Sunday Quilt Inspiration: FABRIC

It's been a while since our last look at fabric, so let's see what's out there. This is not carte blanc to go shopping, online or otherwise. 

Bloomsbury garden

Kaffe Fassett

Vintage Adventure

Mon Beau Jardin

from Spoonflower

Crazy at Walmart

Our local Walmart is making some changes. Well, apparently lots of changes. One of the many is that they are closing down the fabric department. Bad news, good news. 

The bad news is long-term: some of the elderly who sew won't have easy access to fabric. The closest is about a hour away and few drive through Alexandria to get there.

The good news is short-term: fabric is on clearance. For $1 a yard. Yes indeed, you read that right. $1. Per. Yard.

Now I'd heard that there was a big clearance. But I wasn't impressed when the sale was only a dollar off the regular price. 

But when Mrs. Flora called and told me that the store had gotten in additional fabric to clear out, I had to find out what kind of fabric. Let's just say I came away with a few pieces. For a total of about 40 yards. Oops. So much for the fabric diet. Haha. 

Some of it I have specific plans for. I cut out a skirt the same day. 

Other pieces are already folded and in the stash. 

Other pieces are sitting on the worktable waiting. I'm not sure what they are waiting for but that's okay. They are bound to start niggling at me. Does fabric sitting out do that with you? Quibble with you about just what it needs? 
(or maybe a quibble)

Indigo Dusk ~~ finished

Only a month ago I wrote about starting a new art piece in this post. Today the piece is complete! 


It uses some of the same blues as   "Big Sky,"   which I finished in the middle of January.    Both were inspired by sunsets in the Midwest while we were on vacation two summers ago. 

Richard and I love watching the sun rise and set. We just happen to catch more sunsets. My favorite part of the sunset is dusk, when the sun drops below the horizon but still emits light enough to see the colors in the sky and clouds. Even the thinnest, tiniest clouds catch the rays and reflect the rainbow, or in this case every hue of blue.

I used red thread in a couple of areas because Kaja and Ann have a challenge "Using red as a neutral" that I wanted to include. It turns out that the red contrast adds movement unlike the blue threads.

One of the things that I like is how the light reflects differently on the reds. I used a deep wine color on the bottom of the piece and a bright, true red in the other areas. 

Of course using red thread instead of blue doesn't count as it being a neutral. Red as a neutral is going to have to find its way into another quilt, if possible. But for now, red as movement works really well, don't you think?

I think this is the fourth one of these little art quilts. I'm enjoying them so much that I've started thinking of what may be the next one.

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: Herringbone

I've been pressure-washing around the house. Today the concrete between the back door and studio. Yesterday the patio bricks. It's amazing how much dirt and scum has built up since the last time I did this chore. Having a wet, muggy winter does it. We struggle with mold, mildew, and spores here. It's the downside to the green. So while we have azaleas, roses and other plants in bloom, we also have oak, pecan, and grass pollen. 

Not my patio--it's too perfect!

Anyway, I've been cleaning. As I was washing each brick one at a time, I was thinking about how much I like our old brick patio. We laid it ourselves, after reclaiming the brick from an old, broken chimney. 

The house had been dismantled and the land owner was happy to have us haul off the bricks. There's no knowing how old the bricks are but suffice it to say at least 50 years--25 on our patio.

I chose to seat them in a herringbone pattern for no particular reason, except that (according to Richard) it was the most difficult. 

At the time I was in love with old patterns, especially herringbone, paisley, houndstooth, glen plaids, and toile. It made sense to choose a pattern that I liked since I'd be looking at those bricks for a while. 

So how about taking a look at some herringbone patterned quilts. You'll notice that they make for great scrap usage.

A good place to see more herringbone quilt is on my "heart, quilts" board.

A Touch of Teal ~~ Finished!

I've had this little pink top sitting in the quilt queue for a while now. It had everything needed for a finish: backing, batting, binding. 

"How easy and quick would this be?," I wondered. "Quite easy and especially quick," I answered. 

So I loaded it and thought about quilt motifs. I wanted, as Richard loves to say, "Quick, fast and in a hurry." 

While quilt my last quilt, I stumbled upon a motif I like that is fast and pretty. It has the look and feel of a pantograph, except that it changes at random rather than repeat in a set pattern. It's kind of the best of both worlds: I get to enjoy the randomness but also have a pattern so it doesn't take long to come up with ideas. I can play a little with the motifs as I go along, and the openness of the motif quilts quickly.

I picked out my favorite motifs from One Big Finish, enlarged them and stitched them in in my usual, graffiti manner. All of the motifs have curves and wiggles to contrast with the straight lines of the Chinese coins pattern.

The backing was just a little short but I really wanted to use it since it has a pink, girly look that goes well with the front. It also has these small little teal flowers mixed in with the large pink and peach ones. How perfect is that?

To make it long enough, I just added a strip of hot pink on the top and bottom. Of course, I didn't have the sense to center the quilt top on the bottom, so the strips are not balanced, but I still like the quilt and the back is pretty awesome anyway.

	Quilt Stats
	Name:	A Touch of Teal
	Size:	35" X 46"
	Fabrics:	scrap fabrics from stash
	Backing:	scrap fabrics
	Batting:	100% cotton
	Pattern:	Chinese coins
	Quilting:	graffiti quilting w/ variety of motifs

The entire quilt was made from scraps and yardage from the stash. I made it back when Kaja and Ann had their AHIQ Chinese coins challenge. I can't find the original link to the challenge, but go to this link and scroll down to the labels which you'll find interesting.

Pin It Weekly #273

A few of my most recent "heart, quilts" pins.