Artisan Batiks & Grunge

I bought an Artisan Batik Charm Roll a couple of months ago, and found them to be a perfect match for a charm square pack of Grunge fabrics that I already had.  So, with no particular plan in mind, I sewed them all into blocks.

I have 4 of each of the 22 you see here, for a total of 88 blocks.  I have been playing with several layout options on EQ, but haven't made a final decision yet.

• One large quilt, or two smaller ones...
• With or without alternate blocks...
• With or without sashing...
• Straight set or on-point with setting triangles...

Hmmm...  decisions, decisions...

Batik Love

As I look back on my previous blog posts, I noticed how many of my recent projects have involved batik fabrics.

The more I use them, the more I love them.

Some of the reasons are practical - because of the higher thread-count base fabric, they are crisp and flat and stable, so they finger-press very nicely.  I can get nice accurate results in my finished quilts.

The other reasons are more aesthetic.  The colors are just glorious, and the shading and prints are beautiful.  I feel like an artist when I'm creating with batiks and the batiks are my paints.

But it's more than that...

While I was pressing the fabrics for this latest set of batik placemats to list on Etsy, it hit me...

It's the smell!

Have you ever noticed the odor of hot pressed batiks?  When heated with an iron, the residual wax left in the fabric from the manufacturing process smells exactly like a new box of

CRAYOLA  CRAYONS!

It takes me back to my childhood and the thrill of opening a brand-new box of crayons.

One of my favorite things...

Baby Quilt Finished

The Batik Baby Quilt is labeled, bound, and on it's way to the new baby boy.  I've done many baby quilts for this client, and she always asks for quilts that will grow with the baby into adult-hood, not too "baby-ish".  This batik quilt fits the bill.

I quilted the center with straight lines, forming an 8-pointed star in each block, and used the same curved line design in the border that I used on the last baby quilt.  All ruler work, done on my APQS George.

Fabric Fun

It's so much fun to dig through  my collection of batiks and pull fabrics for the placemats I've been making to  list in my Etsy shop.  The color play is addictive!  Can't wait to start sewing these together!

Batik Strip Quilt Top

Yesterday I finished piecing the top of this Batik Strip Quilt that I mentioned in my previous post.  Borders are on and it's ready to baste and quilt, once I find a backing fabric.  Time to go fabric shopping!

A New Year, A New Quilt

I rang in the New Year in my Cotton Cellar, working on a custom quilt order.  My client asked for a Winter palette of dark blue, green, and gray batiks, so this is what I selected.  I think it's just what she requested.

I'm using a Tube Strip Set technique I learned from this Missouri Star Quilt Company video.  It's a duplicate of this quilt that my daughter pieced, and I finished for this same client, other than the color scheme.

And while I was waiting for those batiks to arrive in the mail, I put the borders on my One Block Wonder quilt.  I hope to quilt it soon...

A New Product for my Etsy Shop

After finishing my long list of Christmas Quilts, I was in the mood to try something different - and SMALLER - like placemats!  The perfect small quilting project.

I have a HUGE collection of batiks, so I spent a couple of days cutting some of the smaller pieces up into 5" Charm Squares.  Now I have this wonderful palette to pick from when I am designing each set.  Just like getting a jumbo box of new crayons when I was a kid.  Such fun!

I love the crisp "hand" of the batiks, and the "artsy" look they give to projects.

So far, I have completed two sets and have listed them in my Cotton Cellar Etsy Shop.  Etsy now lets me add 10 pictures for each listing, so if you want to see more, including the gorgeous batik fabric I used for the backs, just Click Here.  They are pretty enough to be reversible!

I tried a new batting for this project, Quilters Dream 80/20 Fusion, and I have to say, this stuff is awesome!  I haven't tried it in a quilt yet, but it's perfect for placemats!  The fusible side is very, very subtle - just looks like a few light strands of spider web - but it holds perfectly.  I used 505 basting spray to secure the tops, and the Fusion is fused to the backs.
Love, Love, Love it!

(note - while their website lists 2 Fusion options, Cotton or Poly, they have recently discontinued them and now offer an 80/20 blend of Fusion, which is what I used.)

Now it's time to step away for a bit and get some of my last minute Christmas prep items done.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

Tasting Table Tuesday

All sewing has been put on the back burner this week, because our grandson is in town!  He came all the way from Florida and we don't see him often, so we're making the most of the opportunity to spend some time with him.  He's celebrating his first birthday this week and I just finished making his birthday gift.  Can't wait to share pics of that with you, but I don't want to spoil the surprise since his mom follows my blog.  So that will have to wait until next week.  But be prepared to "ahhhh" when you see it - it's SOOO adorable!!!

