I wanted to get ahead of the ‘pillowcase for the college nephews project’, so I stocked up on some themed fabrics. The Valentine’s fabric was backordered, which was a huge disappointment. I sent them cards and socks. I ended up buying some chili pepper fabric, which I think will work for the Valentine’s pillowcases. I didn’t have a chance to make them yet, though. I might do it and send them late. We’ll see. I don’t need a yard and a half of chili pepper fabric hanging around.
The Granary – January 2023
On my birthday, I went to the Granary and found some fabric for April and May. For April, I will make Easter pillowcases and the May pillowcases will be ‘May the Fourth Be With You’ pillowcases.
You can see that I bought a few other items as well.
I didn’t want the Easter pillowcases to be boring, so I chose some dancing rabbits. These might be on the edge of Easter, but I think they will work for my nephews.
I think the ‘May the Fourth Be With You’ pillowcases will be fun. I didn’t know what to do for May and I think these will be perfect. I could have done Cinco de Mayo. The ‘May the Fourth Be With You’ theme will be perfect for 19 year olds.
St. Patrick’s fabric – March 2023
I also got some St. Patrick’s fabric for March. This isn’t great fabric, but I think it will be ok for the boys.
I am just back from Portland where I went for a few days to relax and see friends. I also went to my favorite quilts shops and stocked up a bit. Mostly, I bought fabrics for future projects and some gifts.
Cool Cottons 2023
After having lunch with my friend Amanda, I went to Cool Cottons. It is a small store, but I wanted to take a look. I can often find good fabrics there. I just like looking. That store has fabric stuffed in every corner even though it is a small store.
The fabrics are all on the dark side. The bottom two on the left are for Stay Tuned. Yes, I switched gears on that one and got some different fabrics for the alternating squares and the borders.
I will make some gifts from the typewriter fabrics and bind quilts with the grey stripes and the black and white stripes. Only two are on ‘spec.
Pioneer Quilts 2023
I made a huge effort to visit Pioneer Quilts. I love that store and always like to visit. I got some gifts for people and really enjoyed looking at their fabric.
I didn’t buy a lot there, but I did look at all of their wool felt patterns and fabrics. I have bought wool felt there in the past and wanted to get a pattern or something to do something with it. I finally decided to get inspiration from the book and do my own thing AFTER La Passacaglia and the Half Hexie Star quilts are finished. I bought that book, Wild Wool and Colorful Cotton Quilts**
I have used Chenille needles for hand stitching for a long time. They have big eyes and are sharp. I was finally able to look at a variety of sizes. The 22 or 24 sizes are the ones that are perfect for me. I bought two packs.
Sunshine Quilts 2023
We went to Sunshine Quilts in Medford, which used to be Cottage Quilts. I am glad they stayed open. It is a nice space and there is a lot of potential for more fabric and supplies. At the moment it was a little light on fabric and notions, but I think they will get more based on the amount of space they have.
The packet on the right is filled with ruler stickers. You can outline where you need to cut then peel off the stickers with no residue. Interesting, right?
I am going to make another Cha Cha Cha table runner from the charm pack. I am not sure what I’ll use for the border. Maybe pink.
A good time was had by all.
**Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
I was so fortunate to receive some fab gifts for my birthday. First, my husband let me open my gifts early in the morning.
Of course, I always love the gifts he gets me, but I really liked the card. It says “Part Rainbow Part Tornado” and I think it is fairly perfect for me.
Birthday gifts from Julie 2023
As usual, Julie and I went out to lunch and to a quilt store. She got me A LOT of gifts! I was so thrilled to get so many. I really liked them too.
Tula Pink Minerals
The guild retreat is coming up so I look forward to using the wool pressing mat. Julie assures me it doesn’t smell. It goes with the mini Oliso she gave me a few years ago. Julie also stocked me up on Tula Pink ribbon from Renaissance Ribbon and Tula fabric. Yay!
The minerals are really good tone-on-tone fabric. I might still be able to use some of them for La Passacaglia.
Gift from Amanda – 2023
In Portland, I met Amanda for lunch. She also gave me a gift. I was surprised and pleased!
First of all, she made that fabulous pouch. I’ll show more of it another day. The top stitching is amazing, then she filled it with totally useful gifts – items that I will definitely use up. And candy. We all need something sweet, right?
I know a lot of people donated to the charity I chose on Facebook and that just warms my heart. I am so fortunate to have so many good friends.
My fabric and supplies for Month 17 arrived. I like the colors even though it includes more green. This particular green is more appealing to me than the previous groupings, such as Month 7, Month 8 and Month 10. It is more of a blue-green than a yellow-green.
Note: I don’t sincerely dislike any of them; I just prefer more green in nature and less green in fabric.
For those of you keeping track, you might be wondering what happened to Month 16. Month 16 will be coming at the beginning of December. Pink Door did not receive all of the fabric for Month 16 so they switched the months. No problem for me and a quick creative solution IMO. We have to make all the rosettes anyway.
I thought that Month 17 was the last large rosette so I was disappointed that I needed to change out all of the green. I moped around for a few days, then looked at the plan and realized that (duh!) there were two rosettes and they belonged in the middle of the quilt. When there are two rosettes, they are usually on the smaller side.
Tula Pink’s Moon Garden pre-order
Tula’s Moon Garden fabric is included in this month’s fabric grouping. I bought some extra yardage when Pink Door offered pre-orders and that arrived this week, too. Glad it did! I wanted one particular bird from the “In a Finch” Dusk colorway (the darker green) that just wouldn’t fit. I used a bit of what I bought and everyone (me) was happy. I won’t use the owl faces as indicated. I don’t want eyes looking at me (sorry, Tula!). I may use another part of that fabric. I’ll need to look at it and see.
I like what Pink Door has planned for the centers, but I really would like to use that large flower. I am still thinking about that. Stay tuned.
I talked about the parameters of the Pantone Project in July, then again in early August and mid-August as my attempts to select fabric started. I didn’t feel confident after these attempts and the postcards started to stack up. As the postcards stacked up, the project started to weigh on my mind. As Friend Julie made progress, the project started to weigh on my mind.
Pantone: first big fabric pull
I finished a big project on Saturday night and needed something different to work on. I was spurred on by wanting some basic piecing. The blocks for the Pantone Project will be basic piecing, but I had to choose fabric first. I was not excited, because I am getting a little annoyed with Pantone. Piecing starts with fabric, however. I decided that I had the time to pull fabrics for this project. First, I laid out all the cards I had received, so I knew what I had to work with.
Yes, Pantone 350, in the upper right hand corner is that green with which I started. It was still in the mix. I had the greens I had chosen separated out, but kept it in the mix since I thought I might find something better. I have to say that I made major progress on the Pantone Project on Sunday.
Pantone: Rainy Day Fabric Match
I started with the easy colors such as the reds and pinks. Fiesta and Cactus Flower were pretty easy, but I quickly realized that I had to pull out much more fabric to get more choices.
I even dragged out a bin that includes solid neutrals and found a beige that matches Rainy Day pretty well.
Pantone: tough color nuts
Surprisingly, or maybe not, a lot of my older fabrics are much more aligned to these colors than the newer fabrics. This could be my buying habits as well. I stick to pretty clear colors when I buy fabrics now. After awhile, I had only a few left. I had to not only pull out old fabrics, but I used several hand-dyed fabrics. I haven’t dyed and printed fabric in years so lots of old fabrics are getting an airing.
Pantone: 1st big color pull
Eventually, I found fabrics that were good matches to the postcards I have received. Some cards span 2 or more fabrics as I am still deciding. Some fabrics were a great match. I was really pleased with the fabric I found for the Swedish blue (2d row, 2d from right). It is a perfect match. The Nile Blue (bottom left corner) is a problem. The three fabrics I chose look better in person than they do in the photos, but are still not perfect. There is also a peachy pink, Peach Pearl, (2d row, 3rd from left) where I found a good match, but only have a little of the fabric. I’ll have to be very careful when I cut it.
I have to say that I have a lot of questions for Pantone, most importantly: why so many beiges? I need to read up a bit on Pantone and get a better sense of their business.
Now, I can get to piecing. I do feel a bit of a sigh of relief that I have made a start and nothing awful has happened when the fabrics weren’t perfect matches.
