Harvest Rose – October “Top It Off” Island Batik Challenge

Autumn is my favorite time of year. The crisp, cool mornings with the golden glow of fall leaves filling the countryside. I thought I would bring the colors of Autumn from the outside into our home. Let me introduce you to “Harvest Rose”, a fast and easy table topper project using Island Batik fabrics, fusible webbing, and the Accuquilt GO! dies.

I made “Harvest Rose” using some of the beautiful batiks from the Island Batik Soil and Seeds collection. I used a precut 10″ stack, and selected fabrics from the stack I thought would bring in those Autumn colors. Soil and Seeds is a Spring 2019 Island Precut offering.

I selected for my background fabric the golden Mushroom batik print from the collection, 111929075. The chestnut sashing in the table topper is made using Blenders BE30-F1. The fusible stems and leaves are made using “Pinecone” from the Basics line. The fall maple leaves and rose flowers use Blenders BE32-F3. The triangle border is constructed with Soil & Seeds 111932867 and it was also used for the binding.

Making the appliqué leaves, steams, and roses was so easy. I used the Accuquilt GO! cutting system and in a matter of minutes I had all the fusible shapes cut to make my table topper. The GO! dies used were:

• GO Fall Melodey Die – 55041
• GO! Rose of Sharon by Sharon Pederson Die – 55045
• GO! Round Flower Die 55007
• GO! Simple Shapes by Edyta Sitar Die – 55177

For my fusible webbing I used Steam-A-Seam II Lite by the Warm Company.  It is a heat activated pressure sensitive fusible webbing. The fusible webbing is sticky and re-positionable which makes it easy to play around with the appliqué shapes until you have the desired design for your project.

The design for “Harvest Rose” was inspired by the “Rose of Sharon” antique appliqué block, I simply used fall leaves, acorns, and leaves to transform this time treasured block in to an Autumn version.

The topper finishes to 30″ x 30″ and only took me a weekend to make. I did not finished the raw edges of the appliqués. I simply quilted them in place with an irregular line of quilting stitches. You could satin stitch or machine blanket stitch around the appliqués, but I wanted to have this to enjoy as soon as possible, so I opted not to stitch around the appliqué. I quilted it using Aurifil 50wt. in both the top and bobbin.

Since I am using this table topper on my 1905 antique oak table, I choose Hobbs Heirloom® Premium 80/20 Cotton/Poly Blend. The batting is soft, has a nice loft, is durable, and machine-washable and will protect the finish on my antique oak table. I just love how this table topper turned out. It was so simple, fast, and easy.

I hope you give “Harvest Rose” a try.

May your home be filled the color and beauty of the wonderful Autumn season.

Happy Quilting!