The Importance of Auditioning Fabrics

A lot of quilters have design walls where they can lay their blocks out for the quilts they are working on. This has a dual purpose of inspiring (or nagging?) you whenever you go into your sewing room to carry on with your project, but it is also great for auditioning fabrics as it can be useful to be able to take a step back, not only to admire your work but also to see if a particular fabric combination is working. There are custom made design walls available on the market but a large piece of wadding pinned up works equally as well.

Unfortunately I don't have the room for a design wall so have to lay out my WIPs on the floor as best I can, and quite often that is a bit of a struggle, especially with three very inquisitive cats!

This last week I have been playing around with the new Sand in my Shoes fabric collection designed by McKenna Ryan. I just love her fabrics; subtle yet strong colours that blend so beautifully. Having made the quilt centre I was stuck about how to finish it off. I'd used a fat quarter bundle and had plenty of fabrics left so there was scope for adding a border.

First off, I thought about adding a simple pieced border

Excuse my little feet!

But felt this blended in too much so I wondered about adding a thin border of the ombre print in the collection instead....but which one?!

And then bingo! I could do both.....just needed to decide which colour worked best for me....

Green?

Turquoise?

or Purple?!

I went for the green option but I think all of them work well.

Ripples in the Sand Quilt

The fabrics will be at the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in Birmingham next week as well the finished quilt, well the top at least. Sadly I won't have time to quilt it beforehand. Kits will be available and the pattern will follow....both at the show and on the website.

Joanna

Introducing...........Terra Australis!

So.........it's about time I did a blog post again! Really should try and do one every month!

 

It's 10 days since the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in Birmingham (which was a busy as ever) and I think I have finally caught up with myself and can now tell you about this exciting collection of fabrics I have imported from Australia.

 

 

It's very exciting as currently I am the only quilt shop in the UK stocking these wonderful fabrics. They are designed by a lady called Emma Jean Jansen.. She has some great patterns and inspiration for the collection on her website.

 

There are thirty two fabrics in the collection and I've got all of them! There are two colourways: Eucalyptus and Outback. I still haven't decided which one I like the best.....

 

Here's the Eucalyptus colourway:

 

 

And this is the Outback colourway:

 

 

The main print is based on the warratah flower and there are other Australian symbols in the other fabrics like kangaroos, gum trees and the harbour bridge.

 

There's  also a second collection newly released called Terra Australis 2........I may just have to order this one too and what's great is both collections work together!

 

I've made a quick quilt using fabrics from the collection. Must try and take a decent photo of it!

 

The fabrics are £10.60 a metre and you can also buy fat quarter bundles of each colourway, all available on the website.

 

Joanna

Anything Happening?

I guess its about time I updated you on what's been happening now that I have recovered from the Festival of Quilts.

The show was really busy and was the best show I've done there. It was so busy that for the first time I didn't get to see all the quilts! I usually manage to have a quick whizz round them first thing in the morning but this year I only managed to see about half of them. And as for the galleries, well I haven't taken a look at those for years.

 

It's always nice to have some new fabrics in for the show and this year I managed to get some great new texture prints in from Robert Kaufman. It was touch and go whether they would arrive in time but I'm so glad they did.

They are called Fusions Textures and are really rather yummy.

 

 

Twenty eight colours are in stock and on the website.

 

I also introduced a few new patterns at the show, all showcasing the batik pre-cuts.

 

First up is Strip Race Interrupted, a really quick quilt to make from a Bali Pop.

 

 

Next we have Snap Pop Squared which uses a Bali Pop and Snap pack.

 

 

And finally we have Square Up which uses Mini Treat pack from Timeless Treasures. These offer different design possibilities because they have two of each fabric in each pack.

 

 

I love working with these pre-cuts now and am working on a couple more designs at the moment. The next Bali collection from Hoffman is due for delivery in October, which is all of just over a month away now!

Flash Giveaway!

I've been so busy the last few weeks getting ready for the Festival of Quilts. Life has been a little bit hectic!

 

I have lots of new things to show you if you stop by my booth G42.

New fabrics...........New patterns.........and lots more!

 

I've just remembered I have five pairs of free tickets to giveaway to the show

 

 

For your chance to win a pair of tickets to this year's show, simply leave a comment on this post telling me what's top of your shopping list when visiting the show. You will also need to leave your email address.
This has to be a quick giveaway so I'm going to close it tomorrow, 6 August at 8pm, which gives you just over 24 hours.

I will pick five winners tomorrow night and assuming you get back to me with your addresses straightaway, the tickets will be in the post by first class post on Wednesday morning.
Due to time constraints it isn't going to be possible to send tickets abroad so please bear that in mind

Good luck folks!

 

And see you at the show.......G42!!