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The challenge with Island Batik for August was to use a new tool(to me) from Studio 180 and use a specific line of fabrics. Scroll down for the giveaway details. I got the Corner Beam tool. I played in Electric quilt until I got a design I liked. I named the quilt: Hay Stars. The fabric group that I am using is Peacock Plume and should be in your shops soon! I picked my favorite fabrics for the star units and a few square in a square units. The instructions for the tool are

Or is it too late? as I may have some Christmas decorations that I never actually put away from Christmas 2020! See that Nativity set in the background...I never actually put it away in January! Oops. Am I early or late? This months Island batik challenge was to create a holiday project. I don't have many holiday quilts and I love Table Quilts. It is kind of like a big placemat. I decided to use my Accuquilt Tumbler die and create a modern stripe quilt with some sort of e

As an Island Batik Ambassador, we get a couple of shipments each year of fabrics, battings, threads and more to create our beautiful projects. Here is my current set of goodies! Watch as I unpack the goodies! Here are some still shots of the fabrics and more: I am pretty excited at some of the challenges coming up. Don't forget to follow all my other fellow ambassadors! Disclosure: The products featured here were provided to me free of charge by Island Batik, Accuquilt, Aur

This months Island Batik quilt is all about spreading some love. Part of the challenge is sponsored by Accuquilt and I had to use a BOB (block on board) die. I have the Maple leaf die and I was also to use the 8" cube die parts to accent the Maple leaf. I drew up a plan in Electric Quilt. I then chose fabrics. I love working with the solid-ish fabrics. I grabbed my Accuquilt Go! to cut the pieces. Accuquilt makes it really fast to cut accurately! With the high contrast fa

This months Island Batik Challenge was to use a specific group of fabrics and create a Modern Quilt. Read to the bottom for the giveaway link. I used a hexagon design, with some negative area. I love the fabric choice: Meet Hexagon Sprinkle: What STUNNING fabrics. The Line is Jewel Quest by Kathy Engle for Nan Baker. These are my favorite colors. I created the quilt in Electric Quilt. I have been using this software for well over 20 years. It makes designing quilts fun

This months Island Batik challenge gave the ambassadors free reign to create whatever we wanted. Meet Margarita! Sometimes a free challenge is hard! This time I wanted to test out a new die I purchased from Accuquilt: The Glorified 9-Patch. I designed the quilt in Electric Quilt. I used some 5" strips from my Stashbuilder strips for the background. Mixed with some springy summery colors: A yellow from the Garden Gems collection. A green from the blenders and a turquoise ba

Oh, how I love a Scrappy quilt! This month, Island Batik challenged us to use make a scrappy quilt. I love a challenge as it really gives a quilter a stretch out of our safe box. I collected my stash of Island Batik and pulled as many as I could to create this bright and cheery quilt. I tested out a block with my Accuquilt Go, to see if I liked it and liked making it. The block is Crossed Canoe. It takes 2 squares about 6" for each block. This block is super easy and fast

The Island Batik challenge for February is to create a donation quilt. Scroll down for a chance to win some fabric this week! I started designing with this fabric collection: Garden Gems fabrics. I love the brightness of each one of these colors. I added some solid black Island batik to set them off. Electric quilt is the perfect tool to draw up, plan and color the quilt design. I pulled out the reds yellows and greens as well as a multi color for the center row. Some easy c

I decided to have a little fun with this challenge. I chose to be a bit untraditional and make these with really bright basic fabrics from Island Batik. I started with these solids and added these basic textures. I put all of them in the wash together. One thing I love about Island Batik is the fabulous color fastness of the fabrics. No running of colors at all! To make the "plate" and "cup" circles, I traced perfect circles on some fusible web. I rough cut them out and fus

I have been lucky enough to be chosen to be an Island Batik Ambassador for 2021. This is THE BEST DAY EVER. The day the Island Batik Ambassadors get their boxes of fabric for the next 6 months of projects. Island Batiks are Awesome. And here is the rundown of what I GET to work with: Accuquilt Maple Leaf Die. A set of 2 1/2" strips and a couple of coordinating fabrics in Melody. Some 10" squares and coordinates of Farm Fresh. Stash Builder rolls. I love these. They are

Island Batik challenge is finished! This month is a Medallion. Generally a medallion quilt is a central block or motif surrounded by several or many borders. I loved the fabrics I used last month for the Inspired by nature challenge, so I continued using them for this months challenge. Here is a modern look at a medallion style quilt. This one is 56" by 59" and will be used as a wall-hanging. The fabric line is from Tamarinis and is called Just my Type. It is available in

Scroll to the bottom to sign up for a chance to win some great fabrics. This month for Island Batik, we were instructed to use a specific collection and create a quilt inspired by nature. I lucked out TOTALLY with the most fabulous collection of all. This is Just My Type by Tammy Silvers of Tamarinis. This line is in stores now (or on their way) Be sure to ask your local store. I drew my inspiration from the view from my home and studio: The birch trees inspired me, alon

This month with Island Batik: We were challenged to create a thread painting project using Aurifil thread. The colors of the Urbanization collection matched the threads provided by Aurifil. Check your local stores for this fabulous collection! Improv piecing was my choice for the background. Once the quilt top was finished, I planned the threadwork. The background fabric was my inspiration for the embroidery designs. I searched and found a Gingko design at Embroidery Librar

This month my Island batik Ambassador challenge included a fab tool from Deb Tucker: The Tucker Trimmer. It is not a tool I had used yet, so I was excited to try something new. I also crossed off a bucket list quilt, a carpenters star. There is a great collection that I received in my July box from Island Batik: The Bloomers collection by Kathy Engle is fun and kind of bohemian in feel. I paired it with some super solid white batik. EQ8 was used to design the quilt to be

This is a pretty cool idea from Island Batik and Accuquilt. Accuquilt sent all of us Island Batik Ambassadors brand new Go! me and gave us a fab suggestion to make a quilt using the Go and gift BOTH the Go!Me and the quilt to a quilting friend that was new to Accuquilt. I have made a quilt for someone who does SO much for everyone else. She does not ask for credit for all she does. So for you, Nikki, I made a runner that started from a Card Trick block and spirals out. Th

There is nothing better than getting a box from Island Batik! There are some FANTASTIC groups here. I can share some but 2 are wrapped for later this fall. At the end of this post is my Video of the unboxing event! Here are the goodies! The first yummy collection is the Floralicious strips and some orange and purple coordinates. The pre-cuts should be in your stores now. How pretty is this? There is also a grouping that I will probably use for my August project. This one is

I am home, not traveling and teaching, and probably won't start traveling until at at least fall. I am finding my path staying local, creating with some beautiful Island Batiks. For this months Island batik challenge, we had no direction and no stipulations. Sometime that is harder than you think. This is my first year as an ambassador, so I was not sure what to expect from the others. I just went with my heart and grabbed this precut strip pack. This is a stunning pa

Glacier View Fabrics, designed by Kathy Engle. And a Giveaway! At the bottom of this post.... The theme this month is Home Dec, and a given set of fabrics. My group of fabrics is Glacier View, by Kathy Engle. It looks like a northwest inspired blue set of yummy batiks. I was a bit stumped at first, the fabric is not purple or brights, my choice of the moment. As I opened up the grouping, I became thrilled at how beautiful the set of fabrics is. Click on the picture