Sew Karen-ly Created...

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Thursday 9 August 2018

The Great Outdoors Blog Hop!

Welcome to the my stop on The Great Outdoors Blog Hop, a five-week showing of quilts made by Island Batik Ambassadors using the newest collections.  These fabrics will be shipping to stores very soon.
Back in February when the first box of goodies arrived from Island Batik, each contained a bundle of not-yet-released fabrics that were (literally!) under wraps. Not everyone received the same collection, of course, as Island Batik has many beautiful lines, so you will be seeing a fabulous variety of quilts and colours. 
I was thrilled when I opened my surprise packet to find a gorgeous collection called "Eclectic Garden." Lush purples, greens, and yellows, with dragonflies, and blooms in rich, saturated colours.  If only I could grow such a garden.  You can see the entire collection at Island Batik.
We received very generous half-metre cuts of all 22 fabrics in the collection, as well as 2 yard cuts of light and dark for borders.
Much thought went into deciding what design to use for the quilt;  I knew I wanted to use as much of the fabric as possible, in fairly large chunks to show off the prints.  I decided on a reverse Irish Chain, where the colours are used in the centres and the white forms the connecting chains.  This is a rough sketch I drew in EQ8 to give me a visual to work from.  As I wasn't planning to pattern this, I didn't spend a lot of time arranging my colours on screen, or adding borders to the sketch, so it doesn't much resemble my finished quilt. It just kept me on track for layout. To keep the math easy, I cut 9" blocks.
I had JUST enough creamy white for the background;  what you see cut off below is literally what was left over.  Whew - talk about cutting it close!
I added a 3" mitred inner border with the deepest purple yardage.
Then I gathered up all that was left of my pieces and sewed 1" strips together for a piano key border.
This is a very colourful quilt.
Hobbs Batting is one of the Ambassador program sponsors, and I was pleased to use this fluffy Poly-Down batting.  It quilts beautifully.
For the first time in years, I decided to send this quilt out to be long-arm quilted.  I contacted the very talented Denise White of West Branch Quilt Studio and was delighted that she agreed to fit me in. She was happy to come up with a custom quilting plan that suited this piece to a T. Aurifil had sent along some 40 weight thread and we chose a neutral Dove Grey, #2600, which Denise used both top and bottom.  She used about a spool-and-a-half of these 1000m cops in her beautiful quilting.
Denise's work is so pretty; you can contact her via email here.

One of my favourite gardens in which to photograph quilts is Alumni Gardens on the Agricultural Campus of Dalhousie University, in Truro, Nova Scotia. (Hubby's alma mater.) Recently they've added this barley ring at the entrance to the grounds, which is reminiscent of the school ring.
 

We took a couple of pictures in various spots in the gardens.




This planting of lavender in front of a stone wall was the perfect shade of purple.

When we returned from there, we headed to the Purdy Crawford Centre for the Arts at Mount Allison University (my alma mater) to get a front-on shot.
The quilt is a good size, 92" x 110".

Thank you to Island Batik, Aurifil, and Hobbs for supplying the product used in this quilt.  Ambassador Jessica at Dessert Bloom Quilting is also working with "Eclectic Garden", so please visit to see what she has made with this collection.

I have a small giveaway of 3 patterns designed using Island Batik fabrics: Sun Salutation, Sunset, and Interlocking Herringbone. To enter, please leave a comment on this blog (and make sure I have an email address to contact you if you win!) The draw will be made September 5, 2018, at the end of the blog hop.  Don't forget to also visit Island Batik to enter to win one of 3 great prizes. Good luck, and thanks for visiting!
Here's the full schedule for the hop:

Monday, August 6 - All A Flutter - Yellow Cat Quilt Designs, Creative Blonde

Tuesday, August 7 - Birds N’ Bees - Ark Angel Creations, Patterns By Jen

Wednesday, August 8 - Canterbury Manor - Sally Manke, Powered By Quilting

Thursday, August 9 - Eclectic Garden - Desert Bloom Quilting, Sew Karen-ly Created

Friday, August 10 - Vintage Morris - MooseStash Quilting, Devoted Quilter

Monday, August 13 - Safari - Sew Incredibly Crazy, SweetGrass Designs

Tuesday, August 14 - Spring Blossoms - Mary Mack Made Mine, If These Threads Could Talk

Wednesday, August 15 - Victoria and Albert - Bejeweled Quilts, Clever Chameleon

Thursday, August 16 - Wild Things - Freemotion By The River, Kauffman Designs

Friday, August 17 - Petting Zoo - Den Syende Himmel, Sarah Goer Quilts

Monday, August 20 - Ocean Odyssey - Gateway Quilts, The Quilt Rambler

Tuesday, August 21 - British Rose - Busy Hands Quilts, Mania for Quilts

Wednesday, August 22 - Dear William - The Inquiring Quilter, mmm! Quilts, Living Water Quilter

Thursday, August 23 - Dragonfly Dreams - Inchworm Fabrics, BeaQuilter

Friday, August 24 - Fur-ocious Friends - Quilting Affection Designs, Dizzy Quilter

Monday, August 27 - Globetrotter - Pamela Quilts, Curliecue Creations

Tuesday, August 28 - Jungle Cruise - Vicki's Crafts and Quilting, Little Bunny Quilts

Wednesday, August 29 - Lavendula - Carole Lyles Shaw, Masterpiece Quilting

Thursday, August 30 - London Calling - Quilt in a Not-Shell, Lizard Creek Quilting

Friday, August 31 - Spirit Rhythm - Steph Jacobson, Whispers of Yore

Monday, September 3 - Sweet Tweets - Kathleen McMusing, Adventurous Applique and Quilting

Tuesday, September 4 - Whatnot - heARTS Creations, Slice of Pi Quilts

62 comments:

  1. Your quilt is gorgeous, Karen......and big! The gardens settings are really lovely.

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  2. Beautiful use of the fabric. The quilt contains many of my favorite colors. Great pictures.

    petuniakr@aol.com

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  3. I love the colors of your quilt and the beautiful quilting. Truly a beautiful quilt.

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  4. The reverse quilt is stunning in showing off the prints! i love the history in the photo settings. Such a nice way to make it more personal to you.

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  5. your qilt is lovely. i think you portrayed the fabrics perfectly. what a wonderful place to take pictures of your quilt at Alumni Gardens on the Agricultural Campus of Dalhousie University, in Truro thank you for sharing and for the give a way. quilting dash lady at comcast dot net

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  6. Gorgeous! I love the way you really shared the fabric.

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  7. Such clever use of these fabulous fabrics. Such a dream to win. Karen is most creative in all her designs. Such a spectacular quilter.

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  8. What a clever idea, a reverse Irish chain. And a beautiful bed size quilt, well done! Love your photo shoot locations as well. Janice.snell@gmail.com

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  9. Love the fabric and love your design, great locations for the photo shoot;)

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  10. Lovely quilt! And that quilting...oh boy it's yummy! So perfect for this quilt.

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  11. Gorgeous! Perfect colors and great quilting, and gorgeous photos. And so big! You must have used every inch.

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  12. I love your quilt. The colors are superb. Jmikebalou (at ) aol (dot) com

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  13. Wow, wow, wow!! That is one gorgeous quilt. The piano key border is icing on the cake too! Great job.

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  14. Beautiful quilt Karen, have never done a reverse Irish chain but now you have put that in my brain will have to try. The fabric is gorgeous

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  15. Your quilt is soft and pretty. I also love the piano key border.

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  16. Lovely quilt - quite inspiring! Joanne, Armstrong, BC (you have my email)

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  17. What a great quilt. I think my favourite setting is the stone wall with lavender. It's wonderful you have such a pretty place to take photos.

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  18. I like how you did the border on your quilt. Very pretty.

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  19. Your quilt is stunning! So perfect for the fabric! You don't need to add me to the give away as I am a fellow ambassador.

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  20. I just love how you used these fabrics , beautiful quilt !

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  21. Your quilt is so gorgeous and colorful, I love the Eclectic Garden fabric line!

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  22. A gorgeous quilt. I really agree that a reverse Irish Chain was an excellent choice to highlight the vibrant colours and prints of this collection. Thanks for sharing.

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  23. Wow--I love your photos! I'm sure it took some effort to get some of those shots, but it was worth it.

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  24. Lovely quilt, Karen...the Fabrics are stunning, as is your choice of pattern. The quilting brings it all together!

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  25. I LOVE those colours, and the Reverse Irish Chain is the perfect way to show them off. Great job, Mrs Neary!

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  26. Your quilt is yummy beautiful and the colors are fabulous! -- soparkaveataoldotcom

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  27. I need to find a pattern for a quilt for my Granddaughter's bed. I will definitely put this one on my list. ndfromsdatgmaildotcom

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  28. Super cute! Love the colors and the pattern!

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  29. Lovely quilt! Great pattern to show off all those wonderful batiks.

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  30. Karen, it’s a beauty! Love the photo shoot(s)! How did you ever hang it in those last pictures? It is the perfect spot for a quilt of that size!

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  31. I really like this quilt! The beautiful colors come together so well in your design. And I really enjoyed the photos, having visited Halifax for the first time in June.

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  32. Wonderful quilt, it must have been great fun going to both alma maters.

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  33. So beautiful! And what a lovely place to photograph it, too. Well done!

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  34. Great idea to do a reverse Irish chain! Your quilt is beautiful! I love it with the lavender too!

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  35. And another new favourite!! Love the way you used the fabrics - they are so gorgeous!! Well done!

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  36. What a beautiful quilt! Those colors are so yummy and that purple border fabric is on my ‘must get’ list ;-D

    Thanks for a chance to win your giveaway!

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  37. That is a beautiful quilt and you picked such a beautiful setting for photographs! The lavender was perfect for a picture! I’m looking forward to the rest of the hop!
    Linda.nelsonfilek@gmail.com

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  38. I love your quilt - really good choices for this colorway. You did cut it close with that background, but it sure worked out!

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  39. Beautiful quilt. Thanks for sharing all those gorgeous photos.

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  40. Your quilt is lovely and it looked wonderful in all of the pictures. It's great that you had enough background fabric to get the job done. The piano key border was a wonderful idea.

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  41. Your quilt is gorgeous! I loved the settings for the photographs, as well. Beautiful fabric, beautiful quilt, and beautiful photos! Thanks for the opportunity to win!

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  42. The photo of your quilt on the stone wall with the lavender is so pretty! My Mom was from Truro and we used to spend every summer there when I was a kid.

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  43. Some great photos. I think this is my favourite collection

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  44. Such a pretty quilt. Your piano key border is great and complements the quilt wonderfully. I love how the blocks come together so perfectly. And your photography is absolutely top notch!

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  45. Love how much you managed to do with the limits of the background fabric. I'd be more than happy to own this quilt and snuggle under it tonight.

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  46. This is a very pretty quilt in some very pretty settings. This is a very good sized quilt - you did really well to find places to show it off to its full glory. I adore it.

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  47. What a lovely quilt and the garden pictures are awesome!

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  48. Island Batik sent you great fabric to work with. I adore your quilt.

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  49. Nice idea, nice colours and gorgeous quilting!

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  50. That design shows off each colour beautifully and a super setting for the photos.Island Batiks are truly gorgeous.

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  51. The kind of quilt you want to come home to Karen. I love these fabrics. Great photography too. Way to go.

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  52. Love the colors in your quilt - it looks so restful.

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  53. I love this quilt! It's perfect for showing off the beautiful fabrics and the quilting. You found great settings for your pictures, too :)

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  54. That collection is my kind of colours. I'll have to keep my eyes open.
    That is a really big quilt you made. I love the piano key border.

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  55. I've never seen an Irish Chain quilt pieced inside out. It is quite unusual. The colors of the fabric are gorgeous! Thank you for this opportunity to win! ljbisme at msn dot com

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  56. Your quilt is made of the fabric colors I love the most! It is gorgeous and you found the perfect spots for photoshoots!

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  57. So beautiful Karen! And in my fav colours too. The gardens are equally as beautiful- a setting befitting such a lovely piece of work. Thanks for counting me in on the giveaway! Good luck to all!

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