Island Mandala

Woot! It’s my turn to show of on Mister Domestic’s Aura Blog Party, y’all! I’m so freakin’ excited to share this quilt with you. It has been virtually killing me waiting to share this baby.

Fabrics for this project were provided courtesy of Art Gallery Fabrics and Mister Domestic. Batting was provided by Quilter’s Dream, and they gave me an extra to give away! Thank you to everyone who supports my creativity.

Check out these gorgeous fabrics. I was glowing when this package arrived. They are just so pretty, and the hand on Art Gallery Fabrics is wonderful. Somewhere between a Liberty Lawn and a traditional quilter’s cotton. I really wanted to do hand appliqué for this project, but alas, my time is limited.

As soon as I saw the fabrics on Mister Domestic’s blog, I knew I wanted to do a mandala quilt. I could have a relatively small amount of all of the prints, and with fussy cutting I could make each of them shine. My original plan was to use the Modern Mandala pattern by Free Bird Quilting Designs, along with a grey background. I opted for a vibrant turquoise for the back.

*You can find Aura at Fat Quarter Shop if you want to get your hands on it.

When the background and backing fabrics arrived, I realized I had made a mistake. The turquoise HAD to be the front. No problem, right? (Danger!) I adjusted my plan and got to work.

I read the pattern instructions carefully, and decided that rather than create my own dresden plate pieces, I would cheat a bit. I ordered a set of papers from Paper Pieces. They ship quickly, and their pieces are way more accurate than anything I make. On a fan with 20 blades, it wouldn’t take much to create a bowl instead of a plate. Precut papers for the win!

I tried the construction technique outlined in the pattern while waiting for my papers to arrive. I cut the fabric into 4 pieces, leaving them larger than specified, because why not make a bigger quilt if I can? (Danger!! Sometimes you would think I just started this gig.)

I followed the instructions, and carefully laid out one quadrant. I basted three of the first leaf shape down, then needle-turned them during a quilter’s sew-in. Four hours later, two were done, and I knew I had to adjust my plan. Life is short, and my to-do list is long. I switched to fusible appliqué. Faster, although not so wonderfully meditative.

At this point my dresden papers arrived, and I assembled the center plate. There are 20 blades, but only 16 repeats of the motifs on the mandala. I chose 4 fabrics to repeat in the fan, leaving the repeats next to each other. I used the larger prints for the repeated blades, cutting different parts of the print to make the fabric look different.

Then it was on to prepping the remainder of my pieces for fusing. Boring, but I was happy to cut them out while hubby and I binged on some dumb TV show. I clearly wasn’t paying enough attention, as I have no idea what it was.

Once the plate was made, I considered my next steps. I could sew around each piece on my domestic machine, or I could skip that part and do it on my longarm, the same way I did it on the Skyline quilt. I decided to use this approach again, but fuse on my design wall rather than on the longarm, for layout purposes.

I pieced all 4 quadrants together, hung them up, and began putting up the pieces. I initially pinned, and as a section was complete, I fused the pieces down. After the first quadrant was together, I realized that the center plate was too large. This could be because I bought a fan set that was too large, or I mis-measured my original starting layout. Either way, I had to adjust. I moved the plate over, so it is not centered on the pieced background. You can see it if you look carefully, but I don’t think it detracts from the design.

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Here is the layout in progress. There was a lot of squealing and patting myself on the back. I love it when my initial vision works out has I had planned. This vision was all in my head, too, because I did not take time to do extensive layout on software or paper. Also, poor mom got about a million in-progress shots. Originally this was going to all be secret, but I’m terrible at secrets. I did keep the date a secret, but then SOMEBODY posted the calendar on his blog, and somebody else’s mom figured it out.

Once the top was together, I pulled out the backing fabric, measured it, and then cried a little. (A very little. Maybe 10 seconds.) I did not have enough, because I swapped the front for the back. I was faced with buying more fabric and waiting, or piecing the back, which I despise. That’s like telling me I can have fudge but first I have to eat kale. Raw. With no dressing.

I went through all of my mutilated fabrics (did I mention the fussy cutting?) and pulled together a strip of Aura fabrics to piece into the grey backing. I still didn’t have enough, so there is just a bit of a peppered cotton pieced onto the bottom of the back. I didn’t take a photo of just the backing, as I was still fuming.

Now, on to my favorite part. Once the backing was loaded and the batting was ready (a beautiful Orient batting, courtesy of Quilter’s Dream) I put the top onto the frame. I like to float my tops, which means I only baste the section I am working on. This allows me to get started quickly, and also means that the top doesn’t get a lot of handling or stretching on the frame. With fusible appliqué, this means not as many pieces pop loose. I don’t know if I don’t iron long enough or what, but my fusible pieces always pop loose eventually. I try not to handle the top too much, and just get it quilted down ASAP.

