As mentioned, I made about 15 of these blocks while on Retreat. The pattern called for sets of Flying Geese and Half Square Triangles ( HSTs), so slapping them together any old which way didn’t work. As you saw in my initial efforts, I had to choose the sets carefully. Surprisingly, it mattered which turquoise Flying Geese star legs went with the pink ring made up of Flying Geese and HSTs.
I call this type of work ‘controlled scrappy’. The paper bag method alone doesn’t work for me. I want a scrappy look, but I want the quilt to be cohesive.
I ended up coordinating the fabrics that make up the pink ring of Flying Geese and HSTs. Then I would match the lavender so that it wasn’t too dark or light in relation to the pink ring. I got a lot of different looks. I think it will make the viewer’s eyes move around the quilt.
Quilter’s Hollow had been on my mind after my friend, Cyndi, mentioned she had stopped there. Last Friday I had to take my mom to a doctor appointment near her house. We spent some time at her house, which was depressing. We also went to the doctor appointment, which took forever. I insisted that we visit Quilter’s Hollow, a quilt store in Stockton, as a reward.
I think I have been to this store before, but I couldn’t find a review. I always thought my mom didn’t like this shop so I never pushed to go. Friday, however, I needed a fabric fix, so I forced her to go with me. I said she could stay in the car.
Quilter’s Hollow – back to front
I liked the shop. They had A LOT of fabric, which is just what I needed. The shop also had a lot of different kinds of fabric. They also had a full selection of Kaffe fabrics including LOTS of Philip Jacobs prints. I saw lots of Tula, some from previous years, but not super old (no more of that fun octopus print I used in the City Sampler). I also saw Tilde, some novelty prints like Disney Princesses and plenty of solids. I bought some Art Gallery Nature Elements that I had never seen in a quilt shop – only online – before. I gobbled a few of them up, especially yardage in colors I had never seen.
Quilter’s Hollow – Notions
The first thing I checked out was the notions area. It is huge! Lots of things related to embroidery. I had had a discussion with my mom a few days before about Jelly Roll rugs. I noticed that they had the rolls of batting used to make the jelly roll rugs. They didn’t have replacements for Sewline pencils, which I needed.
Quilter’s Hollow- thread
Quilter’s Hollow- thread
The shop had a lot of thread! It was amazing. I know a lot of it was for embroidery, but it was still great to see. It’s so hard to find a variety of thread you can see in once place.
Quilter’s Hollow – Kaffe and batting
As mentioned, I was excited to see all of the Kaffe fabrics. It was a really good selection. I saw the iris design by Philip Jacobs in a shop once before and used it for my aunt’s bag, but I haven’t seen other colorways before. This shop had the colorway with the light background. I now have plenty of iris fabric to make bags for my aunt. I also saw a lot KFC fabric that I hadn’t seen before.
Quilter’s Hollow fabrics
Quilter’s Hollow fabrics
Quilter’s Hollow fabrics
Quilter’s Hollow fabrics
Quilter’s Hollow fabrics
Quilter’s Hollow fabrics
I really couldn’t take in all the different fabrics were there. I really just let yardage catch my eye and bought some of them.
It turns out my mom likes the shop. She said she might have been mad about something related to the shop when she talked to me about it before. I’ll probably be visiting again!
I took a little time to look at their online shop. Holy Smokes!! They have a LOT of fabric on their online store. I am not sure if this is in addition to what’s in the shop or all the fabrics in the shop. Their online store is well worth a look, if you are never in Stockton.
Selecting fabric is a very personal choice. I have a group of fabrics for my sampler class with Frances and I needed to choose some background-esque fabric to go with the Four Patches for my Double Four patch block. These are large blocks and I don’t normally work in this size, so I found it challenging.
I fell back on Lorraine Torrence‘s old adage: Make Visual Decisions Visually. That is the best advice I have EVER gotten in quiltmaking. Go take a class from Lorraine and buy her books. She is awesome.
Plain Jane
I liked the bold graphic-ness of this print, but thought it might be too large.
Cherries
I thought for sure this would work, but the cherries felt too scattered. They need to be hemmed in a little.
Bliss
Something in the color was off with this print. The aqua in the Bliss print is more green while the small flowered print is more on the turquoise side.
Plain Jane (smaller flowers)
This is the same print as the first one, but the flowers are smaller. I like the way you can see more of the flowers. Success!
Final
I chose the last print and above is how the finished block looks.
I was on my way to lunch with Friend Julie when they closed the road and she couldn’t get through. I was near Los Altos, so I stopped at the gluten free bakery and then went to Needles Studio.
Superbloom for Auntie
I wanted to quickly see if they had some fabric I could use for the zipper tabs for one of the Superblooms on which I am working.
The iris fabric (right) is the lining fabric because my aunt loves LOVES Loves irises. I don’t want to use it for the zipper tabs, because most the design will not be visible and I think it will look chaotic. I could use a blue, but kept thinking of that ochre color in more of a tone-on-tone design.
Needles fabrics – March 2025
I found something that work and few other fabrics as well.
The blue fruit (lemon?) fabric will be an Atlas portfolio. I have no need to make another, but the fabric is pretty.
Needles was part of a shop hop (10 shops in 3 days – Yikes!). Though I wasn’t doing the shop hop, they gave me a free FQ, a free measuring tape and a pattern for some fabric buckets. I thought that was nice.
Remember a few weeks ago I said I won a prize from Freespirit? Well, the real prize showed up on the Friday before my birthday and it was good! I feel like the timing was set to coincide with my birthday. The prize came with a lovely note that makes me like FreeSpirit even more than I already did.
FreeSprit prize prints 1
When I opened the prize, I thought it was a bundle of Tula Untamed, but it was more than that! It looks like they selected fabrics that I like from their current line, because there were also some Kaffes, a couple of Anna Marias, a Brandon Mably, a couple of flower prints from my man, Phil, and a bring and happy flower print by a designer whose name was cut off. Most of the cuts are fat quarters, but there was one half yard. I am going to share a couple of the FQs with the guild. Share the wealth, right?
FreeSprit prize prints 2
I’ll definitely use the flower prints somewhere. That Garden party print (above, lower right) is awesome. I have to find some great pattern with which to use it.
I feel so fortunate! This was such an unexpected surprise. Thanks, FreeSpirit!
I went on to Instagram the other night and had an unexpected message from Free Spirit Fabrics. I won a prize! Yes, I checked to make sure it was the real Free Spirit and not some scam.
I don’t know what it is. Fabric, I am guessing. I’ll definitely let you know.
This excitement made me go and look at the Free Spirit website. There is a lot there. First, I checked what designers they represented beyond Kaffe, Tula, Philip Jacobs and Martha Negley. Jane Sassaman and Mary Engelbreit both work with Free Spirit. Mary Engelbreit has a new line of Christmas fabric and a Halloween line coming out. There is also a very strong projects section – lots of quilts, but also a few bags, an apron, a table topper and at least one pillow pattern.
Well, I am excited to see what is coming. Stay tuned!
I went out the other day and encountered some random quilt stuff. I wanted to share some things with you.
On-the-go-snack-case
First, at the Granary, I saw some interesting patterns. I have Organizational items on the mind as that might be the theme of the guild’s next swap. (N.B. Click the ‘join here‘ button so you can participate, too!). I saw a couple of interesting ideas. I thought they would be a little different than the Desktop Cube type project I made recently. One was a pouch for reusable silverware. I saw the larger one made up and it is a little on the large size, but the small size might be really useful.
Pockets to Go
Next, was the Atkinson Designs Pockets to Go** pattern. As you can see in the pattern, there are two sizes. The larger size looks like it would be great for a car trip or to corral personal items in a hotel room. Obviously, this would work very well for Sew Day. It is a little like a purse organizer for things other than purses.
The smaller size would fit very well on desks and next to sewing machines.
This is more like the Desktop Cube type project I made recently, but the handles and pockets make them a little more useful .
The larger size reminds me of the Oslo Tote I made for a swap several years ago.
Madelyn Bag panel
Second, also at the Granary, Julie pointed out a tote bag kit where the fabric is a printed panel. The various pieces of the bag are printed on the panel and labeled. For example the long strips at the top are labeled ‘straps’. Sadly, there was no picture of the finished bag on this package. Still, this is a great idea for new bag makers or if you want to make a quick bag as a gift.
I had to go out and do some research to see if I could find out more about this product. I found the Quilt Trends site. On it was the following description “a 36” panel featuring Lazy Girl’s popular Runaround Bag pattern, you’ll be able to make two bags with this versatile panel. The pieces are printed, just cut them out. Basic directions are printed on this panel. If you would like a more complete pattern, the LGD Runaround Bag Pattern is available on this site.”
I also found out that the panel is part of the ‘Madelyn’ line of fabric from Joan Hawley. The site describes this fabric as “Madelyn is Joan’s latest collection for QT Fabrics. The Madelyn Collection is anchored by a Jacobean print in Joan’s 11 piece collection done in her signature colors of aqua and purple. Supporting fabrics contain florals, scallops, tossed leaves, geometrics and a stripe.”
Well, I am impressed that Joan or QT Fabrics thought a great panel to include would be a bag. Good work!
Axe Yamazaki sewing machine
Third, from the MOMA is a fun little sewing machine called the Axe Yamazaki. I don’t think it is really that useful, but it is cute and I would love to take it for a test drive.
