January 2025 Unboxing

January 7, 2025

I was so excited to receive my first box as an Island Batik Ambassador! Opening it made me feel like a kid on Christmas morning! Seeing all that gorgeous fabric in one place...along with the goodies provided by the trade sponsors, gave me so much inspiration for the exciting year to come as an Island Batik Ambassador.

Below is my first unboxing video! After I got over my initial case of "being nervous", I think it went pretty well. For those who would like to see the fabrics close-up, I have also provided photos and descriptions for everything that was in my box following the video:

Below are individual photos with descriptions of what was in my box!

First off we have the "surprise" package! This is a fabric bundle from the Winter 2024 collections, plus coordinating yardage to be used in the May Blog Hop. This fabric hasn't been released yet, which is why it's a surprise!

This gorgeous fabric is the Sunlit Garden collection designed by Jerry Khiev for Jennifer Thomas of Curlique Creations. Sunlit Garden will be used in the February Blog Hop.

This colorful fat quarter bundle is called Daisy May, designed by Kathy Engle. I haven't decided which month Daisy May will be showcased, but stay tuned!

This is a fat quarter bundle from the Midnight Garden collection, designed by Jerry Khiev. I love these rich blues and will enjoy working them on a future project.

Petal Poetry! Love the colors in this strip pack. The coordinating fabrics are just perfect too! Petal Poetry was designed by Jerry Khiev for Bestquilter. I'm planning something special for March using this fabric.

Next up are Gradations! The stack on the left is Brilliant Blue. The strip pack on the right is Playful Purple. These will make gorgeous additions to this year's projects!

I received 12 different 1/2 yard cuts of Foundations. These are coordinating fabrics that go with all the Island Batik collections and are available all the time. Stay tuned to see where these show up!

Neutrals are necessary! I received 4 yards each of black, white and gray as well as a 4 yard cut of the white floral fabric on the right. These will show up throughout the year in many of my projects.

These are so fun! These are called Stash Builder Bundles. Each bundle contains 5 rolls of 4-5" X WOF strips. Not sure where these will show up, but I'm looking forward to auditioning them in various projects this year!

Also included in my box were the following items from Island Batik trade sponsors, Accuquilt, Oliso, Aurifil Thread and Schmetz Needles:

To be used in May is the Irish Chain die from Accuquilt. This die is from their Block on Board line of fabric dies. They also included a cutting mat to go with the die.

Oliso sent the Ambassadors their M3 Pro iron along with a travel bag! This will really come in handy and I'm excited to try it out!

Also included in my box were five spools of Aurifil 50wt cotton thread. These colors coordinate with the fabrics I received!

From Schmetz we received a collection of sewing machine needles. Included was one pack each of piecing and quilting needles, vinyl needles and universal needles, along with a handy pocket guide to all the needles they make and the uses for each.

Stay tuned for a 2nd unboxing video this month as we are expecting to receive another one soon!

Below is a list of all the 2025 Island Batik Ambassadors, along with links to their websites or blog pages:

Brenda Alburl- https://songbirddesigns.blog

Renee Atkinson- https://wordpress.com/posts/pinktulipquilting.studio

Susan Deshensky- www.ladybluequilts.com/blog

Tina Dillard- https://quiltingaffection.blogspot.com/

Brittany Fisher- www.bobbinwithbrittany.com

Kimberly Flannagan- https://www.kimberlysquilts.com/blog