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

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

Island Batik Ambassador August Hot Stuff Challenge

 

The Island Batik Ambassadors have a new challenge this month. At the start of the year, each ambassador received an Oliso M3 Pro iron along with a small carrying bag for their irons, provided by our sponsor, Oliso. For August, our challenge is to decorate these small iron carrying bags. We can use various techniques, including quilting, embroidery, appliqué, paint, and more.

The Oliso iron carrying bag is constructed from strong, durable polyester felt, designed to protect the irons. Initially, I had difficulty figuring out how to decorate this carrying bag. However, during my visit to the Road to Virginia quilt show, I stopped by Oliso's booth and spoke with Michele Muska, the Director of Content and Community. She shared several beautifully decorated bags from the show, which served as great inspiration for my own design ideas.

I knew I wanted to work with leftovers from Jackie Kunkel's Canton Village Quilt Works Cosmic Fabric Collection by Island Batik Lumin Fabrics, which were part of my February challenge. I initially thought about adding just Flying Geese units to the bag, but the main question was what size units to create. I started by experimenting with the smallest size I could make using one of my Studio 180 Design Wing Clipper Tools. After some trial and error, I decided on a finished size.

I used six bold and vibrant colors for the body of my Flying Geese and black for the wings. I created Flying Geese units that measure 5/8” x 1/4” finished size, trimming them down to perfection with my Eighth Inch Wing Clipper. It was quite enjoyable to make these small Flying Geese units!

For the center of the bag, I sewed two sets of six units together to create a long section of Flying Geese. Then, I added black strip pieces to the top and bottom to allow for a clean finish when folded under. I did the same on the sides as well.

Looking at the sides of the bag, I decided to incorporate a smaller set of Flying Geese units. I added two long pieces to the top and bottom of the geese for another fitting. Once I placed them on the bag, it looked good, but I felt it needed something more.

I decided to use my Studio 180 Design Star 60 tool to create a variety of units that finish at 1 ½ inches. 

After making and trimming them to the correct size, I sewed them together in a long row to achieve a diamond effect.

To finish the sides, I placed a long, narrow strip between the Flying Geese row and the Star 60 row. I also added a strip at the bottom beneath the Star 60 row, which will be folded under to complete the bottom edge of the sides. For the top, I planned a long, wide strip that will help finish the upper edge of the bag's side and will be shaped later. 

I repeated this process for the other side as well.

To finish the sides and center of the bag, I used freezer paper templates to accurately shape the edges of the pieces. 

Next, I applied Hobbs Heirloom fusible batting to these shaped pieces using my Oliso M3 Pro iron. 

Finally, I quilted the pieces together with Aurifil thread using my Bernina 790 Pro sewing machine.

Next, I used my Bernina 700 to embroider my logo on the bottom of the bag as a finishing touch.

I then decided to hand-stitch the center and side pieces, as well as the bottom logo, onto the bag. Although it was challenging to stitch through the felt, after several evenings of hand stitching, I finally completed it.

I loved the result, and it was such a fun project!