Please, welcome Connie Kauffman of Kauffman Designs! She is a talented quilt designer, whose patterns have been published in numerous popular books and magazines, including McCall’s Quilting, Love of Quilting, Quiltmaker, American Patchwork & Quilting and many more. Connie has been an Island Batik Ambassador since the program started back in 2014, and we are very happy to have her in the 2020 team!

Connie has been quilting for almost 39 years. She made her first “real” quilt when her son went from the baby bed to a twin bed. Guess what Connie used to make it? Blue jeans!

Connie is a traditional quilter with a modern twist: she likes to take traditional blocks and tweak them, so they have a new look. For last year’s Island Batik Ambassador Make It Modern challenge, Connie turned the New York Beauty blocks into gorgeous flowers with fusible appliquéd leaves and stems!

Quilt made for 2019 Island Batik Ambassador May challenge, Make It Modern with Hobbs. Connie used the fabric from Island Batik Moroccan Bazaar collection by Kathy Engle, Silk batting by Hobbs and Aurifil thread. To read the full post, click here: https://kauffmandesigns.blogspot.com/2019/05/may-make-it-modern-island-batik.html.

Modern or traditional, color choices are most important in planning any quilt. When Connie starts picking colors for her new project, she lets the fabric decide: “I guess certain colors just speak to me. I love looking over collections and just feeling which ones entice me the most. Island Batik has SO many lovely collections, it’s often hard to narrow it down to just the few that I can make each season.”

Quilt made for 2019 Island Batik Ambassador Getaway Blog Hop. Connie used the fabric from Island Batik Midsummer Night collection, designed for Kari Nichols of Mountainpeek Creations by Kathy Engle, batting by Hobbs and Aurifil thread. To read the full post, click here: https://kauffmandesigns.blogspot.com/2019/01/getaway-blog-hop.html

Connie’s favorite techniques include paper piecing, raw edge appliqué and traditional piecing: “I’ve tried lots of other techniques, but these are the ones I fall back on over and over. You can never get tired, there are so many quilts to make!”

Quilt made for 2019 Island Batik Ambassador September challenge, Child’s Play. Connie used the fabric from Island Batik Sunny Side Up collection by Kathy Engle, AccuQuilt cutter and die and batting by Hobbs. To read the full post, please click here: https://kauffmandesigns.blogspot.com/2019/09/sept-island-batik-challenge.html

Make sure to read Connie’s blog for inspiration and brilliant quilt ideas: https://kauffmandesigns.blogspot.com/

See the list of 2020 Island Batik Ambassadors here: https://islandbatik.com/2020-ambassadors/