I was given a copy of this 143 page soft cover book by C&T Publishing for review. And to be totally honest, I was super impressed. It starts at the very beginning with needles, thread, and tools, and wraps up with tips on how to quilt on a home sewing machine, which makes it totally accessible for beginning quilters. Following the instructions are 13 projects, most not even needing a pattern because they are wonky and therefore forgiving, so it’s very appropriate for someone just starting out learning about all things sewing and quilting.
The thirteen projects begin simply and gain momentum slowly throughout. Each project builds on the experience gained from the previous project. The gentle succession of projects begins with a mug rug, placemat, pillow, tote bag, wall hanging, 6 quilts, and finally an open front jacket and vest.
coasters or mug rugsPlacematspillowstote bagwall hangingquiltsquiltsfun scrappy wonky quilt!so fun!jacketvest back
If you are a more experienced quilter, perhaps you are growing tired of following a pattern, and wish to explore more artsy endeavors and don’t know where to begin. The blocks and projects within this book would be a great start towards that goal.
Here’s a bit about the authors…
Shannon and Jason
Shannon Roudhán and Jason Bowlsby are the dynamic DIY duo from Seattle, Washington.Their award-winning designs have been featured in and on the covers of domestic and international publications and their craft, portrait, and fashion photography has appeared in books and magazines around the globe. Shannon & Jason have published 12 books including Complete Crochet Course – the Ultimate Reference Guide,Designer Crochet,Boro & Sashiko: Harmonious Imperfection and Contemporary Kogin-zashi: Modern Sashiko Beyond Filling in the Gaps. Their NEWEST book, Scrappy Wonky Quilt Block Extravaganza is available June 2024.
The duo has been married for 29 years and have been teaching adults for 20+ years. They have a mastery of subjects from boro & sashiko, crochet and knitting, sewing, quilting, photography, and embroidery. Their enthusiasm, quirky sense of humor, and relatable teaching style have made them sought after teachers in virtual, local, and national venues. Be sure to check out their selection of online classes on Craftsy, Creative Spark and through their own website at shannonandjason.com. The “edu-tainment” experience of a class with Shannon & Jason will leave you informed, empowered, and in stitches (see what we did there?).
Here’s where you can get your own copy of this just released book.
All children deserve a safe, comfortable place to lay their heads. Across the US, too many boys and girls go without a bed—or even a pillow—to sleep on. These children end up sleeping on couches, blankets, and even floors. This can affect their happiness and health. That’s where Sleep in Heavenly Peace comes in. A group of volunteers dedicated to building, assembling, and delivering top-notch bunk beds to children and families in need.
So many great charities provide clothing, meals, and toys to families in need. But as wonderful as this aid is, few organizations offer suitable beds and bedding to the kids in these families. Sleep in Heavenly Peace fully believes that a bed is a basic need for the proper physical, emotional, and mental support that a child needs. If a child needs a bed, Sleep in Heavenly Peace wants to make sure they get one. NO KID SLEEPS ON THE FLOOR IN OUR TOWN!
Quilts Across America is a program that relies on the generosity of quilters everywhere to provide a quilt with each bed that is delivered. Quilts Across America was initiated by Studio 180 Design and Tucker University in July 2023. Help make this the largest quilting project in America and complete the process of getting kids, Off the floor, Into a Bed, and Under a Quilt.
If you are interested in helping out, check out Shpbeds.org and note the requirements below.
Quilt Requirements
Size between 50” to 60” wide and 75” to 90” long.
Simple quilt designs.
Colors that appeal to kids and young adults from 2 to 17 years of age.
No religious or holiday themed fabrics.
Quilted, not tied.
Machine bound is preferred.
No buttons or glued on embellishments.
Simple allover quilting is recommended.
I was excited to join this cause and selected some pretty, uplifting colors of Island Batik fabrics. I opened Electric Quilt and designed a quilt that I could use my Studio 180 tools to make the blocks.
This is the design I settled on.
The lightest fabric I chose is Frosting by Island Batik, from the Foundation line available all year round. I also used it for the backing and binding. I absolutely love the subtle color changes within the design.
This is the Magic Wand. It is used to mark on either side of it to indicate the stitching lines. I used my Hera marker which creates a crease so you don’t have to worry about getting any chalk or other kinds of lines out later on. It’s one of my favorite tools.
Then I stitched on the creased lines.
After stitching both lines, I used my rotary cutter to cut down the middle between the two stitched lines, creating two pieces. I pressed those pieces and then placed another square, used my Magic Wand again and stitched on both creased lines.
Then cut between the two stitched lines.
Press and now you have a Flying Geese unit.
This is where the Wing Clipper comes in. Line up the seams with the lines on the tool and trim the excess.
Turn the unit upside down and trim on the other two sides.
The first few blocks on my new Felt Right design wall. Loving my blocks and the design wall as well! At this point I chose to name my quilt Looking Up because of the arrows pointing upwards.
The third Studio 180 tool I own is the Tucker Trimmer. It is used to trim down half square triangles, among other things.
I love the positivity in this quilt! The arrows pointing upwards, the plus signs, and the friendship stars. I hope it brings a young person endless snuggles and happiness.
This is a good picture of the backing, Island Batik Frosting and is available all year round. I love the very subtle color changes.
This is how I bind quilts by machine. I sew the binding to the back side of the quilt and then bring in to the front and sew using the serpentine stitch.
Our challenge this month was to make a paper pieced quilt, English or Foundation Paper Pieced, based on a holiday or celebration of our choice. The fabric I was supplied with by Island Batik for this project was Dots and Doodles by Carol Moellers Designs.
Ask for this collection at your local quilt shop. Shipping this month!
Many of these beautiful fabrics reminded me of fireworks and July 4 so I decided to make a quilt to hang at the top of my stair banister in July, much like I did last spring when I made the one below.
A good iron is a must for foundation paper piecing and I love my new Oliso iron provided by one of our Island Batik sponsors, Oliso. I prefer steam. but you can use it dry as well. It gets good and hot. And I love how I don’t have to set it up on it’s heel after each use.
Here are the pieces of one square. Any guesses what it will be??
Here it is, all laid out and ready to sew together, then quilt and bind. I used Aurifil thread for piecing and I will, of course, use Hobbs batting when I quilt it. This will go over the top of my stair rail to decorate for Independence Day, July 4.
Once again, I used this book for my inspiration and darling dog patterns.
I had an eventful April, to say the least, which set me back from my intended goals, one of which was to finish this quilt in time to post it today. I was ill most of the month, including a hospital stay for a week, with a diagnosis of Miller Fisher Syndrome, an autoimmune disease. It was a scary time for my family and I. I had a lot of numbness with muscle weakness and swallowing issues. After 4 infusions 24 hours apart, I was released, and the numbness eventually subsided along with the other issues. I am still dealing with some after effects, but am so thankful for the medical personnel who ordered ALL the tests and diagnosed me within 24 hours of checking into the Emergency Department. Time is of the essence with this syndrome. So thankful!
Check out what the other Island Batik Ambassadors have done or will do for this challenge.
Thanks for following along with my sewing and quilting adventures! And thanks to Island Batik, Oliso, Aurifil, Hobbs Batting, and Schmetz Needles for supplying products for us to use for our challenge this month.
Funky Friends Factory is a new sponsor with Island Batik this year and what fun projects! We had our choice of stuffed friends to make and I chose Mickey Moose. I have this thing about moose. They are just so cute! I don’t know if it stems from the Rocky and Bullwinkle show as a child or just what, but I do realize they are not friendly creatures in the wild. But the cute factor is high on my barometer!
These are the fabrics I chose for my moose: Circle Dots Yellow and Optic Flower Yellow for the body, Fan Red Burgundy for the antlers, and Circle Dots Purple for the hooves and foot pads, and ear backs.
And here she is, born today, April 30, Mildred Moose, Milly for short. Love her.
She got loose!
More munching!
Here’s where I was able to nab her and bring her back home.
I used Aurifil 50 wt thread for piecing her together and Aurifil black 12 wt for hand embroidering her eyes.
I begin every project with an new Schmetz needle. I used a size 12 Microtex for this quilting fabric.
This being the last day of the month, be sure to check out the other Island Batik Ambassadors to see which Funky Friend they decided to craft.
Our March project was our choice! Since I loved the Rollin’ Round collection and I had some left from last month’s project, I decided to use it again. It’s available now in your favorite local quilt shop. My local shop, Fiddlesticks, in Vancouver, WA just received a new shipment of Island Batik!
I used the following pattern because I liked how it made the fabric the star of the show. The strips are 3 1/2″ wide on the fan blades so you can get a nice look at the fabric designs. It’s available as a free pattern download here https://www.artgalleryfabrics.com/cgi-bin/fabricshop/projects.cgi?patternID=5
It finishes at 42″ x 42.” Great size for a baby quilt or a lap quilt!
It went together very quickly and before I knew it, it was ready to quilt.
I used Island Batik Mushroom for the backing and some tan variegated Aurifil thread along with some white Aurifil thread for quilting after pinning carefully.
Island Batik Mushroom , a Foundation available all year round.
I was traveling and had my travel Bernina with me, so I decided to stitch in the ditch to stabilize and the echoed the pattern in the negative space in each of the corners. I used a new Schmetz #80 microtex needle before quilting. Smooth sailing!
I’m really happy with the result and love the fact that it will be a companion to my log cabin quilt from last month! Check out that post here: http://lanaquilts.com/category/blog/
Our challenge this month was to make a log cabin quilt, any size, using our given collection. I was fortunate enough to receive Rollin’ Round by Kathy Engle for Quilting Renditions. It has fun designs of wheels, gears, bicycles, and all things round. And the colors are gorgeous jewel tones with some wheat colors and oranges as well. Bright and beautiful!
Rollin’ Round is shipping to shops this month! Ask for it at your favorite shop.
All cut out and ready to roll!
The pattern I chose is called River Log Cabin by Amy Ellis and I found it in Missouri Star’s Mod Block Magazine, Vol.1, Issue 1. It’s a different layout than I usually see and it seemed a little more modern to me. The strips are cut different widths; the grey background solid was cut into 1 1/2″ strips and the Rollin’ Round fabrics were cut into 2 1/2″ strips.
I put a new needle in before every project. Schmetz Microtex 80/12 needles are what I use for piecing.Beginning to put it together. Strip piecing all the way!I love these bright, beautifully saturated colors!The orange and teal! Yum! If you’re looking for a bicycle print, this one is super cute!
All 80 squares have been trimmed, sewn into rows, and rows sewn together. Now for the quilting. I only had my travel machine with me and no walking foot, so straight line quilting it is! I stitched a presser foot edge away from the seam lines and used Aurifil 50 wt 100% cotton thread for quilting (and piecing, but a more neutral color than shown below).
You can see the design layout now. Circles were perfect for Rollin’ Round!
I love it!
For the backing I chose Optic Flower in teal and Platinum, which is one of the Naturally Neutrals in the Basics collection. You can see the teal here, the other end of the backing has the Platinum.
Optic Flower – tealPlatinumI’m calling it Desert Sunset!
Be sure to view and follow what the other Island Batik Ambassadors have completed for their Log Cabin challenge:
Earlier this year I participated in one of GE Designs Quilt Alongs, Strip Twist. My Island Batik Stash Builders were perfect for this quilt. Stash Builders are 5″ strips by width of fabric that come 4 strips to a roll, 5 rolls per package. That’s nearly 3 yards of fabric and perfect for cutting 5″ squares or 2 1/2″ strips. I whipped this up at my annual quilt retreat using Schmetz needles and Aurifil thread.
Assembled piecesMy first completed block!Trying a layoutAll togetherAdded borders and scrappy binding using more of my Island Batik Stash Builders, Hobbs 80/20 batting, and Pro-Stitcher on my Handiquilter ForteDonated to our guild’s charity chairperson, Darlen,e at our November meeting
I know someone will appreciate this one as it is delivered this month.
Island Batik Ambassadors had the opportunity to choose a ByAnnie bag pattern that we would like to make. We had our choice of any with a supporting video, 29 to be exact. I have made a few ByAnnie patterns and love the results I get from her quality step by step instructions and supporting materials. ByAnnie supplied us with the pattern we selected and all the hardware and supplies to make it! Thank you, ByAnnie!!
We have an Airstream travel trailer and aren’t afraid to use it! We enjoy nature, hiking, biking, kayaking, and the out of doors. It’s always fun to meet and become friends with like minded people we meet during our adventures. I found a bag pattern that will be useful when we are glamping, it’s the I’ll Drink to That bag! We are often toting things to happy hours and pot lucks. This bag will be convenient for carrying our drinks.
The Island Batik collection I was given to work with for this project is Citron Breeze. Citron Breeze is shipping to retailers this month. Ask your favorite quilt store for it. It is a beautiful, very calming collection of greens and blues. Thank you, Island Batik for this beautiful fabric with which to work.
