Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Sweet Dreams

In summer I dream of a chilly breeze. 
In winter I dream of a fire. 
At land I yearn for the stormy seas. 
Once there it is dry land that I desire.

It is no surprise that I made an Autumn Quilt in Spring :-) Meet Sweet Dreams.

Autumn in Spring


Island Batik's June Challenge Requirements/Guidelines are as follows:


  • Project Type: Quilt for Quilts Across America
  • Size: between 50” to 60” wide and 75” to 90” long. 
  • Fabric: Any, in colors that appeal to children aged 2-17.
  • Work with any size unit that you want, you can also use more than one unit size in the project.
  • Must use at least 30 units total, made with the Studio 180 Design tool you received.

I received the Corner Beam Ruler.

Corner Beam Units



I used four colors - Orange, Green, Red and Purple - in light, medium, dark and very dark to make the Autumn Leaf Block.

10" Leaf Block

I love the gentle gradation of values going from light in the tip to very dark in the base of the leaf. 

In Orange

The leaf stem is made from Eucalyptus (now discontinued Island Batik Basic).  The background is Egg White. I used Schmetz Microtex 80/12 Needle for piecing.

I  made a total of 24 Leaf Blocks, arranged four across by six down.  

Design Wall

The sashing is 2" and the border finishes at 3".

Basting

The batting is Hobbs Premium Cotton. I used Schmetz Microtex 80/12 Needle for Quilting, using my walking foot in a 2" grid with my favorite squiggly stitch.


Quilting Detail

The Binding is a Green Vine fabric left over from the Wild Blooms collection. 

In the picture below, I am standing on a picnic table, with the Potomac in the background, while Paul took the perfect shot. Can you see the river to the right?

Finished Quilt - 52" by 76"


Since the quilt used only 24 Corner Beam units, when we were directed to make at least 30, I considered adding a fancy border.  But that would take away from the simple beauty of the quilt.

I wanted to follow the rules/guidelines but sometimes that is at loggerheads with design considerations. 

What could I do? The shape of the Corner Beam unit is similar to a candle/lamp flame.
So I made a Zippered Pouch. It used four Corner Beam units, bringing the number up to 28. I know it is not the required 30, but that is close enough!

Appliquéd Corner Beam and Semicircle Units

Instead of piecing the units, I appliquéd them using an invisible thread. I used Red, Green and Orange (for the lamps) but not Purple because it would not have a good contrast against the Solid Black background.

Diwali Themed Zippered Pouch

There are design decisions at every stage. Do you approve of mine? Please let me know. 
I will be sharing with all my favorite linky parties, including Quilting Jetgirl's Favorite Finish. See full list on the sidebar.


In other news, Angela has announced that June will be Blue. Here are my Island Batik Blues ready to become Hexie Blocks. 

All the Blues - Light, Medium and Dark



We will be receiving our second Ambassador Boxes in July. 
I need to arrange, consolidate and make room for new supplies. Would you be interested in Island Batik fabric scraps? 
No pressure :-D But I'd love to know.





48 comments:

  1. I love batiks! Scraps are always welcome!

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  2. Sweet Dreams is beautiful! I like to make quilts out of season so it's ready to go when the appropriate season arrives. Your scraps are very pretty but I'm already drowning in scraps of my own making! Bless someone else with them. Happy stitching!

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  3. I always love leaf quilts no matter the season. You got really creative with the corner beam for a candle flame!

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  4. I love leaves and especially love these ones you made. The colors blend beautifully.

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  5. Beautiful design and finish. I really like how you graduated the colors from light to dark in each leaf.

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  6. Wow! I drooled over all of your Sweet Dreams photos! I'm like Pam, I love batiks and scraps are always welcome!--TerryK@OnGoingProjects

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  7. What a neat quilting tool! The quilt is stunning!

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  8. neat quilt - I'm glad I got the accuquilt dies for that one though :) I'm trying to use up my scraps so that is a no for me lol - I've got to the point where I don't need more

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  9. Lovely design! Such a sweet dream. Thanks for sharing on my weekly show and tell, Wednesday Wait Loss.
    https://www.inquiringquilter.com/questions/2024/06/04/wednesday-wait-loss-383

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  10. What a lovely fall quilt in spring!! ha!! it is gorgeous - and the colors set with the white just pop!! love your solution to making 30 units! sounds like a great plan to me ;-)

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  11. Those are beautiful leaf blocks, and I love how you put the different darks, mediums, and lights together for each one. Someone's really going to love this quilt!

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  12. Love the poem and the leaves are gorgeous! Such vibrant colors!

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  13. Beautiful!!!! You make scrappy look organized! (That's the ultimate compliment; I struggle with that!) I love the colors and it's the perfect block for corner beam. It will be a lucky person who gets this for their bed. (This is Emily; I'm having trouble logging in.)

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  14. I love the gradient in each block. Congratulations on a beautiful finish!

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  15. I too am already dreaming of Fall and Summer isn't even here yet - scraps are some of my favorite things - I think of them as a challenge. Add me to the potential list.... Beautiful quilt, as always! cmberry@lsu.edu

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  16. I love your use of color in the leaf blocks. Have a beautiful day!

