The month long Island Batik Beat the Heat Blog Hop continues with lots of giveaways, awesome batiks, and beautiful quilts. Be sure to visit all the Ambassadors who are participating!

For Spring Market, I designed several quilts using the fabrics in the Spring collection. Today on the hop the Petal Pushers collection is being featured, and so I’m reintroducing my Broken Road pattern which was designed for Petal Pushers although frankly, it would look good with any two of your favorite colors.

I’m having a sale!

To celebrate the hop, I’m offering 20% off my Broken Road ...

Braided Tote Remix

Fat Quarter Shop is hosting a Jolly Braid Tote Remix  It’s an opportunity to get acquainted or see the Jolly Braid tote in a new light.

With the Fat Quarter Shop provided Jolly Braid Tote pattern and Triangles on a Roll Fat Jelly Braid and Island Batik provided Stash Builder 5-inch fabric rolls I made a tote bag and a matching zippered pouch.

Stitching up the tote with paper guided braid pattern is quick and easy. Watch Fat Quarter Shop’s video tutorial for step-by-step instructions.

Instead of a multi-color tote bag like the first Jolly ...

The Island Batik Beat the Heat Blog Hop continues this week and it’s not too late to join in the fun. This month long celebration of Island Batiks features tons of giveaways, gorgeous batiks from the Spring 2019 collection, and beautiful quilts. Be sure to visit all the Ambassadors who are participating!

To celebrate the hop, I’m offering 20% off my Like Clockwork pattern. Like Clockwork features the stunning Clockworks collection, with it’s deep rich masculine tones. Wouldn’t this make a great quilt for a wonderful guy in your life? Clockworks is part of Island Batiks ...

The Island Batik Beat the Heat Blog Hop starts Monday and you just can’t miss it! This month long celebration of Island Batiks features tons of giveaways, gorgeous batiks, and beautiful quilts. Be sure to visit all the Ambassadors who are participating!

This hop features the Spring 2019 batik collection that are appearing in stores now. Click here to use the Store Locator to find a store near you that carries Island Batik.

Only half of the Ambassadors are participating in the blog hop this time. Me, along with the other half of the Ambassadors team will participate in ...

The latest Island Batik Ambassador blog hop has kicked off! Welcome to the Beat the Heat Blog Hop. We hope you will grab a cool drink*, kick back, and enjoy these projects, all created with the latest Island Batik fabrics. Bookmark this page so you can come back daily and view the new quilts that have been shared.

*Or something warm for those of you in the southern hemisphere. ;-)

Friday August 2 - Blog Hop Kick off and first Giveaway! (go now)

Monday, August 5 - Blueberry Patch

Leanne Parsons
Sherry Shish

Tuesday, August 6 - Clockworks

Bill Locke
Lisa Nielsen

Wednesday, August ...

The fabrics shown in this post were given to me by Island Batik. This quilt was pieced with my favorite thread by Aurifil and completed with Hobbs 100% cotton Batting

The August Challenge for the Island Batik Ambassadors is to create a quilt featuring Stars. I chose a design I created in EQ8. I love the way the Lemoyne quarters combines with shaded four patch units creates a shooting star effect.

Shooting Stars (60″ x 60″) was designed as a companion quilt project using Studio 180 Design Rapid Fire Lemoyne Star, Tucker Trimmer III, Tucker Trimmer I, Corner Beam tools ...

The July challenge for the Island Batik Ambassadors was “Artsy Fartsy,” and it was to showcase the beautiful Aurifil threads that are included in our twice yearly boxes. Aurifil is a partner in the Island Batik Ambassador program and as such has always been generous in sharing their threads with us.

I’ve been an Aurifil user for years, well before the Ambassador program. I love how low lint they are, and how perfectly they stitch! I can honestly say that both my piecing and my quilting improved after I tried Aurifil. No kidding.

Aurifil Threads - A Guide

So for ...

Island Batik Ambassador Box 2

July is a special time for Island Batik Ambassadors. It when we receive our second box of fabric. The box has yards of beautiful Island Batik fabrics and quilting tools and notions for monthly challenges.

NOTE: Island Batik, Auriful Thread and Hobbs Batting each provided their products for the IB Ambassador program.

Let’s see what’s inside the box.

First, is an awesome fat quarter bundle of Sand Bar and yards of neutrals.

Look at the gorgeous pre-cuts, Blueberry Patch 10-inch stack and Mermaid Cove strips . Both have matching yardage to complete the package ...

As an Island Batik Ambassador, I receive a surprise box of goodies twice a year to use in making our monthly challenge quilts.

It’s July, so that means it’s time to open my second box of Island Batik goodies. My first box of the year was actually two boxes and it was jam-packed with awesomeness! I simply can’t wait to open this box for you. Just look how big it is!

Bur first—if you like batiks as much as I do—be sure to follow me so you don’t miss the eye candy. Even if ...

The fabrics in this post were given to me by Island Batik.

The mission: Use any fabric art/non-traditional quilting/sewing/thread painting technique using 3 Aurifil thread weights. In my infinite wisdom, I chose thread painting (sigh).

About 10 years ago I took a thread painting class from Nancy Prince. She is a wonderful quilt artist.

As usual I get organized with paper plates!

I started by creating my background of land and sky and pinning it to a light weight stabilizer. I traced mountains onto Steam A Seam II to add to the country scene.

I outlined the ...

Midyear Progress Review  

I have been a busy bee!  This may be a record year at the current pace.  

Finished projects are big and small, personal and workshop samples and experiments with new-to-me products like Kraft-tex.

There were a few first time projects, like the fidget quilt made for my mother.

There were a few baskets! Ok, I made several.  I love making rope baskets. 

Then there are pattern releases featuring Island Batik and quilt designs published in print and digital magazines.

Whew!  Are you tired yet?  LOL  I am  thankful to do what I love full-time and for the ...

Eye Contact: Creating a Connection 

Every two years, Sacred Threads has a national quilt and fiber art exhibit. Barbara Hollinger, curator of Sacred Threads created a special installation, Eye Contact: creating a connection, for the 20th Sacred Threads.

I decided to combine the special installation parameters with the Island Batik ambassador Artsy Fartsy challenge.

NOTE: As an Island Batik ambassador I was given the fabric for this project and Aurifil provided the thread.

The challenge required ambassadors to use three provided spools of Aurifil thread. I received 12, 28 and 50 weight threads.

The heaviest thread, 12wt, emphasizes the silhouetted ...