Fabric, Sewing machine and regular Sewing supplies (BSK)
Decisions to Make:
Size of units (blocks)
Type of units to make
Timeframe for making the project
Timeframe for sending postcards
**Obviously, you should shop at local fabric, knitting shops or quilt shops. However, if you can’t, please know that I use affiliate links. I may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I do not recommend items I don’t like. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
I know I already talked about basting La Pass Month 14, but I forgot to show the fabrics.
These are all pretty good except I am not using that green in the lower left hand corner. I decided I have enough green in the quilt and decided to pick something else.
Julie and I went out the other day to Golden State Sewing. We usually meet for lunch and visit the Granary, but I suggested we change it up. They have really good fabric at Golden State. More on the visit later.
One of the things I wanted to do was look for fabrics for The Pantone Project for the cards with which I was struggling. We also chatted about ‘good enough’, which is de rigeur for this project. We agreed that neither of us want to buy a lot of fabric.
Pantone 350 choices (green)
I finally crawled up into the fabric closet and got down the cool solids bin and pulled out the greens I remembered. Neither were exactly right, but Julie and I decided that two of the three fabrics would work.
We think the Tula Pink Tiny Dots is the right color, but lighter. We think the top right solid is dark enough, but doesn’t have that black (or brown?) tinge to it. We agreed that either would work.
One strategy I haven’t tried is comparing the postcards to the color cards I have. As I said, though, I don’t want to buy a lot of fabric; I’d like to use what I have.
Friend Julie has already started selecting fabrics and making blocks. I have just started with the most recent postcard she sent (Pantone #350, a VERY dark, almost black, green). I am behind and I have no excuse except I am quilting the Tarts, I finished Pies & Points and the Diagonal 9 Patch and I am working on clearing my to do list.
I needed a break while I was quilting the Tarts, so I started looking at fabrics.
PP Comparison: Tula Tiny Stripes
When I receive the postcard, I sometimes get an idea of the fabric I want to use. For this VERY dark, almost black, green I thought immediately of the Tula Tiny Dots and Stripes. On a break I got the striped fabric out, confident I would have one selected and compared the postcard with the fabric.
Bleah! Not dark enough.
No problem, what about the dots?
PP Comparison: Tula Tiny Dots
Better. Maybe a good enough option, but still not dark enough.
This was depressing and I started thinking about the greens I have. If I have a green this dark, it will be buried in a project box or at the bottom of some “old fabric” box, because the last time I may have used such a fabric was when I took the Mary Mashuta class on pushed neutrals. I also have a Tula solid that might work.
I put Pantone #350 aside for awhile. I had to file papers before I could climb up into the depths of my fabric closet to get at the old neutrals, so I took out the Pantone #14-1911, Candy Pink postcard. I knew there was a pink solid around that would be perfect.
PP: Candy Pink
Wrong again. This is a great example of making visual decisions visually. Again, the pink might be good enough, but if you look at Julie’s selections, they are perfect matches. Sigh. More climbing up into the closet. I really don’t want to buy fabric for this project if I can avoid it.
Pink Door was having a sale. I took the opportunity to pick up a few things I needed for my La Pass project, few gifts and some things I had been eyeing for awhile.
The idea was that you place your order and they hold it until the sale is over then send it. That meant that I received a giant box of quilt gifts right before Christmas. Some of the items were gifts. I’ll have to save a couple, because the box didn’t arrive in time. It is okay, because I forgot that I bought them for the recipients!
Marti Michell Magic Mirror
One of the things I bought, which was not on my mind, was the Marti Michell Magic Mirror**. Total impulse buy, but I think I can use it when I am selecting fabric for fussy cutting for my La Pass project. I could have really used this when I made the Peacock. It is a recommended tool for One Block Wonder quilts.
I also bought more glue pens – not the refills, but the actual pens. I have one, but wanted one for my travel bag and one on my cutting table as well. I got a lot of refills with the pens, so I am in good shape there.
Pink Door purchase
I am excited about also excited about the long handbag zippers that were on sale. I am sure I can use them for future bags. I got some mesh that will go with the fabrics I use for Mom’s bags.
As you can see I also got some fabric and some Tula Project pouches. It was fun to be able to shop for what I wanted for once.
**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
I am using some Windham digitally printed fabric for the exterior of my UCAB. I am finding it to be kind of delicate.
I bought pieces at two different stores, so I am pretty sure the problem lies with the printing process and not the storage at or the transportation of the fabric to the stores.
