Holly Jolly

This month's challenge for the Island Batik Ambassadors is to make a seasonal table topper, using appliqué.

We could choose any season, colour, or size, as long as it featured appliqué.

No surprise I would choose to make something Christmassy, as it's by far my favourite season.  In EQ8, I drafted out a shape that featured curves, and then cloned those curves for the outside edge.  In between, appliqued holly leaves dance around the twisty red vine.  I chose an assortment of fabrics, some from the Island Batik Basics and Blenders line, and some from Stashbuilder rolls.  The background is a Neutral, call "Moo Milk."  It doesn't get much more Christmassy than red, white and green!

The leaves were backed with fusible web and ironed raw edge to the patchwork.  Aurifil 12 weight thread is used to outline the leaves and vines in blanket stitch.

28 weight stitched the details in the leaves.

Underneath the stitching, I used a layer of  HobbsThermore to act as stabilizer.

Doing this adds an extra bit of loft to the finished piece, but more importantly, it means I don't have to rip away any tear-away stabilizer afterwards.

The stitched top was then layered on Hobbs Tuscany wool batting before quilting. Nothing complements a curved edge better than a feather, so naturally that was my choice of quilting motif.  The quilting is done with a 50 weight Aurifil in natural white 2021.  It matched the Moo Milk background perfectly.

The bias binding was hand stitched to the back side using Aurifil 80 weight, which disappears into the fabric.

The two layers of batting really make the quilting stand out.

The holly in our garden is heavy with berries. The berries on the table topper are small buttons.

On the back, I chose to use the same moo milk as the front. 

It looks great with this hand made holly dish, which we fill each year with cranberries.

Thank you to Island Batik, Hobbs Batting and Aurifil thread for supplying the products used in this project.  As always, I am also deeply grateful for the help of pattern editor Cheryl Coville.  You are a treasure, Cheryl :)  The pattern is available from my website, as an instant download at this link, and locally at Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium.

Unboxing Island Batik 2019

With the conclusion of the Getaway Blog Hop, a new year as an Island Batik Ambassador begins.  I am nothing short of thrilled to be included on this incredibly creative, and very diverse, team of designers, artists, and makers from around the world.  Island Batik, Hobbs Batting, and Aurifil thread pack up a generous bounty of goodies for us to use in our work, and it's SO much fun when the box arrives.  This year, there was a bonus surprise box from Accuquilt...which knocked most of us for a loop!

Even though the boxes had been inspected by Canadian Customs, Polly insisted on giving them a second once over, just to make sure.

My sniffer cat gave them her approval.  The box on the right - the one with the materials - had a hard journey; one side of the box was taped back together somewhere along the way.

 A glorious box of colour, with a big ol' surprise right on top!

 This bundle has 8, half-yard cuts from the foundations line.  Isn't this a gorgeous piece on top?

Island Batik also produces rayon fabrics,and they sent along 2 yards for each of us.  Interestingly, I received this Tjap used in a cotton batik in an earlier shipment. I am sewing with it now, and loving it!

Island Batik make scarves from the rayon, and have gifted us with one of those as well: Look at this gorgeous lilac, I have a light grey jacket it will pair great with.

This strip set of French Blue is gorgeous, and includes 2 yards of coordinating light and dark prints - Blueberry and Cloud. This collection is shipping to stores now, and was one of my favourite featured collections in the recent Getaway Blog Hop.  You can see what Pamela and Joyce made with this lovely grouping.

This package contains 3 yards each of plain white, grey, and black solids.

 As there is a "modern" challenge in our year, these pieces come in very handy. (Plus they make a gorgeous foil for the bright batiks!)

These packages are called Stashbuilders and they add variety to our colour selections.  We get two packages, which contain just under 3 yards/package.

Aren't they pretty?

Then there is 5 generous yards of a neutral foundation fabric called Rice, which coordinates nicely with the other fabrics in my box. I can't help but think of the time these carefully coordinated boxes take to pack.

Hobbs is one of the program sponsors, and they sent a bounty of batting: cottons, blends, Thermore, and (my favourite) a beautiful silk from the Tuscany collection.

Aurifil supplied us with thread, and these colours coordinate with my foundations bundle shown above.  Again, I marvel that someone took the time to match threads to our fabrics.

 Here's my booty all together...well, almost all.

There's also these two surprise packages which I can't show you yet.  You will have to wait until the blog hop in August to see them! (But trust me, I tore into the packages as soon as I set the camera down :).

