Tuesday, November 11, 2025

Timeless Traditions Island Batik Ambassadors Blog Hop

Lumin Fabrics/Island Batik welcomes you to the Timeless Traditions Blog Hop.

Below you can see the post from Island Batik.

This event honors the blocks that have shaped quilting through the years, reimagined by our talented Ambassadors using new Island Batik collections now arriving in quilt shops.

For this challenge, each Ambassador was asked to use at least five different traditional quilt blocks in their project, in any combination, layout, or size. It’s a chance to revisit the classics and give them a fresh, personal twist. Throughout the hop, you’ll see how each designer has interpreted the theme Timeless Traditions in their own unique way, from bold, modern takes to quilts that feel like cherished heirlooms.

As you follow along, we encourage you to visit your local quilt shop to explore the new Island Batik collections featured during the Timeless Traditions Blog Hop. Supporting local shops helps keep the quilting community strong, connected, and full of inspiration.

Each Friday, we’ll wrap up the week with a round-up of featured projects and a giveaway! Two lucky winners will each receive a Fat Quarter bundle from the new Island Batik collections showcased that week. Be sure to visit all the Ambassadors’ blogs to see their beautiful quilts and watch for even more giveaways along the way!

Below is the full line-up of the Ambassadors, the collections they’ll feature, and their post dates. Mark your calendar and get ready to be inspired!

WEEK 1

November 3:

Brenda Alburl, Songbird Designs

Susan Deshensky, Lady Blue Quilt Studio

November 4:

Preeti Harris, Sew Preeti Quilts

November 5:

Brittany Fisher, Bobbin with Brittany

Denise Looney, Quiltery

November 6:

Renee Atkinson, Pink Tulip Quilting

Suzy Webster, Websterquilt

WEEK 2

November 10:

Kimberly Flannagan, Kimberly's Quilts

Solomae Stoycoff, Cuddle Cat Quiltworks

November 11:

Connie Kresin Campbell, Freemotion by the River

Gail Sheppard, Quilting Gail

November 12:

Jennifer Thomas, Curlicue Creations

Leah Malasky, Quilted Delights

November 13:

Carol Stanek, Stitch with Color

Sarah Pitcher, Pitcher's Boutique

WEEK 3

November 17:

Lisa Pickering, Lisa's Quilting Passion

November 18:

Connie Kauffman, Kauffman Designs

November 19:

Mania Hatziioannidi, Mania for Quilts

Tina Dillard, Quilting Affection Designs

November 20:

Kim Jamieson-Hirst, Chatterbox Quilts

Emily Leachman, The Darling Dogwood

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Oct. Sew Stylish with By Annie Challenge

October is the Island Batik Ambassador Sew Stylish Challenge with By Annie. This is the month we get to choose fabrics from Island Batik and a pattern from By Annie to make. This is always a great challenge.

Before I tell you more about the challenge I have to tell you that I have an ugly bag! Why do I have an ugly bag? I've been an Island Batik Ambassador for 12 years and have made several lovely By Annie bags. So why do I still have an ugly one? The reason is that this bag was the perfect size to carry the extension table for my portable sewing machine. I could also put in my tool box and usually a project to take along with the sewing machine whenever I had a class or needed to travel. I originally got the bag at a garage sale- so it was old to start with. It was the perfect size and had a zipper so nothing could fall out of the bag. The fabric was worn, but cute. The handle was worn so I covered it with what at the time I felt like was coordinating fabric. It never did really look good but it was serviceable. I used this bag for years and I guess I grew used to it's worn out condition.

I won't share a photo of this bag because it is so sad. I finally said enough! There is no reason I should have an ugly bag! I couldn't wait for this years challenge to replace this bag with something beautiful!

After carefully looking at all the great By Annie bag patterns I found one that was a suitable size. It also had a zipper on top that I find very helpful. This pattern is called 2 Big Totes. It come with directions to make two sizes. I made the Large size. I think the Extra Large size would be VERY big! This pattern also has a great add on video which can be very helpful.

The fabrics I selected are from the Island Batik collection called Garden Glory.

I picked out four fabrics from the collection- those on the left side of the photo. I also included a lime green from the Island Batik Solids and a yellow fabric called Cornmeal from the Opulent Oranges Collection. The reason I picked out the last two colors was because I wanted to do some kind of pieced blocks on the outside pockets.

Island Batik sent the chosen fabrics from Garden Glory and By Annie sent the pattern and all the things needed to make the pattern. It's so fun to sit down to make a project and everything is there ready to go!

It's always surprising how many things you need to make a By Annie bag.

By Annie bags have very detailed directions. You cut and label each piece and then you are ready to begin. There are lots of pieces!

At each step of the pattern you can check off that you completed the step. This was very helpful as I was only home for short periods and could only do a step or two each time. It helped me to stay on track.

Schmetz needles work very well sewing thru the Soft and Stable and the layers of fabric. I also used coordinating colors of Aurifil Thread to do the quilting and sewing.

But....I wanted to make pieced blocks for the big pockets on the front and back of the bag. That proved to be a BIG challenge! It was just very confusing to do as it required making blocks outside the given directions. I love the results, but it was challenging!

I did manage to get the two blocks done. See one of them above. Each block is different and I didn't care which one went on the front or back. I'm really glad I made the effort as they look great on the bag. The front pocket has a zipper and pocket behind.

The back has an outside pocket.

There were two products I had never used before that By Annie sent to make the bag.

The first was very narrow Double Sided Basting Tape. This worked great for holding things together so that sewing was much easier in tricky spots. The other was Premium Clear Vinyl. They recommend using this on the bottom of the bag so that it wears better. I've never had the bottom of a bag wear out, but I followed the directions and put it on this bag. It sewed easily. Hopefully you can see that it's on the bottom as it is shiny

The bag is just a little bigger than I needed, but it fits my extension table and I have even more room for supplies and fabric. The size of this Large Tote is 13 1/2" H x 16 1/2" W x 6 1/2" D.

There are pockets inside which are hard to see in the photo. Flat pockets on one side and billowed pockets on the other where you can put water bottles, etc. The zipper panels lays flat when opened so you have a large opening.

Another nice thing about this tote is that it doesn't have any outside bindings. If you've made many By Annie bags you know that most have outside bindings that can sometimes be a challenge to sew.

I'm very happy with my Large Tote. Now I can retire my sad bag....

Many thanks to Island Batik (Lumin Fabrics), By Annie, Schmetz Needles, and Aurifil Thread and for providing products for this project thru the Island Batik Ambassador Program.

Check out what bags the other Island Batik Ambassadors are making this month:

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

Thursday, September 25, 2025

Threaded Chaos Blog Hop - My Day

Today is my day on the Threaded Chaos Island Batik Ambassadors Blog Hop.

In the photo above you can see my quilt on an old truck in front of Coppes Commons in Nappanee IN. I knew this old truck would look great with the colors on the quilt.

The Island Batik Ambassadors Threaded Chaos Blog Hop is sponsored by Aurifil Thread. Island Batik sent each Ambassador a new collection of fabrics to use in the challenge. My fabrics were from the Sunset Collection by Studio 180 Designs. The fabric is coming out in September. Along with a piece of each fabric of the collection, Island Batik sent light colored yardage from the collection called Macaroni Yellow Oatmeal and a dark fabric called Playful Purples.

Aurifil Thread allowed us to select 4 threads to work with in this challenge. I picked four colors that look lovely with the fabrics.

The challenge was to make a crazy quilt and accent it with Aurifil Threads. I debated what kind of Crazy quilt to make. In the past, crazy quilts were made from scraps of fabric the seamstress had accumulated. Today's quilters tend to have a lot of leftover strips in their stash. Maybe more strips than small scraps of fabric. I really didn't want to cut up this great collection into scrap pieces, so I thought I would make a modern crazy quilt using just strips.

I used 15 fabrics from the collection. I took out the more yellow colored fabrics.

I created a rectangle block that used 4 colored strips and the same light strip in each block.

Here you can see eight blocks put together.

Here is the top before quilting.

I wanted the light strips to stand out, so I didn't do any decorative stitching on them.

I used a collection of Aurifil threads, but the decorative stitching does not show up well on the figured prints. It might have shown up better if I had selected contrasting colored thread.

I found that the decorative stitching actually shows up nicely on the back since it is a more solid looking print.

Quilt Stats

Block size - 6" x 8 1/2"

Quilt Size - 42" x 53"

Fabric - Sunset by Studio 180 Designs - Island Batik (Lumin Fabrics)

Thread - Aurifil

Batting - Hobbs Premium Cotton

Needles - Schmetz

Iron - Oliso M3Pro

Be sure and visit Emily Leachman's post today as she is also using Sunset fabrics!

Disclaimer: The products used to make this project (Island Batik fabric, Aurifil thread, Hobbs batting Schmetz needles, Oliso iron) were given to me by Island Batik (Lumin Fabrics) thru the Island Batik Ambassador program.

Island Batik (Lumin Fabrics) is giving away a fat quarter collection of fabrics this week! You can enter to win by visiting the Lumin Fabrics Facebook or Instagram page and making a comment.

Also, be sure to visit all the ambassadors during the hop to see the newest collections and the amazing crazy quilts!