Thank Kaffe Fassett for That!

I've finished my Kaffe Fassett quilt at long last. Looking back I actually started this quilt in January so it's safe to say it has taken me a bit longer than I'd anticipated. In my defence it's the biggest quilt I've made and I tried free motion quilting for the first time. See two very good excuses right there!

As the fabrics were so fussy I decided that I wanted to keep the blocks as simple as possible. Squares only. The finished squares measure 3.5 inches, I cut the fabric into 4'' strips at first and went from there. Sewing the various fabric strips together, then cutting down the blocks to size (across several strips) really saves time and I think gives squarer squares (ha!).

 

The fabrics on the quilt top are all Kaffe Fassett. I really could not resist these fabrics, I just love the bright colours and floral designs. I started out with all pinks and reds but did add a bit of green in as well to give the eye somewhere to rest! I think I only used about 10 green blocks across the whole quilt, but it just breaks it up a little.

 

It also meant that the quilt back really did have to be lime green (that's what I'm telling myself anyway). I went for an extra wide fabric by Moda. It was a godsend because even though the finished quilt is 50'' x 60'' I didn't have to piece the back. That always strikes me as a chore too far!

 

 

Baggy basting aside (not a euphemism!) I'm really happy with the quilt back. I'm defo a fan of free motion quilting and will be trying it again on another quilt. I don't know if I'm controlled enough to do anything very complicated but I think I'd be happy to try 'stippling' next time. I used the patchwork blocks on the quilt front as a guide to positioning the flowers. Each of the flowers is centrally located within a square block.

 

 

I'm loving the light grey colour of the binding fabric. It adds a subtle border to the quilt and somehow manages to tie in the slightly random colourway of the top/back. I've never seen a fabric quite this shade before but it's really lovely, I imagine I'll be using it again as a binding fabric.

 

 

These photos were taken in front of our house, safe to say the neighbours thought we'd lost the plot completely at this point! So nice to get photos in good light and weather though.

 

 

Now it's the tricky business of deciding what to work on next, whilst snuggling under my new quilt. The hardship!

 

 

 I'm linking up to Finish it up Friday. If you've popped over I'd love to hear from you. Are you a fan of the bright colours? What shall I make next?!

 

 

 





A Grey Day

You are not going to believe the colour of the fabric I bought today. Grey!

Don't worry though, my love of bright colours hasn't left me. It's just that I'm nearly ready to start binding for my lovely bright pink, red and lime green quilt (I'd be doing it now if I hadn't totally run out of thread!). I was originally looking for a black and white striped fabric but then this polka dot caught my eye. I think the grey is a particularly lovely shade and will really help create a frame for the quilt. The fabric is by Dear Stella Design #37. I bought it from The Viking Loom in York. I just wish I'd bought some cotton at the same time.

Oh dear, no more sewing for me this evening.

Bits and Bobs

I got a free quilting kit with my sewing machine at Christmas, but before now I've only really used the walking foot (which I love). I decided at the beginning of the week that it was about time I tried a bit of free motion quilting. I've watched a few YouTube videos and read a few tutorials so thought, ''Sod it I'm ready''! I got a couple of scraps out of my fabric stash, created a batting sandwich and then just went for it - no plan of action at all!

I was actually quite amazed at the result. I know it's not perfect, my stitch length is all over the place and in parts the curves are totally off, but actually who cares? Nobody is except me is going to notice. Practise over, I started on the quilt (it's my Kaffe Fassett Patchwork Quilt). It's really big but that's okay as I don't think I'll do very dense stitching (mainly because it's a bit baggy in the basting - see here as to why!). I'm happy so far, I'm just doing regularly spaced flowers. I'm not sure red stitching on green fabric was a great idea for my first free motion quilting project, but at least it is fairly well hidden on the quilt top (this is the back).

 

The backing fabric I chose is by Moda, its called Dottie in the lime colourway. My quilt is overly large so this fabric is perfect as it is 108'' wide, specifically designed for quilt backs. I bought it from M is for Make. It was my first online fabric purchase and I was really pleased with the speed of service and the price! The fabric really is a beautiful lime green, I'm not sure my camera has captured the true colour.

 

Speaking of green, I had to travel to Kendal yesterday with work (I know, the hardship!). It was such a beautiful day. Yorkshire was looking particularly lush on the drive home. Yay Spring!

 

 

...finally!

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sam's Quilt

Happy first birthday Sam! The birthday boy has received his birthday quilt which means I can share the finished article with you all. It's a good job he's into colour as this quilt has turned out a bit on the bright side! Primary colours, what was I thinking?! Oh who am I trying to kid - I love garish. Fortunately, it's a hit with a one year old - his Mum says that he enjoys pointing at the patterns. How cute is that?

I decided to go for the star block design by Cluck Cluck Sew. I've made this design once before for my Stars and Scraps Quilt, but I thought the stars would work well with the sputnik fabric (continuing the spacey theme, see what I did there). If you want to know more about the fabrics used for the quilt top, see my last post. It's the back of the quilt that I'm uber-excited about though - it's quite possibly the cutest quilt back ever.



I know, just how good is that? I could swoon over that fabric all day. It's Riley Blake Designs DC2836, Peak Hour by Kellie Wulfsohn for Don't Look Now. I bought it at The Viking Loom in York if you're in the area and desperate to get your hands on some! I had planned to go for something quite plain as the backing but as soon as I saw this I knew it would be perfect. I really like how it features a small amount of each of the colours from the quilt top, so ties in perfectly.

The binding was actually some leftover from my Emma's Christmas Stocking. It was just the perfect shade of green and has little stars all over. The quilting was simply stitched in the ditch and I also quilted some diagonals to add a bit more interest.

I'm so happy with this quilt. If you're visiting over from Crazy Mom Quilts, finish it up Friday please comment below, I'd love to hear what you think.

Fab Fabric

I've been very busy this week rustling up a quilt, before I share the finished quilt with you I thought I'd share the fabric with you. A couple of weekends ago my sister Anna (Minnie loves) came to York and we tried out a lovely little café that has opened in York. It's called Me and Mrs Fisher and I thoroughly recommend it for crafty types. What is so great about it (apart from the delicious cheese scones) is that it also has a small but perfectly formed haberdashery upstairs where they also hold regular sewing and crafting workshops. I KNOW food and crafts - what a great combo! The whole place really has a crafty, friendly vibe. Anyway, Anna and I had a mooch around the haberdashery and  both fell in love with this wonderful sputnik fabric.

It's a Michael Miller fabric and has the best name - Retro Rocket Rascals! The trouble was neither of us could think who would like a quilt made of this fabric so we left it. Coincidentally, only a few hours later my other sister, Vicky, phoned me and suggested I make a quilt as a first birthday present for a friend's son. Ting! Inspiration struck and I knew I had to buy the Rocket Rascals! Such hardship.

I went back to Me and Mrs Fisher and not only bought the Retro Rocket Rascals, but also a second Michael Miller fabric. This one is called Toot Toot (loving these fabric names). I have since noticed that Allison Harris of Cluck Cluck Sew (and one of my favourite quilters) has used this fabric in her new book, so it must be good!

I knew I wanted a third fabric, but just couldn't find anything that really matched. Anna came to the rescue when she found this lovely red and lime splodgey fabric from John Lewis in Sheffield. It's part of the Katherine's Wheel collection and is designed by Nel Whatmore for Free Spirit Westminster Fibers.

I'll blog about the finished quilt as soon as I hear it has arrived safely. The birthday boy's mum sometimes read this blog and I don't want to ruin the surprise. Ooh I hope they like it!



Dots

After abandoning Emma's dress last weekend, I was really inspired to make a little dress myself. I've chosen a fairly simple pattern, with a crossover bodice and cute ruffles on the neck and sleeves. For those interested the pattern is McCalls M6494, I'm doing dress 'A' but without the applique flowers. The pattern requires two fabrics, one for the majority of the dress and a contrasting fabric for the ruffle hem. I purchased both my fabrics from the Viking Loom in York. I'll be honest, I must have been in the shop for about an hour trying various fabrics and various combinations! I'm pleased with my final choices though - dots.

The multi-coloured polka dot is Sun-Kissed by Michelle D'Amore designs for Bernatex. I will use it for the bodice and skirt.

