This month's challenge was sponsored by Accuquilt. They sent each of the Ambassadors a North Carolina Star BOB die. I was super excited to receive this die, as I live in North Carolina. I've had my eye on this one for a while. We were challenged to use the pieces that make up the block in any way we liked. We were also encouraged to do a Fall themed project.
I try to use the fabrics in my current Island Batik Ambassador box as much as I can for challenge projects, and I did not have a lot of Fall colors, but I did have this 10" precut stack of Ornate Gems that was calling out to me for this project. I just love the blue/green/red color combo and the designs are pretty fabulous, too.
I made two blocks with a blue theme. There are a lot of pieces for this block! It looks complex, but Accuquilt has found a way to piece this block without any Y seams ~ Yay! The Accuquilt BOB (block on board) dies are so fabulous. They are designed so you can cut out all the pieces for one block at the same time! This was the first block I made, and you can see I was a tiny bit off with my piecing in the center, but I went with it anyway. I'm not perfect, I'm never going to be perfect, but I do still love it!
I did play around with the corner pieced sections on my design wall and came up with these two fun blocks. I decided not to use them for this project, but I might use them in a future quilt. I especially like the block on the left.
Caramel helped me hand stitch the label onto the back of my quilt.
My son, Trent helped me with the photography. He was trying to make a scary face, but it looks like a smile to me.
Here's the red block that I made for the center of the table runner. The piecing on this one came out better than the blue blocks. It was the third block I made. Practice makes perfect! (or close to it!)
North Carolina Star table runner, posing with one yellow Poplar leaf for Fall.
North Carolina Stars falling down the steps.
I used the green variegated thread from my Aurifil color builders box for the quilting. It's color #4653.
I also used Hobbs Thermore batting for this project. It's light and easy to quilt through with my favorite Schmetz needles.
I used Blueberry for the outer border and binding of this quilt.
Ahhhhh! You can get a nice feel for the colors and designs in the Ornate Gems collection in this pic.
If you are in North Carolina, like me you can find Ornate Gems at the Cary Quilting Company, in Cary, NC, and Bill's Sewing Machine Company.
A few other shops carrying Ornate Gems:
Boutique for Quilters in FL
Heartfelt in UT
Sew Many Pieces in WI
Sew What Fabrics/Batiks Etc., in VA
Ruth's Stitchery in CO
The Sewing Studio in FL
Close to Home in CT
Jackman's Inc. in MO
My Favorite Quilt Store in TX
Mill End Store in OR
Heart and Home in CT
All About Quilts in MA
Calico Cat in HI
Creekside Quilts in OR
Hancocks of Paducah in KY
and many more!
To find a store near you that carries Island Batik, try the store locator.
And if your local quilt shop doesn't carry Island Batik fabrics, ask for them!
North Carolina Star Table Runner
Quilt Stats:
Quilt Size: 42" x 18"
Block Size: 12" x 12"
Fabric: Ornate Gems by Island Batik
Dies: North Carolina Star, 1-1/2" strip, 2-1/2" strip by Accuquilt
Thread: Aurifil 4653
Batting: Thermore by Hobbs
Needles: Schmetz
Designed in EQ8
Be sure to check out what the other Island Batik Ambassadors made with the North Carolina Star die. Here's a list:
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
For Curlicue Creations quilt patterns, Island Batik fabric, and more, click here to visit the Curlicue Creations shop.
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