I stitched around all of the mandala parts freehand, trying to stay within an 1/8th of an inch from the edge of the pieces. I did all of the pieces first, using a light grey thread that blends nicely. I used Superior Sew Fine on this project. Rulers would have helped with accuracy on this step, but I’m a firm believer in the details getting lost in the overwhelming composition. If I decide to enter this piece into a show, it will have to go back onto the longarm first, for another round or two of stitching down on the appliqué pieces.

After all of the pieces were secured, I rolled back to the top of the quilt, switched to turquoise thread, and just played. I put in big floppy feathers, sunbursts, swirls, etc. I just relaxed and let my mind wander. I love when I get into a flow state while quilting.

Every time I advanced the quilt I got a little peek at the back, and I was VERY excited about it. I love how dramatic the contrasting thread color looks, and all of my mistakes get swallowed up in the vibrant design.

I didn’t do any quilting on the actual appliqué shapes. I want the fabric to shine in those pieces, so quilting was limited to the background.

Once the quilting was finished, it was time to make the binding. I chose to use a striped print from the collection, and cut it on the bias. I knew I wanted to do this before I requested the fabrics for the project. I am super lazy, so this is an annoying process for me. I stood at the table grumping about the extra work, but in the end I’m so pleased with my decisions. Sometimes my “crazy brain” is really on point.

The last step is always the worst. There were about 15 million thread tails to bury on this project.

I felt really rushed when working on this project, but not because of the deadline from Mister Domestic. My husband decided, last month, that we needed to escape the winter weather. He booked a short cruise vacation, which included a stop in the Bahamas. Now, I know the fabric was inspired by Hawaii, but we have to take the tropics where we can get them.

So, here is my Island Mandala on Castaway Cay in the Bahamas. I was the only person photographing a quilt, and our fellow beachgoers politely ignored our odd behavior. I felt a little obnoxious, until a gentleman walked down the beach videotaping himself singing a song from Aladdin. No matter how weird I get, I’ve got nothing on Disney fans.

Okay. Good job hanging in there. You noticed I said I had a batting to give away? Quilter’s Dream was kind enough to send me a twin sized Dream Orient batting to try in this quilt. Orient is a blend of bamboo, silk, tencel and cotton. The batting is super soft, and lighter than cotton alone. I think the loft is perfect for showing off my longarm skills, and the drape of the finished quilt is fabulous. If you would like to win a batting to try out, just enter my Rafflecopter Givewaway below! US entries only, please.

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Quilt Specs – Island Mandala
Dimensions – 76″ x 76″
Fabrics – Aura by Mister Domestic for Art Gallery Fabrics, Art Gallery Basics in Tile Blue and Mystic Grey
Batting – Quilter’s Dream Orient
Thread – So Fine 503 and Omni 3093 by Signature Threads
Techniques – Fusible appliqué, Free Motion Quilting

Be sure to check out my fellow blog partiers. There are so many incredible things being made with this fabric!

• Monday February 11: Amanda Woodruff of A Crafty Fox
• Tuesday February 12: Kylie Gersekowski of Little Moo Designs 
• Wednesday February 13: Sharon Holland of Sharon Holland Designs 
• Thursday February 14: Kim Niedzwiecki of Go Go Kim
• Saturday February 16: Sarah Maxwell of Fearless with Fabric
• Sunday February 17: Natalie Santini of Hungry Hippie Sews
• Monday February 18: Carolina Moore of Always Expect Moore
• Tuesday February 19: Isabelle Selak of South Bay Bella Studio
• Wednesday February 20: Elizabeth Chappell of Quilters’ Candy
• February 21-24: Intermission 
• Monday February 25: Tara Curtis of Wefty Needle 
• Tuesday February 26: Monica Tetteh of That’s Sew Monica
• Wednesday February 27: Nicholas Ball of Quilts from the Attic
• Thursday February 28: Lucy Brennan of Charm About You 
• Friday March 1: Robbin Flockhart of Sew Farm Quilter
• Saturday March 2: Evie Jespersen of EV Quilts
• Sunday March 3: Kelly Liddle of Jeliquilts
• Monday March 4: Maureen Cracknell of Maureen Cracknell Handmade
• Tuesday March 5: HollyAnne Knight of String and Story
• Wednesday March 6: Mimi Goodwin of Mimi G Style
• Thursday March 7: Angela Wolf of Fashion Sewing with Angela Wolf
• Friday March 8: Kitty Wilkin of Night Quilter
• Saturday March 9: Sharon Burgess of Lilabelle Lane Creations
• Sunday March 10: Emily Dennis of Quilty Love
• Monday March 11: Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill of Whole Circle Studio 
• Tuesday March 12: Elina Temmes of Elina Temmes
• Wednesday March 13: Jennifer Strauser of Dizzy Quilter 
• Thursday March 14: Saija Kiiskinen of Saija Kiiskinen
• Friday March 15: Brittany Jones of Brittany J Jones
• Saturday March 16: Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth
• Sunday March 17: Kim Niedzwiecki of Go Go Kim
• Monday March 18: Sharon McConnell of Color Girl Quilts