Apparently the best print

Summer is approaching here in Melbourne (not that you'd know it from todays weather!) and I have discovered that my summer pyjamas collection needs some refreshing. So while going through the city yesterday I stopped in at lincraft (which I generally loath to do but I don't have the time to go out to spotlight, which is generally my store of choice for printed poplin).

I came away with fabric for two new pairs, including 3.5m of this dinosaur camo fabric that was declared by the boy to be hands down the best fabric in the entire store!

Something New...

I haven't done much sewing lately. Partly because initially I wasn't really in the mood, but then as my retreat grew closer (next weekend, hurrah!) I kind of felt like I shouldn't be working on things but that I should "save" them for the retreat, which is just plain old silly! So last night I sat down and bit the bullet and started something new just because.

I made a decision and started sewing with the pre-cuts that my gran and Jo had given me for Christmas quite a while back now. I have a jelly roll (2.5" strips), a honey bun (1.5" strips) and a charm pack (5" squares) and then two coordinating fat quarters. So far I'm working with the strips. Sewing them together and cutting them back up again into triangles, which I'm sure you can guess, will become hexagons:

I'm not sure how it's all going to work out, the design is still forming in my mind. I think I'm going to need to buy a little more fabric to make the quilt a useable size, and I'd quite like to try doing something a bit unexpected with it... but I'm going to finish making these units and see how they look before I decide.

Colours...

I need a better storage system for my spools of thread. Currently they're stored in a shoe box that often gets dropped, and frequently needs re-organising.

It was during one such re-organising the other day that I was bemused by the range of colours of thread that I have. Heaps of colours that I don't remember ever sewing with. I have since remembered what most of them were bought for, but still not quite all.

A Rainbow of Threads

And that's just the Gutermann one's I've bought, not the other miscellaneous ones I've acquired.

A cute set of 'vintage' threads that my gran gave me

(PS: I would absolutely love to have a thread rack like this one Tasia has)

Liberty Quilt... Ideas?

Do you remember the Liberty Fabric that my Gran very generously gifted me when I was visiting her last year? Well it's been on my mind for the last year what I should make out of the fabric and I still don't know.

Now I've finished my big quilt project I'm in need of a new one, and I kind of think that the liberty could be that project, I just need to decide what patchwork design to use. I was initially thinking maybe some kind of coin quilt, but now I'm not so sure...



In the pictures of this post you can see what I have. I don't have to use all of it, and I can add to it if need be. Also, Bronwyn has put me onto a source of solid fabrics with a very similar feel to the liberty, so I was planning to get some solid to go with the prints (not sure what colour yet though, that might depend on the design I go for).

What would you do with it?

Seeing Circles

This week I have been enjoying looking at quilts with circles. Here are some of my faves:

1. Drunkard's Path, 2. Drunkards Path Sofa quilt, 3. Benjamin's Blueberries, 4. RainFall, 5. Turquoise Circles Quilt by Peppermint Pinwheels, 6. Dot to Dot, 7. "Huckleberry" Modern Baby Quilt, 8. circle quilt top, 9. 002, 10. Quilt :: Circles Quilt ~ hand quilting detail 2, 11. circle applique patchwork quilt top wip, 12. CC Baby Quilt

What to work on?

When looking at my calendar the other day I realised that it is 4 weeks until the quilting retreat that I’m booked in for (a slightly longer rerun of the one I went on in May because we had so much fun). In addition to making me excited, this also made me stop and realise that I don’t know what I’m going to work on.

After having a big project on the go for so long it’s weird not having anything sitting on the back burner waiting to be worked on. I have a few ideas of things that I’d like to do, but I’m faltering with committing to a particular project.

I have the spotty fabric I bought a while back that I want to have a play with at the retreat; I know exactly what I want to make with that, but I’m not sure that that is sufficient for stuff to work on for the entire super-long weekend, either due to keeping my attention for that time or due to how long the project will take.

Would it be “rude” to do some garment sewing on a quilting retreat? Do you have any suggestions of things I could work on? Ideas for presents for people maybe? Help!

"Test Your Skills Sampler"

Sandi over at Piecemeal Quilts is running a quilt along as part of her "skill builder series" that is designed to allow you to practice the different quilting skills that she's covering in the series in a quilt project. It is a little different to normal samplers, as it deliberately includes blocks more than once so that you can get the hang of the techniques a little bit better. Here's her mockup of the quilt, isn't it fantastic?!

Image used with permission from Piecemeal Quilts

I was very tempted to join in, except it requires a fair amount of fabric (which I don't currently have) as it finishes at 70x86" (for those like me where inches like that mean nothing, that's 1.77x2.18m!). I would have liked to make it with the pre-cuts that my Gran and Jo gave me a few years ago for Christmas, but Sandi mentions that it's not really suitable for pre-cuts. It's definitely in the back of my mind for if I see or think of any fabrics I'd like to get to make it though.

Secret Happenings

Things have been a little quiet here of late, not because I haven't been sewing, but partly because I suck at getting photos at the moment, and also because I've been working on a very exciting project that I unfortunately can't share with you quite yet.

I'm very excited about this one though, so I promise I will share it as soon as I'm allowed!

(in the meantime, anyone that I know in real life that's seen it, please keep the secret)