Monday, August 13, 2018

Spring Blossoms in the Great Outdoors Blog Hop

Hi, and welcome to my day on the Island Batik Ambassador Great Outdoors blog hop!  My secret bundle of gorgeous fabric from the February box was called Spring Blossoms.  It's filled with pink, yellow, orange, red, green, purple, and turquoise, in a variety of prints, including flowers, birds, dragonflies, and raindrops.  We got 1/2 yard pieces of the prints, and 2 yards of the pink and red.  

Yes, I may have swooned a bit when I saw the colors, especially the dotted raindrops.  The SKU for that one is 111817220, and the color name is Nasturtium.  Please check your favorite store to see if they carry it, if not, tell them to get it! 
Yeah, isn't it gorgeous?  Look at the colors!  A rainbow of raindrops!  
I shared it on Instagram and had many comment on it.  I need more!  

Anyway, about my quilt.  I had a sweet design all ready to go, featuring the raindrops in the center of each block.  We're asked to use as many fabrics from the collection in this particular project, so I knew the other units would be scrappy looking, but wanted to highlight the raindrops.  Just as I was going to cut out the pieces I realized that my design would not work.  The drops are directional, and my design would not support that, nor would I have enough fabric to make it work.  Off to Plan B.  

Well, B was a great design, too.  Only, it wouldn't have enough fabric to work, either.  Because I wanted the drops to all fall the same way in my quilt.  So, back to EQ8, or the drawing board, for Plan C. lol.  I picked a Mosaic block from their library, which would use the raindrops as the center, but when put on point, would go the right way.  Yes, all the quilts were on point with a little sashing and cornerstones, which is where my plan went awry.  I wanted to end up under 60" square, too, so I could use the new Hobb's Wool batting we got in our July Ambassador boxes.  Again, best laid plans, lol.  I have to play more with EQ8 to figure out why my quilts are always larger in real life, than the program says it will be.  Without borders, this one is 59", and it needs borders!  

When all else fails, just go larger! lol.   I had enough for a 2" and 6" border, making this about 72" square.  And visit later to see some of the other designs, which may end up as patterns.   I know I have other batting I can use for this one, and need to figure out the backing.  This is just a top for now, but I'll be quilting with Aurifil soon.  


Here's today's quilt.  It uses 14 different fabrics in the blocks, plus Lime for sashing, the Berries print for cornerstones, and Turquoise Dot Floral  and Flamingo Mixed Birds for the outer border. The background and setting triangles are all from Almond.  I was planning to use the red from the collection, which was given for borders, but it was just too bright with the other colors.  I felt the Almond would play nicer.  

Here's the EQ8 design with red. 
In real life, when I put the red next to the green and turquoise, around the blocks, it was a little too bold for my taste.  So, Almond it is.  I do purchase yardage of that one and other neutrals when I can.  I love when Hancocks-Paducah puts their Island Batik on sale, and I'll pick up neutrals then, too. May as well get free shipping, right?


I made sure the birds in the borders were all going the same direction, too. 

So, to thank you for visiting, and reading this far, please leave a comment about your favorite Summer treat below, and be entered to win some squares I'll cut from the scraps, and a copy of one of my patterns.  Follow me on Facebook, and leave a second comment that you do, for another chance.  

Visit If These Threads Could Talk for another project with Spring Blossoms, and visit the rest of the bloggers for more inspiration and give-aways.  

Monday, August 6 - All A Flutter - Yellow Cat Quilt Designs, Creative Blonde
Tuesday, August 7 - Birds N’ Bees - Ark Angel Creations, Patterns By Jen
Wednesday, August 8 - Canterbury Manor - Sally Manke, Powered By Quilting
Thursday, August 9 - Eclectic Garden - Desert Bloom Quilting, Sew Karen-ly Created
Friday, August 10 - Vintage Morris - MooseStash Quilting, Devoted Quilter

Monday, August 13 - Safari - Sew Incredibly Crazy, SweetGrass Designs
Tuesday, August 14 - Spring Blossoms - Mary Mack Made Mine, If These Threads Could Talk
Wednesday, August 15 - Victoria and Albert - Bejeweled Quilts, Clever Chameleon
Thursday, August 16 - Wild Things - Freemotion By The River, Kauffman Designs
Friday, August 17 - Petting Zoo - Den Syende Himmel, Sarah Goer Quilts
Monday, August 20 - Ocean Odyssey - Gateway Quilts, The Quilt Rambler
Tuesday, August 21 - British Rose - Busy Hands Quilts, Mania for Quilts
Wednesday, August 22 - Dear William - The Inquiring Quilter, mmm! Quilts, Living Water Quilter
Thursday, August 23 - Dragonfly Dreams - Inchworm Fabrics, BeaQuilter
Friday, August 24 - Fur-ocious Friends - Quilting Affection Designs, Dizzy Quilter
Monday, August 27 - Globetrotter - Pamela Quilts, Curliecue Creations
Tuesday, August 28 - Jungle Cruise - Vicki's Crafts and Quilting, Little Bunny Quilts
Wednesday, August 29 - Lavendula - Carole Lyles Shaw, Masterpiece Quilting
Thursday, August 30 - London Calling - Quilt in a Not-Shell, Lizard Creek Quilting
Friday, August 31 - Spirit Rhythm - Steph Jacobson, Whispers of Yore
Monday, September 3 - Sweet Tweets - Kathleen McMusing, Adventurous Applique and Quilting
Tuesday, September 4 - Whatnot - heARTS Creations, Slice of Pi Quilts
And be sure to use the Rafflecopter to enter to win fabric packs from Island Batik.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for stopping! Enjoy the rest of the hop!

83 comments:

Dena@LivingWaterQuilter.com said...

Lovely, bright and cheerful. I've gone through a similar process and have no problem using the entire alphabet of plans! :-)

Happy said...

Oh those colours! So gorgeous, and right in my sweet spot of favourites! (As for a summer treat, you can't beat strawberries and cream.)

Pamela said...

Such a lovely bright quilt! I am glad I'm not the only one who ends up at plan C (or further down the alphabet!) sometimes.

Creativeblonde66 said...

Love this quilt, and I prefer the almond too, makes the centre colours pop! Beautiful ♥

Sewgirl said...

Beautiful! My favorite summer treat is really all the fresh fruits of summer! Nothing like a peach or plum in the summertime. Thanks for sharing.

Homesewn said...

Beautiful! So cheerful.

Lisa England said...

Your quilt top looks fabulous! The batiks are just beautiful and the design shows them off so well. This summer our treat of choice is peach cobbler.

djw quilts said...

Another fantastic quilt ME! It's "sew" happy! Perfect for a cool summer night snuggle!

Allison said...

Gorgeous quilt! So bright. My favorite summer treat is ice cream, chocolate of course.

Donna Croff said...

What a beautiful quilt. I'm in love with the batik fabrics. Great job!!

Lori Smanski said...

wow your quilt turned out so lovely. i really like how you showcased these fabrics. thanks for sharing. i can see a quilt and some pillows for my great niece with these fabrics.
quilting dash lady at comcast dot net

Lori Smanski said...

I follow you on face book
quilting dash lady at comcast dot net

Dione Gardner-Stephen said...

Wow... I think I could easily consume yards of that dotted raindrops fabric you featured. Love your final quilt and I hope you get to recycle ideas A and B another day.:)

Amy said...

What a fresh, Summer-y quilt! It would be fun to wake up with those colors. My favorite treat in the Summer is home grown tomatoes. Wish you could get them all year round.

OhioLori said...

Loooove your Quilt! It is Beautiful!! Can't wait to see it quilted & ready to snuggle in!! :) My favorite Summer treat (besides Ice Cream lol)..is making Green beans & taters from the garden..and Peach cobbler from our tress! Mmmmm....

