Inspired by Nature

I have been so inspired by all the quilts I have seen by my fellow Island Batik Ambassadors this month: beautiful, creative quilts made with gorgeous Island Batik fabrics that are in your local quilt shops now. How can we not rush out and buy them all?

Being locked down this year has made me so thankful for family, friends, and events of the past. I can’t wait to see everyone again at family gatherings and quilt shows! Do I ever miss quilt shows! I am also very thankful to be a quilter this year and to be supplied with such beautiful fabric by Island Batik. It has made this year special, something to be thankful for.

The fabric I was given for this months challenge is Venetian Marble, designed by Claudia Pfeil. I just loved the fabric which made me immediately think of leaves.

I also have a fond memory of Claudia from 2015. I was fortunate that year to go to the Houston quilt show. While I was standing in front of a quilt admiring the quilting, a lady asked me if I had any questions. As we were talking about the beautiful quilt, I realized I am talking to the quilt’s creator, Claudia Pfeil. She was just delightful in telling me all about her quilting process. She’s an extremely talented quilter and very friendly person; I’ve been a fan ever since.

I started by designing on EQ8. The leaf I choose was from a previous quilt I made from Studio 180 Design’s pattern, Northern Neighbors. I just love this leaf – it has so much detail. The block is made using several of Studio 180 Design’s rulers which makes it turn out so perfect; also, you can make multiple sizes, so I thought I would make a smaller version for the center.

I started with my favorite block, Flying Geese. With Studio 180 Design’s method, you create four Flying Geese units at a time, which was just what I needed for one leaf, and you get perfect points by making the unit bigger than it needs to be and then trimming it down.

I also used Studio 180’s Corner Beam tool for the Leaf points and Split Rects tool for the leaf tips. Love those perfect points!

To avoid the large X design made with the stems of the leaves, I used the Corner Pop 2 tool to make the pinwheel in the center of the stems. Did I say I love Studio 180 Design tools?

I made the stems by sewing a 1″ strip between two triangles and then using my Tucker Trimmer I to trim the square to the 3 12″ block size while keeping the stem in the centered.

To sew my project, I used Schmetz universal needles.

I used two colors of Aurifil 50 weight Thread to do the quilting: Color #2846 and #4241 (my favorite color to use with black Batik – you can see it without it taking center stage). I love that I can remove the bottom of the spool and place it on the opposite side to have the thread come off the direction I need for my longarm.

The Finished Quilt is 47 1/2″ square and the Leaf blocks are 9″, with a 6″ center Leaf Block.

Be sure to click on the link below to win one of these beautiful fabrics bundles!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/d463e29d22/