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 Ambassador 2021!

Hey Guys!

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

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: