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Island Batik's August Challenge is simple. Make a mini quilt using the fabrics and techniques of your choice in a size not to exceed 24" on any side.

Here is my response #1

Goddess Lakshmi's Feet

It is a simple response to a simple challenge. If you are familiar with Hindu culture, this image needs no explanation. But I want to explain so please humor me.

Goddess Lakshmi is often called the Goddess of Wealth, but that is not entirely correct. She is the Goddess of Prosperity. The difference may seem subtle, but Prosperity includes well-being and happiness ...

It is only 20″ square, so it went together fairly quickly.

Even with some hand quilting (which I am out of practice on).

No pattern, but you can find similar things by searching “Circle of Friendship.” I started with 2″ squares.

The blue sashing and red binding give it balance.

It will soon belong to my friend, Jennifer, who does much of my longarm quilting. So grateful to have her.

I wanted to make at least one quilt using Island Batik Fabrics, for the Pantone Quilt Challenge 2024.  

There are so many beautiful peachy hues to choose from.

Island Batik Fabrics

Cantaloupe (Island Batik Basic) from the Opulent Oranges was the closest match for Peach Fuzz.

Cantaloupe

Carrot

So many ideas and so little time. I wanted to create something simple and minimalist different from Blush (a Colorwash inspired quilt top), and Peach on Earth (improv pieced quilt).

After playing with shapes, fabrics and layouts in EQ8, I chose this design.

EQ8 Mock-Up

First Block

The pattern is free and the mini charm squares are abundant at my house.

It seemed a perfect combination!

In this version, the colored squares are all from the grunge collection by Moda. But just about anything would work and look great.

If mini doesn’t appeal to you, the pattern is available in three different sizes and you can use that layer cake or 5″ charm pack that’s been talking to you. Enjoy!

PS–Yes, my hand quilting is badly out of practice. A mini was a good warmup. Don’t look too close…

As the daylight hours decrease and the darkness envelops the northern hemisphere, Hindus all over the world celebrate Diwali - the festival of lights. You may have seen the newish British Prime Minister and his family celebrate Diwali at 10 Downing Street.

I have talked about my Diwali Memories and I made my first Diwali Quilt last year. 

This year when Island Batik gave us the choice to make a quilt project "celebrating" our favorite holiday, I knew instantly that I will be making a Diwali Quilt, using a fabric collection called Celebrate!!! Could there be a more appropriate fabric line ...

I’ve been wanting to do another paper pieced bird for a while, and this spring I finally sat down to work out a paper pieced bluebird. I figured everyone likes bluebirds—they’re bright and cheerful, and they have a reputation for being “family-oriented,” with early clutches sometimes staying around to help raise babies from later in the season.

But after I finished the bluebird, I started thinking about the fact that, of course, this is mostly a bird found in the eastern United States, and those of you who live elsewhere might have a very different favorite backyard ...

I am so glad that after long time, I finally have great news: I just released two quilt patterns!

In the late fall of 2021, while the rules imposed in the Pandemic kept us far from each other, I made some patterns for some mini quilts, good to use as coasters. For one of them I wrote the pattern because I realized that it is not only beginner friendly, but also you need only an hour or two to make it. I chose squares, rectangles and half square triangles to play with.

It's not by chance that I called ...

The Island Batik June Challenge reads as follows:

Use one of your precut bundles and play with the versatile Flying Geese blocks to create a fun quilt or table runner! Your project must use Flying Geese blocks as the focus but you can combine other blocks to enhance the project. 

Now, I am not a fan of Flying Geese Blocks. The construction is a fiddly multi-step process, regardless of the method you choose.  Even when the method works for you, you need a specialty ruler for precision points. In my opinion a flying goose block is made up of two ...

This week the Project QUILTING challenge is Sew Not a Square. Specifically, the quilt could not be a square or have any squares in it's composition. "use no square shapes in doing it"

I was out of town until Monday evening on my trip to QuiltCon and came down with symptoms and tested positive for Covid on Tuesday evening {whomp whomp} so I've been isolating from my family. I've also had limited energy as you can imagine. I still wanted to participate in this week's challenge so I grabbed a few supplies from my studio to ...

This week the Project QUILTING challenge was based on a traditional block, 54-40 or Fight.

As the week progressed with no progress, my quilt plans got smaller and smaller. I finally made it into the studio with less than 12 hours left to the deadline.

I used the traditional block as a springboard and pulled some fabrics in a palette I enjoyed. I opted for a grid-based design instead of piecing the 4-patch units. Taking creative liberties I omitted the 4-patch in the center, in favor of a single square.

Then I improv pieced the triangle units before deciding that ...

 Another week, another finish. I am sure I won't sustain that rhythm for very long but let's make the most of it while it last!

I picked up my mini Storm at Sea top that had been ready for quilting since last January and had re-joined the UFO pile. I had originally started the piecing in 2010, not sure why it took me so long to finally get back to it really!

I found a very nice fabric in my stash, one that had been there for over 15 years for sure. 

The first Project QUILTING challenge of season 14 is The First One.

I am a habitual overthinker. I have a list of things I'd like to work into my PQ challenges this season and none of them were the "perfect" fit for this challenge. So the options to meet The First One theme seemed infinite. I brainstormed some ideas and considerations with my daughter:

• my first quilt
• my first blog post
• my first IG post
• red, the first color in a rainbow
• the letter A
• the number 1
• the first PQ challenge I participated in, PQ 8.1
• fabrics ...

Giant pumpkin contests are popular, but what I was looking for was a mini pumpkin.

I liked the look of THIS ONE, but wanted something smaller. So, I started with 2-1/2″ squares and ended up with a finished quilt 13″ square.

YAY! Mini pumpkins have their place, in this case, on a wall at the house of a friend.

October is here which means we have been in our new house for almost six months. Seems like one would have all the boxes unpacked at this point but nah… there are too many other fun things to do.

For instance, we had my mother in law here for a visit last week. She had not seen the house yet. It was super fun to show her the area. Like me, she is a fan of beach combing so we spent a lovely afternoon wandering at the water’s edge picking up shells ...

When I started to collect my thoughts for this post, I realized that pink is a common theme with the projects I intend to share. This is strange because it isn’t one of my favorite colors. Hence the title to the post. Let’s see what I have been working on.

Remember I shared about a quilt show and lavender festival I attended earlier this summer? While at the show, I picked up an almost finished quilt top because I knew it would be sweet as a Mercyful quilt. Then center was complete but smaller than ...

From time to time a mini quilt is just what a person needs in their life.

And a little hand quilting, too.

It makes a quick and satisfying finish. In this case 14″ square.

Soon to be gifted to a friend.

It has been a whirlwind this past 10 days, as we traveled up to Ohio to be a part of my brother-in-law’s wedding. His bride is such a lovely woman, and we already adore her. She was absolutely radiant, in a gorgeous blue lace floor length gown. Honestly, I have never seen my husband’s brother look happier in all the years I’ve known him. He has found a rare and wonderful love that was so special to witness. Their wedding was a joyous occasion, and we were honored to be a part of it. On the way ...