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  17. Love your quilt! Scraps , especially batiks (my favorite!) are always welcome.

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    Replies
    1. My email address is FRANCISWIFE@YAHOO.COM.

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  18. Yes, blue scraps are my favorite, esp the batiks. I'm on a run now, I've made precuts in various sizes that I use a lot, and picked 12 of my favorite blocks to precut, as well. I have batiks I want to cut up for a super large king size quilt (think a mattress of 15" tall, and a new base that raises up at the top and/or bottom). My standard size of 120"x120" is no longer ok - it will have to be 134"x120", so those quilts will have to be hand quilted. Deb E / mdenders@msn.com

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  19. Your Sweet Dreams quilt is great! I have always loved a leaf quilt. Yours has the beautiful colors of fall in it. It is an inspiration for the next quilt I have to make. The use of fabric scraps would be a nice addition to any quilt. petuniakr@aol.com

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  20. I love scraps & especially batiks! The variations of colors in one little scrap is so mesmerizing to me.

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  21. Your Autumn quilt is lovely. The colours in the leaves are gorgeous. It is Autumn here and the leaves contain many of those colours!

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  22. I love your leaf block. I really dislike maple leaves that don't have a center point! I'll make my maple leaves like yours, but I'll make them with paper piecing - so much easier for me.

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  23. Beautiful Sweet Dreams! The leaves just seem to dance across your quilt. Batik scraps are always welcome!

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  24. Pretty leaves. Batik scrapes are always welcome. 24Tangent@gmail.com

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  25. I love your quilt! The colors are beautiful! I love the way you made the top tip of each leaf a lighter color, and then the color deepens in the lower part of each leaf. So pretty! And yes, fabric scraps are awesome. Any size! 😊warner.dale@gmail.com

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  26. Your quilt came out beautifully. The colors are stunning. I like your choice of not making the border. Batik fabric is great for applique. Your candle fabrics was another perfect choice.

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  27. Beautiful qui!t! I would have made a pillow case - you did the extra work with the pouch - which turned out great!! Love scraps!

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  28. Such a beautiful quilt, Preeti. And with the batiks, it has a certain glow to it and the gradients in shades also reflect that. As a Canadian, it is on my bucket list to make such a leaf quilt. I also love your interesting pouch design. So much lovely stitching here!

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  29. Sweet Dreams is beautiful, whatever the season ;) I love your leaves, and the precise layout that looks like random! Cute pouch too, you always find the perfect way to use extra blocks ;) Your blue batiks also are yummy.

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  30. Of course I'd be interested in beautiful batik scraps, do you really need to ask?

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  31. I love batik scraps! I’m currently working on a funky fish quilt with lots of batik scraps that started as a modified jelly roll race. My gmail email address is sarahsgiftnship at you know where.

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  32. Your leafy quilt is gorgeous! I love the gradation of color from light to dark in each leaf.
    I love batiks and scraps, and I'd be happy to help you clear out some space for new arrivals!

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  33. Of course!! Who wouldn't???? (lynnstck@yahoo.com) Also love the leaves -- great use of your Tucker ruler!

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  34. First, that is a beautiful quilt. I didn't realize that the instructions would include the amount of blocks. It really turned out nice and the quilting adds to it. Nice job.

    I have been trying to reach you and you apparently aren't getting my email replies. I feel like my last email might have sounded unfriendly but it wasn't intended. I hit "send" before I was ready. If you don't get that one, I will just put my address in your comment section. I use Chromebook. Maybe that is the problem?

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  35. If you don't make quilts out of season they won't be ready in season. It is beautiful.

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  36. How lovely! This is a great design using your ruler, and the batik fabrics are perfect in the leaf blocks. Even the colors are perfect! A triumph!

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  37. A gorgeous quilt, as usual! Good use of that ruler. Someone surely will sleep in heavenly peace under that quilt!

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  38. charlotta58@gmail.com here - beautiful quilt (as always 😎😜). I certainly would love batik scraps. In fact I’m planning a scrappy HST batik quilt as one of my new projects at my September retreat.

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  39. I have that ruler, and now you've given me some ideas on how to use it. That quilt is gorgeous!

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  40. Oh yes, I love how you graduated the value from dark at the stem to lighter at the tips of the leaves. Just beautiful, and I can feel the autumn sunshine on my skin when I look at it!

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  41. A great finish. The colours are so bright and vibrant.

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  42. Preeti, this is just gorgeous! I love fall leaf quilts and really love the block you used. Great use of the Corner Beam tool! I know some child will enjoy sleeping under this beauty. Thanks for sharing with us at Monday Musings!

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  43. I just love this quilt Preeti. The shape and the colourings are gorgeous. Congratulations on another spectacular finish!

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  44. Deb Tucker's rulers are great! The candle flame is just inspired!!

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  45. Rich colors!!! Love the upcoming blues, too!!!

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  46. So pretty, I think the colors are lovely for any season!

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