Wednesday, January 22, 2020

What arrived in my first Ambassador Box of 2020?

So much goodness that it was a little overwhelming! 28 lbs worth of overwhelming...oh my!  All the following fabric and supplies were provided to me by Island Batik and their industry partners at no charge.  In return, I get to make a project every month with a thought provoking challenge.  So fun!  I feel so lucky to be chosen as an Island Batik Ambassador for 2020.
First of all a package arrived from Accuquilt!  This contained a Block On Board die for a Storm at Sea block!  I can't wait to try this out and I have a lot of ideas for what I want to try making with this.  My thanks to Accuquilt for being so generous to us ambassadors!

 Luckily my daughter Shannon was visiting over Christmas, so she helped me by videotaping my unboxing for me - just one take, and it's not too embarrassing!  I think I hit all the important points, and it was fun sharing what was inside that huge box of happiness.  So - take a look at my video, then I will give your more details about what I received...

So much great fabric and other goodies, right? 


The largest bundle and two pieces of yardage were the Primo line.  This line was designed by Ebony Love of  Lovebug Studios.  I am super happy to play with these fabrics because I saw her blog post about how she designed them.  Also, I've known Ebony for quite some time through the seller team I belong to on Etsy, so I feel like she is a friend even though we've never met in person!  She is a very creative and hard working person, so I am excited to see her designing with Island Batik and know she's going to be doing some great things.  This fabric is one of the fall lines and is currently arriving in quilt shops everywhere!



The strip pack I received is Jewel Box - designed for Linda and Carl Sullivan of Colourwerx by Kathy Engle.  Such pretty colors, these will be so fun to work with! 



I'm always excited to receive some Aurifil thread and I was very delighted to find TWO of the new Color Builder boxes!  Each of these boxes has three large spools of Aurifil thread in a dark medium and light, inspired by an iconic location in Italy.  I received Dolomite Green and Sardinia Pink in my Ambassador box, and can't wait to put them to use!  Thank you to Aurifil thread!
I also received a Stack (10 inch squares) of River Valley.  Beautiful greens and blues in this collection - it's going to be a very pretty project, whatever it will end up as!  River Valley was designed for Deb Tucker’s Studio 180 Design by Kathy Engle.
I love using the 10 inch squares, it's a nice size piece of fabric to use in a scrappy type of project, and the lovely thing is that the fabrics are already coordinated for you!

I'm definitely a fan of Schmetz needles and have been using them since I started using a sewing machine.  They have a great variety of needles for every purpose and I am excited to try the chrome plated needles as well as the non-stick ones!  They sent a handy user guide and needle guide as well, so a big thanks goes out to Schmetz for joining in the fun as an industry partner!

Surprises are always fun - this one won't be revealed for a few months, it's from the winter lines and won't be available in shops for a while, so we don't want to tease you too much!
I'm excited about that fun bundle of foundations and solids!  I'm thinking these will be fun with that Storm at Sea die...hmmm.  And the batik!  I have an idea for this as well.  Can you see the pretty and subtle color on it?  so pretty!


A big thanks to Hobbs for providing two BIG king size packages of batting!  One is the 80/20 Cotton batting - this is the batting I used when first learning to free motion quilt and I still love it.  And the heirloom cotton that I used in my scrappy project is also terrific, very soft and cuddly!


Oh, I can't forget the Stash Builder rolls!  They are perfect for when you want a bit of fabric for something - and opening them is like a treasure hunt...what kind of fabric will you find inside?  These make great little gifts, and we are starting a friendship square swap at my local quilt shop using them.  You really should ask your local shop about carrying them!

And 6 yards of neutral!  Rice will go so well with all of my projects.  We also received a package with black, white, and gray solids!  It's a good thing, because I was down to just scraps of all 3 - I never would have imagined how much use I would get out of those three fabrics, and they are totally wonderful!  

I hope I haven't blathered on too long about the contents of my box.  With all these goodies it is hard to keep it short and sweet!  I'll talk more in depth about the items as I use them, and if you have any questions, just leave me a comment and I'll tell you what I can (but no revealing my secret bundle...sorry!).  I'm glad to have you follow along with me on my adventures as an Island Batik Ambassador - don't forget to follow the other ambassadors as well, they are a great group and so talented!  Keep an eye out for more unboxing videos - we'll be spreading them out through the rest of the month with 2 or 3 a day.  Stay tuned for many great projects and surprises this year!

12 comments:

Quilting Tangent said...

Congratulations. looking forward to seeing all the projects you make with these wonderful fabrics.

Turid said...

Thank you Pamela. Exciting.

Gene Black said...

Nice! I love the Jewel Box collection. (pardon my drool) And the Storm at Sea should be a wonderful die to work with.

Carol Andrews said...

Thanks for sharing the eye candy Pamela. Congratulations and I’m eagerly waiting to see what you create!

Shirley said...

So fun watching your excitement on the box contents...you're a natural on camera and appear to be so at ease. Looking forward to your creations from this lovely box.

Kelly Dee said...

What a fun unboxing ad so fun to see and hear you teamie!

Unknown said...

I love the jewel box collection, but I can see where you are going to love working with everything. Is your mind in a tizzy yet?

MooseCarol said...

What a fun un-boxing video. It's like a treasure trove.

Kathleen said...

You got a lot of great fabrics! Love Ebony's line and the Jewel Box line, and the Storm At Sea you got. Lucky you!

Connie Kresin Campbell said...

Congratulations, lots of beautiful goodies! Can't wait to see what you create!

Sally said...

Beautiful fabrics presented so well. Congrats on another year as IBA!

Jennifer Fulton Inquiring Quilter said...

Gorgeous fabrics! Can't wait to see what you make with them.