The pattern came to me in a hand-me-down box. The fabric was mostly left over from THIS quilt.

I wanted a throw-size quilt, so I left the borders off. That made it 60″x60″. (If you made a total of 36 blocks, the quilt would be 72″ square. A very nice size.) And I was lucky enough to have a just-right backing in my stash.

I recommend this pattern, THE BEAUTIFUL DAY QUILT, highly. Good for scraps, fat quarters, possibly a layer cake. Just an all around great pattern.

I love it when things come together so nicely. The quilt ...

Island Batik November Challenge requires us to make a Dresden Quilt using our assigned Summer 2024 collection.

Here is my response. I have named it "Like It Or Not" (LION). LION finished at 45" by 46".

Vintage Fans, 45" by 46"

I received Peach Blossom,  an original collection by Claudia Pfeil. 

Fabrics

There are so many options for Dresden Plate designs. I could use a skinny Dresden Ruler (12 degrees) to make 30 blades per circle or a double Dresden (36 degrees) to make 10 wide blades per circle. I chose the 18 degree ruler. 

I wanted to make a ...

I have a new finish and I am so excited to show it to you!

Meet Pesto Mushrooms :-)

Pesto Mushrooms

When I was asked to make a Birthday Quilt for a 6-year old boy who loves the color Green and is fascinated with Mushrooms, I said Yes, please :-D

The Pesto (Green Fabrics) was the easy part.  I wasn't sure how to incorporate mushrooms.

Pieced or Appliqued? Small or Large? A mix of large portabellas and tiny enokis?

I turned to EQ8 and found a template for mushroom applique.  BINGO!!!! In EQ8, the dots are applique as well. I ...

Have you seen my Blush?

Paul the model

I made the flimsy as a part of the Pantone Color Quilt Challenge which included three categories - mini quilt, not a mini quilt, and flimsy. The extremely limited guidelines are a double-edge sword. As participants we can make anything we want - no limits to creativity. Since we don't know the judging criteria we cannot make a quilt to win the challenge. 

All the peaches

I chose to participate because I had plenty of gorgeous peachy goodness in my stash. I was in between projects. But most importantly, I wanted to play ...

Have you seen my newest finish? Fireworks was published in Make Modern Issue 59.

Published in MM#59

Fireworks was designed in EQ8 and made using Fire and Ice, an original collection designed by Claudia Pfeil. 

I love this pattern because it is not paper-pieced and requires no special rulers, making it very accessible to quilters of all skill-levels.  

I like big blocks :-)

Made of 12 large blocks, Fireworks finished at 60" by 79". The background and binding is Egg White, an Island Batik Neutral available all year round. The backing is Dove, an Island Batik Basic from the Bodacious ...

There is a beautiful Hindi song - Gulabi. 

Although Gulab (in Hindi language) means rose, the word Gulabi can mean rosy or pink. Watch this video and notice all the pinks. It is a visual delight. Lyrics Translated in English here.

That is how I feel today. Everything is rosy.

Dogflowers/Snapdragons

The nature is bursting with gorgeous pink blooms.

Peonies

Roses

There is a new season of Bridgerton, celebrating all things romantic.

Close-up of a White Peony with Fuchsia Center

I am working on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks for May. 

All fabrics are Island Batik. It is good to ...

Whoever said "Happiness is to be found along the way, not at the end of the road" wasn't making this pattern.

But let's start at the beginning.

Aurelia was published in Make Modern Issue #56.

Blue Skies, Breezy Day

Dashing Doors

Dashing Doors is my response to the Island Batik's Log Cabin Challenge and Blog Hop that begins today.  My pun on Door Dash got a huge eye roll from Paul :-)

I received a half-yard bundle of Breezy Collection.  Purples, Greens, Coral and Pink make this a lovely collection.

Breezy Bundle

Light to Dark!

Let me introduce you to Olivia.

Olivia likes the outdoors!

This is such a beautiful collection with a wide range of values from light yellow, through medium red and orange all the way to deep purple. I love these warm colors. Look for Buds and Blooms Layer Cake in your local quilt store.

Here are some more pictures.

