Kindred spirits

About a month ago I was at a work conference in awesome Austin, TX. Of course, I scoped out the fabric scene before heading out and boy am I glad I did! I found the best fabric shop ever: It's called the Stitch Lab. I went with a couple of friends and we were in awe of their great fabric selection. They carry all sorts of hip designer fabric, offer cool classes and carry lots of other sewing accoutrements. We even got lucky and the owner of the shop was nice enough to give us a ride back to our hotel--how cool is that?? I couldn't wait to get home and make this quilt with some of the adorable fabric I bought called Vintage Dishes by designer Melody Miller. Now, that's what I call a successful work conference! (the quilt's for sale in my etsy shop)

Appeasing the ancestors

I finally finished! This quilt has an interesting story. Back in 1932 my great grandmother gave her son and new daughter-in-law (my mom's mom) a quilt top she had sewn as a wedding present. Well, that quilt was never finished--which is kinda funny! My mom gave me the quilt top about a year-and-a-half ago and I finally finished putting it together! I didn't even want to work on it out of fear of "ruining" what she had put together if I didn't do a great job with the quilting part. I gave myself a little pep talk and realized it was never going to get finished if I didn't get off my butt! The pattern is sometimes called "schoolgirl's puzzle" and oddly enough, sometimes called "old maid's puzzle". I love the 1930's novelty fabrics she used.

Anywhoo, finishing the quilt somehow makes me feel more connected to those women I never had the opportunity to know (my mom's mom died before I was born). Besides, who wants to be haunted by a quilter for not finishing the job?

Latest obsession

These little beauties are Kaffe Fassett ikats and I'm in love with 'em. They're fairly lightweight and full of beautiful color depth. They remind me of the things I like about linen even though they're cotton. I've used them in a few different quilts lately and it makes me want to throw out my other fabric and only use them. Okay, maybe not throw out all my other fabric but they're really cool!

I used it as the binding on this quilt. I was a little hesitant to use it because I generally use heavier weight fabric for that job but it was really nice to work with. Again-- Love it!

Gloomy weather means groovy quilting (and starting a blog!)

I've been wanting to start a quilting blog for awhile so I'm glad this snowy weather gave me the opportunity! Thanks for stopping by my little blog! I welcome any comments you might have. I'm always open to new ideas and love hearing about what other folks are working on.

Well, in order to avoid getting cabin fever I decided to make some good use of some fabric I've been hoarding for awhile. It's too nice to take the scissors to so I decided to do a whole cloth quilt with a panel of it. It's called Bird Song by Etsuko Furuya, produced by the Japanese fabric company Kokka. Love it, love it! And it comes in a few different colors including a beautiful pink, aqua and purple. It's a linen/cotton blend and it's really nice to work with. It's a bit heavier than some quilting weight cottons and it's a nice change. I like working with different textures--this one is slightly nubby which gives it nice character.

I used to dread the pinning or basting part of quilting but now I embrace it. I put on some tunes in the background and use it as a time to chill and stretch my legs while trying to contort in order to get those hard-to-reach pins in place. Feels a little like playing twister sometimes!

Hands down, my favorite part is the quilting! Again, tunes in the background helps me out with this. It's nice when you get can get into a groove.

What's your favorite part in the process?