Since I rely mainly on the web for any group projects like quilt alongs and BOMs, sampler quilts are a common project. I've learned over the last few years that a set of fat quarters, coupled with a few yards of fabrics from the same line are easy picks for those projects (a fact that has also affected my buying habits). Sometimes you have to supplement with a few odds and ends from the stash. That's the challenge. For example, for Barbara Brackman's new BOW, Grandmother's Choice, I decided to use a fat quarter bundle that I bought a few years ago. But it's mainly purple and creme. I wanted to add some greens which had to come from the stash. This is what I ended up with after shopping the stash.
What looks like dark brown/black in the photo is actually a really dark purple. The floral prints are Decadent Victorian by April Cornell for Moda (probably came out sometime between 2008 and 2010). I'm not sure I'm using the pink, but it might make a nice accent, so it got added to the pile. I found a number of lighter greens that worked, but only 2 fat quarters of darker greens. I really wanted a darker green that I could carry through the blocks and the borders. For that I needed yardage, not just 2 fat quarters. I really didn't want to buy anything (I'm on a fabric diet till the end of the year). That need resulted in an afternoon of sorting through the unwashed new fabric (of which there are 3 big bins in my sewing room). The effort paid off, there was the perfect green lurking in the bottom of one bin.
So it got washed over the weekend and added to the pile for the upcoming quilt along. This is the 15 Minute Challenge Post, so why did I spend most of the post talking about fabric selection? Because that's pretty much all I did this last week.
The only real sewing happened on Sunday. Monday found me back in the stash closet looking for sashing fabric for the Layer Cake Quilt Along Project that is this month's UFO. But that's a story for another post.
How are your projects coming along?
| 1. Kate 2. Lesley @ Quilt-a-Daisy | 3. Amanda, Seabreeze Quilts 4. Neon Tropics - OneDay |
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Some lovely fabrics there!
ReplyDeleteI can relate to saving special fabrics; like my box of Ginny Beyer fat quarters I won last year -- I'm saving them till I'm a much better quilter!
I hoard special fabrics like they're going out of style...which, technically, could be true! I still have all my yardage and fat quarters from my first fabric purchases - Monets & Renoirs. I like the green you picked - will go nicely with the palette!
ReplyDeleteNice week. Looks like you're doing a good job on that fabric diet. The only sewing I did this week was in my head -- and I bought some white denim to go with that head quilt.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been keeping up with it exactly, but I know I've spent at least 15 productive minutes in the sewing bunk room every day for the last week, at least! It makes me so happy!! Picking fabrics is a challenge for me, too. But I've had those "perfect fabric finds" from my stash before, too, which is totally wonderful! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm just like you, getting my patterns off the internet. I prefer projects where every block is different.
ReplyDeleteI have an entire collection of the first run of meadowsweet that I cant bear to cut. It’s silly but it looks so pristine and amazing just like it is. I keep waiting for the perfect project so I can cut into it....
ReplyDeleteI love the choices you made for your new project Kate.
Its been slow going here this week in the sewing stakes too. I'm looking down the barrel of some serious pressing and am practising avoidance!
love the fabrics you selected! Sometimes the fabric selection is the hardest part (IMHO)!
ReplyDeleteI have lots of fabric that I can't bare to cut but I find that the love dwindles with time and I can eventually bare it. Great week.
ReplyDeleteI really like that green fabric wit the rose pattern. Gorgeous! It'll be a beautiful project! Thank you for visiting my 'Neon Tropics'. Have a wonderful WW!
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