First I quilted the main fabric, foam, and lining on my Handi Quilter Forte (Amara 24). I chose SC Winter Swirls and Pearls design found in PS Patterns. I liked the bubbles and swirls and thought it appropriate for a drink carrier. Then I cut out the pieces from the quilted fabric.
SC Winter Swirls and PearlsAdding binding to one of the piecesThe inner sectioned dividersFront section with padded handle and zippered pouch
Every project deserves a new needle. I use Schmetz needles, normally an 80/12 Microtex, but for this project, sewing through several layers at a time and through Annie“s Soft and Stable foam, I used a size 90 needle. I enjoyed this project very much! Annie’s patterns, directions, and supplies give such a professional look to your finished projects!
Please take a minute to check out what the other Island Batik Ambassadors did for their challenge this month:
Our challenge this month was to use the Accuquilt North Carolina Star block, generously donated to us by Accuquilt. We could use the entire block, just parts to make a totally different design, and/or pair it with companion dies. We could make it into any project we liked, using fall fabrics, if possible.
Accuquilt North Carolina Star
I thought about what fall decorations I needed, and came up with ideas for placemats. Placemats add a finishing touch to a table setting and we host Thanksgiving. Time to get busy.
First, select fabrics. I selected a variety of fall colored fabrics and wanted to use the larger prints as the focus fabrics. They became the 4 51/2″ squares in each corner of the North Carolina Star blocks. Then it was pure fun to play with the other fabrics to see how placement changed the entire look. The block itself was 12″ square and I wanted the placemats to be about 12″ x 18″ so I added some designs on the sides.
Parts and pieces to play with.My first placemat used Pine Leaves Cone-Gr as the focus fabric in the four corners. I really love this one. Other fabrics used were Leaves- Green in the very center, Berries -Orange, Pebbles -Coffee, and Sprig – Yellow in the middle and on the right border, and Rock -Yellow and Copper on the left side.This placemat was made with Leaves – Green Cactus in the four corners, Berries – Orange in the very center with Leaves-Green Grass and Rock – Yellow in the center cross and Rock – Yellow on both borders.This placemat features Pine Leaves from the Sandalwood Collection for the four corners, Leaves-Green from the Sandalwood Collection for the very center, and Leaves – Green Cactus from the Sandalwood Collection, Pebbles – Coffee, Sprig – Yellow, and Berries – Gold and Berries – Orange from the Sandalwood Collection for the rest of the placemat. This placemat features Leaves – Green from the Sandalwood Collection for the four corners, Sprig – Yellow, and Bubbles – Cherry to complete the center, and Copper, Rock – Yellow, Sprig – Yellow, Pebbles – Coffee, Round Petal Floral, and Leaves – Green Grass from the Sandalwood Collection for the side borders.
All placemats are backed and bound with Rock – Green Grass.
I quilted all of them at the same time on my Handi Quilter Forte with the Filigree Leaves e2e design from Pro-Stitcher Patterns.
I was able to use some Hobbs 80/20 batting scraps left over from what they generously supplies us. I don’t like to waste!Quilted on my Handi Quilter Forte (now Amara 24)with Pro-StitcherMy Handi Quilter Glide 2 foot made it so easyQuilted with Filigree Leaves by Pro-Stitcher PatternsI like the way they look on my dining room table. I enjoy some of them more than others, but that happens when you give yourself freedom to play. And they will let good with some of my other solid color placemats to complete the table setting for Thanksgiving dinner.
Many of the fabrics I used are from the Sandalwood Collection, which is a Winter ’22 Collection. These were the only fall colored fabrics I had on hand to work with, so if you see some you like, check your local retailer to see if they still have them. Country Charm or Celtic Fields are Summer ’23 Collections with similar colors and look. Otherwise, check out their current Island Batik fabrics, and I’m sure you’ll find something that needs to follow you home! I can always count on Creekside Quilts near me in Oregon to have Island Batik fabrics.
Remember, every project needs a new needle. I use Schmetz needles, normally an 80/12 Microtex. Hobbs 80/20 batting goes into nearly every one of my quilted projects and this one is no exception. Accuquilt makes cutting fabric so much easier and cutting the pieces is my least favorite part of quilting, so I use my Accquilt whenever possible. This time, it was the North Carolina Star BOB. Aurifil 50 weight thread is used for piecing. And a big thank you to Island Batik, who gives us freedom to play with our fabric and projects!
Please take a minute to check out what the other Island Batik Ambassadors did for their challenge this month:
