STASHING #1

Most of the time I don’t have a definite plan in mind for the fabric I buy.  I see what I like and need  decide to purchase some; sometimes a fat quarter, sometimes 5 meters.  However, on occasion, certain fabrics speak to me and a quilt forms in my head before I’ve even finished basting my current project.  That’s my problem you see; too many quilts, not enough time/money/space.

One such fabric was this half moon stripe in charcoal from the ‘Uno’ collection by Stof.  I love the jewel colours and the simple, repetitive design.  I had to have it.

I knew this would be make the perfect backing fabric for a block I’ve been wanting to use on a quilt top for a while.  With the colour scheme chosen, more fabric was ordered for the blocks.  The other day this colourful collection tumbled through the letterbox.

Clockwise from left:

Nordika – Arctic Lights in Polar, Architextures – Crosshatch in Black, Mirror Ball Dots in Snow, Squared Elements in Shadow, Glimma – Soba in Fog, Carnaby Street – Kings Road in Fuchsia, Architextures – Crosshatch in plum, Uno – Beaded Wave in Raspberry, Uno – Floating Axes in Raspberry, Kona Valentine, Kona Plum, Chicopee – Cross Square in Green, Stitch Floral Circle in Teal, Nordika – Stellar in Skylight, Stitch Square in Teal, Kona Candy Green, Kona Blue Grass.

Aren’t they great?  All I need now is a grey to use for the background.  I’m off to London in a few weeks, so I’ll take some of the backing fabric to The Village Haberdashery to colour match it with a Kona solid.  With so many new colours being released, I’m not sure which grey would be the best match!

Advertisement

(ALMOST) FIFTY SHADES OF GREY

I have to laugh at some of the excuses I attempt to use, even on myself; “the last quilt I made used small pieces so I’m bound to have more scraps; of course there are more, they were given to you; as crazy as it sounds, I think the fabric is breeding”…the list goes on.

The (difficult to deny) truth is simple; I can’t stop buying fabric!

So, another sort out was needed, this time taking what use to be an immense collective of black, white and grey scraps and separating them into more manageable boxes of black, whites, and greys!

Light could come at the end of this lengthy, fabric-lined tunnel in the shape of this book.  I’ve always been an avid follower of both Amanda Jean’s and Cheryl’s blogs, so perhaps now is the perfect time for this purchase.

Do you have any scrap stories to share?

POST-PIECING

After finishing a quilt top, as was the case last week with the dinosaur quilt, I like nothing better than to buzz around the attic, tidying up all the mess that was made during the quilt’s construction.  Fabric that was pulled from stash in a moment of creative genius is refolded and put back into colour order; the sewing machine is de-linted and oiled; even the cutting mat is given the once-over with a piece of rolled up packing tape, lest any persistent threads remain behind.  As pleasurable as all these “chores” may be, my favoruite thing is emptying the bin that sits on the floor next to be.  No useable scrap ever makes it in there, but the rainbow confetti that cascades out of it at the end of a piecing project makes me (if such a thing is possible) love fabric even more.

A DINOSAUR QUILT – WIP

After much arranging of blocks, the dinosaur quilt top I’ve been working on for a few weeks is finished.  More than any of my other quilts this really has been a labour of love, owing to the awesome backing fabric I’ll be using, as well as all the bright and bold colours of the fabric.

I love the fabric in this quilt.  Most were pulled from stash, like the precious Heather Ross pieces that only gets cut into for the most special of projects, but a few were purchased during several of my fabric hunting expeditions as I felt they’d really work in this quilt.  The sashing and larger solid blocks are Kona coal, and the little bits of black in each coloured block is a great, pebble print I got from a local fabric store; it just screamed dinosaur to me!

The top measures 40 X 52, so it isn’t huge, and shouldn’t take too long to quilt.  I’m leaning towards an edge-to-edge free motion design for the quilting, with a preference for something with curves to contrast with the angular nature of the blocks.  I have a few ideas, but I’d love to hear what any of you think might work.  I’m waiting on the wadding to arrive, then I’ll baste.

BEGINNING WITH DINOSAURS

Hello and welcome to Quilts From The Attic, where there are dinosaurs.  Not real ones of course, though that would make for a very interesting blog.  Alas, the dinosaurs I’m writing about today are fabric, or rather, I’m writing about fabric with dinosaurs on it.

I’m getting a little ahead of myself…let me explain.

It started not with a big bang, but fabric, and the fact that I can’t get enough of it.  I’m a quilter see, and my attic has been invaded, taken over …adorned with the stuff.  I’ve always been creative, taught by my grandmother to sew and mend socks.  I was fascinated with the contents of her sewing box and wanted to make sense of seams and slip stitch.  About 3 years ago, needing a new creative direction, I happened upon patchwork and the quilting of it, and the rest, as per the extinction of the dinosaurs, was history.

I can count the number of quilts I’ve made on one hand.  The last two were gifted as wedding presents.  I love the process; the fabric selection, the cutting and piecing, and the satisfaction of that last inch of binding being sewn into place.  Along my past quilting journeys, I’d document with photographs and notes, jotting down ideas for next time.  A lot of my inspiration comes from the many wonderful quilt blogs that already reverberate through the blog-sphere.  Favourites include Red Pepper Quilts and Diary of a Quilter.So, it’s in good company that I embark upon my own blogging adventure and write this, my very first post.  If you’re still with me you may remember something about dinosaurs.  This is what I was talking about…

This Dan Morris Timeless treasure fabric has been siting in my stash for a while.  You see, as well as my unhealthy obsession with fabric, I never really grew out of my dinosaur one either.  So, in a kaleidoscopic collision of creativity and geekiness, I’ve started to make a dinosaur quilt.  I scoured the web for inspiration yet was left somewhat unimpressed.  The majority of people who’d made dinosaur quilts had done so for children.  I wanted to make this for me.  I wanted it to be modern and manly!

I’ve since pulled fabrics to match the colours of the dinosaurs, a mixture of patterns and solids, with some black thrown in for contrast.  The plan is to have different sized rows of different sized blocks, something akin to dinosaur scales or plates.  I’m pressing on with the blocks and hope to have the top pieced by the weekend.