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

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.