Holes left after ripping out
First, I found that the holes were very noticeable after I ripped out some stitching. Sometimes this happens, but they were still visible even after I rubbed the fabric down.
As usual, I did wash the fabric in hot water with Retayne before I used it.
Runs in the fabric
I also noticed that this fabric gets runs – not color runs, but like runs in stockings – if I am not careful. This happens when fabric is ripped. In this case I don’t know (and don’t remember) how the fabric was separated from the bolt.
Windham Digitally printed fabric
I needed some more of the fabric and when I got the second half yard I noticed some flaws.
I don’t know that much about the process of printing on fabric. I only have a few experiences with my printer and with buying from Spoonflower.
I don’t know if the experiences I am having are because it is digitally printed or because of this particular fabric or for some other reason.
I finally finished FOTY 2019 in June, but I couldn’t get a picture taken because of everything going on here.
My pals helped me hold up the quilt at Sew Day. I am thrilled with how it came out. Adding the grey is definitely a different look than Fabric of the Year 2018 with the black squares. It also, obviously, has a different look than the previous years with no constant color.
Fabric of the Year 2019 back
I really like the tulip fabric on the back. I don’t use a lot of green, but that emerald – or near emerald color is very appealing. I also really like that print and would like to see the Kaffe Fassett Collective release it in different colorways.
There is no way I am going to make anywhere near my 100 yard goal this year. As it stands, I’ll be happy to be in the black by December 31.
True Colors & Coneflowers
Last month, I talked about cutting the La Pass pieces wrong. That was my excuse for getting some of the Tula Pink True Colors. I needed a little more of the dahlia (lower left corner), but decided to get some of the others as well. I know they will show up in La Pass as we expand out into the other rosettes.
You see the coneflowers as well, I know. I couldn’t not buy more. I may use a little of in La Pass, but I also want to make more I Spy Pouches from it.
Curiouser & Curiouser + Peacocks
I also bought some of the dripping roses. I saw an Inside Outside Pouch by Aneela Hoey that someone made with the dripping roses. I only had an FQ and that wasn’t enough to cut the two main pieces of the pattern. I cut something else, but that wasn’t what I wanted, so I bought these fabrics and will cut out that pattern soon. I will use it for the thread I am using for La Pass.
The black and white are just extras for the project and I wanted more of the peacocks so I could sub in that fabric when I didn’t like some of the others. My sewing life seems to be all about La Passacaglia right now.
I received the most recent Quilty Box a few days ago.
I like the boxes – the actual cardboard container – since they are great for mailing things.
I like receiving good mail.
This is, however, the last one I will receive. I decided not to renew for all reasons I talked about in the post about Quilty Box n.1 and Quilty Box n.2. Also, the fabric was cut to make a certain project and that didn’t work for me.
Quilty Box n.3 contents
This one had Sew Tites and I can always use Sew Tites!
I also liked the charm pack. I really need to find a scrap project that uses 5 inch squares. I have tons in addition to all of the charm packs I have collected.
I am on month 2 of my 3 month Quilty Box subscription. Victoria Findlay Wolfe provided this month’s project – a lozenge quilt. I didn’t really get to enjoy this one yet, because of the Workroom Refresh.
Quilty Box n.2 open
I was still excited to receive the box. Everything is such a wreck at our house that a little treat was a good thing. This time I didn’t know what would be in it, so it was a complete surprise. The picture (right) is exactly what I saw when I opened the box. They wrapped it pretty nicely, if simply.
The booklet has a couple of projects inside as well as a Q&A with Victoria Findlay Wolfe.
Quilty Box n.2 contents
Quilty Box n.2 contents
I didn’t know what to expect in this box. There was another label, some mini fabric bolt cards, a seam ripper, a spool of Aurifil, acrylic templates for the quilt and the booklet. The seam ripper is a serious Havel one. I’ll put it in my La Passacaglia kit.
Astrid Fabrics
I like the fabric. The amounts were better this time. I got 1/3 yard cuts and can make the quilt pictured on the front of the booklet, if I add some background.
I don’t need everything in this box, but the overall contents were better. I think I just want to open mail and dream about the contents. I am pretty sure I don’t want to organize it, find a home for it or put it all away.
