THE BOX!!

 The much anticipated second Island Batik Ambassador has arrived, and the contents did NOT disappoint!  Twice a year, Island Batik and industry partners Aurifil, Hobbs Batting, and Accuquilt, shower their Ambassadors with a treasure box of goodies. It's like Christmas in a box, filled with 23 pounds of wonderful surprises.

First out, were 3 fabulous battings from Hobbs' Tuscany line: wool, silk, and polyester.  I am very familiar with the wool and silk battings as they are pretty much all I use, but this polyester is new to me and I look forward to trying it out.

Accuquilt, who sent us the Go! cutter in the first box, has sent along a die for "Cleopatra's Fan" from their BOB - Block on Board collection. This means you can cut the entire block in one turn of the handle. As you know, I am a big fan of curved piecing and I can't wait to get using this.  I think it will be for my September project.

Aurifil contributed three spools of 50 weight thread.  You will see below why these colours were chosen.

The Island Batik fabrics are always such luscious colours, and this new collection called "Little Sir, Little Miss" is no exception.  There are 42, 2-1/2" strips plus 2 yards of each of light and dark coordinates.  I love that number print, it will make for a fun quilt.

You can see that the Aurifil thread matched up with this collection.  I always marvel at the thought and time put into packing these boxes.

This next collection of 10" squares and 4 yards of light and dark coordinates is called "Blueberry Patch"...which is so appropriate for a Cumberland County gal like myself.

 Blueberries are big in my part of the world, with Oxford about half an hour away.

 (This is the giant blueberry in Oxford.)

They also sent along 1/2 yard cuts of 8 coordinates, tied in a pretty bow.  Even that bow will get used.

 The blue thread is, of course, a perfect match.

Neutrals and basics are are so great to have, and the solid white, black, and grey always gets used up quickly. The piece on the bottom, called Moo Milk, also contains 4 yards.

 There's another bundle of 8, 1/2 yard cuts which work well with the "Little Sir, Little Miss" collection...

 ...as well as this one called "Speak Easy", with Klimt inspired prints.

 It's almost overwhelming when you view it altogether - wow!

Before I start sewing, I take the time to catalogue everything in a binder, with a little snip from each fabric next to the corresponding tag. This way I can see at a glance how much of each fabric I have, and the collection to which it belongs.

As I finish each project, I add a sketch or photo showing what I made with those fabrics. This is "Sun Salutation" from my very first Ambassador box last year. 

Once this is all done, the fabrics are separated into lights, darks, and mediums, and are off to the laundry.  Polly sees this as a sign she can now claim the box!

A sincere thank you to Island Batik, Hobbs Batting, Aurifil thread and Accuquilt for their generosity, and for providing the inspiration for months of sewing.

Into The Blue

The Island Batik Ambassador challenge for April is to make a square baby quilt, using our Accuquilt Go Cutters.  

As you may recall, Accuquilt surprised the Ambassadors this year by sending along an entire cutting system, including the 8" QUBE set, to each participant. What an amazing machine this is - fast, accurate, and fun to use.  My favourite thing is that you don't plug this in - it is powered by a simple hand crank that takes no effort to turn.  This is especially important for me, as Polly has to be in the middle of everything I do and there is no way she can accidentally get herself sucked in. (yes, she is one of THOSE cats...)

A pattern book filled with ideas comes with the cutter, and there are also free patterns to be found on the Accuquilt site.  I decided to use a fabric collection I received in my Ambassador box called French Blue, which included light and dark yardage as well.

I paired the collection with a neutral called "Rice", which has a blue marl.

Hanging to dry, the fabrics suggested sailboats in sunshine;  since there was a sailboat pattern included in the book, this seemed a good choice.

I sketched this "Ship of Dreams" quilt up in EQ8 and started cutting.  

After sewing one boat, I was so taken with how easily it went together, that I decided to change up the design and add a few more triangles...and a pop of red.

 578 HST cut, sewn, pressed in about 2 hours. Seriously!!! Since the corners are snipped, there is absolutely no trimming to do.I love this AccuQuilt Go! cutter! 

Polly helped me play with the arrangement of triangles. 

 We liked that this looked like sunshine in a blue sky.

I had enough of my favourite Hobbs Tuscany Wool Batting leftover from a previous project for my quilt.

Deciding what to quilt is always a head-scratcher, but with all those triangles, I felt there was enough going on, and the quilting needed to be minimal.  I simply free motion stitched continuous curves in the light triangles, and left the coloured ones to puff.  Aurifil 50 weight in Natural White 2021 blended in perfectly.  I added some waves in the outer border.

It has a bit of a shimmer effect.

Ideally, this would have been photographed in a beautiful sunny day with shimmering water in the background.  The shining-est water around is Silver Lake, N.B., and we went on the sunniest day forecast.

Ha!  That lake is frozen solid! We couldn't even walk to the edge without sinking into the wet sand.

I do like how the quilt turned out:  a sailboat bathed in sunshine, sailing off into the blue. It measures 40" square.

I am totally smitten with the Go! cutter, and there are many more triangle quilts in my future, for sure.

There is a pattern for "Into The Blue" available for purchase.  The pattern includes a template for the triangles, so you can make it without a cutter...just not as quickly, or easily. Thank you to Cheryl Coville for her help in editing the pattern.  It is available from my website, or as a direct download here. 

Many, many thanks to Accuquilt, Hobbs Batting, Aurifil thread and, of course, Island Batik, for providing the wonderful products used in this quilt.

