Crystal Pendants

Island Batik's February Challenge and BlogHop requires the ambassadors to use their assigned Fall 2024 collection (I got Radiant Burst) and the Studio 180 Design Tool (I got Wing Clipper) to make a Table Runner or a Bed Runner.

Sounds simple? Yes. But wait there is more.

1. We must make at least 12 units.

2. Use as many fabrics (from the 20 in the collection) as possible.

NOW, we have a challenge :-)

Well, here is my response.

Glowing Front

And I used leftover blocks from Mirabelle to make the backing, so it is two-sided. 

Moody Back

Double-Sided Runner

But let me start from the beginning.

Designed by Jerry Khiev, Radiant Burst should be available in stores now (February 2025). It is a beautiful collection with reds, pinks, mauves, teal greens and purple.

Radiant Burst Fabrics

I received the Wing Clipper Tool from Studio 180 Design, used to trim Flying Goose units.

It was time to start designing. I turned to EQ8. Lots of designs were made and considered. Most were discarded for various reasons. Here are a few of them.

Discard #1

Discard #1 - February means Valentine's Day which equals Hearts. It uses all 20 fabrics and has more than12 flying goose units. But there was nothing new or fresh about it.

Discard #2

Discard #2 - Once again, I managed to use all 20 fabrics and 12+ units but this Starry Design was only a slight improvement on Discard #1.

Discard #3

Discard #3 - It looks fine. Certainly screams Flying Geese, even if it did not use all 20 fabrics. I can do better, I thought.

Discard #4

Discard #4 - This used all 20 fabrics, even though the design seems dated. I could work with partial seams since it was only five blocks, but there was another problem. The Flying Geese are made in sets of four but the design uses only one flying goose unit in each color, leaving me with 60 units. Oh no!

Discard #5

Discard $5 - I really like this one. It has a modern vibe to it. It uses all 20 fabrics. There was the same problem as Discard #4 of dealing with 60 leftover Flying Geese units. But there was a technical issue as well. It qualifies as Migrating Geese and can be made without the Wing Clipper Tool.  I set it aside for future considerations.

And then I landed here!

The Chosen One

This was perfect. It has a modern vibe to it and looks like Crystal Pendants. It uses 20 fabrics and has 12+ units. The way I designed it, I would have only two leftover units. 

There was only one more consideration - background color. Won't radiant crystals look good on a black background?  I tried a few more options. Thank goodness for EQ8.

May be

Oh Yes!!!

At such times, I really need to discuss with a fellow quilter. I have reached out to Emily and Connie in the past. This time it was Mari, who endorsed the Yellow Background. "It would be perfect for Spring", she said.

I was all set. Full speed ahead. I used the Island Batik Basic Bumblebee for the background.

Perfectly Trimmed Flying Geese

Honestly, the design took longer than the actual sewing and quilting.

Basting

I used Schmetz Microtex 80/12 Needle for both piecing and quilting. 

I used my trusted squiggly stitch to quilt the runner. The Hobbs 100% Cotton Batting shows off the quilting beautifully.

Glowing Crystals :-)

Crystal Pendants Runner finished at 16" by 51" and I absolutely love how the bright yellow background shows off the beautiful collection. But taking pictures was tricky. 

Falling Runner and Shadow of the Phone :-D

Fabulous Finish

Sunny Vibes

Reversible!

Trying another angle for pictures.

The next two pictures are taken at my friend Manveen's beautiful home with excellent diffused lighting.

Fit for Royalty!

Thank you Manveen

One last picture!

Labelled

Visit Island Batik Blog for weekly giveaways and make sure to explore all the amazing creations on the Ambassadors’ blogs and join in on their additional giveaways for even more chances to win. I will be sharing with all my favorite linky parties. See full list on the sidebar.

Here is the complete list of Ambassadors, the collections they’ll feature in their projects, and their scheduled post dates:

WEEK 1

February 4:

• Kim Jamieson-Hirst, Chatterbox Quilts
• Emily Leachman, The Darling Dogwood

February 5:

• Brittany Fisher, Bobbin with Brittany

February 6:

• Mania Hatzioannidi, Mania for Quilts
• Carol Stanek, Stitch With Color

November 7:

Blog Hop Round-Up Week 1 and Giveaway

WEEK 2

February 10:

• Connie Kresin Campbell, Freemotion by the River
• Leah Malasky, Quilted Delights

February 11:

• Connie Kauffman, Kauffman Designs

February 12:

• Denise Looney, Quiltery
• Renee Atkinson, Pink Tulip Quilting

February 13:

