Sunday Stash #8

This weekend I just had to add these six adorable fabrics to my stash.  I popped in to Craft Den, saw these beauties and quickly had them in my possession!  They are Big Bear, Little Bear by Lewis and Irene and it was hard to limit my selection to just these prints as there are many more in the collection and they are all so adorable!

I don't usually work with browns and beiges as I think these can be tricky colours and I think they can look dated, but these look really fresh and modern and I can never resist critters and cutesy!  A work colleague is having a baby boy in the next couple of months and she has painted the nursery in neutral colours.  I think these fabrics could well make it into a quilt for her baby shortly.  They'll be stashed close by as they are definitely coming out to play soon.

Happy Sunday!

Sunday Stash #7 - Festival of Quilts 2015 purchases

A trip to the Festival of Quilts always means I return home with Liberty fabric.  This year I was more restrained as I already have a large stash of Tana Lawn, but I made some great purchases nonetheless.  

I knew beforehand that I would buy some fabrics from the range inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.  I bought two fat quarters of Suzy Elizabeth, which has tea paraphernalia (tea pots, crockery, cutlery).  This is a good fabric choice for me.  I also got three scrap pieces of Gallymoggers Reynard.  I love these fabrics, but I knew I didn't need a lot of them.  I will fussy cut them and add them to the right project at some point.

I bought more scrap pieces of fabrics I have already but which are now in new colourways.  Here we have Strawberry Thief, Mauvey, Wiltshire and Ros.  These are already firm favourites in my stash and it's nice to add new variations.

I also purchased some scraps which are entirely new to me.  There are a couple I know like Tatum and Isle of Wight, but there are three others I don't know at all and I haven't discovered their names yet.

I also purchased this large piece of fabric, but I've never seen it before and haven't managed to confirm its name.  (If you know, please let me know in the Comments.)  It's a child-like print with lots of critters and flowers.  I love it because it's cute and it also has ladybirds.  I might use it to back my Scrappy Snowballs and Squares quilt.

I know that there is still a lot of Liberty fabric here, but I still believe I was self-disciplined and only bought what I *needed*.

Happy Sunday!

Sunday Stash #6 - Festival of Quilts 2015 purchases

I've been to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC again this year.  It was as great as ever - amazing quilts, beautiful fabrics, lots of inspiration.  This year I stayed overnight in a hotel and spent two days at the festival.  I will definitely do that again.  It meant I could peruse the festival and reflect on what I was seeing.  Last year I was just wired and hyper because I was so aware of time and wanted to do as much as possible, but I ended up feeling short-changed, as if I hadn't really "experienced" the festival.

I bought lots of fabric.  The "Sew my Stash" project really went out of the window.  Oh well!  Here we go with some (admittedly, not all) of my purchases:

This year I decided to buy lots of "stash builders".  These Honeycomb Dot Reversed by Riley Blake were a must-have!

These are other stash builder fabrics I purchased.  Some are older prints, but many are new like the Mini Pearl Bracelets.  I love ladybirds, so I had to get two of Tula Pink's new fabrics.  I expect I'll be using many of these fabrics in no time at all.

I made my first Cotton + Steel purchases.  Their fabrics are amazing, so I had to be good and limit my purchases to my very favourites.  I love the Melody Miller picnic range, but was restrained and purchased only four prints.  I also bought four fabrics from the black and white range.  So cute!

Following my Snowball and Squares quilt I am now drawn to low volume fabrics because I think they are more interesting than plain white.  I added lots of low volume to my stash and many of them have text.  I think these are going to be interesting additions to my future quilts.

My love for text fabrics is surely a result of my infatuation with Kokka's Lighthearted.  I just had to get more of these fabrics and in some of the different colourways.  I only saw one stall selling this so I got half metres to be on the safe side.

 

I was still drawn to cute, bold and novelty fabrics.  Here is a selection of some of my newbies.  Cats figure strongly again, though I also picked out some sea-themed fabrics and I have some notion of making a nautical quilt in the future.

I could not resist some of the scrap bags on sale.  I got some great grey, black and low volume fabrics from these and I know they will be used shortly.

This won't be the last time I mention this year's Festival of Quilts.  There is much more to report and reflect on.  I have some Liberty prints to show you soon, but for now we'll leave it at that.

