Farewell as an Island Batik Ambassador

As many of you know, I have spent the last two years as an Island Batik Brand Ambassador.  It's been an amazing fun and rewarding time as I have had an opportunity to represent a great company, work with beautiful fabrics, have my designs included in their Quilt Market displays and last, but not least, to meet and work with some of the most talented designers I know.

But I've got some other projects I want to work on and my schedule will only permit so much, so I did not reapply to be an Ambassador for 2019.  

As a final farewell, I want to showcase some of the quilts I've made over the last two years using Island Batik fabrics.  The quilts aren't in any particular order and I've included a quick description to make it easy for you to find the patterns.  By no means is this all of them - it's only about half! 

This is Modern Chain.  A remake of the pattern using solid fabrics was in Make Modern Magazine in 2018.  I was so excited for my first international magazine appearance. 

The Holly Table Topper is one of my favorites.  Simple, Elegant yet Festive!  The pattern is available in my Masterpiece Quilting's 2018 Christmas Collection book available on Amazon. 

I used Island Batik's Sakura collection to make this beautiful quilt for the Back to School blog hop in 2017.  The design was my Black & White Express pattern available as a pdf download on Bluprint.  Isn't it amazing how different fabrics totally change the look of a quilt?  Take a look at the pattern and then this photo. 

Charming Stars & Pinwheels was first published by Annie's as a lap quilt.  The larger version featured Island Batik fabrics and is on the pattern cover.  This pattern will be available very soon too! 

This paper-pieced beauty brought a lot of joy to our table at the time of my Mother-in-Law's passing in 2018.  Some cut flowers we received matched perfectly for the photo shoot. 

Plum Delicious, aptly named for the fabric collection it featured was made for a Blog Hop in 2018. The PDF pattern for this customer favorite is available and stay-tuned for this quilt in a different colorway in the next few months! 

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and this oversized mug rug will make a great gift!  If you are like me, my desktop tends to serve a lot of functions including breakfast nook and lunch station - so a mug rug is a necessity.   A pdf pattern is available for download on Bluprint. 

The monthly challenges for the Ambassadors always kept me on my toes. In this challenge we needed to use a new technique - so I used Ricky Tims' Covergence method to make this stunning wall hanging.  

My Spinning Wheels design was inspired by a vintage quilt I purchased at an auction.  Another design which will have a pattern available soon ... I think I need to get busy releasing new patterns! 

This quilt features Island Batik fabrics in my Star Bright pattern.  I made a smaller version here and again, am blown away by how much the look changes with different fabrics.  If you don't believe me, take a look at the original Star Bright pattern. 

I will be totally honest, I was never a fan of paper-piecing.  I can tell you horror stories of fabric sewn to both sides of the paper.  Well, I'm starting to embrace the method... slowly but surely.  There would have been no way I could have made this beautiful pumpkin using traditional patchwork. 

Earlier I mentioned that being a Brand Ambassor gave my quilts an opportunity to be displayed in the Island Batik booth at Quilt Market.  Here, I used the Oh Deer collection and my Fractured Quilt pattern to create this stunning quilt.  I caught up with the quilt in Houston last fall for a quick visit.  It's on the road traveling to quilt shops and trunk shows until 2020!  While it's traveling, you can still make the quilt - here's a direct link to the pattern. 

Stepping Out is one of my new favorite quilts ... okay, so I have lots of favorites!  I love this impromptu photo shoot with some barn wood beams.  The pattern will be coming soon for Stepping Out!  (p.s. remember I mentioned earlier that I need some time to get some things done - I'm majorly behind on new pattern releases!) 

Oh Christmas Tree is one of the patterns in my Masterpiece Quilting's 2018 Christmas Collection book available on Amazon.  It makes a beautiful wall hanging that is deceiving easier to make than it appears. 

Baubles was in the Winter 2018 issue of Quilter's World Magazine.  I love the softness of this design and how it showcases the fabrics so well. 

Dots & Dashes is the last quilt I made as an Ambassdor for the Getaway Blog Hop.   It's a fun and spirited quilt.  The PDF version of the pattern is available for purchase in my Etsy store. 

And finally, one of our Charity projects was making Kennel Quilts.  Miss Zoey and Miss Lilly gave their "paw of approval" before the quilts went off to pets in need.  You can learn more about the Kennel Quilt program here.  Won't you participate with me? 

If you have made it this far in the blog post ... that was a lot to get thru! ... I invite you to follow along on my quilty journey by subscribing to this blog, following my Masterpiece Quilting page on Facebook or on IG: @masterpiecequilting. 

Let's Gather Table Runner from Masterpiece Quilting's 2018 Christmas Collection book

Last week I shared the release of my latest book - Masterpiece Quilting's 2018 Christmas Collection - with you.  In case you missed the introductory blog post, you can read it here.   I promised I would share more about each of the projects in the book and give you some of their background story. 

So let's start with the Dining Room, after all, who doesn't love food and a nicely dressed table too! 

Your Holiday table will be dressed in style with the Let's Gather Table Runner! 

When family and friends gather, nothing sets the mood better than a beautiful table runner. The length of this runner can easily be adjusted by changing the number of blocks in the center section.  Our dining room table is large, as it seats 12 people easily, so I tend to make my table runners extra long so they cover the entire length of the table.  However, I realize not everyone has long tables, so Let's Gather can be custom made to fit your table. 

The pattern uses four fabrics and I simply pulled fabrics from my stash to make the sample runner.  I wanted Let's Gather to have a traditional red, green and gold Christmas look but you can easily substitute other fabrics that match your decor and decorating style.   

A pet-peeve of mine is table runners that don't lie flat.  After all, the gravy boat always wants to spill on its own, so I don't want a thick and puffy batting helping it!  To keep the runner flat, I used Warm 80/20 batting compliments of The Warm Company when I made the sample runner. 

And yes, 2018 Christmas Collection is eligible for Amazon Prime so order today, get the book in 2 days and be ready to start sewing. 

Even though the Holidays are just a few weeks away, Let's Gather is one of the beginner friendly projects that doesn't take a large amount of time to complete.  It would even make a perfect Hostess gift.   

Not sure what to get your favorite quilter for Christmas - I'm sure they will love this book and they might even make you something from it!  

I couldn't have completed 2018 Christmas Collection on my own - photo credit  to Danielle Morales of InJoy Photography, photo styling by Abigail Hake Kellermeyer and Tammi Hake and page layout by Page + Pixel

If you like what you see, be sure to subscribe to my blog, follow me on Facebook or on IG @masterpiecequilting.  If you know someone who would love the Let's Gather Table Runner, please share this blog post with them!