Island Batik April Challenge

The items used to make this cushion were given to me by Island Batik as part of their Ambassador 2021 program.

Hey Guys

Welcome to my April Island Batik Ambassador challenge. This month was all up to us, we had no brief to follow and could make anything we wanted. I decided to make a cushion using my “Pick me please” flower Foundation paperpiecing pattern, I am loving sewing this pattern at the moment, its goes together so quickly and its super cute too! The hardest part was choosing the fabric to use!

For the majority of this cushion, I used the Painted Blossoms collection by Kathy Engle, I had some left over from my project in February and i absolutely love it. The colours are right up my street! so soft and girly. For the background i used Almond from the neutrals collection and for the back i used Coconut also from the neutrals collection.

The patterns itself finishes at 10″ x 14″ so i added borders to the sides and top to fit an 18″ cushion pad, I then added and extra 2.5″ border all around for the flanged edge. Adding the border made it so easy to sew, stitching in the ditch all the way around with no need to mark and measure. This is my very first flanged edge cushion and i love how it looks, I think this is going to happen to lots of my cushions going forward.

Also used to make this cushion were Hobbs Fusible cotton batting, Aurifil 50wt Thread and Schmetz Micro Tex needles, Some of the wonderful industry partners supporting this program.

Thankyou so much for reading, Have a lovely weekend!

Until next time….

Happy Sewing! x

Jo x

Island Batik January 2021 Challenge

Hey guys!

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!

I also used Hobbs premium cotton batting, pieced and quilted using Aurifil 50wt thread in colour 2024 and Schmetz microtex chrome needles to create this project.

Please do also check out Island Batik’s Instagram page, they post all the Ambassador monthly makes and so many beautiful ones have been made already.

Thankyou so much for reading

until next time..

Happy sewing!

Jo xx

Island Batik Ultimate Home Decor Blog Hop

The items used in the 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 Ultimate Home décor Blog Hop and I’m sharing a brand new fabric collection with you called Smooch! This gorgeous collection by Kathy Engle is shipping to stores this month! I absolutely love how all these colours mix together, they give me real spring vibes!

I recieved a half yard bundle of the whole collection and two 2 yard cuts of a light and dark from the collection also, for this challenge we had to create a Home Décor item featuring as many prints from the collection as possible, I ended up using all of them in this project and a little white and grey from the solids line too. I used a new pattern I’m working on called Tangled which is a foundation paper pieced pattern and will come in two sizes, i used the smaller templates for this project to make my cushion. Each block is made up of 4 templates and i used 4 blocks to fit my 18″ cushion pad.

As always i pieced and quilted using Aurifil 50wt thread, colour 2410 from the Sardina Pink colour builder box which is a lovely pale pink, I also used Hobbs 100% cotton batting and Schmets microtex chrome neddles in 80/12.

The back of pillow is constructed in a simple envelope design with a binded edge.

I had so much fun working with this collection, i think it was my favourite from the whole first box!

Island Batik are running giveaways throughout this whole blog hop over on their blog. For your chance to win some of these gorgeous new collections click here.

And be sure to check out my fellow Ambassador’s projects, There has been so many gorgeous makes already and still more to come!

May 4:

May 5:

May 6:

May 7:

May 11:

May 12:

May 13:

May 14:

May 18:

Joanne Hart

May 19:

May 20:

May 21:

May 25:

Thanks so much for ready guys!

Stay Safe! x

Happy Sewing! xx

Jo x

Island Batik April Challenge

The items used to make the quilt in this post were given to me by Island batik as part of the 2020 ambassador program

Hey Guys,

April brings a new Island Batik ambassador challenge and this month is all about creative borders and binding. For this project, we had to create a quilt 36″ x 36″ or larger and be as creative as we can with borders/binding. The fabrics I used were:

Almond – Neutrals range (for the background)
Fern leaves – Basics range
Carnation – Mini Flower
Mustard – Basics range
Dot – Dreamsical (one of my favourite prints)
Lemonade – Circles
Thistle Bloom – Wildflower (for the backing)
White – Solids range

I wanted to do foundation paper piecing for this challenge (as i always want to do foundation paper piecing!) I started out with my Unicorn pattern for the centre piece which i enlarged to be 17″, and created a simple modern border to go around to tie in the the modern feel of the quilt block.

For all the piecing and quilting on this project, i used Hobbs Heirloom Premium cotton batting, Aurifil 50wt white thread, colour 2024 and Schmetz microtex chrome needles in 80/12

For the outer 3D border i used solid white 5″ squares folded corner to corner twice to create the prairie points and 4 1/2″ cirlcles cut in half to create the half moon shapes. I then basted them evenly around the quilt and sandwiched them imbetween the layers and topstitched around the edge to finish.

Thankyou Island Batik and industry partners, its been another super fun challenge as always, Stay tuned for next month where all Ambassadors will be sharing brand new fabric lines! x

Thanks for reading guys! Stay Safe!

Untill next time..

Happy Sewing! xx

Jo xx

Island Batik Ambassador February Challenge

Its the first Island Batik challenge of the year! And February’s challenge is Magnificent mini’s.

The brief:
Must be 24″ x 24″ or smaller
Any technique
Any Fabric

I knew I wanted to do foundation paper piecing for this project, as its my favourite technique, and having already gone through my box of fabrics (like 5 times!) I had the perfect combo in mind for my “oh Deer” pattern that was commissioned with Mollie Makes last year.

The fabrics I used: Pistachio and Lagoon from the basics range, Custard from the neutrals range and 2 of the 5″ strips from the stash builder rolls we received.

For the batting, I used Hobbs Thermore and basted the layers together with 505 temporary spray adhesive, and I have to give my gorgeous new pink cutting mat from Prym Consumer a mention because…well… its pink?! 😉

I pieced and quilted with Aurifil 50 weight 2024 and added some small details with Auriful Floss 6722.

and finally I added 2 hanging loops and a stick from the great outdoors to finish.

The size of my mini is 16″ x 17.5″, I used my 10″ x 11″ pattern templates and added 3″ borders to the sides and top, a 5″ border to the bottom and cut out triangles from each bottom corner to create the banner shape. Its been so fun to make and I absolutely love the texture that the batik fabrics have given to my finished quilt! I especially love Pistachio! it’s such a beautiful bright green with little hints of blue running through it.

Thankyou so much for reading guys! Next up is March’s challenge which I’ve already made a start on, and I cant wait to share it with you!

Happy Sewing!!

Jo xx