Again, I wandered around the Web and found the Axe Yamazaki website, which has better pictures of the machine. “This lightweight, only 4.6 Pounds,
cordless machine can be used anywhere.” The machine’s size is given as 4.5″D x 11.5″W x 10.4″H. Cost is $168 and the machine comes with a cell phone stand.
**N. B. : 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 spent some time last week finding fabrics for my last group of Pantone blocks.
I don’t have any greens as dark as Deep Forest, so in the end, I just chose a black.
Most of the others I selected from older fabrics that I haven’t even looked at in awhile. I have one more fabric to select, but I have already cut the 4.5 inch squares. I have also started to make the blocks and will show those soon.
I talked about this group of fabric a few years ago. I really can’t stop thinking about this group of fabrics. I like it a lot, but I know that it doesn’t have enough fabrics for most of the quilts I make. Either I have to find a simple, but interesting pattern or I need to add more fabrics.
I was going through my phone the other night and found this great picture of the group of fabrics I used for Scrappy Celebration. I am glad, because I forgot to take a picture before I started making blocks.
I thought I bought them in Mt. Vernon, but I don’t see them in the photo. Who knows?
I decided that I would try to make the Metro Twist larger.I have a possible recipient for this quilt and I want it to, at least be lap sized.
I have plenty of foreground fabrics, even though most are fat quarters. I needed to find more of the background fabric. It is always a challenge with solids. Since I buy limited solid brands, I thought it was doable.
Normally, I write the brand and color in Sharpie on the selvedge, but the grey I used for Metro Twist didn’t have it. Either I cut it off and tossed it or never wrote it down.
I also didn’t have a picture of the grey with other purchases. Usually, I photograph my purchases so I have some hope of finding fabric and supplies again.
Austin Sewing Pure Elements Ash + mesh
I looked at my color cards and thought the background might be from Pure Elements. I bought some Pure Elements Ash first, but when it arrived, I could see that it wasn’t quite right. I can use it for something else, but disappointing nonetheless.
Back to the color cards. This time I pulled them all out, but immediately put back the Kona color card. I very rarely buy Kona and I knew this wasn’t it. I have the American Made Brands color card. Bingo! I bought some of one of their Gray. I am pretty sure that is the right fabric. I suppose I’ll see when it arrives.
I haven’t worked on the Metro Twist for a few weeks as I tried to catch up on Scrappy Celebration and The Pantone Project. I was able to make some progress this past weekend with the background pieces I have already cut. I have a bit of the background left and want to save it until the reinforcements arrive in case I need it and can’t find the right solid.
I had a stack of fabric from a recent purchase sitting on my sewing table. As I sewed, I would look over at it and at one point, I realized that I had a nice group of fabric for a quilt or bag.
I am not sure what to make and am pretty sure I would need to add some additional fabrics, but maybe not. It looks pretty good as is.
The next Sew Day will be a Super Sew Day/Meeting combination. As mentioned, I will be assisting Amy to teach the Metro Twist pattern.
Metro Twist Fabric Pull
One thing I did was look through the fabric pulls that I had saved. I chose one with a large number of prints to use.
A lot of these are Art Gallery fabrics. I may not use all of the grid fabrics and I may change out the focus fabric (4th from left, top row), which I added quickly before I took these to Sew Day. There is already a lot of green in this quilt and that might send it over the edge. Still, maybe not, we’ll have to see as I cut and start putting blocks together.
The dots were really different than I have seen before. I think it was the colors, because the Tula Tiny Beasts dots are similar in size.
I love that chocolate fabric and have used it for Sweet Dreams pillowcases before. The fabric above is a little different from the ones I have bought before, but similar. It is just fun fabric and makes great pillowcases.
I ordered some Everglow and had to wait for it to be released before it could be sent. I received it the other day from Stash Fabrics. One of the reasons I wanted this fabric was to make an EPPic bag.
The EPPic Bag is an EPP case. You can buy the PDF downloadable pattern from Chasing Tigers. I actually bought the EPPic bundle, mostly because it wasn’t that much more and I thought the smaller bags might be useful. Keep in mind that I have not made this pattern so I can’t comment on the directions. I do know that it is simply a pattern. Unlike the Sew Sweetness patterns it does not come with SVG files, however there is a video referenced in the pattern to help with part of the construction.
Everglow
All of this is to say that I bought some Everglow in order to make one of these. I was planning to buy some anyway. The project and the inspiration spurred me on. I am not going to use the same fabric in the same places in the pattern. I may, actually, use some of my Philip Jacobs flowers for the exterior and Everglow on the inside. We’ll have to see.
I was also selective about the fabrics I bought. I didn’t buy the whole line. I only bought the prints I thought I would use.
You can see at the bottom two new Heather Bailey fabrics as well. They will probably go on my shelf of backing fabrics.