The contrasting fabric, for the hem ruffle, is a green and white polka dot. This one is Bold and Beautiful by Michelle D'Amore designs for Bernatex. I didn't actually realise they were by the same designer but I suppose that explains why the colour match is so good.

What do you think? Super cute, no?

My Guide to Fabric Shopping In Japan

I thought I'd write a little guide to my experiences of fabric shopping in Japan. It's actually very easy to find fabric as sewing and quilting seem to be very popular over there. You will just stumble across a number of stores without really having to plan ahead. If you are into quilting, most of the stores I describe have LOADS of pre-cut fat quarters available which is fab. This is also useful if you don't speak Japanese as it avoids the need to ask for specific fabric measurements. I visited a number of cities during my travels, so I will describe my fabric finds in each. All the fabrics I bought are 100% cotton and the designs are all 'low volume' as that's the style of quilt I want to make next.

Osaka
Wandering around Osaka I found a number of fabric stores, though I only ended up buying fabric from one -  the Hankyu Department Store in Umeda, Osaka. Hankyu Department Store is easy to find, as it's centrally located adjacent to both JR Osaka station and the Hankyu Umeda railway station. This shop is massive, covering 15 floors, but the crafting equipment can be found on the tenth floor. There was a large selection of fabrics, including a number of fat quarters at reasonable prices. I bought a couple of fat quarters for approx £2 each (263 yen), cheap compared to the UK.

Here are the two fabrics I bought for myself, both are Yuwa Live Life Collection. The first is from the 30's Collection by Atsuko Matsuyama. I'm unsure of the name of the second.

 

 

Also in Osaka, and ideally placed for those people travelling to Japan via Kansai International Airport, is a decent fabric shop in Rinku Pleasure Town Seacle shopping centre. If you are travelling on the Airport Express train between JR Osaka Station and the airport, get off at Rinku Town Station (it's the final stop before the airport). Rinku Pleasure Town Seacle contains a number of shops, but also an onsen and a large ferris wheel with lovely night views. The fabric shop's name (minus the Japanese I can't read - ha!) is ???? senta dorimu (???? Centre Dream), located on the second floor. The prices were good, but none of the material really fulfilled my low volume criteria so I didn't end up buying anything.

 

Finally in Osaka, I spotted another fabric shop wandering in the Shinsaibashi shopping arcade, but unfortunately didn't have the opportunity for a proper investigation. Boo! You'll spot it though if you find yourself wandering this lovely old 'shotengai' so I thought it was worth a mention.

 

Kyoto

I stumbled across a couple of fabric shops whilst wandering around Kyoto, both are branches of Nomura Tailor. The first, and larger of the two, is located on Shijo dori, between Kawaramachi Station and Karasuma Station. As you can see from this photo, it stocks a wide range of fabrics, including some gorgeous traditional Japanese style cottons. There are two floors!

 

 

The second branch is really close by in the nearby shopping arcade of Teramachi. It is much smaller but does have a good selection of fat quarters.

 

 

During my Kyoto visit the two main department stores of Takashimaya located next to Kawaramachi Station and Daimaru located next to Karasuma Station weren't selling fabric, but they both stock plenty of other crafting products and are well worth a browse anyway.

 

Takatsuki shi

Located between the cities of Osaka and Kyoto on the JR and Hankyu railway lines, is the smaller city of Takatsuki shi. I really enjoyed buying fabric here in the Yuzawaya department store and spent ages mooching. Yuzawaya is located just outside JR Takatsuki Station and the fabric (and crafts) department is on the top floor. They stock a wide variety of fabric, including a large selection of 100% cotton fat quarters. I bought a number of fabrics here (and actually on closer inspection they're the equivalent of two fat quarters - yay!) for about £4 (580 yen) each. Let's have a look at them shall we? The first is by Belleboo featuring a mix of fruits, flowers and bees. Too sweet.

 

 

The next is a really twee (in a good way) Japanese print by Cosmo Textile Company, it's got little pink rabbits and hearts.

 



The next is another Japanese print by Sevenberry, featuring small floral in blues, greens and yellows on a cream background.

