At Last, at last!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008 at 06:45AM 10 months ago I went to the Festival of Quilts and attended a class led by Kaffe Fassett. Wow! It was completely inspiring and wonderful and I came away with the beginnings of a quilt pieced together, inspired by him and with his guidance and yet, totally mine. It was a great class - just as teaching should be. A class of quilters all producing quilts that were totally different and yet, clearly using his inspiration and guidance. I was on a high! I loved it! My quilt was bright and free and uplifting........................and it has sat in a plastic bag in a cupboard ever since! Oh dear!
It became like the elephant in the quilting room. It needed to be finished but it needed me to spread the thing out on a large surface and leave it there and with all the events of the last 10 months, leaving a quilt somewhere for a period of time was not going to cut it! Anyway, long story short - I have ressurected it and started to join my pieces together and like most things that have been put away and have become the silent bogie in your creative life, it was nowhere near as difficult to get going again as I had thought.
Here is one third of the quilt stitched together and waiting for its two brothers to join it. Kaffe (notice the use of first names!) thought it should be called a Birthday Cake quilt because it looked bright and edible. Not sure about that. I'm not even sure where it will go or what I will do with it. I think it will be fairly big when it is done and it was intended for me to use but in actual fact it will probably fit a single bed as it will measure 95" x 62" which might just be a tad large to lug around and to wrap myself in on winter evenings.
Nevertheless I love it. I think what I love the best is that I am quilting and piecing and getting back into the swing of it all and that I am seeing the different effects that can be produced through choosing and using fabrics creatively.
Talking of choosing fabrics, I had a totally 21st century technology moment yesterday. My friend, Paul, is in California on business. He happened to mention that he would be in the San Diego area this week when I saw him on Saturday and like any good quilter I immediately thought about the Sowing Sisters quilting shop. This is a wonderful shop, the like of which we don't have in UK, partly because leasing a shop is so expensive that most quilting shops are fairly small as far as floor area goes, but also because the light which they have in California is totally different and consequently the fabrics look different than they do in UK.
Anyhoo............I had a phone call from Paul last night. He was about to pass by Carlsbad, the home of Sowing Sisters and did I want some fabric? What a silly question! With fabric costing in dollars what we pay in pounds, of course I did! So I called the shop and using another website (they don't do on-line shopping) I was able to choose and order some fabric. Amy Butler fabric to be precise from the new Midwest Modern range. My credit card was used in anger and I then texted Paul the directions to the shop and an hour later (actually 11 pm UK time!) I had a call to say he was in possession of a parcel of fabric and what a fantastic shop it was! I am so pleased and think I shall love the fabric I have bought. You don't need much to make a quilt and so a little should go a long way. Here are a few of the pieces which I just adored and chose.
Lovely stuff and could make some gorgeous bags as well as quilts. I can't wait to see it and decide how to use it.
Reader Comments (5)
Lovely new fabrics, look perfect for lots of bright and exciting projects, and how thrilling to have them directly from the States too. Have fun!!!!!
How fab about your Californian fabric too and how exciting waiting to see them.Have a good day and enjoy your scrapping evening too, Love, Bubbleblitt/Beverley xx
Joy