First things first… I am an Island Batik Ambassador!!!  I am so excited to have been accepted as apart of this talented group of quilters.  Island Batik Company has been around for over 15 years providing quality products and outstanding customer service.

Island Batik Ambassador’s are from all over the world.  As an Island Batik Ambassador, I will be sharing their fabric lines and projects to help inspire you.  Every month there will be something new to share.

I am one of those people who can’t stand to be late.  Even when I try to not to be the first person at the party, I’m always on time!  The 2017 Island Batik Ambassador’s just ended their year with the Four Season Blog Hop January 31st.  The boxes filled with Island Batik goodies for the 2018 Ambassador’s have been mailed.  Unfortunately mine will be delivered while I’m away at a quilting retreat.  I can’t stand to be late so I pulled out some Island Batik fabric from my stash to share my GALentine’s Day project with you.

If you were a Parks & Recreation’s fan you’ll remember when Leslie Knope created “Galentine”s Day” as a celebration of our best gal pal’s and lady friends!  So this February 13th (that’s right, the day before Valentines Day) let’s celebrate our fellow females who encourage and inspire us.

I heart you.

I am also a Studio 180 Design Certified Instructor, so the way I roll is with Deb Tucker Tools!  This Mug Rug was made with Deb’s Split Rects & Corner Pop Tools.

I started by choosing my Island Batik fabrics from the Drizzle Collection and my favorite thread from Aurifil.  I made this Mug Rug by making two  3″ x 6″ finished mirror image Split Rects units.  First thing was to check the size chart in my Split Rects instructions.  I had fat quarters of dark purple & light purple, and yardage of my background  fabric.  The tool instructions will tell you that for 3″x 6″ finished units you will need 7″ wide strips of each color.  I cut a 7″ strip from each of my purple fat quarters, and a 7″ WOF strip from my background fabric.

For Mirror Image units I placed my purple 7″ strips right sides together and trimmed off the selvages.

Right handers place strips horizontally on the cutting mat and position the tool on the strip with the broad black line against the trimmed end of the strips and the desired finished size guide line along the raw edge of the strips. Trim along the slanted edge of the tool.  You will now have mirror image elongated triangles. (See tool instructions for left handed cutting.)

Repeat the process and cut two mirror image elongated triangles from your background fabric.  Place the background triangles with purple triangles as shown above.

Stitch the elongated triangles by placing them right sides together with the long, bias edge of the pieces aligned.  Because they are oversized there is no need to fuss, just center the two pieces with just a bit of overlap at the ends and stitch.  I press the seams open, but you can press to the dark if you are morally opposed to pressing the seams open.

First trim, for right handers, position the unit horizontally on the cutting mat (see tool instructions for left handed trimming).  Align either the “Common Diagonal” or the correct “Size Diagonal” with the seam you have sewn (this will vary depending on the slant of your unit).  The photo above has the common diagonal lined up with the sewn seam.  Check to make sure that the unit is completely contained within the trim down lines for 3″x6″ unit.  Trim up the right side and across the top.  Lift the tool and rotate the unit.  Reposition the tool over the unit.  Align the cut size measurement with the trimmed corner and the same Common Diagonal line used the first time.  Trim the two remaining edges.

For the second Split Rects unit you will use the “Size Diagonal” line (this will vary depending on the slant of your unit) positioned over the sewn seam making sure the unit is completely contained within the 3″x6″ trim down lines.  Trim up the right side and across the top.  Lift the tool, rotate the unit.  Align the cut size measurement with the trimmed corner and the same Size Diagonal line used the first time.  Trim the two remaining edges.

You now have two perfectly trimmed mirror image Split Rects Units.  For the top of our heart I used Deb Tucker’s Corner Pop tool.

Cut two 3 1/2″ squares, one from the dark purple & one from the light purple fabric.  Cut two 2″ squares from the background fabric, and then cut them once diagonally ( the size of the replacement triangle squares varies per cut away size & is found in the chart in the tool instructions).

With the  Corner Poop tool you can choose from 22 size options and remove a 90 degree corner from your base unit while leaving the 1/4″ seam allowance.  For this project I popped off a 3/4″ corner from the dark purple  3 1/2″ square.  Place the 3/4″ ruler lines over the corner you wish to remove as shown above and trim.

Center the replacement triangles right sides together with the base shape and stitch.  Press toward the small triangle.

Locate the Trim Down Section on your Corner Pop tool and find the diagonal line that corresponds to the Cut Away Size, which is 3/4″.  Trim away the excess replacement triangle fabric, returning your base square to its original size.

Repeat the process and pop off one more corner as shown above.  Center & stitch the replacement triangle, press toward the replacement triangle.

As before, locate the Trim Down Section on your Corner Pop tool and find the diagonal line that corresponds to the Cut Away Size, which is 3/4″.  Trim away the excess replacement triangle fabric.  Your unit should look like the one above.  Repeat this whole process and pop off the corners of the light purple 3 1/2″ square.

You should end up with the four units above.

Stitch the light purple heart top to the dark purple split rects unit and Stitch the dark purple heart top to the light purple split rects unit.  Press one seam towards the split rects unit and press the other towards the heart top.  Re-Press one seam of the heart top unit that was pressed toward the split rects so the seams will nest when the unit halves are sewn together.

I pressed the center seam open to avoid bulk.

Measure your heart.  Mine measures 6 1/2″x 9 1/2″.  I cut two strips 1 1/2″x 9 1/2″ and sewed them on either side.  Measure your heart gain.  I needed 2 strips 1 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ and stitched them on the top and bottom of my heart.

My mug rug top measures 8 1/2″ by 11 1/2″  so I cut a piece of scrap batting & backing one inch larger, 9 1/2″ by 12 1/2″.  Using my walking foot I quilted the 3 layers using a simple cross hatch design with Ivory Aurifil thread.

I finished it with 2 1/4″ binding cut from my left over fat quarter.

Tucker tried her best to keep me from finishing my GALentine’s Day Mug Rug, but I am pleased with the finished product.

#islandbatikambassador #islandbatik #iheartislandbatik #happygalentinesday #happyvalentiesday #galentinesday #valentinesday  #thebestfrombali