Island Batik Storm at Sea Blog Hop

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

Hey Guys,

Today is my stop on the Island Batik Storm at Sea Blog Hop, For this challenge we recieved a brand new Fabric Collection, I recieved Passion Petals designed by Kathy Engle for Carol Moellers, its a gorgeous selection of blues, pinks and purples, the colours are gorgeous and mix beautifully together! Its shipping to stores now (Nov 2021)

One of the requirements was to include the Storm at Sea block in our project which is my first time making this block. As im pretty bad at math, i decided to design the block on my computer and turn it into a foundation paperpiecing pattern., this way i can make it any size. There are so many gorgeous designs to be made with this block and after playing around with colour placement for a while i decided i wanted my block to look like jewels, I think the fabrics captures them perfectly.

I added a 2″ border all the way around, the same solid white colour as the background and stitched in the ditch to create the cushion flange. I pieced and quilted using Aurifil 50wt 2024, Hobbs Batting 100% cotton batting and a Schmetz Microtex Chrome Needle.

Heres a closer look at the collection…

I love how my Cushion turned out, Its already on the sofa!

My Fellow Ambassadors have been making some amazing projects, ill be sharing them in my stories here and can also be seen on Island Batik here, and click here to meet all the amazing Ambassadors.

Thankyou so much for reading

Until Next time….

Happy Sewing! x

Jo xx

Island Batik October Challenge

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

Hi Guys,

Welcome to my Island Batik October challenge post, This month we got to work with some cool new thread collections from Aurifil Thread all of which are highlighting some of the endangered species on our planet. The collection i recieved is the African Wild Dog, which i know very little about but they have awesome ears! They can be found in southern Africa and the current population is 1400, they can also run upto 44MPH matching a greyhound. The set consists of 3 40wt spools all yellow in colour (2105,2115,1135)

The brief this month was to design a project inspired the the animal, I used my favourite design program, Quilt Assistant to create this supersized geometric Foundation paperpieced pattern.

For this project i also used Hobbs Cotton batting and Schmetz Microtex chrome needles.

Do also check out my fellow ambassadors, they have made some truly amazing quilts! They are so talented! you can find them all here

Thankyou so much for reading

Until next time….

Happy Sewing! x

Jo xx

Island Batik September Challenge

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

Hi Guys,

Welcome to my September Island Batik Ambassador post, For this challenge we had choose and make a By Annie Bag, I chose the Double Zip Gear bag 2.0. We recieved the whole kit which included everything we need to make this bag.

The fabrics i chose….

The Bag design itself is great, its got multiple pockets, 2 inside, 2 outside and a double top zip allowing you to open the bag very wide, The pattern comes in 3 sizes, small, Meduim and large, i made the Meduim size.

I struggled with the bulk on this when sewing together using my modern sewing machine, but luckily i have a vintage singer 201 which would literally sew through a brick so that helped me out loads!

For this project i also used Aurifil 50wt Thread in colour 2024 and using a Schmetz Micotex Chrome needle.

This bag turned out really pretty, im gifting it to my Mom, if you have been following me for a while, you will know my mom gets lots of handmade gifts xx

Thankyou so much for reading

Until Next time…

Happy Sewing! x

Jo xx

Island Batik “Try a Tool” Blog Hop with Studio 180 Design.

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

Hi Guys,

Welcome to my stop on the Island Batik “Try a Tool” Blog Hop with Studio 180 Design. For this months challenge we had to make a quilt using the new ruler we recieved in our second Ambassador boxes, and a brand new fabric collection, mine being Sun Kissed Soleil designed by Kathy Engle for Jackie Kunkel. This super fun and vibrant collection ships to stores this month! The ruler i used is the Wing Clipper, its makes the perfect Flying Geese unit in multiple sizes ranging from 1″ to 10″. Deb Tuckers rulers are so fun and one of the things i love is that there is hardly any fabric waste.

For ths project i used the largest block unit which measures 10″ x 5″ finished, This size really showcases the fabrics and you can see all the gorgeous prints from the collection.

I made 72 blocks in total and my quilt finishes at 60″ x 60″. I pieced and quilted using Aurifil 50wt thread in colour 2024, Hobbs 100% Cotton batting and a Schmetz Micro-tex sharp chrome needle 80/12.

Please do check out my fellow Ambassadors, This Blog Hop has been so fun and so many beautiful quilts have been made! Check out the list and dates here xx

Island Batik are also doing a Giveaway this week, Enter here for chance to win some of these gorgeous fabrics!

Thankyou so much for reading!

Until next time…

Happy Sewing! x

Jo xx

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 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 Inspired by Nature Blog Hop

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.

I pieced and quilted using Hobbs 100% cotton batting, Aurifil 2024 50wt thread and Schmetz microtex needles 80/20.

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

November 9:

Jennifer Fulton

Carla Henton

November 10:

Denise Looney

Carolina Asmussen

November 11:

Alison Vermilya

Janet Yamamoto

November 12:

Megan Best

Jennifer Strauser

November 16:

Joanne Hart

Maryellen McAuliffe

Jennifer Thomas

November 17:

Gail Sheppard

Mania Hatziioannidi

November 18:

Sharon Riley

Sandra Walker

November 19:

Carol Moellers

Emily Leachman

November 23:

Connie Kauffman

Suzy Webster

November 24:

Pamela Boatright

Michelle Roberts

November 25:

Vasudha Govindan

Leah Malasky

November 26:

Sally Manke

Gail Renna

Thankyou so much for reading

Until next time….

Happy Sewing! x

Jo x

Island Batik October Challenge

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 🙂

Thankyou so much for reading xx

Until next time..

Happy Sewing! x

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 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