• Brenda Alburl, Songbird Designs
• Lisa Pickering, Lisa’s Quilting Passion

February 14:

Blog Hop Round-Up Week 2 and Giveaway

WEEK 3

February 17:

• Jennifer Thomas, Curlicue Creations
• Susan Deshensky, Lady Blue Quilt Studio

February 18:

• Susan Michaels, Dragonfly Fiber Art
• Suzy Webster, Websterquilt

February 19:

• Gail Sheppard, Quilting Gail
• Preeti Harris, Sew Preeti Quilts (You are here)

February 20:

• Sarah Pitcher, Pitcher’s Boutique LLC
• Solomae Stoycoff, Cuddle Cat Quiltworks

February 21:

Blog Hop Round-Up Week 3 and Final Giveaway

WEEK 4

February 24:

• Kimberly Flannagan, Kimberly’s Quilts

February 25:

• Tina Dillard, Quilting Affection Designs

February 26:

End of Blog Hop + Final Round Up

Fly Away Challenge

The Island Batik June Challenge reads as follows:

Use one of your precut bundles and play with the versatile Flying Geese blocks to create a fun quilt or table runner! Your project must use Flying Geese blocks as the focus but you can combine other blocks to enhance the project. 

Now, I am not a fan of Flying Geese Blocks. The construction is a fiddly multi-step process, regardless of the method you choose.  Even when the method works for you, you need a specialty ruler for precision points. In my opinion a flying goose block is made up of two half square triangles with several construction methods and no need for special rulers. 

Therefore I had never considered a project with Flying Geese. And when I looked for inspiration, everything seemed dated. So what does an Island Batik Ambassador do - Highlight the fabric!!!

Project # 1 - I chose a super simple pattern that would show off the fabric. I used the Celebrate Stack (10" squares) to make tiny roofs.  

I used my Accuquilt 8" Go QUBE to cut flying goose triangles from the Celebrate Stack and the sky triangles from Solid Black.

Accuquilt Cut Triangles

The flying geese units finish at 4" by 2" and the house/wall units are 4" squares.  I used 17 out of 20 fabrics. It is a simple design but it shows off the Celebrate collection perfectly! 

Be My Neighbor

The backing is Fondant and I love its subtle blue-gray color. The background and binding is Solid Black. I used Hobbs Black Batting and Schmetz 80/12 Microtex Needle. I quilted with my walking foot using Aurifil 40wt thread and a squiggly stitch with horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines. My little houses mini quilt finished at 24" square and I have named it "Be My Neighbor". 

Labelled

I showed my bright mini quilt to Paul. 

Me: Look at my bright and happy homes.
Paul: Are they homes?
Me: Yes, why?
Paul: They look like pencils or crayons to me.
Me: I'd think the pencils would be more pointy.
Paul: Houses would have doors or windows.

He had a point.

That is when I made Project # 2, using the 2.5" Strip Pack of Juicy Mosaics.

For background I chose Island Batik Neutral Egg White.

Row Houses

I chose those fabrics that had bricks/tiles pattern to reinforce the house effect. Paul agreed that these looked like houses.  I happily fashioned them into a cute zippered pouch :-)

Love this!

I live here :-)

With these two projects, I had completed the requirements of this challenge. I was done. Officially! 

But these Juicy Mosaics are so gorgeous that I wanted to continue playing with them. After I spent few hours of playing in EQ8, I didn't know whether I was coming or going.

Yellow Won this round!

For this design, I needed one other color in addition to the black background.  With a choice between sunny yellow and lime green, I chose yellow.

Once again, I used Accuquilt to get precise flying goose units. It is good to be an Ambassador :-D

In process

Ooh Shiny!

And here is my fabulous, flying goose-focused finish!!! Ta Da!!!

Coming or Going?

Do you see fish? How many?  

Finishing at 28" square, I have named this fishy finish - "Fishful Thinking" :-D

The backing is pieced from leftover backings of larger quilts made earlier.  The binding is Solid Black.  I used Hobbs Black Batting and Schmetz 80/12 Microtex Needle. I quilted with my walking foot using Aurifil 40wt thread and a squiggly stitch (my default style).  

Wonky Pieced Backing :-P

Labelled

Of course I love quilting. I love playing with fabrics and colors and trying new things. But if it was not for Island Batik's Challenge, I would have never come up with this design.  

So even though I began this post whining, I am grateful to Island Batik for pushing my buttons, month after month. Thank you Island Batik (hope you can overlook the whining).

I will be sharing with all my favorite linky parties. See full list on the sidebar. 

For some reason, I want salmon for lunch. What is on your plate (food or quilt)? Do let me know.