Island Batik July Challenge

The fabric, thread and batting used to make this stocking were given to me by Island Batik as part of their Ambassador 2021 program.

Hey Guys,

Welcome to my Island Batik July post, This months challenge is “Never too Early” For this project we had to make something Christmas, I chose a oversized stocking, you cant tell how big this is in these photo’s, i must get another shot holding them when the rain stops!

I used a selection of pink fabrics and my Accuquilt Go 2 1/2″ strip cutter along with the Go Cube to cut my strips and squares, it makes the cutting out so much quicker!

I added a little applique tree detail to each side which i fused onto Heat N Bond lite and then onto the stocking and straight stitched down 1/8″ from the edge (so once washed a couple of times, the edges will fray).

Fot the piecing and quilting i used Hobbs 80/20 Batting, Schmetz Microtex Chrome needles and Aurifil 50wt thread in colour 2024

I bound the top edge and added a little pom pom trim.

Its been another really fun make! i think im going to put this away and gift it to mom with her presents inside on christmas day xx

Thankyou so much for reading

Until next time…

Happy Sewing! x

Jo xx

Island Batik March Challenge

The items used in this post were given to me by Island Batik as part of the 2020 Ambassador program.

Hey guys,

Its that time again when I get to complete a new monthly challenge as an Island Batik Ambassador. This month we had to use the BOB (Block on board) die from Accuquilt we received in our January box. I got Hatties Choice.

The brief this month was to create a quilt using the primary block design, I decided to go quite uniform with my fabrics and just adding a few pops of colour to add a little more interest, the fabrics I used are Grey, White and Black from the solids line, Mustard, Bluebird, Fern Leaves and Lemonade from the basics line.

The Accuquilt Go cutter is great for making a quilt with a continuous pattern, you are able to cut all the pieces in no time at all! and each piece is always perfectly cut, I find my self using it more and more.

The die board is clearly labelled and is so simple to use! it even gives you instructions on what size to cut your fabric.

For this project, i also used Hobbs Batting Premium Cotton batting. I pieced and quilted with Aurifil 50Wt 2024 and Shmetz Microtex Chrome 80/12 needles.

As always, its been another super fun make, thankyou so much Island batik, Accuquilt, Hobbs Batting, Aurifil and Schmetz for supplying all the awesome tools to work with.

Thankyou so much for reading guys! I hope you are all staying safe! xx

Until next time…

Happy Sewing!

Jo xx

Island Batik Log Cabin Blog Hop

Hey Guys,

Today is my stop on the Island Batik Log Cabin Blog Hop. I’m sharing the gorgeous Bloomers collection designed by Kathy Engle. Its a lovely selection of pinks and purples with a couple of blues and low volumes added into the mix. This super pretty collection is shipping to stores this month

So the brief this month was to make a quilt using a log cabin design using as many prints from the collection as possible, I managed to use all of them 🙂 I also used white and grey solids.

Log cabins are my favourite! There are so many different ways to make a quilt using this technique, and I LOVE all of them! I was going to go for the pineapple block but for this project I wanted to go for a more modern design.

I used Lemonade from the basics range for the centre of each block which is a gorgeous vibrant yellow and I thought it went well with the colours in this collection.

By changing the colour placement on each block from light to dark gives the illusion of different sized squares and gives the quilt a cool modern look.

For this project I also used Hobbs Heirloom Natural 100% cotton batting, one of my favourites

I used Schmetz Chrome Microtex 80/12 needles for the piecing and quilting. The microtex needles are great for tightly woven fabrics like Island Batiks as they have a super sharp point and pierce the fabric so easily. I also used Aurifil 50wt in colour 2410 which is a light pink colour and part of the Sardina Colour Builder box. I quilted wavy lines all over using my walking foot.

I love how my quilt turned out, I had so much fun sewing with this lovely new fabric and I cant wait to see what the other Ambassadors make 😉 Head over to Island batiks website here to have a look at all the new collections and for all the Ambassador links.

Island Batik are also giving away a 10″ stack and a 2 1/2″ strip pack of another new collection called Ancient Etchings designed by Jackie Kunkel, so check out this link here to enter for your chance to win! Good Luck! x

Thankyou so much for reading xx

Until next time

Happy Sewing! xx

Jo xx

Island Batik December Challenge

Most of the items used to make this bear were given to me by Island batik.

Its the final Island batik Ambassador challenge of the year and December’s brief is:

3D Challenge
Any Size
Bring 3D into your project by any method of your choice

I thought about this one for a while and scrolled the internet for inspiration for ages before finally deciding on a stuffed bear. I downloaded the pattern from www.mybearstory.tedsby.com who can also be found on Instagram here. Ludmila, the designer/creator makes the most beautiful bears, if you haven’t already checked her out, you totally should! She offers a free template to make this bear which can be found on the link attached to her Instagram handle. I enlarged the templates to 200% to make mine.

The fabric I chose for this project is the gorgeous Spots -Sun-Tweet.

I stitched her together with Aurifil 50wt 2024 and added some handstitched details with 12wt 2530 which is a salmon pink colour. I used a DMC perle cotton N08 in black, colour 310 to add the face details

I stuffed using a mixture of bean bag fill and these plastic pellets I picked up from Amazon, which also gave it a little weight.

For size reference, I managed to get my fur baby to stand by it for 2 seconds and she is about half the size of an average cat!

Its been such a great year with Island batik, The Ambassador program is really great! A big thankyou to them for having me on board, its been so fun! x

Thankyou so much for reading guys

Happy New Year to you all and here’s to a fab 2020!

Happy sewing! x

Jo xx

Island Batik October Challenge

The items used in this post were given to me by Island Batik.

Its Island Batik challenge time again and this month I’m getting my Halloween on!

The Brief:

Create a holiday runner or table topper

Must use an applique technique

Any size

With it being October, I knew i wanted to create a halloween project. I started out by creating a Foundation paper pieced spider web as i wanted this to be my background. There were 8 templates in total and 17 sections in each template!

I then found a font I liked, traced onto heat n bond lite, pressed them to my fabric and cut out the letters for the words “Creep It Real” I fused the letters to the centre of my block and did a blanket stitch around each one using my sewing machine. I then made a quilt sandwich and did matchstick quilting all over.

I bound using my favourite technique by Victoria Gertenbach where the binding is invisible from the front and creates a lovely border to the back.

The fabrics I used for this project are:

Black and White from the solids collection

Sticks – Black Tweet

Pine needles – Nasturtium

Pine needles – Dark lagoon

Flower Zebra – Sherbet Twee

I also used Hobbs 80/20 batting , my go to for white quilts and Aurifil thread in White 2024 for the piecing and quilting.

Its been another really fun challenge! and of all the years I have been sewing, this is my first finished Halloween make!

Thankyou so much for reading guys!

Until next time

Happy Sewing! xx

Jo x