What’s a surprising benefit to mastering curve piecing in quilting? Making stuffed animals! This month the Island Batik Ambassadors each picked a pattern form Funky Friends Factory to make. I picked out Tom the Turkey. He’s big, round, and was labeled beginner friendly.

This type of sewing is entirely new to me, but I didn’t need any assistance from google or YouTube in this process. The directions are so clearly printed with step by step instructions that have check boxes so you don’t miss anything, and well printed labels on each diagram. For visual learners there are links to videos through key steps in the process. I also enjoyed the tone of the instructions that read like a friend giving encouragement and patient guidance.

After my last Island Batik Project, Sparkle Quilt, I used up all my bright scraps, and had a bunch of browns and neutrals left. It worked out perfect for this project!

My two year old was able to be very involved in this process, from eating the cereal so I could use the boxes for templates, to stuffing the body. He was over the moon for this turkey. I wasn’t sure he would recognize the animal, but we read “Chicken Little” at night, so he was familiar with the character “Turkey Lurkey.”

To stuff the head and feet of the Turkey, I used my leftover Polyester batting from Hobbs batting! I love this batting for wall hanging projects, and it worked well in the little nooks and tight curves. The rest of the body I used some leftover poly-fil, which I had purchased for last year’s puff quilt! This was a great bonus project from all those scraps!

There are many options for pattern on the Funky Friends Website. My son has requested I make a black cat, and then he wants the rest of the Chicken Little story characters recreated. I’ve got a busy two months ahead on quilting projects, so he (and you!) should follow the other Island Batik Ambassadors to see more fun creations. This is such a fun month!

Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs

Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting

Megan Best ~ BestQuilter

Pamela Boatright ~ PamelaQuilts

Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts Studio

Brittany Fisher ~ Bobbin with Brittany

Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts

Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts

Jane Hauprich ~ Stitch by Stitch Custom Quilting

Kim Jamieson-Hirst ~ Chatterbox Quilts

Victoria Johnson ~ Forever Quilting for You

Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs

Connie Kresin Campbell ~ Freemotion by the River

Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood

Denise Looney ~ A Quiltery

Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights

Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack Made Mine

Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion

Sarah Pitcher ~ Pitcher’s Boutique

Lana Russel ~ Lana Quilts

Julia Schweri ~ Inflorescence Designs

Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail

Carol Stanek ~ Stitch with Color

Sandra Starley ~ Textile Time Travels

Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations

Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt