Celebrate Diwali

As the daylight hours decrease and the darkness envelops the northern hemisphere, Hindus all over the world celebrate Diwali - the festival of lights. You may have seen the newish British Prime Minister and his family celebrate Diwali at 10 Downing Street.

I have talked about my Diwali Memories and I made my first Diwali Quilt last year. 

This year when Island Batik gave us the choice to make a quilt project "celebrating" our favorite holiday, I knew instantly that I will be making a Diwali Quilt, using a fabric collection called Celebrate!!! Could there be a more appropriate fabric line to make this quilt? 

I started by making candles with two tone flames. All piecing was done using a 80/12 Schmetz Needle and 50 wt Aurifil Thread. 

Candles

Some height adjustments were made to create interest.

Tall and Short

The next step was adding text.  I marked the center and spaced the letters evenly. 

Marking the Center before placing the letters

I appliqued the letters and stitched them using a simple stitch without a break!  Check the picture below.

Applique

Once that was done, it was time to baste and quilt. I used Schmetz 90/14 Needle and Aurifil 40 wt thread for quilting. The batting is Thermore by Hobbs.

Quilting Lines Marked

And here is my completed Celebration quilt!!! Happy Diwali Mini Quilt finished at 14.5" by 20.5"

Happy Diwali Mini Quilt

Finished Mini Quilt - 20.5" by 14.5"

But wait there is more. Celebrations are always more than one thing and so is this post.  

I continued playing with these gorgeous fabrics and made this joyful quilt. I used my Accuquilt 8" GO QUBE to make the smaller half square triangles.  So. Many. Triangles!!! It is good to have an Accuquilt Cutter.

All piecing was done using a 80/12 Schmetz Needle and 50 wt Aurifil Thread. 

Koi Pond

Finishing at 60" square, I have named it Koi Pond.  Picture this - Colorful fish who ate lots of Diwali sweets (or Christmas cookies) and are now swimming in circles, chasing each other as they burn off their sugar high :-D

Let's get closer. Do you see the little swirls in the background fabric? These fish are creating some serious ripples :-D

Such happy fabrics

The background is Doughnut (Island Batik Neutrals) and the binding is Island Batik Solid Yellow.  I used Schmetz 90/14 Needle and Aurifil 40 wt thread for quilting. The batting is Thermore by Hobbs.

Kissing Fish

True Story - When I was arranging the quilt over the mailbox, prior to taking this picture, a woman stopped her car, rolled down her window and complemented me :-) I was so tickled. I smiled and thanked her. Then I continued smiling the whole day.

But enough about me. What is a celebration without sharing? So here is a free tutorial for you to make your own Scrappy Swirling Fish block. This may be a suitable block for Rainbow Scrap challenge next year. Let me know what you think.

May the holiday season bring you joy and peace that continues into the new year. I will treat every comment like a cherished holiday greeting. Big Squishy Hugs!!!

Bourbon Street Bash

Designing for the May/June 2023 Issue of Quiltmaker Magazine, I chose the fabric line Celebrate. Designed by Kathy Engle, this fabric line will be available in stores in May 2023.

Imagine my surprise when the magazine was published in March 2023.  It is Island Batik's guidance to release patterns as close to the fabric availability as possible. If the fabric is not available (at the time of pattern release or shortly thereafter), then it feels like a tease or even a torture, especially when the fabric is this gorgeous!!!

For this reason, I have been slow/reluctant to share this quilt.  It is April. I can safely say that the fabrics will be coming to the stores next month.

Picture Courtesy - Quiltmaker Magazine, May/June 2023

Here are the pictures showing my journey of making Bourbon Street Bash.

The first block

Pieced Border

These fabric screams Spring. The colors make the blooms blush and the bright hues are reminiscent of a party or a bash. Since no one parties like the Bourbon Street, I named it Bourbon Street Bash.

Balloons and Streamers = Celebration

Quilting

I quilted slowly, enjoying the deep greens and bright citrusy prints.

Binding

The backing is Pistachio (Island Batik Basics) and it is yummy enough to eat :-) 

The binding is Egg White (Island Batik Neutrals).

Bound and Labelled

Bound and Labeled, it was time for the photoshoot. Paul, my love?  

Will you please...

You are the best!!!

Can we get one with the reflection, I asked. We can try, Paul replied. Although it was a beautiful day, it was just too breezy for a good reflection picture.

Sunny but too Breezy

Garden Party, indeed!

Very Happy Me!

I received many comments and emails praising this gorgeous fabric line. So, I cut up the leftover fabrics into 5" squares.  Since I only had 17 fabrics (out of the 20 in the Celebrate line), I added three matching fabrics from Island Batik Foundations (top three fabrics in the picture below - orange, yellow and pink) to make two complete sets of 40 squares (2 squares of each fabric).

Giveaway Prizes - Two Charm Packs

Yes, there is a giveaway.  Two prizes. I will announce the winners on April 10, 2023.  To be eligible to win one of the two charm packs, please leave me a comment telling me your favorite party food or drink, along with your instagram handle. Please make sure that I have your email address.

And one last look because you are such a juicy quilt :-)

Citrusy Yumminess

My friend and fellow Island Batik ambassador, Connie Kauffman also has a quilt in the same issue. Her sweet mini quilt is called - Have a Cuppa. Do check it out.

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In other news, Purple is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for April. I have picked out my fabrics - some reddish purples and some bluish purples. 

Plenty of Purples from Island Batik

I will be sharing with all my favorite linky parties (see full list on the sidebar), including Angela's Linky Party.  As usual, my bash is incomplete without your input :-)