Island Batik Ambassador – July Unboxing Reveal

It’s hard to believe we are already halfway through the 2025 Island Batik Ambassador program; this year has flown by so quickly! Lumin Fabrics has sent me a new box of Island Batik fabrics and products that will help us create some exciting projects over the next six months. I created an unboxing video, which I've shared in the blog post below.

First off, I received four stash builders containing five rolls of 4-5” x WOF strips. These stash busters are a lot of fun to work with!

Next, I have two stunning gradient precut packs: the Precious Pinks pack, which consists of 2½” strips, and the Ravishing Red pack featuring a 10” stack.

Check out this ½-yard bundle from the Garden Glory collection, which will be featured in September's Blog Hop, along with 2 yards of light neutral and dark fabrics that will complement the collection. They also provided us with ½-yard cuts of foundations to coordinate with the Garden Glory collection, plus spools of coordinating Aurifil thread. This is going to be a fun blog hop, so stay tuned!

Additionally, I received this beautiful 6-yard Neutral Mocha fabric with cream and green highlights. It will make a great accent or background.

In October, I look forward to making my Two Little Totes by Annie bags. I’ve chosen these fabrics for my bag, so stay tuned to see how it turns out.

I also received a precut bundle featuring Fossil Finesse 10” squares, along with 2 yards of light and dark coordinates. I have plans for this collection later in the year.

Moreover, I received a Surprise collection that will be featured in November's Blog Hop, and I can’t wait to open it and get started. I also received a Foundations bundle to accompany the Surprise collection, which I’m sure will be a lot of fun.

Lastly, I received a restock of Dark Grey, White, and Black solids that are always essential. Additionally, Hobbs supplied us with a restock of Hobbs Batting.

Well, it looks like I’d better get busy on all these projects! See you in August with a new Challenge, featuring Oliso. 

Island Batik Ambassador Funky Friends

This month, the Island Batik Ambassadors are doing something a bit different. We’ve been tasked with creating stuffed Funky Friends, and our sponsor is Funky Friends Factory. Each ambassador has chosen one of their patterns for this challenge. After visiting Scotland last year, I fell in love with Highland Cows, so I decided to make Harmony the Highland Cow.

 

Next, I needed to choose the fabrics for making this cute cow. I aimed for Harmony to resemble a real Highland Cow as closely as possible. For the main body, I selected the Red Burgundy Mushroom Time from the Fall 2024 Studio 180 Design Forest Flora collection for Island Batik. For the hooves, I used a scrap of dark brown fabric from the Summer 2022 Studio 180 Design Modern Opulence collection, and I picked an Island Batik Blender Dandelion Crumbs for the horns.

The pattern is easy to follow, and the tutorials for making this Highland Cow are enjoyable to make. I highly recommend using all the tips included in the pattern and tutorials when working on any Funky Friends Factory design, as they really help the project come together well. 

As I made Harmony, I used my Bernina 790 Pro, along with a combination of two different colors of Aurifil thread and Schmetz needles. Lowering my stitch length to 2.0 made the project look neater and gave the seams extra strength.

Once I filled Harmony with Hobbs Simply Stuffing, I made sure to pack it in firmly. 

I decorated her forelock with flowers made from scraps of the Jackie Kunkel Collection “Cosmic” for Island Batik and added a ribbon from the Island Batik Bundles around her neck. Now, Harmony is all ready for her adventures!

Her adventure began with Harmony introducing herself to Lucy. Lucy was uncertain about this large cow.

Then she headed out to the backyard to see what mischief she could get into.

Climbing onto rocks and wood piles. She loves the grass. 

Then Lucy said enough and guided her outside the gate. I hope you enjoyed Harmony the Highland Cows adventure. 

Wishing you a wonderful day filled with creative sewing time.

 

Island Batik Ambassador Irish Chain Blog Hop - Merry Moments Collection

Welcome to week three of the Island Batik (Lumin Fabrics) Ambassador Irish Chain Blog Hop! This month, we are excited to have Accuquilt as our sponsor. Each ambassador received the GO! Irish Chain Block on Board (BOB) 10” die. This month's task is to create an Irish Chain quilt using this die and a special Winter 2024 fabric bundle.

Today, Carol Stanek from Stitch with Color and I are sharing our interpretations of Irish Chain quilts made with Jerry Khiev's Merry Moments Winter Fabric Collection. Additionally, we received 2 yards each of Green Christmas Trees and Neutral Champagne Ornaments. For the background, I chose to use Ceramic Foundation fabric.

Using the Accuquilt Irish Chain die, the Block on the Board (BOB) allows us to create 10” finished blocks that work excellently with the Accuquilt Die Cutters.

Before I started, I designed my Irish Chain quilt using EQ8 software. Once I completed my design, I needed to calculate how many pieces to cut for my blocks with my Accuquilt cutter. 

After that, I began cutting all my pieces using the BOB die and my GO! Big Electric Fabric Cutter. The Irish Chain Block on Board die made the cutting process easy, especially with the Accuquilt Big Electric Fabric Cutter.

After several passes, I had all my pieces cut out and was ready to lay out my blocks for assembly. 

Following the BOB instructions, I assembled my blocks to create ten ½” unfinished blocks.

For this quilt, I designed four different 10-inch finished blocks. I made six blocks using red and green colors, and reversed the colors for the other blocks.

I decided to arrange them on point with slightly larger sashing and cornerstones to give the quilt a unique look. For the borders, I used the Green Christmas Trees for the inner border and the Champagne Ornaments for the outer border. I assembled the quilt with my Bernina 740 sewing machine, using my favorite Aurifil thread and an Oliso MP3 iron.

For the quilting, I utilized my BERNINA Q16 sit-down machine with ruler work throughout the quilt. I pieced the backing and used Hobb Heirloom Premium cotton batting to complete the project. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Island Batik (Lumin Fabrics) is giving away two fabric bundles this week! You can enter to win either a Fusion or Spooktacular Fat Quarter Bundle now at the Island Batik (Lumin Fabrics) blog.

The Ambassadors have created impressive Irish Chain Quilts for this blog hop. Be sure to check out these wonderful designs by clicking on the blog post links below to view these projects.

WEEK 1

May 5:

• Mania Hatzioannidi, Mania for Quilts
• Jennifer Thomas, Curlicue Creations

May 6:

• Kimberly Flannagan, Kimberly’s Quilts
• Solomae Stoycoff, Cuddle Cat Quiltworks

May 7:

• Connie Kauffman, Kauffman Designs
• Sarah Pitcher, Pitcher’s Boutique LLC

May 8:

• Leah Malasky, Quilted Delights
• Preeti Harris, Sew Preeti Quilts

May 9:

Blog Hop Round-Up Week 1 and Giveaway

WEEK 2

May 12:

• Lisa Pickering, Lisa’s Quilting Passion
• Suzy Webster, Websterquilt

May 13:

• Connie Kresin Campbell, Freemotion by the River

May 14:

• Denise Looney, Quiltery
• Brittany Fisher, Bobbin with Brittany

May 15:

• Susan Michaels, Dragonfly Fiber Art
• Kim Jamieson-Hirst, Chatterbox Quilts

May 16:

Blog Hop Round-Up Week 2 and Giveaway

WEEK 3

May 19:

• Renee Atkinson, Pink Tulip Quilting
• Brenda Alburl, Songbird Designs

May 20:

• Tina Dillard, Quilting Affection Designs
• Carol Stanek, Stitch With Color

May 21:

• Susan Deshensky, Lady Blue Quilt Studio

May 22:

• Gail Sheppard, Quilting Gail
• Emily Leachman, The Darling Dogwood

May 23:

End of Blog Hop + Final Round Up