Please be sure to check out what the other Ambassadors are making this month with their Go! cutters:
Carolina Asmussen ~Carolina Asmussen  /Gene Black ~ Gene Black / Pamela Boatright ~ PamelaQuilts / Connie K Campbell ~ Freemotion by the River / Anja Clyke ~ Anja Quilts / Tina Dillard ~ Quilting Affection Designs / Becca Fenstermaker ~Pretty Piney / Jennifer Fulton ~ Inquiring Quilter / Barbara Gaddy ~ Bejeweled Quilts by Barb / Dione Gardner-Stephen ~ Clever Chameleon / Sarah Goer ~ Sarah Goer Quilts / Vasudha Govindan ~ Storied Quilts / Lori Haase ~ Dakota City Quilter II / Joanne Hart ~ Unicornharts  / Mania (Magdalini) Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for Quilts / Carla Henton ~ Creatin’ in the Sticks / Stephanie Jacobson ~ Steph Jacobson Designs / Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs / Joan Kawano ~ Moosestash Quilting / Kim Lapacek ~ Persimon Dreams/ Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood / Leanne Parsons ~ Devoted Quilter / Bea Lee ~ BeaQuilter / Toby Lischko ~ Gateway Quilts & Stuff / Bill Locke ~ Studio Bill Locke / Denise Looney ~ For the Love of Geese / Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights / Sally Manke ~ Sally Manke / Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack’s Blog Kathleen McCormick ~ Kathleen McMusing / Carol Moellers ~ Carol Moellers Designs / Karen Neary ~ Sew Karen-ly Created / Lisa Nielsen ~ Lisa Lisa and the Quilt Jam / Jackie O’Brien ~ If These Threads Could Talk / Laura Piland ~ Slice of Pi Quilts / Michelle Roberts ~ Creative Blonde / Vicki Schlimmer ~ Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting / Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail / Sherry Shish ~ Powered by Quilting / Anita Skjellanger ~ Quilt in a not-Shell / Laticia “Tish” Stemple ~ Tish’s Adventures in Wonderland / Jennifer Strauser ~ Dizzy Quilter / Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations / Terri Vanden Bosch ~ Lizard Creek Quilts / Alison Vermilya ~ Little Bunny Quilts / Sandra Walker ~ mmm! quilts / Suzy Webster ~ Adventurous Applique and Quilting / (Debora) Anne Wiens ~ Seams like a Plan / Geraldine Wilkins ~ Living Water Quilter / Janet Yamamoto ~ Whispers of Yore

Ambassador Box 2 Is Here!

I've been waiting - not so patiently - for this box to arrive. It's the second box this year for Island Batik Ambassadors, and is filled with goodies from Island Batik, Hobbs Batting, and Aurifil thread.  17 lbs. of goodies!!

 The box had obviously been opened and inspected at Customs, as it had been re-taped.

Regardless, our in-house inspector Polly still gave it a sniff or two, just to make sure.  She approved its contents, so on we went with the unpacking.

It's an exciting moment, to open a box filled with such potential.

As before, we are sent a packet of as yet-unreleased fabric which cannot be shown at this time;it will be used for the blog hop next January.  Having just finished sewing with the first surprise packet, I couldn't wait to see the collection, so I tore into it right away.  I was not disappointed.  I invite you to check back in January 2019 for a look-see. :)

Aurifil sent along an assortment of some of their wonderful product, including 2 colour cards, brochures, a large spool of red thread (my favourite colour), a thread pack in green, a tote bag that will see lots of use, and a sticker that says "Powered by Aurifil".  Hmm...now where will I put that? Maybe right on the wheel of my Bernina, because it's ALWAYS powered by Aurifil!

This thread pack is going to be so much fun!  Seven spools of 2890 "Very Dark Grass Green", in all the weights :12,28,40,50,80,Aurifloss, and wool. I know exactly what I want to do with it.

The Island Batik fabric is luscious. The collections we received are shipping to stores in August, I believe, so you should be able to find them shortly. This is a "stack" of 10" squares from the Jungle Cruise collection.

 Another "stack", this one of Paisley Dot Brights.

Love it, love it, love it!

Polly's pick was this collection called Wild Things.  It features a pack of 40 pieces of 2-1/2" strips, as well as 2 yards of light and 2 yards of dark coordinates. You can see the beautiful presentation of the fabrics as they arrive to us, this one tied in a shiny silver ribbon.

 Each Ambassador received one yard cuts of solid white, grey, and black.

 We were also all sent 1 yard cuts of a line called "Check It Out".  Ambassador Sherry, who blogs at "Powered By Quilting", has used hers already in a project, to great effect.

 We were also given a very generous 5 yards of a light neutral.   Mine is called "Almond".

 A batik "Foundations" bundle contained 8 colours, in 1/2 yard measures. I didn't add up all the yardage in the box, but it's significant.  Wow, Island Batik! :)

Hobbs Batting totally pampered us with cotton, wool and wool/cotton battings from their premier "Tuscany" and "Heirloom" lines, in sizes from Throw to Queen.  The Tuscany wool is my go-to batting, and I am so pleased to receive these.

I will take a little while to admire all this, and dream about what each could become, before I begin cataloguing and washing the fabric. I keep a binder with snips of each fabric beside the name of the collection, the fabric SKU's, as well as a finished picture of what I made.

My sincerest thanks to Island Batik, Aurifil thread, and Hobbs Bonded Fibres for their generosity in providing this wonderful selection of materials.