Island Batik Ambassador Box

All of the products in this post have been given to my by Island Batik, along with their product partners, Aurifil and Hobbs Batting.

Oh, how I've been waiting to share this post! I found out right at the beginning of January that I had been chosen as an ambassador for Island Batik this year. It's my first time being an ambassador and I'm really looking forward to all of the monthly challenges that will give me a chance to play with the gorgeous Island Batik fabrics.

Last week all of the ambassadors received notifications that our boxes of goodies had shipped and it has been like waiting for Christmas to arrive. I think having that tracking number might have made me even more anxious as I could check daily (or many times daily 😉) to see if it had moved any closer. Of course, it was all made infinitely worse/better by seeing others open their boxes and share all of the amazing things inside while my own box slooooooly made its way to me.

But it's finally here! Let's take a look, shall we?

The first thing I saw when I opened the box was a twin-size Hobb's 80/20 batting. That will come in handy, don't you think? I've never used Hobb's before, so I am looking forward to giving it a try. There is also a queen size package of Hobb's Thermore, which is an ultra-thin batting. I have a bag I want to make soon and I want to quilt the panels for it, so I think that's the first thing I'll use this for.

The next thing I found in the box is still a secret. It's a bundle of fabrics that will be released at Spring Market, so I can't share them yet. I have peeked, though, and I can tell you they are so, so pretty. I can't wait to get to making with them. In fact, I peeked so quickly, I forgot to take a picture of them still wrapped. Oops!

6 spools of Aurifil thread, including 3 gorgeous greens. Other ambassadors pointed out that their thread colours match the colours of the secret bundle, so there's a little hint of what my surprise fabrics include. And a whole cone of white. Wow! That will come in handy too. The 2 spools on the right are 40wt, which I haven't used before. Anything I need to know about working with it?

And now the fabrics. I chose not to ask for any particular colours, so I had no idea what to expect. But oh, the lovely things they sent me 😊

Stash builders are 5" x WOF and there are 5 rolls, with 4 fabrics in each roll. Such beautiful colours! That yellow in the middle on the left has already been pulled out to be used for my first project.

3 yards of a lovely cream neutral fabric.

2 yards of this beautiful rayon. The drape of this is fantastic and I love the colours. I'm thinking it will become a skirt, just as soon as I can decide on a pattern. Maybe the Everyday Skirt by Leisl and Co? Do you have any other suggestions?

They also sent a beautiful rayon scarf. Mine is this fabulous bright pink.

This fat-eighth bundle is called Elementz and it came with a coordinating orange. I love how bright these ones are.

This is a stack of 10" squares of the Northern Woods line, along with 1.5 yards of coordinating light and dark fabrics.

I didn't ask for any particular colours because I didn't really know when I filled out the form what I would be using the quilts for, but since then I've come up with some ideas. One of them is a quilt for a man, so I'm really happy to have some more masculine colours included.

They also sent this bundle of pinks and reds for a Galentine's Day project. My box didn't arrive in time for Galentine's Day, but I had picked a particular friend I planned to make for, so I'm still going to make it for her. I won't be using the pinks, though, so these will be stashed for some future project.

And, last but not least, there was a bundle of Foundations, which are great blender prints.

All I can say is "WOW!" I'm going to have a lot of fun with these this year 😊

There are 45 Island Batik ambassadors, so there's going to be a lot of batik inspiration floating around. Many of them are new to me, so it will be fun to get to know them as the year goes on. Here's the full list of us, courtesy of Laura at Slice of Pi Quilts:

Alison at Little Bunny Quilts

Amy at Sew Incredibly Crazy

Anita at Quilt in a not-Shell

Anna at Ark Angel Creations

Anne at Sweetgrass Designs

Barbara at Bejeweled Quilts

Bea at BeaQuilter

Carole at Carole Lyles Shaw

Connie at Freemotion by the River

Connie at Kauffman Designs

Dione at Clever Chameleon

Geraldine at Living Water Quilter

Jackie at If These Threads Could Talk

Janet at Whispers of Yore

Jeanette at Inchworm Fabrics

Jen at Patterns by Jen

Jennifer at Curlicue Creations

Jennifer at Dizzy Quilter

Jennifer at Inquiring Quilter

Jessica at Desert Bloom Quilting

Joan at Moosestash Quilting

Joyce at heARTs Creations

Karen at Sew Karen-ly Created

Karen at The Quilt Rambler

Kathleen at Kathleen McMusing

Laura at Slice of Pi Quilts

Leanne at Devoted Quilter (That's me!)

Mania at Mania for Quilts

Maryellen at Mary Mack Made Mine

Michelle at Creative Blonde

Myra at Busy Hands Quilts

Nancy at Masterpiece Quilting

Pamela at PamelaQuilts

Sally at Sally Manke

Sandra at MMM Quilts

Sarah at Sarah Goer Quilts

Sharon at Yellow Cat Quilt Designs

Sherry at Powered by Quilting

Stephanie at Steph Jacobson

Suzy at Adventurous Applique and Quilting

Teri at Lizard Creek Quilts

Tina at Quilting Affection Designs

Toby at Gateway Quilts & Stuff

Turid at Den Syende Himmel

Vicki at Vicki's Crafts & Quilting

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some serious fabric petting to do! I should have lots of sewing time over the next few days as we are at the start of a 4 day weekend. That means I'll be back soon with the first of my projects showcasing these goodies 😊