What about that second box??  Oh, my - this was totally unexpected, and such an incredible surprise.  Accuquilt has partnered with the Ambassadors and supplied each (all 50 of us!) with a Go! cutter system, a cube set of 8" blocks dies, and a 2-1/2" strip cutter.

 I love the slogan: cut time, quilt more!

Polly is looking pretty pleased with all of this, and I haven't stopped smiling!

It will be a busy year for the Ambassadors.  I will share the names and sites below, and encourage you to buckle up and follow along for some pretty fun times ahead.  I also hope that you will visit the sponsors to this wonderful program:  Island Batik, Aurifil thread, Hobbs Batting, and Accuquilt.  I thank each of them sincerely for their generosity.
2019 Island Batik Ambassadors:

Carolina Asmussen ~Carolina Asmussen

Gene Black ~ Gene Black

Pamela Boatright ~ PamelaQuilts

Connie K Campbell ~ Freemotion by the River

Anja Clyke ~ Anja Quilts

Tina Dillard ~ Quilting Affection Designs

Becca Fenstermaker ~Pretty Piney

Jennifer Fulton ~ Inquiring Quilter

Barbara Gaddy ~ Bejeweled Quilts by Barb

Dione Gardner-Stephen ~ Clever Chameleon

Sarah Goer ~ Sarah Goer Quilts

Vasudha Govindan ~ Storied Quilts

Lori Haase ~ Dakota City Quilter II

Joanne Hart ~ Unicornharts

Mania (Magdalini) Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for Quilts

Carla Henton ~ Create in the Sticks

Stephanie Jacobson ~ Steph Jacobson Designs

Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs

Joan Kawano ~ Moosestash Quilting

Kim Lapacek ~ Persimon Dreams

Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood

Leanne Parsons ~ Devoted Quilter

Bea Lee ~ BeaQuilter

Toby Lischko ~ Gateway Quilts & Stuff

Bill Locke ~ Studio Bill Locke

Denise Looney ~ For the Love of Geese

Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights

Sally Manke ~ Sally Manke

Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack's Blog

Kathleen McCormick ~ Kathleen McMusing

Carol Moellers ~ Carol Moellers Designs

Karen Neary ~ Sew Karen-ly Created

Lisa Nielsen ~ Lisa Lisa and the Quilt Jam

Jackie O’Brien ~ If These Threads Could Talk

Laura Piland ~ Slice of Pi Quilts

Michelle Roberts ~ Creative Blonde

Vicki Schlimmer ~ Vicki's Crafts and Quilting

Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail

Sherry Shish ~ Powered by Quilting

Anita Skjellanger ~ Quilt in a not-Shell

Laticia "Tish" Stemple ~ Tish's Adventures in Wonderland

Jennifer Strauser ~ Dizzy Quilter

Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations

Terri Vanden Bosch ~ Lizard Creek Quilts

Alison Vermilya ~ Little Bunny Quilts

Sandra Walker ~ mmm! quilts

Suzy Webster ~ Adventurous Applique and Quilting

(Debora) Anne Wiens ~ Seams like a Plan

Geraldine Wilkins ~ Living Water Quilter

Janet Yamamoto ~ Whispers of Yore

Some Pretty Quilting

This month, I will be participating in a blog hop with the other Island Batik Ambassadors where we show off the quilts made with their new fabric collections.  I used up nearly every inch of my collection, and made a rather large quilt.  Normally, I quilt all my pieces myself on my domestic Bernina but I couldn't face basting this behemoth in all this heat.  Even though it's been a dozen or more years since I have sent a quilt out, I knew I wanted it done by West Branch Quilt Studio.  The very talented Denise White does beautiful work - custom, or with one of her 150+ pantographs.  I often admire her work in quilt shows.

Denise and I chatted over the quilting, and I went with her suggestions for a suitable motif.  The wide backing came from Mrs Pugsley's Emporium;  it's a soft lilac with a grey feathery swirl.  40 weight Aurifil thread in Dove Grey 2600 was a perfect match, and Denise used it top and bottom as it blended well with all the colours.

 It's always hard to get a good photo of the back, but trust me when I say it's very pretty.

Polly likes it, too :)

You can email Denise by clicking the link on her name, or find her on Face Book.  She has a brochure available, and is happy to give a quote for her beautiful work.
I invite you to check back this week for links to giveaways and posts by all the Island Batik Ambassadors.