"fabric"

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Giant Dresdens

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How fun to start a new project. It's been a while since I started something brand new, right from the fabric pull. (I have another project that I'll share next week too).

This project is destined for the lap of an almost 90 year woman. I don't usually take commissions, but my closest cousins asked if I would make something for their Baba on the other side. I had an idea I wanted to try and some

Allison Glass fabric that has been sitting around forever

that I wanted to use. Those two things combined into a yes to the project.

And so I'm playing, experimenting, trying something new. I'm in love. These are giant Dresdens. I had a

Fat Cat ruler

in my QuiltCon swag bag. I'm not exactly likely to make a cat block, but the same ruler works perfectly for 30 degree wedges for a Dresden Plate. These completed Dresdens measure about 26'' in diameter! And it only takes about an hour to cut and sew each one. Pretty good time investment for big impact. Just need to get some background fabric and sew these down. But maybe I'll make at least one more first.

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Playing for Karen

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So many people are on Instagram these days and many people credit it with the downfall of blogs. It may be that people love the immediacy of Instagram. Me, I love the inspiration and camaraderie of it.

I follow Karen Lewis on Instagram. She does incredible screen printed fabrics, and even sells bags and such. Not to mention she's got a book coming out called Screen Printing at Home. On Instagram I find her funny and wildly inspirational. If there wasn't a continent and ocean separating us I imagine a good old fashioned catch up with her over challah and tea. And then she would teach me just an ounce of what she does and I would explode with creative joy.

A few weeks back Karen posted pictures of a bee project she has going on. Her contributors are making rows of isosceles triangles, inspired by this incredible antique quilt. Now, I'm not in her bee. I'm quite a bad bee member, if I'm being perfectly honest. But I loved the fabrics and thought this might be a perfect small challenge. Maybe something to pull me a little bit out of my slump?

While I cannot attest to the success or failure of a life changing bit of sewing, I can say that I quite enjoyed a little rustle through my fabric and an hour of sewing in the sunshine.
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Shimmer Blog Hop

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One of the very first fabric designers I ever actually noticed was Jennifer Sampou. I'd only been quilting a year (almost 15 years ago). My stash shopping was very limited because I was in grad school with limited time and money for quilting. But after a few purchases I started to notice the names on selvages. And what I noticed was that most of the fabric I purchased was from Jennifer Sampou. I filed that fact as interesting and kept quilting.

Fast forward to two years ago and I am at Quilt Market. And guess who has a booth?! It was my first total fan girl moment. I briefly introduced myself and marvelled at the coincidence that Jennifer is married to my publisher. The next Quilt Market I stopped by Jennifer's Booth to say hello and we ended up chatting for well over an hour about everything - motherhood, fabric, creativity, colour, sewing, books, marriage. My first designer crush is truly a kindred spirit.

Since then I've truly enjoyed the opportunity to play with Jennifer's latest fabrics. When you listen to the designer discuss their inspiration for a fabric line the fabric itself takes on a new light, almost quite literally. Jennifer's neutral palate is inspired by her love of things that shimmer - feathers, shells, crystals, and even fools gold. The fabric itself is metallic or pearlescent (depending on your own description).

When my Shimmer fabric arrived in it was a very special shell from Jennifer. Have I mentioned how much I love shells? I have a casual collection of the shells I pick up from every beach I find. Just the interesting ones, the pretty ones, even the cracked and beat up ones. They sit in bowls and jars throughout my house. I had a completely different project in mind before the fabric and the shell arrived. At the same time, my girls took over the table setting duties. Every night they raid my shells and rather carefully place them around the table. They might forget forks, but the shells are always there.

The fabric I requested - shocker - were all the light prints in the line. You know me and low volume. But rather than play with a pattern I already had or even experiment with another inspiration, I had to incorporate my shells.








Each shell is appliquéd on the osnaburg background. I wanted it to feel like a scattering of shells on your feet at the beach. I used the technique I use to create and sew my appliqué circles. The shells come alive, or at least more realistic with the simple quilting. For the back of the table topper I improv pieced the scraps into a slab, with just a bit of aqua added for fun.

It's almost too pretty to use on the table, but my shell loving girls think it is perfect.






This is my stop on the Shimmer Blog Hop. Check out the other posts and all the fun things people have made with Shimmer. Robert Kaufman and Jennifer are sharing no shortage of inspiration with this pretty fabric.

Leave a comment here for a chance to win a Shimmer charm pack. It will be perfect for your own shell project, among others. Tell me about your favourite beach.

Giveaway open until midnight MST on Friday April 18.

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Hot, Awesome Mess

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Look at that quilt top, floating in a snow globe. Oh wait, that's only half the quilt. Do you know how hard it is to photograph a king size quilt top?

Yes, I made another king size quilt. I couldn't help myself. Last week I needed to flex my improv muscles. Not that I needed practice at improv. No, I needed the therapy of just sewing for the sake of sewing. Mindless, no planning play. It did wonders for my mood (and my cold). And before I knew it I had enough blocks to more than fill my design wall.


Once the blocks were up on the wall I started the puzzle piecing to get it all together. I only went by size, filling in gaps and squaring up as I went. I paid no attention to colour or direction. In fact, the only design decision I made was to make sure the feature fabric was on each corner of the finished top.

Then I made it bigger. At first, it came out to about 83'' by 103''. It seemed like such a funny size, and a few more inches meant it would cover our king size bed nicely, with extra quilt for snuggling. So I added another 11'' on one short end. It seemed totally crazy to make it even bigger, but felt right. And seeing as making this was a form of therapy it only made sense to make it the way that felt right.


This quilt began at Quilt Con last year. I was lucky enough to get a spot in Denyse Schmidt's Improv class. See more about that experience here.

About 6 months ago I made some more blocks with the scraps I had from the class and new fabrics I added at home. Then I packed them all up and they joined my WIPs. My thirty something WIPs. It was such a thrill to pull them out and put them upon the design wall. More of a thrill to get to playing again. Every night last week, after the kidlets were in bed, I entered my studio and exhaled.


Play, play, and more play. Then I totally took advantage of my time with a part time babysitter. Deadlines met for the week, I took a whole day to get the top together. Another couple of hours at night and it was done. Then another hour to add that final strip. 

Sometimes I look at the top and think it is a hot mess. And other times I get giddy with all the little bits that pop out at me. It may be a king size quilt, but there are so many tiny scraps in there. Big and small, they all play together. I do love the way it looks, but I think this quilt's value to me is definitely in the process.

Now, hopefully I can find that value when it comes to basting it.