Mini Love with Island Batik

The final February challenge for Island Batik Ambassadors is to make a mini quilt.  I had grand plans for an EPP masterpiece, but vacation was a little more snorkeling and fishing and a little less stitching on the beach than I had planned.  So, here is something completely different.  Don’t worry, the EPP is still under way, I will just be sharing it a little bit later.
I participated, briefly, in a goal setting program this year.  And by briefly, I mean I read the first paragraph of the first assignment.  My vision word for the year is “grow”.  I want to grow my business, my longarm abilities, and my pattern design skills.  I love the idea of the word grow – it isn’t a hard goal I can set and miss, then beat myself up over.  Growing is a gentle goal, and can be adjusted to suit my changing situations.
I decided to use Kristy from QuietPlay’s cursive alphabet.  I used both the uppercase* and lowercase* versions, which are available on Craftsy.  You will be seeing more quilts using these letters in the future, now that I own these patterns.
Part of being an Ambassador is receiving a glorious stash of Island Batik Fabrics.  I selected bright colors for the letters and grass, along with a neutral background.

• Background – Grass in Oatmeal from the Sunflower Serenade line
• Red – Sunflower print from my Galentine’s FQ Bundle
• Orange – Round Petal Floral in Cantalope
• Blue – Strip from my Stash Builder Bundle
• Purple – Dandelion in Jelly
• Green – I think this is a “blender” in Parakeet

I decided to do some improv piecing for the base of the letters, rather than stick to the pattern as designed.  I wanted the look of a garden, and grass is very easy to improv.  I started with a piece of muslin cut to the same size as the pattern piece.  I snipped up triangles of the green and the background, and stitched them together, trying to get different sizes and keeping them fairly narrow.
Paper Piecing makes a huge mess.  I can’t believe I have to pick all of it up and do another project tomorrow!
I pieced each letter together following the paper piecing pattern, which was so easy to follow.  Some of the pieces were quite tiny, which makes it fun to fish out scraps and use them up as I go along.
The quilt was layered with a piece of Hobb’s 80/20 batting – my favorite to work with.
I quilted each color with a different Aurifil thread.  Some were from my Island Batik Ambassador box, and some are from an Alison Glass box I purchased after attending a talk by Alex Veronelli.
I did a simple outline within each letter, a zig zaggy, grassy pattern in green, and then swirly flowers for the background.
I chose a purple binding, and I used a darker version of the Grass print for the backing.
I’ll be hanging this on my wall with my two other mini quilts in the morning.  It will help remind me of my goal for the year, and hopefully keep me on track.