Solstice Quilt in Batiks

I LOVE color! White walls make me nervous and beige is just a tad better! So when I first saw batik fabrics I was instantly smitten! The colors are so vibrant and they have a look of nature to them. Ever since I saw and held my first piece of batik fabric I knew I wanted to make a quilt with them. Not just a block here and there or a piece intermixed, but a whole quilt made up of batiks. So the collecting began!!!

When I found Pat Sloan's blog and QALs I was ready to use what I had so far. I found her blog just before Grandma's Kitchen started and the Solstice QAL was just finishing up. I had never did a quilt a long before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I decided the Solstice one would be perfect for me to use the batiks on and it would be all mine!!! Ok I'll share with hubby if he gets cold...he is a polar bear though so that won't happen often. No seriously he is! It'll be in the 40's and he has on a t-shirt! What normal person would do that!!! I'm bundled up with layers and a winter coat and he just makes me cold looking at him! Now back to my story... As I waited for Grandma's Kitchen to start I started on the blocks for the Solstice Quilt. I printed them out as I was planning on what to work on and what colors to do them in. I started with one and was going to go in numerical order than decided I wanted the big blocks to be some of my favorite batiks and color combos and I wanted to make sure I had enough fabric to complete the big blocks. As the weeks went on and I was also doing Grandmas Kitchen I would finish one or more blocks of the Solstice. Finishing the last block was exciting, but I must admit I had bought more batiks along the way, I mean seriously how could I not buy more! I love the way Pat laid out the blocks in a asymmetrical layout, but also gave a layout that was symmetrical if people would rather do that. I had my eye on what I thought was the perfect fabric for the background and binding. I also decided the color I used for the binding I would use for a 5" border around the quilt to make it bigger...for those days I did share with the polar bear! It ended up being 96"x96" and covered our queen bed with extra to fall down the sides. Then came the quilting...wow I didn't think I would ever finish quilting it! If I did just a meander I would have been finished so much sooner, but I would have been bored. So I played and planned out blocks and looked for patterns. Many of which I found from Angela Walters. If you are just starting out with FMQ I encourage you to watch everything she has! She is very entertaining and has my kind of humor! So after 2 needle replacements, 16 bobbin changes and over 40 hours on my Tiara III here is my quilt!

This is the front...

and this is the back.

 My hubby thought he was being funny having the back out. Little did he know I wanted to take a picture of that too! Notice the strip of color across the top. I used scraps from the fabric I used in the blocks on the front, framed it with the same fabric I used to bind it and not only gave the backing fabric enough inches to be able to cover the back, but also tied the back with the front. Plus it gave me more color!

I've slept under it a couple nights and I believe I've had better nights sleep or maybe I was just so tired from all that quilting!

Another thing happened to me since my last post that made me very happy...My sunflower block (go down to Thursday, September 21, 2017 to see it)  was picked in the Aurifil 2017 Designer of the Month QAL!!!! I get a box of Aurifil thread straight from Italy!!!  I love Aurifil and it's what I use all the time!!! So if anyone is interested my favorite colors are 2600 Dove I use this for all my piecing, 2783 a medium delft blue and my very favorite 2140 Orange Mustard which is a golden color. I used it on my very first quilt I quilted. I was brave and used it with a dark green background.

See all the sparkly stars! It's not perfect, but I love it! It's the very first quilt I quilted and it makes me smile! The quilt pattern is by Lori Kennedy at theinboxjaunt.com. She has some wonderful patterns and tips and a bunch of quilt patterns!!!!

Well It's taken me all month to get this post out! I'll see you soon and we'll chat again!

 

This is my life in Batik and this is me!

Sheila!!!