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
The items used to make this quilt were supplied to me by Island Batik as part of their Ambassador 2021 program.
Hey Guys!
Welcome to my June Island Batik Ambassador challenge! This month we got to try out a new BOB die from Accuquilt. The one i recieved was the Arkansas Traveller, its a really pretty block that finished at 12″ square. The BOB die boards are great, you can cut all the fabric you need for each block in one hit! They are really easy to use and they even cut off the little dog ears too which makes them super easy to line up for more accurate sewing.
The brief this month was to create a quilt using the new die we recieved but to also include another die aswell. The other block i used was the Ohio Star block. I used a selection of low volume and solids for the background and a selections of pinks with a few tiny pops of yellow and green to create a modern looking, fun, girly quilt.
For the piecing and quiting, i used my go to Aurifil 50wt thread in colour 2024 and Schmetz Microtex Chrome Needles.
For the batting i used Hobbs 80/20 Bleached, a great choice for lighter coloured quilted.
The name of this challenge is called “Spread Love and Joy” with Accuquilt and one of the requirements was to gift our finished quilt. Im gifting this one to my Mom, She kinda already claimed it whilst it was in construction and has been super excited to see the finished article. It will take pride of place on her sofa and will be a snuggle quilt xx
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 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
The items used to make the quilt in this post were given to me by Island Batik.
Its Island Batik time again and November’s challenge is “Tool Time”.
The Brief:
Lap size or larger.
Use special quilting tool like speciality rulers, templates, dies etc.
For this challenge I decided to use the awesome Accuquilt Go cutting machine i received as part of this ambassador program, (any excuse to play with it some more!) I used the 2.5″ strip cutter die and the 2.5″ square die for this quilt.
I love how this machine cuts up your fabric so quickly, its so easy to use and each shape is always perfectly cut! I had a few leftover jelly roll strips from the Mermaid cove collection I received and then used the dies to cut the rest of my fabric.
I pieced each block using 3 different fabrics, 2 for the checker board centre and 1 for the outside square. I made 25 blocks in total for this quilt.
I used Hobbs Batting 100% cotton and pieced and quilted with Aurifil 50wt thread in colour 2600.
Me and boys were lucky enough to visit America this month (Yosemite and Colorado) we had the best time and of course I had to bring this quilt along with me for photos!) These photos were taken on our hike to North Catamount Reservoir which was so so beautiful!.
As always, I had so much fun making this quilt and using all the gorgeous Island batik Fabrics. I’m going to gift this one to best friend for Christmas! I hope she loves it! xx
The items used in this post were given to me by Island batik.
Its Island Batik time and September’s challenge was to work with the BOB (Block on Board) Accuquilt Go die we recieved in our second Ambassador box. I recieved the Ohio Star.
This die comes with all the shapes you need to make the Ohio Star block and also comes with a pattern to follow if you wanted to.
For this project i used the gorgeous collection “Sunny Side Up” which came in the form of a 10″ stack pack and the coordinating yardage to go with it.
With the 10″ squares, i folded them twice to create 4 layers and cut them on the die board to get the perfect sized 4″ finished squares.
I did the same with the remaining 10″ squares and coordinating yarding to create the half square triangles. Once all my blocks were complete, i layed them out in the order i wanted to sew them, and stitched them together.
I also used Aurifil 50wt thread in colour 2615 for the piecing and quilting, this is probably my most used thread colour as it blends really well into most fabrics. i did matchstick quilting for this one, it’s my favourite way to quilt at the moment, it takes quite a bit longer to do but really adds to the modern feel.
My finished quilt measures 60″ x 60″
I got some help with the photos from one of my favourite boys “Mr Darcy” of course after bribing him with treats! 🙂 and here’s the the gorgeous model himself….
This has been another really fun make! The accuquilt Go gets the cutting done in less than half the time it would take to use a ruler and rotary cutter and the sqaures are always perfect!
