Hey guys, I'm Jo! Welcome to my blog! here you can follow me on my sewing journey where I will be sharing what I'm getting up to in the wonderful world of fabric xxx
A new year brings a new Island Batik Ambassador challenge. This month we had to create a set of placemats using any technique and any fabrics. I chose to make Union Jack placemats or should i say Union Jack inspired placemats, yep, i got the design wrong and didnt realise until i looked at the finished photos! does this ever happen to you? ah well, i still love how they look.
I pulled out a selection of blues, reds, pinks and whites to create my place mats and added a different fabric in each section apart for the red center cross. Its given them a real vintage look and i love how the island batik fabric has given them so much texture.
I used Foundation paper piecing to put all my flags together, its my favourite technique and a great way to get a super crisp finish!
Im super excited to share with you, I have been selected to be an Island Batik Ambassdor for the year of 2021, This will be my third year, I have loved being a part of this amazing group and cannot wait for the year ahead. I recieved my first 2 boxes a couple days ago and heres what i recieved…….
4 yards each of White, Grey and Black Solids and 6 yards of a neutral fabric, this one is called Coconut.
2 Yards of this beautiful Rayon, a lovely mid blue called Iris Paisley.
A pack of precut 10″ squares from the gorgeous collection “Painted Blossoms” designed by Kathy Engle for Kate Colleran of Seams Like a Dream Quilt Designs. This pack also came with 2 yards each of a dark and light coordinating fabric. This collection will be shipping to stores in Feb.
Another Precut pack, this time 2 1/2″ strips from the collection “Farm Fresh” designed by Kathy Engle, again with a light and a dark coordinating fabric, 2 yard cuts of each. This collection will be shipping to stores in May.
This gorgeous Half yard bundle of “Painted Blossoms” designed by Kathy Engle for Kate Colleran of Seams Like a Dream Quilt Designs with 2 yards each of light and dark coordinating fabric.
A selection of foundations in half yard cuts, 12 pieces in total consiting of solids and prints.
2 packs of Stash builder rolls, each pack consists of 5 rolls with 4 pieces of 5″ x WOF in each roll, I love recieving these in our boxes and they are super handy to have around.
And finally on the fabric front is a suprise, its a new collection that i cant share with you just yet. Stay tuned for the reveal in May, i have had a quick peak and its gorgeous!
Now onto Industry Partners……
Hobbs Batting always send us a great selection of batting to use in our projects and this year is no different! We have 4 packs of queen size batting, each one measuring 90″ x 108″, Natutal cotton with scrim binder, Premium Cotton, 80/20 Black and Premium Polyester which i am yet to try. Thankyou so much Hobbs Batting.
Aurifil thread sent us 7 large spools of their 40wt and 50wt 100% cotton threads, One is a varigated thread which i love! Im looking forward to using these! Thankyou Aurifil.
Accuquilt sent us all a new die, I recieved the Arkansas Traveler, this will be used in one of our challenges. Thankyou Accuquilt.
Schmetz sent us some new needles to use, i’ve really enjoyed using the chrome range, they are super sharp, we also recieved a pocket guide, colour chart, note pad and cleaning cloth. Thankyou Schmetz.
Thats my first 2 boxes complete, Thankyou so much to Island Batik for all the wonderful goodies and for having me on the team again, Its going to be another fun year of making! The challenges look great and i hope you follow along with me to see what i make.
Take care and Happy Sewing! x
Jo x
PS please do check out my fellow Ambassodors here, they have also shared what they recieved in their boxes via youtube, blog and facebook xx
The items used to make the quilt in this post were given to me by Island Batik as part of their Ambassador 2020 program.
Hey Guys!
Happy New Year! Welcome to my final post of the year as an Island Batik Ambassador 2020! For this months challenge we had to create a Medallion quilt, any size and using any fabrics from the 2 packages we recieved throughout this year.
Of course i pulled out all my favourite colours but wanted to add a few dashes of random colours too, which i did with blue and green. For this project i didnt follow a pattern, instead i used my favourite technique… Improv and just made it up as i went along, starting with my centre block which conisists of a large cross with a heart appliqued over it.
I added some more crosses, half square triangles, plain border strips and finished with a stripey border which i love!
This was my first time using Hobbs Fusible cotton batting which i really enjoyed, i didnt have to pin baste, just ran the iron over once i had it all sandwiched, the fusible held up really well, I recommend and will definately be using this again. I pieced and quilted using Aurifil 50wt thread in colour 2024 and Schmetz Microtex chrome needles
My quilt turned out pretty big, and will be a great snuggle blanket for these colder months especially as my quilting is not as dense as normal, its soft a squishy x
Thankyou so much for following along with me this year and thankyou so much to Island batik and industry partners for supplying the amazing materials to work with x
The items used to make the quilt in this post were given to me by Island Batik as part of their Ambassador 2020 program
Hey Guys,
Today is my stop on the Island Batik Ambassador “Inspired by nature” Blog hop. Today im sharing with you a brand new collection called “Love and Kisses” designed by Sherry Shish. A lovely selection of blues, pinks and purples mostly with hearts incorporated in the deisgns. These will be shipping to stores in December. (Check out the website images here)
My Inspiration for this project was the night sky, were seeing alot of it this time of year and its so pretty looking up at it, seeing all the stars shining. I used the blues of the collection for the background and then used this lovely Simple Star pattern by Irina of Zephyrskies to create some pink and purple stars. This pattern is a great beginner project for any newbie to FPP, it comes with 2 different sized stars, 6″ and 12″ and consists of 3 templates with just 3 sections in each and is a free download too! you can get your hands on this pattern here in Irina’s Payhip store.
