Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Summer in the Country Blog Hop!

Welcome to today's stop on the Island Batik Ambassador's "Summer in the Country" Blog Hop!

Today I'll share two quilted projects made with brand new Island Batik fabrics, a recipe for chocolate peanut butter cookies, and how you can enter a giveaway to win some Island Batik fabric of your own. (You can click on any photo to see it larger).

"Summer Storm", 27" x 24", made by Pam Geisel, July 2015

This is my finished project, but I'd like to show you how it came together.



I used these blue Island Batiks from the "Jewels and Gems" (Lapis Lazuli) collection, from left to right: 611528022, 611529021, 611525017, 611531019, 611530020, 611524018
I came up with many designs but in the end I was seriously considering a traditional quilt pattern that I've always admired, Storm as Sea. Here's my computer sketches of the fabrics in that layout:


And while I might someday go back and make one of these, none of these ideas used all 6 pieces of fabric, so I decided to go with an original idea, although I did keep the "Storm" in the name.


Step 1: Cut fabric into 4.5" squares, lay in a checkerboard pattern with the two lightest fabrics filling the left three columns and the right two columns, and the darker fabrics alternating in columns four and five. For the directional fabric, be sure to keep it oriented horizontally to offset the verticalness of the two darker columns. Do not piece yet!


Step 2: Iron fusible webbing to the back of the two darkest and the tiny diamond fabrics. Cut out irregular zigzags that are a little longer than 4.5".  Place on fabric so they alternate horizontally and vertically. Fuse in place. Top stitch along fused edges with dark blue thread. Now piece the squares together.

I had already thought that "Summer Storm" would be a good name for this quilt, partially because I wasn't making the "Storm at Sea" quilt and also because the zigzags kind of reminded me of lightning bold shapes. The decision to use this name was confirmed when we lost power during a thunderstorm, right as I was piecing this quilt! 


Step 3: Cut two long thin strips from the wavy fabric. Iron fusible webbing to the back. Trim off some curves following the patterns on the fabric to make it more organic. Fuse in place where the dark fabric meets the light fabric to help make this transition softer.



Step 4: The quilt top is now pieced! Baste with batting and backing and quilt. I quilted vertical wavy lines with light blue thread on the light blue fabric and dark blue thread on the dark blue fabric and also in the waves of the wavy fabric.

  
Step 5: Hand quilt stitches using a light blue embroidery thread on the dark zigzags echoing their shape. For visual interest, have some stop part way.

While I was working on this piece, I was very interested in the light blue fabric that kind of looked like it had a snake skin pattern on it. I had some little pieces of dark blue that had fusible web on the back from where I cut out the zigzag shapes out.

"Blue Waves" framed mini quilt, 5" x 5", made by Pam Geisel, Aug. 2015

I wasn't sure what to do with this but it turns out I found a frame that was just the right size so I sewed some border fabric on, then quilted along the horizontal blue curves with a dark blue thread then framed it.


Here's a very close up shot of the fabric and the stitches.

More about Summer Storm

= = =

All of this quilting and blogging makes me hungry and I see it's time for a snack. How about some chocolate peanut butter cookies?


Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies


1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup butter
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 tsp baking powder
1.25 teaspoons of salt
4.5 cups of flour
5 Tbsp cocoa

Cream sugars and butter together
Add eggs (one at a time) and vanilla
Blend
Add baking powder, salt, and flour (1 cup at a time)
Mix well then roll into a ball
Take off 1/3 off the ball and add cocoa to it, blend well
Roll out chocolate dough into a log that is approx. 20” long
Make the vanilla dough into a log and then flatten it to approx. 4” x 20” rectangle
Lay the chocolate dough in the center of the vanilla and wrap it around the chocolate
Roll the dough until it is tube shaped
Cut in 1/8 to 1/4 inch slices
Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes
Remove from heat and cool on rack.

Make 3 dozen

http://www.islandbatik.com/

60 comments:

Jen Barnard said...

I love storm at sea I had expected some complicated piecing and was pleasantly surprised by the appliqué.
jen dot barnard at btinternet dot com

Connie Kauffman said...

Your quilt has a lot of movement! Love your zig zags and the wavy fabric strips give movement too. Your quilt is lovely. Not easy to use that many of the same color of fabric and have it turn out so great!

apple blossom said...

lovely work thanks for sharing with us. Thanks for the giveaway also.

Anonymous said...

These blues are so beautiful! And a "storm" quilt is the perfect use- love your design. Sarah: crjandsbj(at)netzero(dot)com

Annmarie said...

Those blue batiks are wonderful! And Blue Waves is AWESOME!

jellybean said...

Love it In the middle of Monsoon season here in AZ lots of storms. great giveaway thank

Connie Kresin Campbell said...

Neat design and of course I love the fabrics! Thanks for sharing!

Janie said...

Love your quilt. Thank you for the tutorial and the giveaway.

Marlene @ KISSed Quilts . com said...

Enjoyed the non traditional approach to this!

Vicki H said...

I like the zig zag through the quilt. Thanks for the tutorial.

Pamela said...

Your art quilts are beautiful! The Summer Storm quilt perfectly captures the feeling of a summer storm. Thanks for demonstrating how fabric can be used so creatively, and thanks for everything else on your inspiring blog!

Unknown said...

I really like the storm at sea quilt. thank you for sharing.
Llamance@hotmail.com

Cecilia said...

