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.
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?
