What are your quilty resolutions for the next year? Sew more! Of course we always want to sew more! When Island Batik prompted the Ambassadors with the Celebration Challenge, I went straight to New Years! It’s a holiday I wanted to pause on, since my quilt themes tend to go from Christmas to Valentines.

This year I sewed 64 projects, and the quilt in this post makes the 19th quilt that’s throw size or larger.

The beginning of the year was an absolute blur having three designs accepted into magazines. Then I made quilts for the Island Batik program, but had fabric leftover to do some pattern tests. The addition of the HandiQuilter Moxie on an 8 foot Loft frame brought my quilts to the finish line in 2 days rather than a week of basting and free motion quilting on the HandiQuilter Capri sit down machine.

December is a whole month of reflection, reassessment, and planning. One regret I have for 2023 was after making the Moroccan Tiles quilt. The pattern was in my Open Gate Quilts Subscription box as part of their stash builder/buster add-on, and not available for others to purchase. A similar thing happened with the Puzzle quilt which was a printed pattern from Open Gate Quilts, but not available to purchase. For the next year, I wanted to make sure I focus on patterns available to others, so that’s how this quilt is kicking off!

The quilt I made is the first in my Quilt Matchmaker series! Season 1 is working though the book “Fat Quarter Winners” by Monique [Jacobs] Dillard. I’ve had this book for years, in both Kindle and paperback versions. My initial intent was to join a fat quarter club and pair the fabrics to each pattern, but an end of year sale on Island Batik Fat Quarters swept me away to be fully stocked for the series.

The first quilt in the book is called “King’s Corner.” You can watch the whole tutorial and process on my YouTube Channel! Link!

I had already done several mockups of this in the past with Electric Quilter 8, and was instantly in love with using a dark background. The match was made with the line Copper Patina left over from the paper piecing challenge, and this month’s Island Batik Challenge to make a quilt themed around a celebration. These blocks pop like New Years Fireworks off that black background!

Supplies:

• Copper Patina Fat Quarters from Island Batik (also used for small borders instead of single yardage) These were leftovers from the Perfectly Pieced Challenge
• Black Foundation from Island Batik
• Dark Gray Foundation from Island Batik
• Fat Quarter Winners by Monique [Jacobs] Dillard, available in Kindle and Paperback
• Schmetz 75/11 Needle for Piecing
• Aurifil 50wt Mako in black for Piecing
• Pieced on the Babylock Crescendo
• Quilted on the HandiQuilter Moxie with 8 foot Loft Frame
• Quilted with Glide Thread in Sangria from Hab and Dash

Lastly, my stretch goal for New Years resolutions would be to hand bind my quilts. Maybe after the next 2 I have lined up…

Make sure you check out the other Island Batik Ambassadors and see their wonderful celebratory inspirations!

Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs
Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting
Pamela Boatright ~ PamelaQuilts
Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts
Brittany Fisher ~ Bobbin with Brittany

Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts
Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts
Reed Johnson ~ Blue Bear Quilts
Victoria Johnson ~ Forever Quilting for You
Randi Jones ~ Randi’s Roost

Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs
Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood
Denise Looney ~ Quiltery – For The Love Of Geese
Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights
Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack Made Mine

Anorina Morris ~ sameliasmum.com
Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion
Sarah Pitcher ~ Pitcher’s Boutique
Claudia Porter ~ Create with Claudia
Lana Russel ~ Lana Quilts

Elita Sharpe ~ Busy Needle
Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail
Sandra Starley ~ Textile Time Travels
Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations
Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt

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