Forever Quilting 4 You

This year Island Batik has a new partnership with Funky Friends Factory. Have you heard of

them? Have you seen the cute little stuffed animals that you can create? I have been following.

Pauline from FFF for some time and even got her Honey Bear pattern that was free on her

website. It was just so darn cute! But have I made Honey Bear yet? No, but my intensions were

good. For some reason it never came to life. Needless to say, I was very excited when I saw that

this month’s challenge was to make a Funky Friend! Hello Honey Bear! Or maybe not?!

We were told to go to https://www.funkyfriendsfactory.com/ and pick any pattern we wanted

to make. We’d then receive the downloadable pattern and then get started designing our

Funky Friend!

Keeping Honey Bear in mind, I decided to check out the Funky Friends Factory website, just to

see if something else jumped out and caught my eye. Well, lo and behold, a pattern did “jump”

out! There it was! A pattern of a labrador retriever!

It grabbed my attention because it

reminded me of my lab, Koa, absent the part about being “jumped” on by 80 pounds of dog;

she does this when she’s excited to see me, and especially when Sister comes over! I just had to

make a “little Koa!”

After I downloaded and printed the pattern, I started to review the directions. I soon realized

that I should have looked more closely at the pattern before I decided to get it. Since I hadn’t

made Honey Bear, I had no experience with FFF patterns, and in hindsight I should have looked

for a beginner pattern. I quickly noticed that there weren’t very many pictures in the

instructions. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem for most quilters, but I’m a “put-it-together-

by-looking-at-the-pictures” kind of gal, and without pictures, it’s a real challenge for me and I

easily get lost.

As I was going through the instructions, I read something that said “This is not a beginner

pattern, but I am not going to tell you, ‘you can’t make it’!” I started to feel a bit like I was

camping on the side of a cliff (people really do that). But then, as I continued to read the

instructions, I saw this: “If you purchased this pattern online make sure to go to this link for

more detailed instructions.” Woo-hoo! A lifeline! I can do this! So, I clicked the link and found

the instructions, and guess what! They had a lot of pictures! Ahhhh, I’m back on solid ground!

Ready to start designing, I picked out the Island Batik fabrics I wanted to use. I then cut out the

pattern and made the templates. Then I traced the pattern onto my fabric, being careful to

copy each and every one of the markings; Lord knows I’m going to need as much help as

possible!

I’m now ready to start cutting the fabrics, and I’m doing ok. But without the templates being on

the fabrics, I got lost. So, I had to back track and match up the fabric to the templates and look

at the instructions again. A couple of deep breaths later I recovered, regrouped and was ready

to go.

I made the ears, and if I do say so myself, they turned out pretty good. I was still doing ok, and it

wasn’t so bad. Step one done. Next, on to the muzzle and face… more deep breathing. Not only

are the pieces small but my fabric is black batik. Why did I choose to make my Funky Friend out

of black fabric? Oh yeah, my Koa is black. But I could have used a different color. It would have

been much easier on my eyes, especially sewing in the dark of the night.

Next is the tail. Ok, this one wasn’t so bad either. Then came the body; I’m getting really good

at this deep breathing thing. Thank God for the pictures and the written instructions! Egad! This

was a slow process with some ripping out and sewing pieces back together … more than once

or twice. I finished the body and moved on to the legs and paws.

Although I watched the video on how to make the paws and get them to come out nice, with

no tucks in them, let me tell you that those four paws were more than enough for me; lots of

deep breaths. I managed to get away with only one paw that needed to be ripped out and

resewn a little bit.

I was so excited! The assembly of my Funky Friend was finally finished and ready to stuff!

However, I hadn’t yet decided which batting I was going to use. I had some leftover Hobbs wool

batting from a previous quilt, so I set out to cut it into small pieces. I totally underestimated

how much stuffing goes into a stuffed animal. Not only did I use up all the wool batting, I ended

up using some Hobbs 80/20 to finish off the stuffing. All that was left to do was hand sewing

the opening together on the back and call it a day. Say it with me – “Not so fast!” Because I used

a ton of wool and regular batting it was a bit more difficult to sew up the opening than I would

have liked. But alas, I got it done.

I then tied an Island Batik ribbon around the neck of my Funky Friend with a nice little bow and

called it a day. Let me just say that not only was I feeling way outside of my box on this one, I

felt like I left the box in another state! The good news is that I finished with time to spare.

My daughter has since claimed my completed Funky Friends Factory project as her own, but

until I get some good pictures and post this to my blog, that little replica of Koa is going to stay

in my sewing room, safe and sound, especially away from Koa! Remember, she loves to steal

things, and I have no doubt that she would steal “Little Koa” and chew it to smithereens! But

the best part about this little Funky Friends lab is that she won’t steal anything!

Uh-oh! “Koa! No! Get back here! Drop it!”

Tiffanie and Koa the day we got her in 2018, notice how small she was.

Today, April 16 2024, Tiffanie, Koa now at almost 80 lbs. and Tiffanies new best bud.

So, what did I learn this month?

When picking a new pattern to make, read the instructions first, if possible.

Making a non-beginner pattern isn’t always that bad. And the best news is that I learn, I grow,

and it opens future opportunities to travel the “roads less traveled.”

Making a stuffed animal is a great way to use up some of my left-over batting.

Island Batik fabrics were great for this project because they are tightly woven.

Clover pins will bend before they break, ask me how I know.

Had I made Honey Bear first, then maybe I would have avoided some deep breathing. But then

again, deep breathing is a great skill to learn for all the challenging situations we face along

those “roads less traveled!”

Thank you to our sponsors:

Island Batik for fabrics

Hobbs Batting for the stuffing used to make a mini Koa

Aurifil thread

Oliso Iron

Schmetz Needles

Funky Friends Factory for the pattern

Until next time what is on your sewing table?

Victoria aka Tori

Make sure to check out my local quilt store Swifty Stitches in Carmichael, Ca. for you Island Batik needs and more.