The November Island Batik Challenge is Storm at Sea Blog Hop. It’s a month for Island Batik Ambassadors to create a Storm a Sea project with a new Summer 2021 fabric line. I’m delighted to have received the twenty fabrics included in the Twilight Glow collection by Kathy Engle. These fabrics will be in shops this month.

Island Batik along with their industry partners, Hobbs Batting, Schmetz Needles and Aurifil Thread provided the batik fabric, batting, sewing machine needles and thread used in this project for my role as an Island Batik Ambassador.

My big plan was to create a totally new design in Electric Quilt 8 but there was a sample quilt already in the EQ8 program that spoke to me. A.) Print out from EQ8 where I began calculations for fabric requirements. B.) Who said you’d never use math in real life was so wrong. The calculation for both sizes of square blocks as well as the diamond blocks. C.) Here’s what it SHOULD look like when it’s completed.

Kathy Engle has just knocked it out of the park with this fabulous line of fabrics titled Twilight Glow. A.) The twenty designs in this collection’s fat quarter pack. B.) Every quilt needs lights, darks, and mediums which this collection perfected. C.) Despite accurate cutting with no errors, I found myself short of these three pieces. The fabulous team at Island Batik had the needed extra to me in record time.

This quilt requires A.) 25 - 8” finished and B.) 36 - 4” finished square within a square within a square block. Each of these 61 blocks has nine pieces. For accuracy, I used Deb Tucker’s Studio 180 Design Square Squared ruler.

If my math is correct, there are 849 fabric pieces in this project. A.) Precut 60 rectangles for the diamond block, 72 small squares (sub-cut into 144 triangles) and 50 large squares (sub-cut into 100 triangles)…all slightly larger than needed so they can be trimmed to the exact size. B.) All rectangle blocks were paper pieced with freezer paper for accuracy. Eight freezer paper templates were still going strong after block 60. C.) Rectangles, large squares and small squares playing nice.

Working from the center out, each color gets a bit deeper. A.) A deeper shade of gold block is pressed before squaring the blocks to exactly the size. B.) Each block is double-checked to make sure lighter tones are in the center while gradually getting darker on the outer edges. C.) Stitching blocks into rows with each color change.

Getting to the point where you can see the light at the end of the tunnel is a wonderful time. A.) After finishing the darkest gold, work continues with the lightest aqua color. B.) My design wall is the floor. That counts as exercise, right? C.) A couple more rows to attach before a final press.

This Storm at Sea is ready to be quilted. A.) Hobbs Premium Heirloom Cotton Batting is selected for its exceptional depth, loft and dimension. B.) Backing, batting and quilt top loaded on Annabelle, my Handi Quilter Amara. C.) Edge to edge waves stitching guided with Pro-Stitcher and Aurifil thread. D.) The last and darkest color is used for machine-stitched binding. E.) Another photo of the project as it is removed from the long arm.

This quilt finished at 64” X 64'“ and used fourteen of the twenty fabrics from Kathy Engles Twilight Glow collection.

Radiating sunshine, this quilt is the perfect size for so many uses. Look for it in my Etsy Shop. Just click Sunshine Storm at Sea to go right to the listing.

Huge shout out thank you to Island Batik for their creative challenge assignments along with their generous fabric support. Thank you also to their industry partners.

Island Batik Blog Hop Giveaways

Every Friday Island Batik will be posting round-ups of the projects featured during that week and give away bundles of the new Island Batik collections, highlighted during the hop. Be sure to visit all the Ambassadors’ blogs to discover their inspiring creations, read the stories behind each project and participate in their bonus giveaways! Here’s the link to the ISLAND BATIK BLOG to enter.

The fabrics, featured in this Blog Hop, are from the stunning Spring 2021 Collections, that will start appearing in your favorite fabric stores in November! To find your local Island Batik shop, visit the Store Locator on our website, plug in your zip code, and your local shop will appear on the map! Super easy and helpful!

Check the Island Batik Blog regularly so you do not miss a thing! The full list of Ambassadors’ names and their postdates are as follows:

November 1:

Gail Sheppard, Quilting Gail

Preeti Harris, Sew Preeti Quilts

November 2:

Pamela Boatright, Pamela Quilts

Jane Hauprich, Stitch by Stitch Custom Quilting

November 3:

Denise Looney, For the Love of Geese

Megan Best, Bestquilter

November 4:

Gail Renna, Quilt Haven Threads