Meet Bill the Eagle, my new friend from Funky Friends Factory!

The April Challenge for Island Batik Ambassadors was to sew a soft toy. I picked fabrics from the Foundations collection, put a new Schmetz needle in my machine and loaded a neutral Aurifil thread.

Sewing in 3-D

The Funky Friends Factory patterns are well-written and easy to follow, even for someone at the confident-beginner stage of making 3-D objects, like me!

I cut each shape as I came to it in the instructions, because I knew I would be taking my time and sewing in short bursts.

In fact, I shared my progress on Instagram, so you can watch Bill the Eagle come to life in those videos.

There were a couple steps that I was a little hesitant to try, but I trusted the instructions and everything worked out just fine.

Bill found a happy home on a shelf in my sewing room where he can monitor all of my fun Island Batik projects.

The whole menagerie

The Ambassador Team found many other animals to create with the Funky Friends Factory patterns.

Visit their blogs to see their beautiful work:

Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs
Megan Best ~ Bestquilter
Pamela Boatright ~ Pamelaquilts
Elizabeth DeCroos ~ Epida Studio
Jennifer Fulton ~ Inquiring Quilter

Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts
Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts
Jane Hauprich ~ Stitch By Stitch Custom Quilting
Reed Johnson ~ Blue Bear Quilts
Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs

Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood
Denise Looney ~ For The Love Of Geese
Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights
Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack Made Mine
Anorina Morris – sameliasmum.com

Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion
Claudia Porter ~ Create with Claudia
Gail Renna ~ Quilt Haven Threads
Brianna Roberts ~ Sew Cute And Quirky
Michelle Roberts ~ Creative Blonde

Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail
Andi Stanfield ~ True Blue Quilts
Sandra Starley ~ Textile Time Travels
Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations
Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt

I’m curious – what is your favorite animal? Have you tried sewing a stuffed toy? Share in the comments below.