Funky Friends Factory

Island Batik Funky Friends Factory Ambassador Challenge for June 2025

It’s June and time for another Island Batik Ambassador project!

 
 

This is a super fun challenge as Ambassadors got to choose any pattern from Funky Friends Factory and choose any Island Batik fabrics to make the stuffy!

I chose Nate the Narwhal and choose a variety of Island Batik fabrics from their Playful Posies and Blenders collections to create my version, which I call “Nellie the Narwhal”.

I love working with Funky Friends Factory patterns: they’re so easy to understand and many, including this one, have step-by-step photo tutorials (the link is in the pattern) so it’s super simple to stitch up one of their cute designs. There are even check boxes so you can check off each step as you construct your project.

I wanted to add a bit more fabric to Nellie, so I pieced three different Island Batik fabrics together for the Tummy and Chest pieces.

 
 

I also printed out the various templates and glued them to freezer paper. I could then press them to the appropriate fabrics and cut them out. I then removed the freezer paper and, if I want to make another Nate or Nellie in the future, I can use these templates again.

 
 

Of course I used my Oliso M3Pro iron to press the templates to the various fabrics.

 
 

When making the flippers for Nellie, there is some top stitching required. This is also true of the tail pieces. I used a contrasting Aurifil thread in a classic pink colour for this top stitching and loved the extra embellishment this gave Nellie.

 
 
 
 

There are instructions on the Funky Friends Factory website about inserting craft eyes when making their designs but I decided to use buttons for Nellie’s eyes since I have just a few (thousand) of these. I used my Janome CM17 to machine sew the blue buttons onto Nellie and then glued small black buttons in the centre of the blue buttons. I really like the result!

 
 
 
 

During the construction process, I was a bit concerned that I was making a manta ray and not a narwhal but with a bit more stitching, I could see Nellie taking shape. 😉

 
 

When Nellie was all stitch up, she looked a bit flat but that was soon resolved once she was stuffed.

 
 

I used Hobbs Bonded Fibers Simply Stuffing to firmly stuff my narwhal. I’ve used various brands of stuffing in other projects and I’ve got to say that I really loved the softness of this brand. It was very enjoyable to work with and I was able to stuff Nellie smoothly without any lumps or bumps.

 
 

Here’s Nellie the Narwhal in her natural habitat. She’ll be joining Mackenzie the Moose (click here for details on how I created him) in my studio.

 
 

Thanks to @Hobbs Quilt Batting, @Oliso, @aurifilthreads, @funkyfriendsfactory and Island Batik of @luminfabrics for the items that they sent me that allowed me to create this month’s project.

There will be other Funky Friends Factory projects coming from the other Island Batik Ambassadors this month so be sure to check out their blogposts for all the fun creations!

You can find out more about the 2025 Island Batik Ambassadors and the projects that they will be working on this year on their websites below.

Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs

Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting

Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts Studio

Tina Dillard - Quilting Affection Designs

Brittany Fisher ~ Bobbin with Brittany

Kimberly Flannagan - Kimberlys Quilts

Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts

Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts

Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs

Connie Kresin Campbell ~ Freemotion by the River

Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood

Denise Looney ~ A Quiltery

Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights

Susan Michaels - Dragonfly Fibertart Pattern Company

Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion

Sarah Pitcher ~ Pitcher’s Boutique

Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail

Carol Stanek ~ Stitch with Color

Solomae Stoycoff - Cuddle Cat Quiltworks

Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations

Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt

Be sure you’re following me on Facebook and Instagram so you won’t miss out on what I’ll be creating next with Island Batik fabrics!

Note: The products featured in this blogpost were given to me by Island Batik and their sponsors. Thank you!

#islandbatik #islandbatikambassador #loveislandbatik #hobbsbatting, #hobbsinside, #aurifil #aurifilthreads #olisoconnects #createwitholiso #funkyfriendsfactory #janome