Sunday, April 28, 2024

Island Batik and Funky Friends Factory Challenge featuring Aristotle Axolotl

Hello there!  Meet Aristotle Axolotl, my Island Batik Ambassador challenge for the month of April.  This little guy was fun to make!

Disclaimer:  The products used to make this project were given to me by Island Batik and Industry Partners.
This month the Island Batik Ambassadors were lucky enough to choose a pattern from Funky Friends Factory to create a stuffed animal of our choice.

I've made a few Funky Friends Factory patterns before.  I've made Lloyd the Llama, a Fox, and a Kawaii Cutie Cat.  They were all fun to sew.  The patterns are detailed and easy to use.  Aristotle Axolotl was rated as an easy pattern, but I found it a little challenging.  That's okay, Funky Friends Factory has photo tutorials available on their website to help get you through the tricky parts.

My son chose the pattern and the fabric, too.  He picked out two sold color Island Batik fabrics, Fuchsia and Pink.  Island Batik has beautiful solids to coordinate with their batik fabrics.  They are printed on the same high thread count fabric as the batiks, so they pair really well and do not fray.

In this photo I am doing some topstitching on one of the Axolotl's outer gills.
I did a little research and they are pretty cool!  Axolotls are an endangered type of salamander.  They are found in two freshwater lakes in Mexico and they come in a variety of colors.  It is estimated that the current population is less than 1000.

In this photo I am pinning the head to the body.  Pins are your friend when sewing Funky Friends patterns.  They help keep everything lined up correctly while sewing the curvy pieces together.  Chessie the stray cat helped. She's my friend, too.

This project sewed up quickly.  I only worked on him for a couple of days.  I used some craft eyes that I had leftover from another Funky Friend Factory pattern project.  In this photo Aristotle is partly stuffed.  He's starting to look pretty cute!

The reason my son chose the Axolotl is because they are featured in a popular video game that he loves to play.  I took this cute pic of Aristotle and his game partner together.  Then we went outside to play.

Axolotls spend most of their time underwater, so he was keen to go exploring.  We went on a bicycle ride.

Then he tried driving my car.  Oh my!  Not recommended.

What is he doing here?  Up a tree?

Tree climbing close up.

And the reward.  A lofty perch.

Playing in the flowers.

Axolotls like to eat frogs.  Watch out, Mr. Frog!

Hanging out in the woods.

I should mention that I also used Schmetz needles, Aurifil  thread, and my Oliso iron to create this fun critter.

So cute!

And one last photo with some Pansies and seashells.  If you would like to try sewing a stuffed animal, I recommend you check out the Funky Friends Factory website.  The variety of downloadable patterns is truly amazing and the patterns are well written with handy check boxes for each step.  

Thank you for visiting my blog today.  Please visit the rest of the Island Batik Ambassador crew to see which adorable Funky Friends Factory patterns they have created.  Here's the list:

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

I have some exciting news!  I'm now an affiliate for Missouri Star.  Have you visited their website lately?  They have everything you could need for quilting, including Island Batik fabrics ~ Yay!  (I ordered some precuts myself)  You can save 20 percent off your order of $50 or more when you access their website through my link:  https://glnk.io/mzmmj/curlicuecreations  Let's go shop!

Note:  This is an affiliate link.  If you make a purchase I may receive a commission.  Thank you so much!

Be Creative ~ Sew Something Beautiful Today!

Jennifer Thomas

Curlicue Creations

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