October’s endangered animal awareness challenge…

The 2021 Aurifil Color Builders are a capsule of 12 mini-collections dedicated to an incredibly worthy cause that falls in line with Aurifil’s goal to increase sustainability and positive environmental impact — Endangered Species. Each collection contains three large spools of their supple and strong 40wt thread — a warm, a medium, and a dark.

For the October challenge, Aurifil asked the Island Batik Ambassadors to create a piece inspired by the endangered animal featured on their assigned Color Builder box.

I received the Sumatran Elephant…

The Sumatran elephant is native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and are one of the smallest of the Asian elephants, and known for their bright skin. Sadly there are are only between 2400 and 2800 Sumatran elephants left in the world, which puts them on the critically endangered list.

There has been a huge decline recently, largely due to habitat loss and illegal killing of the elephants for their ivory.

WWF Indonesia aims to protect the sustainability of the Sumatran elephants through collaborations with the government and other organizations. They have established elephant patrols, that serves to prevent hunting and dismantling of traps that can endanger the elephants.

Auriful thread have drawn their color inspiration from 12 magnificent animals, currently in dire need of attention, advocacy, and compassion. They are dedicated to highlighting their stories, helping to educate on their struggles, and working to create valuable change via awareness and fundraising. To help achieve these goals, Aurifil are collaborating with Earth League International and are looking forward to a strong and effective partnership, to read more about their work, head to

https://www.aurifil.com/2021-color-builders

I’ve created a wall hanging, using some gorgeous Island Batik fabrics, and the 3 Aurifil threads from my pack

I love the effect of the Island Batik blue fabrics

The light thread added a lovely shimmer to my project

Using the other two thread colours, I added some thread painting details to add depth and shading

Be sure to check out all the other Ambassadors projects, by heading over to the Island Batik Page

This wall hanging was quilted with Hobbs cotton batting and I added some hanging hoops to complete my project

I’ve really enjoyed reading about these elephants along with all the other Ambassadors projects, I hope you have too.

Michelle x

Island batik August blog hop…

What do you get if you mix a gorgeous new collection of Island Batik ‘proud peacock’ with some Auriful thread, a Deb Tucker Studio 180 Tucker Trimmer ruler and a sewing machine?

Need a clue?

Still need more clues? This super handy ruler is great for your HST projects…

Yes you guess it… a super adorable quilt

This quilt is made up of over 725 hand cut pieces, and uses every fabric from the Proud Peacock collection (plus a few duplicates), sewn together using Auriful Thread.

After putting my quilt top design together, I had 5 blocks left over… the perfect amount to make a gorgeous table runner

Head over to the Island batik page to see all the amazing new fabric collections, along with all the very talented Island Batik ambassadors who have created some stunning quilts this month (and every month).

Proud Peacock collection has been designed by Kathy Engle for Island Batik and is in shops from September 2021

Fancy being in with a chance of winning the Island Batik ‘Sticks and Stones fabric collection shown below????

Enter here

Best of luck

Michelle x

spreading love and joy with my summer vibes lap quilt…

Welcome to June’s Island batik challenge, this month is all about using our Accuquilt ultimate cutting machine, and combining the 8” or 12” finished BOB dies, with the GO! Qube 8″ Mix & Match Block and create a whole new pattern by combining the two.

I decided to combine the Hattie Choice block with the Go! zero pattern block to make a 31″ square lap quilt. I’ve used some super bright orange and yellows from my stash buster collection, along with some gorgeous Marbles from the basics range and Almond from the neutrals collection

I wanted this lap quilt to give off some summer vibes

I used Hobbs cotton batting inside, along with a super bright yellow Auriful thread to quilt this blanket.

I added a really bright orange binding, to make this summer vibe quilt pop

I couldn’t resist taking this quilt on a little photo shoot around my garden in the beautiful sunshine…

Head over to Island Batik Facebook page to see all the other amazing quilts that have been designed by the other Ambassadors

Enjoy the beautiful sunshine, and spread some love and joy today

Michelle x

its all up to you…

The months Island Batik Challenge, was left down to us as ambassadors to decide what to make. Head over to the Island Batik page to see all the amazing creations from this month

www.facebook.com/islandbatik

I’ve been busy over the last few months completing the first of three modules of a surface pattern design course, so I was keen to bring some of my designs to life…

I used Jewel Quest fabric collection, along with some bright green and purple threads from Aurifil to create my cushion covers

Jewel Quest fabric from Island Batik

I really love free motion quilting, its just like drawing but with your machine, and I get a real buzz from it, here are some close ups, each cover is quilted using Hobbs 80/20 cotton mix batting.

16″ x 16″ cushion covers

If you love these cushion covers, I have some exciting news… I’m currently taking orders, so please get in touch as I’d love to make something that fits your living room or bedroom decor. These cushions covers are made to order, which means they are available in all sizes and colours, prices start from just £20.

These two cushions are already looking stunning in their new home, and look brilliant on their new owners snuggle sofa

Thanks so much for stopping by to read my blog, happy Monday!

Michelle x