Calicojoan said...

What fun fabrics and a great design to show them off with! We are expecting a little of the rain drops today. although I'm guessing they won't be nearly as colorful! LOL!!

tac73 said...

Love these fabrics...especially the raindrops and dragonflies. Your pattern looks wonderful. My favorite summer treats are fresh berries and peaches.

Kathleen said...

Love this -- and particularly the rainbow rain drops. I had similar problems with the arranging due the directionality (was gonna do rectangles, but ended up with squares as I precut). Skip me in the drawing, IB Ambassador too

mumbird3 said...

Great quilt - my fav summer treat is a big glass of fresh squeezed lemonade while sitting out on the deck in the sunshine! mumbird3atgmaildotcom

mumbird3 said...

I follow you on Facebook!

Quilting Tangent said...

Pretty quilt. Wonderful raindrops. Ice cream in the summer. 24Tangent@gmail.com

Sheila Oxley said...

Your quilt is beautiful! and those fabrics are yummy! I've been eating those klodikes Fudge swirl...chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate!

GranChris said...

Your quilt is beautiful. I love watermelon and fresh peaches.

@lutzcats said...

Such a happy quilt-I love it!

@lutzcats said...

I'm a Facebook follower also.

Jackie OBrien said...

Love it!!!

Cherie's Quilting Journey said...

Wonderful bright colors in the quilt. I love ice cream.

Cherie's Quilting Journey said...

Followed you on Facebook.

Sharon Aurora said...

You really worked hard for this quilt, but it turned out well in the end. I love the raindrop fabric too and it wouldn't look as good if it were multi-directional.

Hot Fudge and hot caramel sundae is my favorite summer treat.

Carol San Diego said...

Following you on Facebook!
Carol sandyzoo45@comcast.net

Sharon Aurora said...

I follow you on Facebook.

Carol San Diego said...

My best summer treats are the family reunions we have. Can't beat that!!
Carol
sandyzoo45@comcast.net

Dawn F said...

My favorite summer treat is ice cream! Very beautiful quilt. Even though it was plan C, it still looks amazing!

Vicki H said...

I love ice cream floats in the summer.

Joyce Carter said...

Your quilt is so pretty and I just love these fabrics.
Thank you for the giveaway. My favorite Summer treat is Strawberry Ice Cream.

Joyce Carter said...

I am a Facebook follower.

Lee said...

What a bright and happy quilt!! Thank you for the chance at a giveaway!

The Quilted Dog said...

Such bright fun colors! Love your quilt! Summer is all about wild blackberries!

The Quilted Dog said...

I follow on Facebook

Sheila Oxley said...

I follow you on Facebook!

Cecilia said...

Your quilt is beautiful! We enjoyed driving our granddaughters in the Model A to get soft ice cream cones this summer.

Cecilia said...

I already like your Facebook page.

Rochelle aka Bella Quilts said...

A beautiful finish and all those luscious color make it very eye-catching. I admire your ability to back up and use another pattern (and another pattern) when the first plan doesn't go the way you want. Congratulations. Oh, root beer floats have been keeping us cool this summer.

Barb said...

My favorite summer treat is ice cream in any form--sundaes, root-beer floats, etc!
barbkaup(at)(yahoo)(dot)(com)

Barb said...

I follow you on Facebook.
barbkaup(at)(yahoo)(dot)(com)

JANET said...

My favorite treat is all the fresh ripe fruit that is out. I could live on that for the summer!

JANET said...

I follow you on facebook.

Anna brown said...

I love strawberry jello cake...love your quilt.. happyness04431@yahoo.com

Anna brown said...

I got ya on mail and facebook. . happyness04431@yahoo.com

Gail S. said...

I love the bright colors in the quilt. Beautiful batiks! Summer treat? Ice cream! Salted caramel!

Sues said...

Love all the bright colors and how you featured the raindrops!!! Great job!!!

Anita said...

