cotton Batting
Schmetz 90/14 Topstitch needle
Thank you Island Batik, Aurifil Thread, Hobbs Batting, Schmetz Needles and Applipops .
This month other Island Batik Ambassadors are posting their first quilts of the year too. They made beautiful gradation quilts. Check out what they did. Their work is beautiful.
Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs Megan Best ~ Bestquilter Pamela Boatright ~ Pamelaquilts Elizabeth DeCroos ~ Epida Studio Jennifer Fulton ~ Inquiring Quilter
Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts Jane Hauprich ~ Stitch By Stitch Custom Quilting Reed Johnson ~ Blue Bear Quilts Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs
Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood Denise Looney ~ For The Love Of Geese Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack Made Mine Anorina Morris – sameliasmum.com
Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion Claudia Porter ~ Create with Claudia Gail Renna ~ Quilt Haven Threads Brianna Roberts ~ Sew Cute And Quirky Michelle Roberts ~ Creative Blonde
Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail Andi Stanfield ~ True Blue Quilts Sandra Starley ~ Textile Time Travels Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt