Sew Stylish Challenge with ByAnnie

Welcome to October and another exciting Island Batik Ambassador Challenge! This month, our theme is "Sew Stylish." The Island Batik Ambassadors have been tasked with creating bags from ByAnnie.com using the vibrant colors of Island Batik fabrics by Lumin Fabrics.

For my project, I chose the ByAnnie Two Little Totes pattern to create. ByAnnie, our sponsor this month, generously sent us all the supplies to make this pattern. This pattern allows you to make two different sizes: Small or Medium. I chose the Medium Size.

As for the Island Batik Fabrics, I chose three pretty fabrics from the Frosted Foliage fabric collection by Tiffany Hayes of Needle in a Hayes Stack.

This is not my first byAnnie bag. I just love making these bags; they are so much fun and easy to make with the help of Annie's Add-On Tutorials. She walks you through the steps.

To get started, I created fabric sandwiches using Soft and Stable foam stabilizers. I used my BERNINA 790 Pro with a walking foot to quilt straight lines for my bag. This is so much fun and relaxing.

The next step was to begin preparing the necessary pieces for the bag. I used my Oliso Iron to attach the interfacing to the stabilizer sleeve for the bag base.

After completing all the prep work, it was time to assemble the bag. Annie makes this process straightforward with her easy-to-follow patterns and video tutorials. I highly recommend utilizing those videos!

The final step was to sew on the bag zipper. I used to have trouble with zippers and making them look good, but this time, I took my time, and it turned out perfectly. Annie’s tips in the videos were incredibly helpful!

I’m absolutely in love with my new tote bag. It’s the perfect size—Chloe thought so too when I put her in the bag! I think I might need to make the "Two Big Totes" bag next, so I can carry all my quilting projects.

Be sure to check out the other Island Batik Ambassador ByAnnie projects. 

• Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs
• Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting
• Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts Studio
• Tina Dillard - Quilting Affection Designs
• Brittany Fisher ~ Bobbin with Brittany
• Kimberly Flannagan - Kimberlys Quilts
• Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts
• Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts
• Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs
• Connie Kresin Campbell ~ Freemotion by the River
• Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood
• Denise Looney ~ A Quiltery
• Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights
• Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion
• Sarah Pitcher ~ Pitcher’s Boutique
• Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail
• Carol Stanek ~ Stitch with Color
• Solomae Stoycoff - Cuddle Cat Quiltworks
• Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations
• Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt

Studio 180 Design Aurora/Sunset Blog Hop

Welcome to the Studio 180 Design Aurora/Sunset Blog Hop! Throughout this event, Studio 180 Design Certified Instructors are showcasing their favorite BlockBuster Blocks created using both the Aurora and Sunset fabric collections from Island Batik's Lumin Fabrics. Additionally, some Certified Instructors have created exciting projects using both collections. These two fabric collections work exceptionally well together. You can find links to the other CI blogs at the bottom of this post.

I absolutely love these two new Spring/Summer 2025 fabric collections designed by Deb Tucker for Island Batik. The names, Aurora and Sunset, perfectly highlight the beautiful colors found in each collection.

Aurora features a soft color palette reminiscent of the Aurora Borealis, showcasing light greens, teals, blues, and purples.

Sunset is the opposite; it features the bright colors of evening, including deep purples, pinks, oranges, and yellows—just stunning.

I chose to make Blockbuster #101 Flowering, which was released a couple of months back. I just fell in love with this block and thought it would be a great way to showcase these two collections. Flowering uses the Studio 180 Design's Tucker Trimmer, Four Patch Square Up, Split Rects, V Block, and Wing Clipper tools, as well as the Time Out Technique Sheet. I decided to make the 12" block sizes.

I chose these fabrics to make my Flowering blocks.

My Aurora Flowering Block Fabrics.

My Sunset Flowering Block Fabrics.

And my Combination Flowering Block Fabrics, which combines the two collections.

Unit A - Time Out

Unit A - Time Out

Time Out

Now, let's show you all the units and the Studio 180 Design tool used to create this block. We will start with Unit A, which is the Time Out unit. The Time Out units are a fast and easy method that uses the Four Patch Square Up tool.

Units B & C - Split Rects

Units B & C - Split Rects

Unit B Split Rects Type 1

Unit C - Split Rects Type 2

Unit B & C Split Rect units are also fun units that utilize the Split Rect tool to trim the units down to the perfect size.

Unit D - V Block

Unit D - V Blocks

V Block

The V Block Tool is a valuable tool for creating these units. It acts as a template that helps you cut the center pieces and side triangles, and it also aids in the final trimming.

Unit E - Half Square Triangles

Unit E - Tucker Trimmer (Pint Size)

Half Square Triangles

Using the Tucker Trimmer, half-square triangles turn out perfect every time. I chose the Pint Size Tucker Trimmer since my units are under 3 inches unfinished. I just love the Pint Size.

Unit F - Wing Clipper

Unit F - Wing Clipper

Flying Geese

For the Flying Geese units, I used the Pint Size Wing Clipper to help with trimming. This smaller size makes it much easier to trim the units when they are small, like the ones in my blocks.

Now that all my units are completed, it's time to lay them out and assemble them.

Now for Final Blocks

Aurora

Sunset

Aurora and Sunset Combined

Now, let me share my two new Studio 180 Design Companion Patterns that feature these two new collections that are now available.

Introducing "Evening Candle Light," which is now available!

This beautifully designed multi-sized pattern elevates the Studio 180 Design Candle Tip Wedge Star technique, guiding you to create two distinct blocks that will truly bring your quilt to life.

Showcasing the newest Studio 180 Design, "Aurora" fabrics by Island Batik for Lumin Fabrics.

Order your Evening Candle Light pattern by clicking HERE.

Also, Now Available: "Scope"

This new pattern project utilizes the Studio 180 Design Corner Pop tools, along with the V Block, Square Squared, and Four Patch Square Up, to create stunning points and shapes that come together in a breathtaking masterpiece.

The impressive quilt featured on the cover showcases the Deb Tucker Studio 180 Design Sunset Fabric Collection by Island Batik for Lumin Fabrics.

Order your Scope pattern by clicking HERE.

Links to the other Certified Instructor Blogs.

9/18 - Studio 180 Design Intro  

9/22 - Tracey Stinger The Busy Bee Quilter https://busybeequilter.com

9/23 - Virginia Gibbons Fabric Thread and Stitches https://fabricthreadandstitches.net/

9/24 - Terrie Welch Quilter's Journey quiltersjourneysalem.blogspot.com

9/25 - Zhi Jones Jolly Jones Quilts https://jollyjonesquilts.blogspot.com

9/26 - Becky Malarski Sew Wise Quilter https://sewwisequilter.com/

9/29 - Kathy Tucker K&S Quilt Artistry https://kandsquilting.com/blog-1

9/30 - Tina Dillard Quilting Affection Designs Today

10/1 - Diana Mann Murgaboo Quilts https://murgabooquilts.com/blogs/news

10/2 - Studio 180 Design Wrap Up  https://studio180design.net/blogs/news

Threaded Chaos Blog Hop with Aurifil

 

Welcome to the Thread Chaos Blog Hop! This month, we are excited to showcase our new Spring 2025 collections through the creation of crazy quilts, featuring Aurifil thread.

Today, Mania Hatziioannidi and I are sharing our crazy quilt creations made from the Island Batik Garden Glory Fabric Collection by Lumin Fabrics. This collection is absolutely stunning; just look at these beautiful fabrics!

I started by selecting 10 different fabrics from the collection and added a couple of foundation fabrics in blue and turquoise to give the quilt a vibrant pop. Additionally, I chose the 2-yard coordinating fabrics—Shell Cluster in Red Paprika and Wicker from the Breathtaking Browns collection.

Next, I cut my fabrics into 10-inch squares and stacked them into three four-layered stacks. 

I then cut these squares randomly at 30°, 45°, and 60° angles and shuffled the stacks to mix up the colors.

For the foundation, I decided to use Hobb’s Fusible Batting, cutting it into 10-inch squares. I began stitching all the cut pieces together on the batting using my BERNINA B790 Pro Sewing Machine. 

Afterward, I pressed the seams over to the batting with my Oliso MP3 Iron, which made the process much smoother. Once I finished sewing, I trimmed all the crazy blocks down to 7 ½ inches square.

I wanted the quilt to be a small lap size and give it a fresh look, so I incorporated Four Patch and Half Square Triangle blocks using my Studio 180 Design Tucker Trimmer and Four Patch Square Up tools. The units were created using coordinating fabrics in red paprika and wicker.

Once I had all the units ready, I stitched them into blocks and attached them to the batting, similar to the crazy blocks, trimming them to 7 ½ inches as well. Using Red Paprika as a small sashing and incorporating fabrics from the crazy quilt block as cornerstones, I sewed the blocks together and added a border. 

For the backing, I used Wicker Neutral and fused it to the back of the quilt, which worked perfectly.

The fun part came next: adding colorful Aurifil thread stitching to finish the quilt.

My BERNINA B790 Pro machine offers a variety of decorative stitches, allowing me to play and explore these stitches, which was a delightful experience.

Finally, I bound the quilt to ensure the borders matched the binding, and it was now complete. Another great challenge quilt is done!

Island Batik (Lumin Fabrics) is giving away a fat quarter collection called Everlasting this week as part of the weekly Blog Hop Round Up! You can enter for a chance to win by visiting the Lumin Fabrics Facebook or Instagram page and leaving a comment.

Make sure to explore the other Island Batik Ambassador Crazy Quilts featuring the stunning new Island Batik Spring Collections and Aurifil Threads.

Week 1

Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs – Aurora

Sarah Pitcher ~ Pitcher’s Boutique – Berry Crush

Solomae Stoycoff ~ Cuddle Cat Quiltworks – Berry Crush

Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting – Colorbust

Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion - Colorbust

Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs – Earth Essence

Week 2

Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations – Everlasting

Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts – Everlasting

Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts Studio – Fossil Finesse

Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail – Fossil Finesse

Denise Looney ~ A Quiltery – Frosted Foliage

Kimberly Flannagan ~ Kimberly’s Quilts – Frosted Foliage

Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts – Garden Glory

Tina Dillard ~ Quilting Affection Designs – Garden Glory

Week 3

Brittany Fisher ~ Bobbin with Brittany – Quiet Charm

Carol Stanek ~ Stitch with Color – Geode Glow

Kim Jamieson-Hirst ~ Chatterbox Quilts – Geode Glow

Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt – Stone Strata

Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights – Stone Strata

Connie Kresin Campbell ~ Freemotion by the River – Sunset

Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood – Sunset