Wrapping up the 100 Days 100 Blocks 2021 project

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...

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.

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.

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.

Blocks made with fabric collections by Dashwood Studio.

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. 

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. 

The Habitat collection features animals from all parts of the world.

This is my fourth year participating in the 100 Days 100 Blocks project. It's always a fun project and it keeps one's patchwork skills finely tuned!

Ask your local quilt shop [YLQS] for these fabric lines and start your own sampler block project.

Fall Quilt Market Recap, part 2: Quilting

As one would expect, Quilt Market booths were draped with colorful, striking quilts—examples and inspiration for creating with fabric manufacturers' upcoming fabric collections.

Painted Ladies quilt (center) featuring Street Art batiks from Banyan Batiks.

A repetition of simple shapes and basic block patterns provided a framework for the array of colors and fabrics to a dance in rhythm in these quilts—with each quilt featuring a different fabric collection.

I attended two schoolhouse presentations by Banyan Batiks. Designer, Tiffany Hayes [Needle in a Hayes Stack], talked about her upcoming Sazerac batik line for Banyan Batiks. The collection was inspired by the era of the Speakeasy and is portrayed in sultry, rich earthy colors with spicy citrus-toned accents.

Tiffany Hayes talking about her Sazerac batik collection [Banyan Batiks].

Banyan Batik quilt at the schoolhouse session at Quilt Market.

Karen Gibbs from Banyan Batiks talked about the batiking process and passed around an example of the hand-crafted tjap [pronounced "chop"] that is used to stamp and create the designs and motifs on the fabric.

A tjap used in making batik fabrics.

Technique Reboot!
Classic patchwork techniques and quilt blocks are just as fun and popular now as they ever were! Diamond Textiles featured its textured cotton embossed collection with this one-block Carpenters Star quilt. The cotton embossed fabrics are created with a resist process—much like the process for making batiks.

One block Carpenters Star quilt with Cotton Embossed [Diamond Textiles].

The Superior Threads booth featured Leesa Chandler's Melba fabric line using the classic Stack N Whack (kaleidoscope) technique. The Melba collection [from Australia-based fabric company, The Textile Pantry] also has a teal/silver colorway that is just as striking in the Stack N Whack quilt.

The Melba fabric collection [The Textile Pantry] is stunning in the stack n whack quilt.

Northcott Fabrics is pushing the traditional attic windows technique to new levels with its upcoming collection, The View from Here. What's the view you'd like to see out your window?

The View from Here from Northcott Fabrics.

The View from Here fabric collection

The Log Cabin goes Uptown
M&S Textiles Australia brought a contemporary twist to the traditional log cabin quilt. A mix of colorful aboriginal prints paired with a light fabric offers areas in this on-point log cabin setting for fun machine quilting. In the classic log cabin patchwork style, it's all about the placement of the lights and darks!

Log Cabin quilt in the M&S Textiles booth at Houston Quilt Market.

The big block Durango pattern [Villa Rosa Designs] offers easy piecing for this log cabin quilt. It's a great pattern to show off a variety of large scale fabrics like these aboriginal prints.

Durango [Villa Rosa Designs] quilt in the M&S Textiles booth, Houston Quilt Market.

Whether you're a cat or dog lover, this clowder of "calico" cats is a cute way to show off the Australian aboriginal fabric designs. The Cat City pattern [Villa Rosa Designs] is a fat quarter friendly pattern. 

Cat City quilt [Villa Rosa Designs] using Australian aboriginal prints
from M&S Textiles Australia.

Another log cabin quilt—this time with the barn raising setting—features the Primitive Collection from Batik Textiles.

Log cabin quilt in the Primitive Collection from Batik Textiles.

We never tire of these classic blocks! They stand the test of time because they are so versatile.

Primitive batiks at Houston Quilt Market.

New Techniques

MJ Kinman's booth showcased her stunning gemstone quilts. MJ has trained a team of Gem Affiliates from across the USA and Canada in her unique piecing technique. 

MJ Kinman's Gemstone booth at Quilt Market.

Northcott Fabrics is bringing her gemstone designs to the quilting community with fabric panels and jewel-toned coordinates in its Jewel Box collection. Now quilters can achieve gemstone designs in multiple ways.

MJ Kinman's booth at Houston Quilt Market

Ask your local quilt shop [YLQS] about these fabrics and any classes they will offer to help and inspire you in your quiltmaking endeavors. YLQS is your source for what's coming in the quilting world.