Island batik Ambassadors are sharing lots of lovely new fabric collections during this blog Hop and island batik are also doing weekly giveaways over on their blog, For your chance to win one of these bundles click here and please do check out my fellow Ambassadors to see what lovelies they have been making too
Most of the items used in post were given to me by Island batik as part of their Ambassador 2020 program
Hey Guys,
Welcome to my October Ambassador challenge. Meet my latest make ” Happy Mess” This Month was all about showcasing Aurifil thread. I decided to do some fun improv applique using Island Batik solids. I love working with solids, they always make a project look more modern, and having been an ambassador for the last 2 years, ive gotton quite a good little collection going. The colours are beautiful! so vibrant and fun!
I literally had no plan with this one at all, I started by piecing some scraps together of the white and grey solids. I added a few decorative stitches using my Janome Horizon and then started cutting shapes out the the coloured solids, I arranged them onto the background again randomly and stitched them down using blanket and straight stiches with 50wt thread. Where i straight stitched i fringed the edges to add more texture.
Once i had all my shapes stitched down i started to decorate some more by hand using colours from my Aurifil 12wt collection, this is my favourite of the thread weights and my go to for hand quilting.
I used 4 different thread weights in total, 50wt, 12wt, 28wt and floss which i used to hand tie the layers at the end.
I also used Hobbs 100% cotton batting and Shmetz microtex needles for this project. Its been a really fun make and quite exciting not knowing how it would turn out, I hope you like like my happy mess too 🙂
The items used to make this bag were given to me by Island Batik as part of their 2020 Ambassador program.
Hey Guys,
Today is my stop on the Island Batik “Its in the bag” Blog Hop in partnership with Byannie. For this months challenge we got to choose a pattern from By Annie and were given select fabrics from a brand new collection. I chose the Round Trip Duffle pattern and the fabrics i recieved were from the collection Metropolis designed by Kathy Engle which will be shipping to stores this month. These fabrics scream Autumn, so if thats your vibe your gonna love em!
Aswell as the pattern, we also recieved everything we needed to make the project, including the famous Soft and Stable, zips, mesh, webbing and hardware.
This challenge was quite a daunting one for me as im not very experienced in bag making, especially a complex one like this with a million pockets. I concentrated so much that i forgot to take photos during construction but it was super enjoyable. The pattern is very well written and also comes with an add on video that you can access from your account using the code included within the pattern booklet. I made one slight change which were the handles, the pattern states to enclose the webbing inside fabric for the handles but i really liked the contrast of the white next to these fabrics so i left it “raw” if you will. I quilted and constructed using Aurifil 50wt in 2600 and Schmetz micro tex needles.
Im so pleased with how it turned out and have decided to gift it to my parents, they have quite a few weekends away and this will be great new holdall for them to use.
Thankyou so much to Byannie for being so generous sending all the supplies for us to work with, This challenge has been super fun and for me, a skill building one, which is great, i love learning new skills.
PS Island Batik are giving away bundles of new collections every week during this blog hop, so do check them out, This week you could be in with a chance to win a fat quarter bundle of Lemon grass or Mandala magic. click here to enter. and do also check out my fellow Ambassadors There has been some gorgeous bags made already and still more to come x
The items used to make this quilt were given to me by Island Batik as part of their ambassador program 2020
Hey Guys,
Its that time again when I get to share with you my latest make as an Island Batik ambassador, This month was all about trying a new tool and that tool being a Studio 180 Design ruler by the fab Deb Tucker.
The Ruler I received is called Diamond Rects and as you can see from the pic it is transparent so perfect if you want to incorporate fussy cutting into your block. You can also make 5 different sized diamonds. The ruler is very well labelled and comes with a very helpful information insert showing you fabric requirements and step by step instructions to cut every piece you need for the block easily.
One of the things I love about this ruler is each time you construct the block, its always slightly bigger than you need so you can trim every one perfectly to the correct size, I find with most rulers they pretty much cut to the exact size and there isn’t much wriggle room to trim, that’s not the case with this one and its fab!