And our granddaughter will be here with her parents this weekend as well, so we'll have both grandchildren at the same time, and that rarely happens - hopefully I'll have some pictures of them both to share next week as well.

Nothing else new on my Tasting Table right now though, but I finished the Cube Mates quilt, and I'm mailing it to my friend tomorrow, so I'll share pictures with you after she receives it.  It's a surprise, and it wouldn't be fair for you to see it before she does.  And the other Oxford Shirt quilt with the lavender batik is on my basting wall right now.  So I might have that one finished before next Tuesday's post as well.

So no pictures today, but be prepared for picture overload in next week's post, if not sooner.
Now it's time to enjoy a glass of wine with my hubby...  Enjoy your Tuesday!  Cheers!

Summertime

Now it feels like summertime is finally here.  Our backyard is green and lush right now and the Queen Anne's Lace is popping up in my patch of Silver Beacon, but it's so pretty I don't have the heart to cut it down.  (I'm not much of a gardener, so if I've named them wrong, feel free to correct me.)

I took these pictures just before we left for the lake, and the mottled sunlight was just right.  I wonder how I can make these into a quilt... hmmm...  now there's a thought!

We had a rainy day while we were there, which left me plenty of time to experiment with my Zentangles.  I think I'm hooked!  I started out just copying some of the doodles in my books so I could get the feel of it, then I started trying to create my own.  I'm the type of person who likes to have everything planned out in advance, so it's a real challenge for me to just doodle without a plan.  But I think it's also good mental exercise for me to wander outside my comfort zone once in a while.  So I plodded along and I'm pretty happy with my first attempts.  I've got a long ways to go yet, but I'm enjoying the process.

 

I didn't realize there was a shadow across every one of these shots till after I downloaded them, but I think it was my own shadow.  Oops!  As I mentioned in my last post, hubby and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary while we were away, so of course I had to do a Zentangle to commemorate the event.

Then when I got home and picked up the mail, look what I found!

There were 4 1/2 yards of this gorgeous batik left on the bolt at the shop where I bought my first 1 1/2 yards, and they were nice enough to pop it in the mail for me.

And I also ordered this before I left...

MY VERY OWN KONA SOLID SWATCH CARD!!!!  This is the new one with their 28 new colors added.  I've seen them popping up on lots of other blogs lately, and I just HAD to have one.  Now if only I had a yard or two of every color on the card!  Right...  Dream on, Kathy!!!  But at least when I order some yardage now, I'll know exactly which color I want for each project.  I bought mine from Fat Quarter Shop, and they're less than $20.  Totally worth every penny!

Now I've got some hand-sewing to finish up, so I'm headed outdoors to sit and sew in this pretty sunshine.  It's a beautiful day in Pennsylvania!

Color, Color, Color!

This stack of colorful "pies" & "crusts" shown in this previous post have now been transformed from this..., into this.
The blocks are now all up on my design wall and ready to be sewn together. The lighting here really doesn't do justice to the colors. They are so much brighter in person, but I can't really move my design wall outside just to get a good picture.
As much as I like my basement sewing studio, I still find myself dreaming about a bright sunlit space like this one. What kind of sewing space to you have? Bright & light above ground, or subterranean like mine?

Tasting Table Tuesday - Batter Up!

Here is the T-Shirt quilt that I mentioned last week. My customer has been saving her son's baseball shirts throughout his career, and asked me if I could make a quilt for him. I've done several of these quilts in the past, so I said "sure"! I don't think he knows about this yet, so I'll do my best to not give away his identity. If by some wierd coincidence, you recognized the shirts and figure out who he is, please don't tell him!

I finished piecing the top yesterday, and this morning got the backing fabric seamed up - now it's all pressed and ready to go to the Longarm Quilter. I used batik fabrics. They're my favorite for T-Shirt quilts because they really give the quilt an "artsy", designer look. I like to frame each of the shirt panels in fabric to give them some extra stability besides the interfacing underneath. It's also an attractive way to bring all the blocks up to the same size so the quilt goes together easier.

My customer loves the fabrics I chose for this quilt, because the framing fabric looks like leather and reminds her of a leather catcher's mit, the cornerstones have a woodgrain pattern which reminds her of a wooden ball bat, and the sashing fabric looks like a forest floor - woodsy colored berries, twigs, etc. Since her son also loves the outdoors, this seemed perfect.

The quilt is a full-size bed quilt, so this is just part of it. I'll post an overall picture after the quilting and binding are done.