Meet Morning Star.  This is my Island Batik Ambassador challenge project for June.

This month's theme is Spread Love and Joy with Accuquilt.  The guidelines are to create a gift of comfort, using the Accuquilt die we received in our first ambassador box of the year combined with designs from the 8" Qube dies.

I was super excited to receive the Morning Star die.  It's fabulous!  It looks a little intimidating with all those triangles, but the pieces fit together perfectly.  That's the beauty of Accuquilt.  The die cuts are so accurate that it is hard to mess up the piecing!

I designed my Morning Star quilt in EQ8.  There are so many beautiful options you can make with this pattern.  The angles that the triangles are set in this block give your quilt the illusion of curvy circles.  This is one of the three blocks that went into my quilt.  I used Aurifil thread and Schmetz needles for all the piecing.

This is another one of the blocks I made.  I used Island Batik's solid black, plus fabrics from my stash.  Many of the fabrics I used are from the Mystery collection, one of my all time favorites.  It has so many gorgeous purples, greens, and blues.

Even though I had a planned out design, it was fun to play with the blocks on my design wall and see what else I could create.

This one reminds me of the spinning blades of a ceiling fan.

I love, love, love the way the Morning Star Blocks look together.  However, the second part of this challenge was to incorporate a design made with the 8" Qube Accuquilt dies.  I didn't want to lose the circular effect of the Morning Star blocks, so I decided to make a pinwheel border with the Qube dies.  This photo shows my pinwheel blocks in progress.  

I quilted Morning Star with Hobbs Poly-Down Premium Polyester batting.  It was my first experience using this batting.  It's thicker and puffier than cotton batting, and great to use if the quilt's recipient has any allergies to other types of batting.  I noticed that my quilt was softer and more foldable using this batting as well.

I quilted in an allover spiral design.

The center section of the quilt after quilting.

A corner of the quilt showing the Pinwheel border.  I used my Accuquilt 2-1/2" strip die and 1-1/2" strip die to cut the blue borders.

Picnic under the oak trees, anyone?

Pretty folds.

I used Island Batik solid black for the backing of this quilt.  It coordinates well with the front, but shows every little bit of lint, cat hair, quilting imperfections, and anything else that touches it!  I think I'll stick with busier designs for the back from now on.  I love Island Batik solids, just not for backing fabrics.

I made my binding with two different blue fabrics.  They match so well in color I can barely tell them apart.

More pretty folds.

Finished Quilt Size:  62" x 62"

Block Size:  12" x 12"

Fabric:  Assorted Island Batik

Batting:  Hobbs Poly-Down

Thread:  Aurifil

Dies:  Accuquilt Morning Star, 8" Qube, 2-1/2" Strip, 1-1/2" Strip

This quilt is meant to be a gift of comfort.  To meet that requirement I'm gifting it to my Mother.  My Dad had a serious fall a couple of months ago and she's been an amazing caregiver during his ongoing recovery.  I know you're probably reading this Mom.  I love you.  I hope this quilt brings you comfort.  It will be on it's way to you soon.

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For maximum inspiration, keep up with my fellow Island Batik Ambassadors here: