April flowers is my baby quilt project for April Island Batik Ambassador challenge. The challenge was to make a square baby quilt using the AccuQuilt Go. The fabric for this quilt was provided by Island Batik and the batting by Hobbs Batting. As part of the Island Batik Ambassador program, we also received an AccuQuilt Ready Set Go cutter and dies.
A cutting system for fabric was not something I was considering at this time. As soon as I got this though, I pulled out a pile of medium-sized blue scraps and cut them into 2.5″ strips. It was like magic – my odd sized scraps were instantly transformed into a jelly roll worth of strips. These strips are part of a project-in-progress but that is for another blog post.
For this project, I decided to make a block from the book that accompanied the Accuquilt system. It is by Eleanor Burns and has patterns for several classic 8″ blocks along with instructions on which die to use and how big to cut the strips, etc. I picked the flower basket block – a classic block that I’ve never made before because is has numerous and small half-square triangles. With AccuQuilt, the HSTs were a breeze. I cut a zillion 2.5″ HSTs, 2.5″ squares and 4.5″ HSTs in 20 minutes. It took me longer to gather and clip the pieces for a block. Using AccuQuilt for projects with several identical pieces is a great time-saver. Next time, I will place the pieces that make a HST – the pinks and the background in this project – right sides together before on the die. They go through the cutter together and I can just pick them up and sew. No extra time for matching the pieces.
I used several bright pinks for the flowers, greens for the basket and the Island Batik solid white for the background. The solid white is the same high-thread count batik fabric but it is just white. I used a bleached Hobb’s 80/20 cotton batting that came in my box. The bleached batting retained the bright white of the background.
I know a lot of you in the northern parts of the Northern hemisphere have had severe weather this past week and even snow storms in April. Here in Houston, TX, we’ve had several weeks of spring already. It was an unusually mild winter with just a few hours of below freezing temperatures. This is very unusual even for Houston. My eggplants and peppers from last year did not die out and have already started blooming and bearing fruit. My Peggy Martin roses, amaryllis and impatiens are blooming. Peaches are done blooming and have tiny fruits. Orange blossoms and baby lemons aplenty on the citrus trees. Enjoying the lovely spring weather and the flowers and their fragrance but dreading the summer heat just around the corner.
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So sweet! It’s a beautiful quilt.
Love the daisy meander. Such good detail.
This is so adorable! Love that you quilted the baskets in different motifs.
What a pretty quilt, and the quilting is lovely. The AccuQuilt Go sure makes short work of cutting out those pieces!
Hi Vasudha! What a wonderful finish and lovely baby quilt. I have never made this pattern for the same reason you list. I love all the different fabrics you chose, and the different quilting in each basket makes it fun visually. I am AMAZED that your peppers and eggplants didn’t die out! And such pretty flowers already – enjoy them while you can. ~smile~ Roseanne
Such cute flower baskets!!! Your choice of fabrics enhances the pattern and your lovely quilting makes the quilt sparkle. Very Vasudha. I am not surprised 🙂
Love this baby quilt – it really makes those baskets shine. The quilting is quite fun too.
Your quilt is so lovely! Thanks for telling us about the Island Batiks solid white. I prefer batiks mixed with solids, but regular solid white quilting cottons have a different weave and feel to them than the batiks. Also, I am SO intrigued by your Accuquilt GO! adventures! I bought the Baby GO! a year or two ago but haven’t used it much until I pulled it out the other day with the 4″ tumbler die and set my non-quilter mother loose cutting up prints from my stash for an outreach top. She had SO MUCH FUN piecing her first quilt top, and only had to think about her 1/4″ seam. Everything went together smoothly since all the tumblers were identical and perfectly cut. I am considering getting the full size GO! cutter instead so I can use some of the larger dies, and those cubes are intriguing as well… I just wish the dies weren’t so darned EXPENSIVE!!
It turned out great. Well done.
Very pretty quilt placed in the perfect setting!
What a lovely quilt!
Your quilt is so pretty!
what a sweet quilt! your quilting is awesome…I’m still on the fence about purchasing an Accuquilt system..I have so much invested in rulers…I tell myself as I get older I may change my mind. I do love the fact that Accuquilt makes cutting easier!
Classic block that looks so pretty in the pink and green fabrics you used! What an adorable baby quilt. Love the quilting you chose. And man, to be able to cut out a quilt in 20 minutes! That must be some kind of record. Thanks for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss.
This is a really pretty spring quilt. And I adore the daisy meander. I may have to give that a go. 🙂 Accuquilt is brilliant for HSTs.
Hello Vasudha,
The colours in your quilt are so beautiful – you have such a good eye for exactly the right shades, and photographing the quilt next to the pink rose makes a gorgeous picture!
Thank you for linking up with Free Motion Mavericks!
Love, Muv