I had a Blast!!!

I took advantage of a glorious 4 day weekend to do some sewing.  I got the borders on my Orange Berry Blast quilt and I just love the end result.  I really like how the striped fabric is mitered in the corners.  This was a very fun quilt to make, and like Nicole, I think I am hooked on batiks!

And the best part?  It's only Sunday - I have one more day to start a new quilt project!

Making progress!

I made excellent progress on my batik challenge quilt, and I'm still really enjoying putting this one together.  I'm very close now, but I don't want to spoil the reveal.  So instead of showing you how much I have completed, I thought I'd be a tease and simply show you how much I have left to sew together.  It's not much, is it?  Just a few more rows, 2 borders and I can call it done!

Orange Berry Blast!

I want to thank everyone who commented on my last batik challenge post.  I was really doubting myself on this one, but with so much reassurance from all of you, I forged ahead.  When I started to get the flying geese units up together with the background sections and setting triangles, I really began to enjoy this quilt!  I even contemplated calling in sick a day or two last week (but didn't!) just so I could work on it some more.

I think the borders will really pull this all together too, but it's looking good so far, and my DD is already asking if she can have the finished quilt on her bed.

My eyes! My eyes!

I made a lot of progress on the first stage of my Batik Challenge quilt.  Half my flock of flying geese is finished.  Now, I truly love the color orange, and I think the pinks and raspberry colors I chose to go along with my oranges really shine, and it made me very happy to pair the fabrics together to make my flying geese.  However, I think perhaps this color scheme may have been a mistake.  These colors are so bright, there is really nowhere for your eyes to rest!

This morning I added some of the block centers to my design wall, thinking more of the background would tone down the bright geese, but I think it made things worse.  Oh boy, I hope this isn't going to end up wadded in the back of the closet!  I do think the dark raspberry striped border fabric will wrap this up and tone it down, giving your eyes a place to rest.  I sure hope I don't burn too many of your corneas before I get to that point!

Come back again next week to see if this gets any better, or if it's a lost cause....

On a happier note, I was the winner of the monthly drawing for finishing my Simply Sophisticated blocks for January.  Thanks so much to Kimberly at the Fat Quarter Shop for spurring us on to finish the blocks by offering a wonderful incentive.  There are so many gorgeous new things in her web store, I don't know how I will ever chose!

The next challenge

Working in a quilt store that carries an incredible selection of batiks, I have come to really appreciate their beauty, although I have never used more than a piece here or there in one of my scrappy quilts.

Last April when I visited Sister's Choice Nicole and she took me on my own private California Shop Hop, one of our destinations was Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove, well known for their batiks.  We'd studied Laurie Shifrin's two batik books - Batik Beauties and Batiks and Beyond (sadly, both out of print) - for inspiration before leaving, and embarked on a breathtaking scenic drive to the quilt store.

Nicole had the beginnings of a collection she won from our retreat fat quarter game of Left-Center-Right.  I decided to let the quilt store inspire me as far as color selection, and I found a gorgeous collection of oranges and pinks, shown in my first photo.

My pattern choice is this one - Mystique of Bali - from Batik Beauties.  The book, as I mentioned, is out of print, but I discovered you can purchase a downloadable copy from Martingale & Company's website (just follow this link).  See the raspberry stripe at the top of my first photo?  Perfect for the border!  And the orange with pink 'watermelon seeds' fabric just below that will serve as the background.

Nicole threw down the challenge glove and we're both going to be making a batik quilt using the fabrics we bought in April.  Check her blog to see what pattern and fabrics she is going to use.  I can't wait to get started on this quilt!

For additional batik inspiration, Laurie Shifrin has a new book coming out later this month called Batik Gems.  She lives in the Seattle area and teaches at a shop in Ballard (and she has come in to our shop to buy batiks as well - she is so nice!)  Samples of some quilts from her new book are on display at The Quilting Loft and I must say, that her new book will definitely be added to my book collection!