Your quilts are pretty! Thank you for sharing and for the giveaway. The Storm at Sea is a beautiful pattern.

Lyn said...

Very nice use of the beautiful fabric! Thanks so much for the tute and for the giveaway!

Karen in Breezy Point said...

What a fun pattern--perfect use of those beautiful blues!

Anna brown said...

I so love all your blues and your ideas are interesting as well.....Will have to try it but i think a small table runner for my kitchen table would be cool....happyness04431@yahoo.com

mumbird3 said...

Like your Summer Storm - very cute..but the recipe ....oh my...can't wait to try it!!! I am drooling already! :)

Merrilee said...

The Blue Wave mini is gorgeous! I don't usually tend towards blues but these are lovely.

LeAnne said...

I really like what you did with the mini waves. The cookies sound great too.

Quilt Junkie said...

Genius! LOVE your "Summer Storm" idea and love the leftovers project with the "snake" fabric. Are we allowed to emulate your "Summer Storm" quilt? Thanks for the cookie recipe too - I'll be making these sometime this week ....

Unknown said...

Love the results of letting the fabric "talk" to you. So creative!

Sewgirl said...

What a fun project. Thanks for sharing.

squirrelie55 said...

love giveaways and batiks!

teachpany said...

Totally awesome post! I love the quilt, the small square and the cookies, and the blues are just gorgeous! And that's a perfect name for the quilt! Love it!

Calicojoan said...

That's incredible. I love fusible applique and this just took things up a notch! Love the idea! Great little framed piece too. You just had to do it didn't you???? Chocolate and peanut butter... my diet's out the window!;-)

Quilting Tangent said...

You quilt looks much better with the wave pieces added to it. 24Tangent@gmail.com

Jusmom1 said...

Those fabrics are GORGEOUS! Thanks so much for the chance to win!

Lisa England said...

Such great movement in your Summer Storm quilt! I love the framed mini as well -- makes me think I ought to make a quilt and put it in a frame. Thanks for the inspiration!

JANET said...

Beautiful blues! I was impressed with the way you used the stripe fabric in the Storm at Sea block. What a difference it made in the movement of the block!!

Betty said...

Oh my I love it! What a fantastic combination to achieve that effect. Awesome!

adele said...

Oh I love that quilt! very cool! And peanut butter cookies, one of my favorites!

tac73 said...

Love this storm quilt! The fabrics are awesome as well. And the recipe looks very tempting.

Betsy said...

Such a novel idea and very modern. Thank you for sharing with ud

Norma said...

Love the colors. The waves make an interesting quilt. I have never tried this kind of thing but I think I would like to.

Sallie said...

Blues are my favorite!

DebraKay Neiman said...

I love storm at sea too. your project came out nice too. crystalbluern at onlineok dot com

LJ said...

Love your quilt - the blue batiks are gorgeous!

Kathy E. said...

Blues are not a color I work with often, especially the deeper hues. Seeing your quilt makes me wonder why! It's beautiful and mesmerizing. You picked just the right fabrics.

GranChris said...

The quilt is quite unique and since blue is my favorite quilt color I love it.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful Blues. Just love these fabrics.
Thanks for the giveaway!
ebhaloha @ gmail.com
Bev in BC

Anonymous said...

The "Blue Waves" framed mini quilt is stunning! Love the blue colors.
nikilsend(at)outlook(dot)com

Gill said...

Fabulous!!
I love your quilt!

Zenia Rene said...

Very nice Pam! It turned out great and thanks for the recipe too! I love peanut butter & chocolate together. Thanks for the chance to win. I hope I win!

Barb said...

Oh...what a fabulous design...great job!

Dale said...

That is a lovely quilt. I like your use of the blues. There is a lot of nice contrast between the lights and darks. Thank you for the nice give-away!

Rachel said...

These are some great fabrics, and your quilt is very pretty. The design looks like it's moving and flowing. Thanks for the chance to win!

Kathy L said...

Would love to win. Thanks for the chance,

Emily C said...

Very interesting. I love the theme and the timing of your power outage.

Lauriejo said...

Great project, love how you framed the small piece of fabric too.

Sarah said...

That recipie looks delicious -- I'll have to try it for my kids! sarah@forrussia.org

OhioLori said...

What a creative design ! My son would looove the quilt! Thanks for sharing cookie recipe...plan to try soon! (maybe after while!!! lol YUM!) Thanks for chance to win your give-a-way too! :)

Tu-Na Quilts said...

Very pretty quilt. I've never bought or sewn with batiks. Your cookie recipe sounds wonderful. I'll have to make a batch (or two). Karen

Jill said...

Such a creative pattern! Love the movement the zigzags provide. And the blue fabrics are beautiful!

Unknown said...

I love your quilt!! Would have never thought to fuse the zigzags! I just have to try it. :)
craftyccain@gmail.com

Anita said...

Love the Blue Waves mini quilt!

Lyn Kaufmann said...

Love the way the zip zag gives motion to the quilt. The blues are beautiful. The framed picture is wonderful. I'd love to hang it up in my home.

Kelly Dee said...

Blue is my favorite color :-)

Teresa said...

You have used these beautiful blue fabrics so well

Beth said...

Love those blues. They'd be great for a modern-feeling Quilted in Honor quilt.

Amber said...

I"d love to win those lovely fabrics! I also enjoyed seeing your quilt displayed at Aullwood today.