I am so pleased to be sharing my newest quilt pattern, Blooming Desert. It is featured in this years Island Batik Spring 2020 Catalog. I finished the quilt in November 2019 and shipped it to Island Batik. It was photographed and would have been in a spring quilt market booth, but we all know spring 2020 was cancelled, so it came home to me. All the fabrics are from the foundations line – White solid, Plum, Primrose, Pistachio, and Pool – so they are always available
With the expert technical editing of Yvonne Fuchs at Quilting Jetgirl, the pattern was finished over a month ago. I think fear held me back from putting it out there, but here it is. I have committed and now you get to see it!
Because this needed to be sent in a timely fashion, I decided on an overall quilting pattern. I quilted it at Bits N Pieces in Pelham NH on a HandiQuilter Forte. There is nothing like a machine with a 24″ throat to speed up your work. Now, I could have done it on my machine, but it would have required some fooling around that I was not ready to do on a quilt that needed to be close perfect.
I used the pantograph, Feather Delight (above). This quilt pattern had a tiny bit of a feeling of the dancing Kokopelli, which made it suitable for my idea about the quilt. Moreover, it mimicked the fabric on the back. One of my goals was not to have the quilting to overtake the quilt, but to stay in the background since the fabrics were being showcased in this quilt.
I designed it in Electric Quilt 8* and had fun changing up a block in the library for easier piecing. Extending the motif into the corners is fun way to make quilts go to the edge.
Just in case you forget, there is more than one way to use Electric Quilt* in your quilting. I used it to make this label; I wrote about it here. It is a nice way for a label to be made for a specific quilt and a fast way to do it when you are on a deadline! Details added to make a quilt more personal are fun, so I used one of the Island Batik woven labels in the corner.
Here are some shots of Blooming Desert in the wild. Sometime the wind and shadows get in the way, but it is a vibrant quilt and I love the way it looks in different settings.
You can visit my store to purchase it (above) or this click on the button below. It is discounted 25% through midnight the 12th.
Thank you to the sponsors during my Island Batik Ambassadorship: Accuquilt*, Hobbs Cotton Batting*, and of course, the wonderful fabrics from Island Batik. A special thanks to my husband, Jonathan, who supports me every step of the way.
I believe there may be a Quilt Along – it is easily divided into pieces and I think that might be fun to do – but I haven’t figured out a date yet. I would like to spend more time quilting it, so that is one reason for me to redo it.
Coming Up on the Blog:
Block 2 QAL by the Sea (8/11)
Block 3 QAL by the Sea (8/18)
Tips and Tutorials (8/22)
Block 4 QAL by the Sea (8/25)
Hosting TGIFF (8/28)
Garden Party Hop (9/17)
Hello Fall (9/21)
Tips and Tutorials (9/22)
Linking Up With:
Longarm Arm Learning
Midweek Makers #240
Wednesday Wait Loss 184
Ufo Busting 117
Congratulations on the pattern release, Kathleen. It’s a gorgeous design and I look forward to seeing other versions of it being made!
Oh so fun to see this release! The design is just fantastic!
This is an amazing design and so beautiful in those fabrics…love it!
Beautiful, Kathleen! The quilting is lovely and perfect for your goal! Yes, fun to see your release!!!
Kathleen, this is a brilliant design! Love it!
Congratulations on your pattern release!
Happy Quilting! 🙂
Wow, Kathleen, this is beautiful!!!! I love the design, I love the colors–it’s all gorgeous!!! Which IB line is it? I especially love the corners!
Kathleen, it’s stunning! Beautiful design and colors!
What a nice and bright quilt. ‘Love it for sure,
Hi Kathleen! Big huge congrats to you. I’m so proud of you for getting this pattern together and out in the world. It’s a shame about the quilt market. I was just talking about making a label for a special quilt – our first label. You know I’ll check out your tutorial when it’s time. Your quilt is beautiful. Nice job. ~smile~ Roseanne
Congratulations Kathleen! I am so happy for you. Your pattern is beautiful and you should be very proud of all your hard work and creativity.
Congratulations on the new pattern. It’s great. I love the new IB solid colours.
This is beautiful, Kathleen! Congrats on your pattern release! I love “one giant block becomes the quilt” designs like this one, and your colors really make it sing. Such a bummer that your Blooming Desert didn’t get her day at Quilt Market. I’m so intrigued that you rented a long arm machine to do the quilting! It looks great. Was this your first time quilting on a long arm? Was it a paper pantograph or computerized? It looks really good. I’m also curious what type and color thread you used, because it really does disappear on ALL the fabrics like you wanted. Even on the darkest batiks, I don’t see any distracting contrasting thread, yet it’s just as invisible on the white background. Great job!
Congratulations on the new pattern! Lovely quilt. Thanks for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss.
Kathleen! Wow! What a beautiful quilt and congrats on your pattern. Sorry about Spring Market, but hopefully many more opportunities lie ahead for you. Thanks for linking to Clever Chameleon. xx