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Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Try It! - A Day at the Beach

The June challenge for the Island Batik Ambassadors is
Try It!

Today is my day to show
A Day at the Beach
with a new, to me, piecing technique.


The challenge was to face our fears or sewcrastination and step outside the box to try a technique that is new to our sewing toolbox. There were no rules other than to try something new and use the fabrics that Island Batik provided in the Ambassador Box.


I had bookmarked an article in the May 2008 issue of American Quilter magazine by Scott A Murkin, "Strata Quilts: Layer upon Layer" that inspired my quilt. It's all about freeform curved piecing, a technique I had never tried but had always wanted to.

I started with an Island Batik
"French Blue" package of 10" squares.


Next, the blocks were paired with right sides up and a soft curve was cut with a rotary cutter.


The pieces were switched and stitched with matching Aurfil 50 wt thread. Then the process was repeated.


Each block has 8 curvy pieces and the process was so much fun.
The blocks were trimmed after they were stitched.
They were pretty wonky before they were trimmed to 7 1/2" but that was part of the fun.


The 8" border is also from the "French Blue" collection by Kathy Engle and is Paisley in Sky.
The finished size is about 57" x 57" and is perfect to wrap up in.


The colors of the quilt remind me of the beach and the quilting is just a simple wave design.
A Day at the Beach was too much fun.
I really loved doing this curvy improv technique and really can't wait to try it again.



You can find the full list of Island Batik ambassadors posting for the 
Try It! challenge 
by clicking HERE.


What will you be trying next?


14 comments:

Julierose said...

this is a beautiful quilt--love the technique...thanks for sharing hugs, Julierose

Elizabeth V Kelbaugh said...

Great Job! I have tried free form curves and my try more. Thanks for inspiring.

Carol R. said...

Oh criminey! I somehow posted a link (that I have no idea where it went) instead of a post. I LOVE your quilt - it's so blue, it's so yellow, it's so cuddly looking... I'm just not sure that it was as easy to do as you made it sound (sewing curves skeptic here). Wonderful job on the challenge... it's a beautiful quilt.

Scrapatches said...

Beautiful quilt, Carla. The improv curves look wonderful in these fabrics. You are sew creative ... :) Pat

Pamela said...

Love this, my favorite colors and sooo pretty!

Barb said...

What a fun fun quilt love it!

Danice G said...

What a pretty quilt. Those colors/fabrics are awesome too.

Zanymouse said...

What a unique way to use a layer cake! I love it!!

Needled Mom said...

That turned out beautifully.

Carol said...

Beautiful quilt! The colors are lovely--something about blue and yellow that works together so well--and it looks summery. That technique looks neat--I need to try it.

Jan @Cocoa Quilts said...

Wow, this is great. I love those curves and would not have imagined how to get them done. It is definitely a beach day.

Cathy C said...

Love this quilt. Interesting technique and beautiful colors.

Kathleen said...

This is so much fun - fun to sew and fun to look at! Great quilt.

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Oh that is so cool!!! It looks like summer at the beach!! LOVE it!