Vintage Reimagined with Island Batik

This month the Island Batik Ambassadors were challenged to create a modern project based on a vintage inspiration. We could use anything – architecture, antiques, or quilts.

The materials I used in this project were given to me by Island Batik as part of the Ambassador program. Thank you to Island Batik, Hobbs Batting, and Aurifil Threads for supporting my creativity.

I chose the Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt pattern. It has always been a favorite of mine.

This is a Grandmother’s Flower Garden in the traditional style which I made a few years back. It is one of very few pastel quilts I have made. It is entirely hand pieced and quilted. The edges are a bit unusual, but I couldn’t stand to cut my hexies. (I guess I’ve never posted about this one! I’ll take care of that soon.)

I really enjoyed my challenge project this month. I combined hand and machine work, bringing a modern spin to the traditional pattern.

The project started with a strip pack and coordinating yardage from the All Afluttercollection. I love using 2 1/2″ strips along with 1″ hexagon templates. They fit together perfectly.

When I do English paper piecing (EPP) with hexies I use Quilt Patis – templates made from mylar rather than paper. I do this for a few reasons. The first is that I bought a bunch of them back when I started quilting, and they are still perfect. I also like them better than paper – they are stronger and give me sharper points. I use a pin through the hole in the middle to hold the fabric in place, then tack the corners on the back, not stitching through the template. Wonder Clips are perfect for organizing color sets.

I love taking in-progress shots of hexie flowers. They are so photogenic. I baste with whatever thread I have laying around. In this case it is some old glazed hand quilting thread. I’m not sure why I ever bought it. I piece with lighter weight thread – in this case I used Aurifil 50 weight in a pale grey.

I began applying the flowers to the background blocks by hand. I love the fact that I can be careful and make my stitches invisible. I used Aurifil 80 weight for this step. Stitching with this thread is like sewing with a spider web.

• 

• 

About half of the appliqué is done by hand, with the other half finished with a machine buttonhole stitch. I used Aurifil 50 weight for the machine appliqué, and also for machine piecing the larger blocks together. My machine loves it, and I love that I bought a big cone that is lasting a looooong time.

The most challenging part of this project was the color layout. I tried a layout with the two included fabrics – just pink and magenta. I didn’t like that I couldn’t get the two colors not to touch. I added two more colors that I felt coordinated well. It felt a little busy, but I liked the concept.

I finally settled on this layout, which makes me smile. I like the small hexie flowers on a larger hexie flower. There is something about repeating a pattern in smaller and larger scale that I find very satisfying. If I had found my 1/4″ hexie templates we would have had some serious insanity happening.

I used my Tuscany Cotton Wool blend batting from Hobbs for this project. It is the best of both worlds – a blend of wool and cotton. I get nice dimension in my quilting, and the lovely drape of cotton.

I chose a floral pattern for the quilting. I used this beautiful Aurifil 40 weight for the quilting. This was my first time using a thicker thread on my longarm, and it worked very nicely. I almost finished the entire spool!

I trimmed the top and bottom straight, but kept the sides uneven. I like the interest the zig zag edge brings to the quilt, and I hate trimming the points off of the hexagons. It makes binding a bit more challenging, but totally worth the extra effort. I do use a bias binding on edges like this. Another winning tip for a binding like this is to make someone else finish it. Thanks, Mom! She was kind enough to spend her weekend hand stitching the binding down for me. My Mom is the best.

The backing fabric is the lighter pink print from the front. Aren’t these little birds adorable?

Do you have a favorite vintage quilt pattern?

Quilt Specs
Dimensions – 34″ x 36″
Fabrics – All Aflutter by Island Batik
Batting – Tuscany Wool by Hobbs
Thread – Aurifil 80 weight in 2600, Aurifil 50 weight in 2600, Aurifil 40 weight in 2530
Quilting pattern – Asian Asters by Urban Elementz
Techniques – English paper piecing, hand appliqué, machine appliqué, machine piecing, longarm quilting

Be sure to check out my fellow Island Batik Ambassadors and their amazing projects this month.

Carolina Asmussen ~ Carolina Asmussen
Gene Black ~ Gene Black
Pamela Boatright ~ PamelaQuilts
Connie K Campbell ~ Freemotion by the River
Anja Clyke ~ Anja Quilts
Tina Dillard ~ Quilting Affection Designs
Becca Fenstermaker ~Pretty Piney
Jennifer Fulton ~ Inquiring Quilter
Barbara Gaddy ~ Bejeweled Quilts by Barb
Dione Gardner-Stephen ~ Clever Chameleon
Sarah Goer ~ Sarah Goer Quilts
Vasudha Govindan ~ Storied Quilts
Lori Haase ~ Dakota City Quilter II
Joanne Hart ~ Unicorn Harts
Mania (Magdalini) Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for Quilts
Carla Henton ~ Create in the Sticks
Stephanie Jacobson ~ Steph Jacobson Designs
Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs
Joan Kawano ~ Moosestash Quilting
Kim Lapacek ~ Persimon Dreams
Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood
Leanne Parsons ~ Devoted Quilter
Bea Lee ~ BeaQuilter
Toby Lischko ~ Gateway Quilts & Stuff
Bill Locke ~ Studio Bill Locke
Denise Looney ~ For the Love of Geese
Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights
Sally Manke ~ Sally Manke
Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack’s Blog
Kathleen McCormick ~ Kathleen McMusing
Carol Moellers ~ Carol Moellers Designs
Karen Neary ~ Sew Karen-ly Created
Lisa Nielsen ~ Lisa Lisa and the Quilt Jam
Jackie O’Brien ~ If These Threads Could Talk
Laura Piland ~ Slice of Pi Quilts
Michelle Roberts ~ Creative Blonde
Vicki Schlimmer ~ Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting
Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail
Sherry Shish ~ Powered by Quilting
Anita Skjellanger ~ Quilt in a not-Shell
Laticia “Tish” Stemple ~ Tish’s Adventures in Wonderland
Jennifer Strauser ~ Dizzy Quilter <–That’s me!
Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations
Terri Vanden Bosch ~ Lizard Creek Quilts
Alison Vermilya ~ Little Bunny Quilts
Sandra Walker ~ mmm! quilts
Suzy Webster ~ Adventurous Applique and Quilting
Anne Wiens ~ Seams Like a Dream
Geraldine Wilkins ~ Living Water Quilter
Janet Yamamoto ~ Whispers of Yore