The 100 Days 100 Blocks Kinship sampler sew-along is approaching the finish line—next Friday, October 8. Over the last three months, I've been piecing the sampler blocks in batches, using fabrics from several of the fabric companies I rep. Here's a look at the journey...
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| Blocks from the 2021 100 Days 100 Blocks sew-along. Fabrics from Dashwood Studio and Simply Primitive batiks from Batik Textiles. |
Australian Aboriginal designs
In July, I started the 100 Days 100 Blocks program with Australian aboriginal prints from M&S Textiles Australia. The bold colors and aboriginal designs offer a lot of interest and movement. These prints definitely keep the eyes moving across the fabric. Several of the blocks have made it into the center section of a new quilt top.
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| Progress on the center section of a quilt top. |
Felicity Fabrics bridges traditional and modern styles
The next batch of blocks features prints from the Nightfall Floral collection and basics from Felicity Fabrics. The prints from Felicity are ideal for patchwork—smaller scale prints in contemporary color schemes that maintain their presence even when cut into smaller units. The Felicity basics are familiar, tried-and-true designs that support and coordinate with a range of focal prints.
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| Fabrics from Felicity Fabrics. |
A contemporary European flair from Dashwood Studio
Next up is a batch of blocks made with fabrics from the UK company, Dashwood Studio. These fabrics are relatively new to US quilt shops. The prints have a continental, contemporary feel and the Twist basic line has a random seed pattern that offers subtle movement with an easy flow.
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| Blocks made with fabric collections by Dashwood Studio. |
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| Aviary, Hedgerow, Habitat and Twist fabric lines from Dashwood Studio. |
Mixing in primitive style batiks from Batik Textiles
The last batch of blocks incorporates prints from Dashwood Studio with the Simply Primitive batik collection from Batik Textiles. These unique batiks have a minimalist design style and a dusty, darker color palette—quite unlike what usually comes to mind when people mention "batik." The sparse designs of the batiks provide a contrast with the more detailed cotton print deisgns from Dashwood Studio. The darker colors shift the focus to the brighter prints and offer a richness and sophistication to the patchwork blocks.
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| Simply Primitive batiks mixed with prints from Dashwood Studio. |
I'm having a particularly good time choosing and coordinating the colors and textures of the batiks with the Dashwood Studio Habitat collection.
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| The Habitat collection features animals from all parts of the world. |
