Exploring the Third Dimension, with Island Batik

The December challenge for Island Batik Ambassadors was to make something 3D.

I worked through several ideas over the past 12 months, but the one that I actually made was this one. I used Quilting Jetgirl’s Mod Star Tree pattern along with a modified trapunto technique.

Once again, the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas was totally bananas for me, so I don’t have a lot of process photos.

I started by rummaging through my Island Batik stash, pulling my reds and greens, along with a large piece of yardage of Whip Cream (one of my favorite neutrals). I really enjoyed working with Yvonne’s pattern – her instructions are clear and easy to follow.

The blocks came together beautifully. This is a pattern that looks pretty much like nothing until it is all together. Once the pattern starts forming, it gets exciting really quickly. So exciting, in fact, that I sewed it together incorrectly. Twice.

Once I fixed that, I loaded a piece of Hobbs Tuscany Wool batting onto the longarm, and stitched in the ditch around each star on the quilt. I then removed it from the longarm, and cut away the excess batting between the stars. It was a fairly slow procedure, and I was completely terrified of cutting the top in the process, but I was victorious.

Then, I layered the backing, Hobbs Heirloom Cotton batting, and the top onto the longarm. I meandered the entire top, getting close to the stars, but not onto them. I didn’t want to stitch on the stars with the machine and lose the extra volume I worked so hard to add.

A quick machine binding using the same fabric as the background, and I have a lovely modern Christmas quilt, finished in plenty of time for next Christmas. Isn’t it grand?

Oh, I also added some “big stitch” quilting inside the large star on the top of the tree. I used a variegated Aurifil 12 weight thread that was just perfect. I may add more big stitch detail later, but I feel good about the small amount right now. Going through two layers of batting with hand quilting isn’t a picnic.

Traditional trapunto was added after quilting. Either the back would be slit open and stuffing inserted where extra texture was desired, or cords would be run along channels. As a longarmer, I’m fairly familiar with using two battings, and dense quilting to smash down the parts where you don’t want volume. It was interesting to try something different, although now I have a large pile of “destroyed” batting. I believe 2020 will be the year of the pincushion.

Thank you to Island Batik, Hobbs Batting, and Aurifil thread for supporting my creativity. And to Quilting Jetgirl for the fantastic pattern. Check her work out – it is all so clean and modern.