Adventurous Applique by Aurifil Thread!

This month’s Island Batik challenge is a little different that I normally quilt. We were to try Raw Edge Applique. I really have not done any applique on my sewing machine. I have done some with the embroidery machine, so this was going to be a challenge.

I received a 1/2-yard bundle of Flower Pot. It is a Signature collection by Kathy Engle for Jennifer Fulton of Inquiring Quilter.

The fabric and batting were given to me free from Island Batik and its partners. These include Hobbs Batting, Aurifil Thread, Oliso Iron, and Schmetz Needles. This is part of my role as a 2024 Island Batik Ambassador.

Here is the Flower Pot fabric. I love the bright and cheerful fabric and couldn’t wait to get started on designing my quilt.

In addition, to the fabric, I received 5 spools of matching Aurifil thread. I love Aurifil. It is so easy to use. I do not have problems with the thread breaking, like other brands.

I decided to go with the “Flower” theme to create my quilt. My quilt would consist of 6 applique blocks, and 6 pieced blocks. I used Electric Quilt 8 to help design my quilt. I used a flower block included in the software.

From the fabric, I decided that I wanted the center of my flowers to all be the same. I chose the bright yellow fabric.

I cut out six circles for the blocks, and sat this fabric aside. I printed the petals on freezer paper, so used my Oliso Iron to press them onto the fabric. This way, I didn’t have to pin. It made it easier to cut out.

From the other 19 fabrics, I cut out the pedals. I needed seven for each block, for a total of 42. I cut three pedals from four of the fabrics, and two from the rest. They look a little different, but they are all the same. So, it was just deciding which seven fabrics I wanted to go together.

I Printed out of Electric quilt the block at the 12 1/2″ x 12 1/2″ unfinished size. I taped the pieces together, so I had a layout.

Instead of using an iron on stabilizer, I used Glue-Baste-it. I had received it free from Missouri Star Quilt company as part of their Associate program.

With this glue baste, I could add a fine line around the edge of the petals. This helped me glue down the pieces before stitching with the Aurifil thread.

After hand pressing the petal down, I used my Oliso Iron to help dry the glue before I started stitching. This is a water-soluble glue and will wash out.

I glued down a couple petals on each piece of background fabric. Then, I went to my machine to start sewing down the edges. I tried to have the same colors, so I didn’t have to switch out the thread as often. For the back thread, I used Aurifil 2600, light gray.

I continued until I had all the petals sewn down. Then added the circle to the center. Note, that when sewing the petals down, you do not need to go all the way around. I would stop when the center circle would cover.

All of the blocks are the same, but different. Each time I added the leaves, they would be a little different. You could use a light box. Draw the layout on the background square, so they would all be exact. I liked that they would look different when in the quilt. Some are a little more different, but in the finished quilt, the differences are harder to see.

Next, I created 6 blocks of 2 1/2″ squares. I sewed the Flower fabric to the background in strips. Then, I sub-cut those into 2 1/2″ x 5″ pieces instead of just sewing rows of 2 1/2″ squares.

Then mixing up the fabric pieces, I laid them out and sewed into a 12 1/2″ x 12 1/2″ block.

I alternated between the two blocks to create a 3 x 4 block top.

I added a 1 1/2″ border with the coordinating blue fabric, and a 2 1/2″ border with the light background.

I decided at that point, it needed something else. So I added a third border. It was the blue coordinating fabric, a 3 1/2″ strip.

I enjoyed working with the fabric, so I decided I wanted something else on the back, beside a solid fabric. I cut 2 1/2″ strips of fabric from what I had left. Each piece was different lengths. I sewed them end to end. I cut into strips long enough to still be able to use my longarm to finish the quilt.

Note: Remember, when sewing strips of fabric, to alternate directions, so the strips lay straight.

Here is my quilt back.

Finishing the Quilt.

I used Hobbs Batting and Aurifil Thread to quilt. The Hobbs batting is so easy to use. It comes out of the packages very nicely. It is easy to use for a longarm or a domestic machine. I love how light it feels, but how warm. As this is a smaller quilt, lap size, I was able to use the left-over batting from my July project. I had just enough of the batting.

I wanted to find a quilting pantograph that would highlight the fabric and show off the thread from Aurifil. The quilt was quilted on my Juki Longarm, with a design I got from Quilting Pantographs, called Poppy Mia. Quilting Pantographs has a great rewards program, and I got this design free. 

My quilt finished at 48″ x 60″.

If you enjoyed seeing my quilt, make sure to check out Songbird’s quilt, with the same fabric line.

Make sure to check out the other Island Batik Ambassadors. Also, look at the fabric lines that they received for this Adventurous Applique blog hop!

Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs
Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting
Megan Best ~ BestQuilter
Pamela Boatright ~ PamelaQuilts

Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts Studio
Brittany Fisher ~ Bobbin with Brittany
Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts
Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts

Jane Hauprich ~ Stitch by Stitch Custom Quilting
Kim Jamieson-Hirst ~ Chatterbox Quilts
Victoria Johnson ~ Forever Quilting for You
Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs

Connie Kresin Campbell ~ Freemotion by the River
Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood
Denise Looney ~ A Quiltery
Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights
Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack Made Mine

Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion
Sarah Pitcher ~ Pitcher’s Boutique
Lana Russel ~ Lana Quilts
Julia Schweri ~ Inflorescence Designs
Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail

Carol Stanek ~ Stitch with Color
Sandra Starley ~ Textile Time Travels
Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations
Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt

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