Breezy Day

Glowing Fabrics

Gorgeous Fabrics

To make Olivia, you need one layer cake, one focus fabric and ...

It was a heavy lift. The net was bursting with a huge catch. 

It took a lot of effort to haul it out of the river.

Ooh it is heavy...

The fish wriggled and pulled against the net and Paul struggled. 

Paul struggled

And finally managed!

Such a proud angler Paul is!!! Now, you may think that catching all these fish on the banks of Potomac is a load of bull. But honestly, it is a fishy story :-D

The one that got away...

Well, here is the true back ...

Designing for the May/June 2023 Issue of Quiltmaker Magazine, I chose the fabric line Celebrate. Designed by Kathy Engle, this fabric line will be available in stores in May 2023.

Imagine my surprise when the magazine was published in March 2023.  It is Island Batik's guidance to release patterns as close to the fabric availability as possible. If the fabric is not available (at the time of pattern release or shortly thereafter), then it feels like a tease or even a torture, especially when the fabric is this gorgeous!!!

For this reason, I have been slow/reluctant to ...

I firmly believe that anyone who has a voice can sing. Whether their singing is pleasant to hear or not is another story altogether.  Similarly, I can make a quilt with any group of colors. Will that grouping be aesthetically appealing? That depends on the design.

December Challenge!

Four times a year when the challenge is combined with a blog hop, we the Island Batik ambassadors are required to use one of the new fabric collections, assigned to us. Further we are directed to use as many fabrics (from the collection) as possible.

I was assigned the Chickadee Fabric Collection ...

1. Topsy Turvy is now available as a stand alone pattern in my Etsy Store.

Topsy Turvy in Honeycomb Fabrics

I first made Topsy Turvy using the scraps left over from the Island Batik "Make it Modern" Blog Hop and Challenge.  Many refinements later, making it suitable for 2.5" precut strips, writing and rewriting and then correcting the pattern, Topsy Turvy is now available as a standalone pattern.   

Here are a few more pictures.

Basting and Ironing

Throw size Spectrum Warp and Weft kits are available from Piece Fabric Co.

I'm sure most of you know the Warp and Weft quilt was my first pattern release, and while I love picking colours, being a newbie quilt designer, I probably didn't think through how hard it might be for other people to choose their own for this quilt. Consequently, I only ever saw versions of the original colourway, inspired by the cochineal dyes and weaving of Oaxaca. You can see my photo journal of making the original Kaffe Fassett, Rowan shot cotton one here.

I figured ...

It was about one year ago, when I first doodled the idea that became Synergy. I first made Synergy in Rainbow Fabrics on a Light Gray background, provided by Island Batiks.

The second version was in Tantalizing Teals on a Yellow background. 

Since then, I have been playing in EQ8, with different Island Batik collections.

In Lace & Grace (Fall 2021 Collection)

In Playful Purples (Island Batik Foundations)

In Interurban (Fall 2021)

But I am so looking forward to the different versions that are cooking in the following studios of North America.

1. Mari of Academic Quilter - Thursday, April 21, 2022 ...

 The Island Batik challenge for January 2022 reads as follows: 

Island Batik has developed ten colorways of gradations with 20 steps in each. There are so many quilt projects that make use of gradations in color and value. Your challenge is to create a project that demonstrates this step by step change in color value!

I love this challenge. I absolutely do. I love creating quilts with gradations, where color (or value) gradually changes from one to the other. I made a Gradations quilt in Konark, even though it wasn't a requirement. Cross Currents was based on the same ...

I have news!!!

My pattern Synergy is in the Make Modern Magazine, Issue 44.

Synergy in Make Modern #44

Meet Synergy. Measuring 56" by 70", Synergy is made entirely with Island Batik Solids, provided to me free of charge by Island Batik. It is good to be an ambassador :-)

Orange Foliage, Rainbow Quilt

My favorite :-)

Breeze was a Brat

More Fall Foliage

Oh my beauty!

The quilt was completed in November 2021. The  pictures were taken on November 14, 2021. All instructions and pictures were sent on November 20, 2021. And then I had to sit tight till NOW.  

Sitting ...