Your quilt is so bright and cheerful, it turned out perfect! My favorite summer treat is rhubarb pie with ice cream.

Unknown said...

Great use of the fabric colors! What a happy, vibrant quilt!

Delaine said...

What a beautiful, summery quilt you have made! My favorite summertime treat is homemade slushy Bellini's. Thanks!

Holly said...

Gorgeous quilt, ME!! Great use of the fabrics and the colors are scrumptious.

Elizabeth said...

Mary Ellen, This is a great quilt. Wonderful use of the fabrics

Kathy Kinsella said...

What a great quilt design and I love your feature fabric!

JM in Toronto said...

Beautiful colors.....great layout!
Don't you love EQ for designing quilts? It's fun to be able to "see" what your guilt will look like put together and easy to change up the colors. I love that you can use the actual fabrics to color the quilt!

Sally said...

Fabulous MaryEllen!!! I just love this raindrop fabric any you featured it perfectly in the pattern!

Vicki in MN said...

I am glad you finally got one of the plans to work out! It looks great:)

VA said...

My favorite summer treat is a fresh strawberry shake from our local burger joint!

Emily said...

You are right, that raindrop print is stunning! Love all the colors in this line. The colors fit right in with my favorite summer treat, fresh peaches.

Cindy Shelley said...

Love the quilt. My favorite summer treat is fresh strawberries, with homemade ice cream and homemade angel food cake.

BarefootThunder said...

my favorite treat is vanilla ice cream, your quilt is wonderful. Plan A, plan B... sometimes plan D :) ;)

BarefootThunder said...

I am a new follower on facebook .

Anita Jackson @ Domestic Felicity said...

Yaay To Free Shipping! One of my favorite summer treats is lemon ice or Limoncellos. mmmmm.!!!

Anita Jackson @ Domestic Felicity said...

I am a FB follower

Havplenty said...

Such bright cheery colors. Summer it is. I love the summer fruits aplenty. The berries, peaches, melons, grapes, pineapple. I could definitely overdose on fruits during summertime.

tushay3 (at) yahoo (dot) com

Kelly Dee said...

My favorite summer treat is ice cream in a waffle cone in a town about 3 hours away, we drive over just for the ice cream!

Kelly Dee said...

I'm a Facebook follower ;-)

Deb B. said...

My favorite summer treats are fresh fruit and vegetables, and key lime pie. I love your quilt. Thank you for sharing the alternate version as well

Jayne said...

Eating strawberries straight from the garden

Brenda @ Songbird Designs said...

Fresh strawberries and vine-ripened tomatoes are my favorite summer treats!!

Brenda @ Songbird Designs said...

I followed you on Facebook. I also really like your quilt and pattern! So neat to have used all those beautiful fabrics in it!

Leanne Parsons said...

I agree that the red would have been too bold. The almond sets off the other colours perfectly. My favourite summer treat is either watermelon or ice cream :)

Beth said...

Watermelon or cherries are my favorite summer treats. Extra points if I get to eat them while I sit outside, reading in the sunshine.

Robin (RsIslandCrafts) said...

Beautiful quilt! I like how you chose the green fabric to border all the squares. Island Batik has such amazing fabrics.

Robin (RsIslandCrafts) said...

I'm already a facebook follower :)

Jennifer Fulton Inquiring Quilter said...

Oooh I'm in love with that raindrop fabric as well! I have been there done that as far as having to change plans because I didn't have enough fabric. But your end result looks wonderful! Can't wait to see this one quilted.

Linda said...

My favorite summer treat is ice cream, but that's my favorite winter treat too! ljbisme at msn dot com

Linda said...

I already follow you on Facebook under the name Linda Bailey. ljbisme at msn dot com

Kathy E. said...

Loving the colors of your quilt and so clever of you to keep the birds going in the right direction! I have changed my eating habits this year, so my favorite summer treat is cold, fresh fruit. Nothing better than watermelon!

Kathy E. said...

I also follow you on FB!