Enjoy your summer sewing!

Sunday Stash #5

I have a couple of recent purchases to show off today.

The first was bought on Black Friday.  I watched people on the news getting into scuffles for a flat screen tv and wondered how people could work themselves into such a frenzy.  Then on my twitter feed I saw Eternal Maker's 15% off everything Black Friday deal and just had to join in.  This is an Aurifil Basics Collection and as many of the threads are so muted they can be used to quilt lots of different projects.  The pink you see was not in the original collection, but the lady phoned me to say they had sold out of one of the greys so she let me choose something else instead.  Baby pink is always going to be useful for me.  I've already made a start with one of the threads, but I know it will take me a while to use them all.

This rather large collection of Christmas fabrics is by Lynette Anderson and is called Candy Cane Angels.  I was pondering whether to buy these fabrics for a while and finally decided to take the plunge.  There are 25 fabrics in total and there is a fat eighth of each, which is enough to make a nice Christmas quilt, but not too much as to feel overwhelmed with Christmas fabrics.  These colours are so muted for me, but I think I can make something really cute with these and I think I am going to keep the colours in their three groups, though I have no other design ideas than that at the moment.

Enjoy Sunday!

Sunday Stash #4

I haven't done a Sunday Stash for a while.  I have still been buying fabric but I have been slightly more reserved.  This Sunday Stash I'm only showing off the five fat quarters I bought, though it is likely I will add more of the range to my stash at a later date.

These fabrics are by Lynette Anderson and are part of her Pocketful of Daisies range.  They are just adorable!  I love the gentleness of the colours but the distinctiveness of the patterns.  Lynette Anderson is not a designer you will find in every fabric shop in the UK (probably as they start life in Australia) so it is great that they are available at Craft Den in Sheffield, which is a stone's throw from me!

My husband is really into allotment gardening and we have some great friends as a result.  I know that I will be using these fabrics soon to make Christmas gifts for them.  Just perfect!

Have a lovely Sunday!

Sunday Stash #3 and a quilt in progress

This is just a quick post to keep you up to date with the different projects I am currently working on.

First of all, here is a sneak preview of the fabrics I am using in a future baby quilt tutorial that will be published online.  I cannot contain my excitement!  The patterns and colours are dreamy and I will get to work with fabrics from one of my favourite ranges, Far Far Away by Heather Ross.  In the words of Forrest Gump "that's all I have to say about that" (for now.)

Yesterday I was incredibly industrious.  I cut 99 5" squares, pieced them to make a quilt top and then basted this, meaning today I am ready to quilt and bind.  I wanted to make another quilt from stash and scrap fabrics, and was determined it would be for a boy, because I am aware that I seem to make baby girl quilts more often.  There is a imbalance in my stash in favour of girly fabrics, so it was difficult to put these fabrics together.  I felt I was scraping the barrel at times, but it is looking alright in the end.  There are lots of transport related fabrics here, and I think the pirate fabric matches this as well because of the connection to ships (tenuous, I know!)

I'm just going to quilt some simple tramlines and then this will be a quick project.  Today should be a satisfying Sunday.

Thank you for popping by.

Sunday Stash #2

Today I have had such a great day sewing and being with my sewing friends that it seems strange to be going further back in time to the Festival of Quilts again to share some of my fabric purchases.  But, seeing as I have taken the photos and mentioned previously that I would do a Sunday Stash post, it makes sense to stick to the plan.

It is impossible for me to go to the Festival of Quilts and not buy Liberty fabric.  I am a major fan and can boast a significant stash of Liberty fabrics.  I treated myself to some lovely bits and pieces but was then really pleased that two of my friends bought me Liberty fabrics as well.  Margaret bought me a Liberty Lucky Bag which was great because there were some amazing little gems in there, many of which I do not already own.  I am working (on and off) on two Liberty quilts and the Lucky Bag fabrics are perfect for the hexagons I am making in one of these quilts.  Amy bought me a great print which I don't even know the name of but which has really zingy greens, pinks and oranges in it and will be a real feature fabric in a future project.  Aren't I lucky to have friends with great taste?

I love fabric and I love cats, so these cat prints Tiger Stripe by Cotton and Steel were always going to be purchased by me.  I love "critter" fabrics in any case, but these are so beautifully stylised that I already count them amongst my favourite animal fabrics.  The smiling food below has to be my most random purchase.  I bought it on its own and have nothing even remotely similar to it in my stash but I just felt I wanted it.  I think I want to turn it into some oven mitts at some point, but who knows when or what its other fabric friends will be?  At this point, who cares?  I love it, that's enough to justify having it!

This little bundle was put together randomly when I got home.  Many of these were bought to join a low volume quilt I have on the go.  My friend, Lorraine, bought me the shamrock fabric in pink and orange here (which is actually tricky to see in this bundle) but when I added it to other purchases it created a little set which is possibly the start of a funky quilt.  I love the shamrocks being in unconventional colours like pink and orange and I always love these bright colours together.  I've already joined them to some red lobsters I purchased and love the craziness already.

Lorraine pointed me in the direction of a stall called The Shuttle, which sold really good fabrics at fantastic prices.  I now discover it is near to my home town (and so also my family!) so I suspect I will be visiting it again in the not so distant future.  Here are some good stash builders I bought from there:

I see so many quilts with the pearl bracelet pattern, but I think it is just so dependable.  I like the bike path fabrics for the same reason.  Later in the week you will see these fabrics in a quilt I have already pieced.

These aren't my only purchases, I also bought much of the Far Far Away range by Heather Ross, but I won't bother showing you these fabrics as they are already cut and pieced and no longer in my stash.

When I use the phrase "a good time was had by all" to describe our day at the NEC it is no exaggeration.  If anything, it is probably an understatement.  Today's sewing day was not just about making; we all shared our stories of the day and showed off our purchases.  A couple of us remarked how rubbish Friday felt because it was such a comedown from such a day of visual treats and creative inspiration.  I know I certainly felt that.  But, we're all agreed that next year it's going to be a two day affair with an overnight stay so we can be there early doors and see even more.  I'm already counting down the days.

Sunday Stash #1

I have had a wonderful weekend where I have been able to buy a little fabric, learn new sewing skills at a class and work on some projects with friends.  I have felt incredibly productive because I have made good progress on a beautiful cathedral windows quilt and in between all of this I have also been able to pick plenty of fruit at the allotment in preparation for jam making tomorrow.  I am now off work for the summer so I am hoping to work on lots of projects and to make the most of the time ahead of me.

Yesterday I was at my "block a month" class at a local fabric shop, Patchwork Garden.  I had a great time and learned how to do mini mock cathedral windows.  I will show them later in the week.  I had vowed not to spend lots of money on fabric as my big fabric splurge is to come when I go to The Festival of Quilts but there were some amazing new fabrics I could not resist.  I don't feel too guilty because they fit some of my other fabrics and intended projects.

First up these are these fabrics by Timeless Treasures and are called Mini Series How does your garden grow?  I think they are amazing.  My husband loves gardening and I bought them anticipating they would be made into something cute for him.  However, next week I am going to a seventieth birthday vintage tea party and the birthday girl is one of our allotment friends, Marion, so now I am going to make her something with these fabrics instead.  She will love them and they really match her happy personality.  At this stage I am thinking a table runner and matching table mats.  Table mats are always a favourite project of mine and they make a great gift.

There was clearly a delivery of Timeless Treasures fabric at the shop this week because my other stash additions are from there as well.  I am so pleased with these fabrics because I bought them with the intention of putting them with my beloved Wee Wander fabrics and they match the sunrise and sunset palettes which the range has.  The raindrops are just perfect and the pink spot, called Dream, is a great addition to any stash.  I think these are wonderfully versatile fabrics and could go in so many of my projects.

This fabric doesn't belong to any current project, unlike my other purchase this weekend.  But it is a great addition and has my name written all over it.  I love fabrics with animals, especially cutesy, stylised ones such as these snails.  My friend, Amy, and myself are called the "Critter Girls" at the fabric shop because we love animal fabrics.  (We assume our nick name is used affectionately!)  I love these snails because they have the happy expression of satisfaction that comes from eating someone's lettuce.  I won't be adding these to Marion's garden fabrics because gardeners don't tend to like smiling snails.  I, on the other hand, can overlook the destruction of snails when they are portrayed so sweetly on fabric.

Didn't I do well with my purchases this weekend?  These fabrics won't be in stash for long.