For this challenge I wanted to use the FW18 Icicle collection I received in my box, I don’t often sew with a full collection, I normally just pull random fabrics from my stash that I think will go nicely together so it was a real treat to use these fabrics. As the main colour in this collection is blue, a boys baby quilt was a must make for me and I decided on a robot.
So, the main requirement for this challenge was to use the Accuquilt Go die cutting machine. My strips were already pre-cut to 2.5″ wide so I used the strip die to cut them into squares. I lay the strips across the width of the die making sure to align the straight edges, this was super easy to do as the die has clear marking on to cut a variety of shapes including 60 and 40 degree angles, I also used the 2.5″ square die to cut a few squares in custard and pistachio.
My quilt used a total of 480 squares and the Accuquilt Go made it so easy and quick to do!
Instead of adding the robots arms and legs into the pieced design, I decided to add those separately to make the quilt a little interactive. I cut strips of grey fabric 3″ wide for the arms and legs and used the 4″ die to cut the hands and feet using Pine Leaf – Chambray Icicle.
I added some applique to the face and used a blanket stitch to secure the pieces to the fabric, I used Hobbs Batting 80/20 and quilted straight lines in a cross hatch design using my walking foot.
I used Prym Consumer Love Colour snaps to attach the arms and legs to the quilt, so they can be removed should I decide to make extra sets to change the look of the quilt.
The finished size of my quilt is 39″ X 46″ It was super fun to make and i really enjoyed using the Accuquilt Go, it cuts squares in half the time and they are always perfect too!
Thanks so much for reading guys! Until next time….
“The items in this post were given to me by Island Batik and Accuquilt”
Hey Guys, I’m super excited to be an Island Batik ambassador this year!! Box number 1 has arrived and here’s what I got…….
8 half yard cuts of SS19 petal pushers collection
Basics – Pistachio
Bubbles – Carnation
Bubbles – Raspberry
Dandelion – Plum
Basics – Aubergine
Basics – Lagoon
Basics – Chameleon
Small pointed floral – Turquoise
2 yard cuts of the FW18 Icicle collection:
Berry Vine – French Blue
Pine Leaf – Chambray Icicle
1 pack of 40 coordinating 2.5″ strips
These Beautiful Rayons
3 yards of each of these solid colours, Black, Grey and white and 5 yards of this Neutral named custard.
2 packs of these 5″ WOF strips, these will come in super handy!
A selection of Hobbs batting:
Heirloom Cotton – 45″ x 60″ and 90″ x 108″
Heirloom 80/20 black – 90″ x 108″
Heirloom 80/20 bleached – 90″ x 108″
Tuscany Collection silk blend – 60″ x 60″
Thermore – 54″ x 45″
There’s a couple of newbies in this selection that I haven’t tried yet, so I’m really looking forward to using them especially that silk blend.
This Accuquilt “Ready, Set, Go” ultimate cutting system
This machine comes with it own little dust bag! also inside the box was the 8″ go cube, with a bunch of different sized dies, a 2.5″ strip cutter die and a pattern book. This machine literally cuts the perfect square/half square triangle and I cant wait to play with this some more!
5 spools of Aurifil thread
3 spools of 50 weight
1 spool of 28 weight
1 spool of aurifloss
and finally 2 surprise packages that I cant share with you just yet! but I’ve had a little nosey and I can tell you they are Yum!!!
Thankyou so much to Island Batik, Hobbs Batting, Accuquilt and Aurifil for being so generous! the program for this year looks amazing! Each month we get set a different project to produce a different item using the amazing threads, batting and fabrics so kindly provided. What I really like is, with each project, I’m allowed to apply my own personal touch and ill get to sew things I wouldn’t normally sew. Its going to be a fun year!
I Hope you will follow me on this new crafty journey of mine. I will be sharing my makes here and on Instagram and be sure to follow the #islandbatikambassador hashtag to see all the other ambassador’s makes too.
Unicornharts 