I can never resist a spotty fabric and this shopping excursion was no different. I'm not sure who this fabric is by, but it has small blue, pink, brown and yellow polka dots.

This final fabric is my favourite. I also don't know who this is by though it does say 'Made in Japan'. It features little deer (shika chan!), flowers and toadstools. Love it.

 

Well, that's it. I wish I could have bought more Japanese fabrics but I was trying not to go too mad. I hope you found this guide useful and if you are heading to Japan I'd love to hear your fabric shopping experiences.

 

さようなら

サリー

 

 

 



Sewing with my Sister

I've been home from my wonderful Japan holiday for a week, but the post-holiday blues have meant I haven't done much crafting since my return! My lovely twin sister soon changed that this weekend when she suggested I help her make a dress for her daughter Emma (who else!). As Vicky was a bit busy on Saturday and I was already doing a spot of shopping she asked that I pick a pattern and some fabric. Oh the hardship!

I went to John Lewis in Sheffield as they have a good haberdashery section. With some excellent advice from the sales assistant (neither myself or Vicky have done any pattern reading since we did Textiles GCSE age 16), I chose a Simplicity pattern. We are doing the second dress (on the right in the picture below), it has a scalloped trim detail on the yolk and pretty ties at the back.

 

Next was the fabric. I had been looking for a floral design but I just couldn't find the perfect one. Then this print caught my eye - little birds! This lovely fabric is called Flock of Birds by David Walker for Westminster/Free Spirit. How cute?

 

 

Once home we soon got to work and two hours (and a glass of wine!) later we had cut out all the pieces. Here is Vicky hard at work, we're using Emma's play mat as the perfect workstation.

 

 

Unfortunately, we had to leave it there as I'd forgotten to buy some piping for the scalloped trim - oops. Unfortunately, that means Vicky is now going it alone as I'm back in York. Good luck Vicky, the dress is going to be wonderful.

 

 

Sewing Strips

I've been really busy with the sewing machine creating a massive pile of paired strips of fabric. Oh I have so much still to do!

My Sister Came to Visit

My younger sister Anna came to visit me in York today, we had a lovely day of crafting activities. She has finished her first ever quilt top and needed a bit of help choosing some backing fabrics and binding. I'm always happy to do a bit of fabric shopping so we ended up going to every fabric shop in York. Viking Loom, Gillies Fabrics, Grace and Jacob and Fletchers Fabrics - Phew! We got the binding from Grace and Jacob and a lovely spotty backing fabric (extra wide at 140cm) and batting from Fletchers Fabrics.

As she has never basted a quilt before, we also did that together. My goodness, it is so much easier with two people helping. Anna did manage to safety pin her quilt to my lounge carpet a few times, but otherwise it was plain sailing!

She even got to start the machine quilting. She's just stitching in the ditch at the moment, but plans to do some infilling. Keep your eyes peeled over at my sister's blog, Minnie Loves, for the finished product. I'm so excited to see it.

Thank You Kaffe!

I love Kaffe Fassett's work, his use of colour is really beautiful and unusual. This has been causing me some difficulties though as each time I go to Grace and Jacob my eye has been drawn to some gorgeous fabrics by him. Today I found I could resist no more and picked out six different fabrics from his range.

I had thought I'd go for the full range of colours, but actually I've limited the palette to just reds and pinks. The colours are so deep and vibrant, unlike anything else. I can always add in another fabric at a later date if I think it needs more contrast.

As for what quilt I will make with these fabrics - I have no idea! I suspect it will be simple squares. Perhaps even the #scrappytripalong which every quilter in the world appears to be undertaking at the moment. Actually, my favorite of the scrappy trip quilts is this one by Red Pepper Quilts, love those colours.

I can't wait to get started.

Layer Cake

I got the most gorgeous layer cake for Christmas from my lovely sister.

It's Oh Deer! by Momo for Moda. There are 42 gorgeous prints - a quirky mix of birds, deer, spots and stripes, very Japanese in style. Super cute.

I've been unsure what to make with them, but am tempted to try a soft cover for my new sewing machine. I think I'll just go for a really simple quilted cover with ribbon ties at the side. As it is such a small project it will be ideal for getting to grips with the settings on my machine, which I admit, is defying me at the moment!!