For the the centre diamonds on this quilt I used a 10″ stack of Island Batik “Sweet Hearts” collection, I found the 10″ squares were perfect for cutting out the second largest size of block for this ruler. I also used a selection of blues from my stash, I’ve been wanting to make a blue quilt for a while now, and all the rainbow colours are so fun and really pop against the darker background! I pieced and quilted using Hobbs Batting 100% cotton, Aurifil 50wt in colour 2615 and Schmetz needles
This quilt has acquired the name “Beach blanket for one” and was claimed by my son on our holiday this year 🙂
Its been another awesome challenge and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it! big thanks to Island Batik and Industry partners, Deb Tucker for the brilliant ruler! I can definitely see more diamond quilts in my future, Hobbs Batting, Aurifil Thread and Schmetz needles.
The items used to make this post were supplied to me by Island batik as part of their Ambassador 2020 program.
Hey Guys,
Im back with another Island Batik challenge and this month is a really lovely one! The challenge is “Christmas in July” with Accuquilt. We got given an Accuquilt GO! Me fabric cutter starter set and with this we had to make a gift for a special person and also gift them the GO! Me cutter too! This set consists of the cutting machine, 2 dies to cut 2 different sized HST’s and a cutting mat. It really is a great starter set for a newbie quilter especially if you havent managed to get your hands on all the fancy tools yet.
I knew straight away i wanted to gift mine to my niece Katie, she has recently gotten into sewing and got her first sewing machine last year, and this cutter set will set her well on her way to making her first quilt and more!
So for the gift i decided to make her a wall hanging for her bedroom, Purple is her favourite colour and amazingly i recieved a bundle of stash builder rolls in guess what colour?…. Yes purple!
I made the wall hanging in the style of a banner with a heart in the middle, the Go! cutter made quick work of the cutting out and i had it whipped up in no time! For this project I also used Hobbs 80/20 batting, Aurifil 50wt thread and Schmetz needles.
Now all that was left for me to do was to get gifting! We met up in our local park on Sunday were we had a lovely family walk and i was able to suprise her with this fab gift, I think she was pleased and I cant wait to see what she makes 🙂 xx
Thankyou so much Island batik and Accuquilt for this absolutely lovely and thoughtful challenge, It was so fun to make and even better to gift!xx
The items featured in this post were gifted to me by Island Batik as part of their ambassador 2020 program.
Hey Guys,
Its that time again when I recieve very happy mail from Island Batik in the form of 2 giant boxes filled with goodies. This is the second and final shipment of the year filled to the brim with new fabric and awsome products from industry partners and will see me through the rest of the years challenges. Here’s a little peak at what i got…….
A super fun and bright fat quarter bundle of a collection called Color Pop designed by Kathy Engle.
A gorgeous (and i think my favourite from this this box) 2.5″ strip pack of Mandala Magic designed by Jackie Kunkel of Canton Village Quilt Works.
A selection of basics to tie in with the fabric collections we have received. A total of 6 yards.
4 yards each of black, white and grey solids and 4 yards of Almond from the neutrals range.
2 packs of these stash builder rolls, each strip is 5″ wide x WOF, you get 4 pieces in each roll and 5 rolls in each pack. These come in super handy!
And finally on the fabric front, I recieved these 2 suprise packages that I can not share with you just yet, but do stay tuned for the reveal later on in the year. Now onto industry partners…….
6 spools of Aurifil Thread 50wt in colours 2600, 2625, 2692, 4026, 1133 and 2134.
A selection of Hobbs Batting, Fusible cotton, 80/20 Black, Silk blend and Fusible batting strips, I haven’t tried any of the fusibles yet so I’m super excited for that!
A new industry partner this year is By Annie, I got to choose one of her patterns and received the full bag making kit, I’m looking forward to making this one.
Another new industry partner this year is Studio 180 Design ltd, I received Deb Tucker’s Diamond Rects ruler and will be using this one very soon in our next challenge.
And last but definately not least, I recieved the Accuquilt Go Me fabric cutter starter set. The challenge for this one is so lovely and I cant wait to share it with you, I’m working on it right now x
So thats everything I recieved in my second box, i’m once again blown away by all the stuff I recieved! Thankyou so much Island batik and industry partners Hobbs Batting, Accuquilt, Studio 180 design Ltd, By Annie and Aurifil thread! Im excited for the scond half of the year and I hope you will follow along with me to see what I make.
The items used to make this quilt were given to me by Island Batik as part of their Ambassador 2020 program.
Hey Guys,
I can’t believe it is the end of June already! This year is whizzing by! For this months Island Batik Ambassador challenge we had no brief to follow, It was a free theme and we could do whatever we wanted.
I wanted to make a scrappy quilt and I had some of the lovely Smooch (designed by Kathy Engle) Fabric left from last months project that I wanted to use along with some other scrap pieces I had from previous projects. I used these pieces for the stars and a selection of low volume and solid prints for the background.
For my stars I used 3 1/2″ finished half square triangles keeping the same background for each quarter of the block, to create 6″ uniform squares in the background.
I quilted using my favourite matchstick technique that takes forever to do and uses up oh so much thread, but I do love the finish and its well worth it in the end.
Its been another great challenge, and I love how my quilt turned out! thankyou so much to Island Batik and industry partners for giving us the awesome supplies to work with!
Unicornharts 