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
Leave a comment