For the month of September, the Island Batik ambassadors are challenged to make a paper piecing project! Also for this blog hop, the new line of fabrics will be featured. We are to use as many of the sku’s in the collection as possible. I received a beautiful collection called Chromatic by Deb Tucker of Studio 180 Design for Island Batik. This is such a gorgeous collection.
I must admit for me paper piecing is quite the challenge. I have always admired the paper pieced patterns by Judy Niemeyer of Quiltworx, so I perused the patterns on her site. I love that the patterns include all the papers you need as well as many have videos available to watch on YouTube. So I chose one that didn’t look TOO intimidating as I’ve only ever paper pieced once, in a small class at our LQS before it closed. That was several years ago and I had a lot of refreshing to do! My only wish would have been to have a few extra papers to practice with! I signed up for a month in Quiltster so I could place my fabrics into the pattern and it was so helpful in printing out labels to add on the strips as they were cut, and even told you how many to cut!
While waiting for the fabric to arrive in July, I watched videos and prepared the papers so when the fabric arrived I could get busy with it! Even with working on it almost the entire month of August, I just finished it up on Monday! Nothing like a deadline to keep you moving. I probably watched her video at least ten (not kidding!!) times, at least parts of it anyway. I did persevere and got the top finished. Pressing the top was a whole other matter! LOL I don’t know what I was thinking when I decided to go with a top measuring 96 x 96!! Well, I was thinking I don’t have a quilt on my bed and this would be MY quilt!! At any rate, I don’t plan to EVER make another large quilt! It’s too much to wrestle with! LOL
Paper piecing is helpful when you have small pieces or points that need to be perfect or at least near perfect, in my case! LOL So without further ado, in all it’s imperfect glory, I present to you “Starburst.”
I am so thankful for my dear 6’7″ son-in-law who helped us get this hung on the quilt frame for photos. Chicken Legs and I tried it by ourselves, but it was just too big for the two of us! In hindsight (20/20), I would have made the quilting motif (Geometric Tangent by My Creative Stitches) smaller and a little tighter, but I really wanted the beauty of the fabrics to show more than the quilting. I do LOVE how this turned out!
Quilt Stats:
- Fabric: Chromatic by Deb Tucker’s Studio 180 Design for Island Batik, along with Island Batik solid black, dark grey, and light grey. The light inside stars are made from an Island Batik foundations/neutral named Whip Cream. I pieced the backing using Island Batik Frost and various half-yard cuts from the foundations line.
- Pattern: “The Goodnight Star” by Judy Niemeyer of Quiltworx.
- Size: Monster-96 x 96 inches!!
- Aurifil 50 wt thread was used for piecing, which is the only thread I piece with.
- A Schmetz microtex size 70 needle was used for piecing. This was the perfect size for paper piecing!
- My handy Alpaca wool mat from Prairie Spirit Alpacas was used for pressing the blocks. It really helps those seams lie flat!
I wish to thank Island Batik, Aurifil, Schmetz Needles, and Prairie Spirit Alpacas for generously providing the materials used in making Starburst.
BUT WAIT…THERE’S MORE!!
Island Batik is providing an opportunity for YOU to win one of two fabulous fat quarter bundles! To enter for your chance to win one of the two prizes above, follow the simple Rafflecopter prompts below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
This giveaway ends on September 8th at 11:59 pm PST. Two random winners will be notified by email on September 9th and announced on the Island Batik Facebook page on September 12th. If the winners do not respond within the first two days after being notified, two new random winners will be chosen and notified.
Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you will visit my fellow ambassadors as they share their perfectly pieced projects throughout the month!
Today, fellow ambassadors Preeti from Sew Preeti Quilts, and Connie from Kauffman Designs, are sharing their project made using this collection, Chromatic. So head over and check them out!!
Thank you for this challenge, Island Batik! You pushed me to learn a new technique!! Until next time…
Love this! Congratulations on your finish.
What a stunner. Just lovely!
Visiting from Cheryl’s Favorite Finish linkup.
Your Starburst is a gorgeous quilt. Perfect points and piecing.
Congratulations on the beautiful finish and for pushing through and learning a new technique. I hope you are enjoying it on your bed now! Visiting from Cheryl’s Favorite Finish linkup.
Lovely quilt!
Brenda, this is absolutely amazing! I LOVE it and hope it makes you happy every time you see it on your bed!
What a gorgeous quilt to have on your bed! The colors are beautiful and I love that pattern. Nice job!
There are several things I wish someone had told me, but the main one was about points. The teacher for my basic quilting class was a charter member of the points police. She was very nice, but I redid my homework to the point it was almost in tatters just to get perfect points. And the teacher did comment on my nice points – lol! I wish my Mom had been around to tell me that points “can’t be seen on a galloping horse” (she loved to use that phrase).
I love your quilt, Brenda! It sure does have a sparkle to it. I know you are going to love sleeping under it. Have a fabulous day!
You knocked my socks off for sure. That is a huge quilt, Brenda and very beautiful. Very ambitious but you conquered the beast well. Thank goodness for the tall men in our life 😀
Gorgeous quilt. Thanks for participating and sharing your project.
Your quilt is absolutely gorgeous! You did an amazing job and the fabrics were just perfect for your quilt.I LOVE it!
What a lovely quilt to show off these fabulous fabrics! Beautiful work!
wow your quilt is gorgeous. I love the name, it fits so perfect. thanks for sharing
Beautiful quilt!
Hi Brenda! WOWEE! That is one beautiful quilt. I think you were wise and selected a good pattern for your return to PP. The fabrics are gorgeous but that isn’t a surprise since it’s IB! {{Hugs}} ~smile~ Roseanne
You did great on your quilt! I really like it.
Your quilt is beautiful! I have always loved the look of the paper pieced star quilts of Judy Niemeyer, but have been extremely intimidated by them. Very tedious work and I have a need to see more immediate results. LOL
I do wish someone would have told me how addictive fabric can be. There are so many beautiful fabrics out there that I would love to be able to use.?. However, I have to tell myself I must use what I have before moving on to the next beautiful fabric that comes along.?
Beautiful quilt Brenda! I have a couple of Judy’s patterns but have never made one. Looks great!
I love Judy’s quilts and have several of her patterns. I will need to check out the program you mentioned and see what it is. The next pattern I am thinking of making is paper piecing of which I too do have some experience with but by no means expert. Your quilt turned out really well – very pretty –
You did a wonderful job. It looks very good.
You did a fabulous job and were very courageous to go with such a large project for paper piecing. Those projects are not for the faint of heart. You will love having it on your bed – hooray for a quilt for you!
WOW! Brenda your near perfect is better than I could do by a mile! I am not a paper piecing fan (love to see it, hate to sew it). It is beautiful! Also a good reminder not to tackle another one that size, lol!!!
Interesting layout and quilting design.
Starburst is gorgeous! Nice work.
Brenda, your pieced quilt is inspiring! ! The fabrics and color combinations that you used are gorgeous! I
Eeeh! I have been waiting to see this beauty, Brenda! Starburst is a fabulous and what a memory you will have on piecing this quilt. I haven’t paper pieced in years. I would have to take a refresher course too. Great job on meeting the challenge. Have an awesome day.
I love the fabrics! They look great in the quilt you have made!!!