Island Batik Storm at Sea Quilt – Night Navigator
November marks the final blog hop in the year’s Island Batik Ambassador program. What fun I have had in this year. For this month we were asked to make quilts using their new collections of fabrics and the Storm at Sea pattern. We were asked to play around with this traditional block and that is just what I did. For my Island Batik Storm at Sea quilt I made this piece I named “Night Navigator”.
I cannot say enough how pleased I am with the way my quilt turned out. For my challenge, I received the new Island Batik collection called “Constellations”. This gorgeous line was designed by Kathy Engle for Kari Nichols of Quilting Renditions, and it will be available in stores in December 2021. If you watched my July unboxing video you may remember that there was a “surprise” package in it. Well, this is the fabric that was in that package.
Twenty half yards of blues in every shade with beautiful patterns in each fabric. There were even a couple of whites in the collection. Wow is all I can say!
Disclosure: The products in this post were generously provided by Island Batik, Accuquilt, Hobbs Batting and Schmetz Needles.
For my photos, I was lucky to have already booked a beach vacation with my husband to Ocracoke Island, North Carolina. We go there most summers, and this year the timing was perfect because I packed up my quilt and took it with us. What better place to take pictures of a Storm at Sea quilt than the beach, right?!
About the Quilt
I recorded a quick video which tells you about the quilt and shows you how I used my Accuquilt Go! system to make my Storm at Sea quilt blocks.
To design “Night Navigator” I used my Electric Quilt 8 software. It took a while because I really wanted to come up with something unique that showed off the gorgeous fabric. I also love scrap quilts, so I couldn’t resist making it scrappy.
There are so many beautiful versions of Storm at Sea quilts out there, but what kept popping out to me was that center circular shape. It reminded me a bit of a compass. Because of that I colored my blocks so that shape would be the dominant feature of the quilt.
Island Batik fabrics lines normally have 20 different fabrics in them and throughout all of our blog hops I have incorporated all 20 of them. This hop was no exception. The quilt has 20 blocks in it, and each one is a combination of various shapes.
Measuring about 64″ x 80″ when finished, the quilt was beautifully machine quilted by Melinda Keppler of ScottieBelle Designs. The design fit the theme of the quilt perfectly.
About the Fabric
The real star of this quilt is the fabric. Blue after glorious blue (plus a couple of whites) is what you will find in “Constellations”.
I am a fan of blue fabrics so this collection blew me away. In addition, because of the theme (and title) of the line, it fit in perfectly with what I had in mind.
For the top I used all twenty of the fabrics in the collection. I also used Island Batik’s black solid fabric for the outer area of the block. In the center blocks I used their white solid to get those diamond shapes. For the back of the quilt I used the two fabrics they gave me from their foundations lines (pictured on the far right).
The darker one is called “Ravine” and is from their Brilliant Blues foundations line. The lighter one is called “Wavy Dots Bluebird” and is from their blenders collection.
What a pleasure it was to quilt with these fabrics.
Other Tools Used
To make my individual blocks I used my Accuquilt Go! cutting system. I did not have the “Storm at Sea” die so I came up with my own combination of dies to make my block. In fact, the video show and tell of this quilt also has a tutorial showing you how to make a Storm at Sea quilt block using dies from the Accuquilt Go! 8″ cube as well as their Triangle in a Square die. You can also see my entire block-making process in my blog post entitled How to Make a 16 1/2″ Storm at Sea Block Using the AccuQuilt Go! Cutting System.
For all of the quilt top assembly I used Schmetz microtex needles.
For the batting I used Hobbs 80/20 bleached batting. This gives the quilt a nice drape and feel.
“Night Navigator” Takes a Vacation
Our favorite place to vacation is Ocracoke Island, North Carolina. It is at the very bottom of the Outer Banks and you can only get there by ferry. With my quilt carefully packed, we headed down. If you have ever been to the Outer Banks, then you know that it is almost always windy on the beach. While you can get the occasional slight breeze day, it is usually a pretty strong wind.
Luckily there are some sheltered areas where I was able to get some decent photos. I am also lucky because I have a very patient husband who holds my quilts for me, wind and all.
The wind did not cooperate the week were visiting. In addition, you may notice the sky. With the exception of the last day, there was not a cloud in it. I rarely want bad weather on our vacations, but I was hoping I might get at least a tiny thunderstorm to take a few pictures. But I can’t complain, we had gorgeous weather the entire week.
This photo was taken at Springer’s Point. The area here is called Teach’s Hole because it is off of this coast that the famous pirate Blackbeard (Edward Teach) lost his life.
16 Comments
Jennifer Fulton
November 4, 2021 at 8:12 AMAbsolutely gorgeous~ What a tribute to the sailors of the sea. This collection is so beautiful. I bet you had such fun designing for it.
createwithclaudia_7j76hs
November 4, 2021 at 9:00 AMThank you so much. It was definitely fun to use this fabric. The blues are out of this world!
Jennifer Thomas
November 4, 2021 at 8:38 AMSo gorgeous! I really like the design you created with this fabric. The lighthouse pictures are awesome, too! Have a great day.
createwithclaudia_7j76hs
November 4, 2021 at 9:00 AMThanks! I really appreciate it. I’m wishing I was back at the beach now.
Gail Renna
November 4, 2021 at 9:13 AMBeautiful and creative! I love your beach pictures too.
createwithclaudia_7j76hs
November 5, 2021 at 10:01 AMThank you Gail. I think we had the same idea with out photos. Loving this fabric!
Quilting Tangent
November 4, 2021 at 11:22 AMPretty quilt. Would love to enter your giveaway but sadly I’m not on Instagram. You can lay your pieces out on cookie sheets or trays instead of going on the floor. Just an idea to save your back and knees.
createwithclaudia_7j76hs
November 5, 2021 at 10:02 AMGreat tip because it seems to be getting harder and harder to get up off the floor for me. I’ll remember the Instagram info for my next giveaway. Thanks.
Becky Turner
November 4, 2021 at 11:29 AMOh My…. Love what you did with the block and with the fabrics….
Its been fun watching you do the challenges this year.
Thought I would mention that there are probably lots, several more then one of us who do not IG, or Twitter, or SnapChat or Facebook and do not get to play in a giveaway like this.
createwithclaudia_7j76hs
November 5, 2021 at 10:03 AMI’ll keep the Instagram info in mind for my next giveaway. Thanks for that and for enjoying the challenges. They have been a lot of fun.
Joyce Carter
November 4, 2021 at 2:35 PMClaudia, your quilt is sooo gorgeous! The design is unique and totally different from any I have seen. You did an awesome job and I absolutely LOVE your quilt.
createwithclaudia_7j76hs
November 5, 2021 at 10:03 AMThank you so much! I really appreciate it.
Ann B
November 4, 2021 at 3:33 PMI absolutely love this! What a beautiful design for your gorgeous fabric.
createwithclaudia_7j76hs
November 5, 2021 at 10:03 AMI appreciate your kind comments Ann. Thanks for stopping by!
Lynn Mercer
November 4, 2021 at 3:50 PMWow, I never used blue fabric because I grew up with a mom who used blue everywhere, but I am converted! I love the look of this quilt fabric. Thanks, for converting me! I see blue in my future.
createwithclaudia_7j76hs
November 5, 2021 at 10:04 AMThat’s awesome! I love blue fabrics so when I got these I was super excited. Thanks for stopping by!