Island Batik Ambassador Great Outdoors Blog Hop and Giveaway!

The giveaway is over, and the winner is #39, Beth. She has been emailed.

Hello and welcome to my day of the Island Batik Great Outdoors Blog Hop!

The month of August is a great time for outdoor life. In my part of the world the temperatures never get very high, but we had some record highs this year. This led to early berry picking, and I love taking hikes in the forest looking for wild blueberries and raspberries, and the occasional cloud berry. This resulted in quite the collection of jams and jellies in my basement.

Now at the end of August I can feel the fall coming, with crisp temperatures in the mornings. Winter is around the corner! One can almost feel the winter blues...

I'll show off what I made from the cool colors of the new London Calling collection from Island Batik.

(Fabrics used in the project and the items for the giveaway were all provided to me by Island Batik, Aurifil and Hobbs who are sponsors for the Island Batik 2018 Ambassadors.)

This is what I received in my "surprise" package from Island Batik. 

Here are all 20 fabrics of the  London Calling line spread out on my porch in the sun. I received half yard cuts of the whole collection, in addition to two-yard cuts of two of the fabrics, one lighter and one darker.

The first thought that came to my mind when I opened the surprise package was sun-bleached and washed-out jeans.

My inspiration was a quilt I saw some time ago, that I unfortunately don't have a picture of. The blocks were made in a log cabin style.

The London Calling collection goes in shades of blue, from almost white to dark navy, with a few added golden tones.

Look how the blocks match my faded, old jeans! Most jeans are top stitched with some kind of orange thread. Orange goes very well with these blues, and I decided it would spruce up the quilt with some bright splotches spread across the top. I used the orange batik from the Paisley Dot Brights as the accent color.

The separate blocks were made in an improvisational style, I made the big ones 12.5" and the small ones 6.5". Then I puzzled them into a layout I was pleased with.

The photo session of the finished quilt was done in a recreational area/forest 15 minutes walk from my house.  This fairytale tree is a great backdrop for a quilt photo. 

I used all the 20 different fabrics of London Calling in this quilt. In addition I also used the orange Paisley Dot Bright and a neutral, Milk Shake.

I enjoy very much hiking in this forest. The roots of the tree are amazing, it looks like the tree grows without soil, it is hugging the rock!

This is an area used a lot by kindergarten kids on short hikes, and it is a perfect spot for picnics. Look at the awesome "spine" made from a fallen tree. It is a great place to play.

A close-up picture of the quilt I have named Balance in Chaos. The quilt finishes at 36" x 48", and will later hang on the wall in my son's apartment.

Not only beautiful scenery in the photo shoot, I walked a few steps,turned 180 degrees and got this view of the power lines...

The quilt was pieced with white Aurifil 50wt thread, and quilted with various Aurifil threads of 50wt and 40wt, all provided in the Ambassador package I received this spring.

I used the lighter of the two-yard cuts for the backing, and a Batik Foundation called Smoke for binding.

The batting used is Hobbs Thermore that I received in my Ambassador package. I quilted it with horizontal lines of varying distance, in five different Aurifil thread colors, and in addition I added a variegated orange thread from Sulky. This mimics the top-stitch thread on jeans, and adds extra life to the quilt.

Giveaway time: I am giving away a stack of 5" squares from London Calling, one from each of the 20 fabrics in the collection. In addition I am also including a little Dumpling  zipper pouch (made by me) with the dragonflies on the exterior.

To be included in the drawing follow my blog, either by Bloglovin or GFC, and leave a comment on what you would make with the squares.

The giveaway is open internationally, and I'll select a winner by random number drawing on Sept. 5th.

 
Island Batik is having a giveaway on their site.


Thanks so much for visiting today! See below for the full schedule.
You can visit all the blogs to see the new collections of Island Batik fabrics and be inspired by the other Island Batik Ambassadors.

WEEK 1

Monday, August 6 – All A Flutter
Yellow Cat Quilts, 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

WEEK 2

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

WEEK 3

Monday, August 20 – Ocean Odyssey
Toby Lischko, Karen Overton

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

WEEK 4

Monday, August 27 – Globetrotter
Pamela Quilts, Curlicue 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

WEEK 5

Monday, September 3 – Sweet Tweets
Kathleen McMusing, Adventurous Appliqué and Quilting

Tuesday, September 4 – Whatnot
heARTS Creations, Slice of Pi Quilts