Showing posts with label fabric. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fabric. Show all posts

Sunday, 13 February 2011

Decisions, Decisions in The Land of Oz

My family is not known for its ability to make decisions....


... and when it comes to selecting fabric I am no exception.

With a diminishing stash (in fact it's more a stashette really) I spend hours and hours looking online. Site after site.  Filling my cart with swatches...sometimes in yards and sometimes in meters...perhaps some yellows and greens, sometimes blues and purples...fancying florals from Philip Jacobs on one day and  fun colourful designs from Jennifer Paganelli on another.

After carefully making my selection, I then decide to abandon my cart (like a supermarket trolley in a disused canal), believing that perhaps what I've chosen is not quite the right thing, colour, or design...and so the whole process starts all over again the next day.

Today, I found what looks to be a great site in the States, http://www.emeraldcityfabrics.com.With a wider selection of fabrics and cheaper by the yard than many of the UK sites, I acted out of character and decided to just go for it. I took the plunge.


I ordered this from Alexander Henry, a yard of this from Anna Maria Horner, some of this from Anthology, this from Amy Butler, this beauty from Kaffe Fassett and this from Jennifer Paganelli.  The fabrics are coming direct to Morocco - much to my mother's relief (who regularly hauls over my internet purchases leaving her just enough space for a shirt and a pair of jeans - thanks Ryanair).  When they arrive, or rather, if they arrive remains to be seen.  Fingers crossed.

Wednesday, 26 January 2011

The Gentle Art of Quilt-Making

The Gentle Art of Quilt-Making by Jane Brocket

Last December, my aunt mentioned to me that she'd recently visited the lovely Persephone Books in Lamb's Conduit Street where Jane Brocket of yarnstorm was there with copies of her new book, The Gentle Art of Quilt-Making. A sucker for quilting books, I treated myself to this amazing book while I was back in the UK for the holidays.
Inspiration for the floral frocks quilt

For starters, it's absolutely beautiful and looks like it could be a lovely journal you keep by your bed. But beauty is not only skin deep - as you peep behind the covers, it's beautiful there too. Full of fantastic advice and stunning photos of the gorgeous quilts designed and made by Jane.

Throughout this book, Jane seeks to inspire us with colour and design and to not get hung up on technique. She helps us believe that stunning quilts can be created using simple geometric designs using beautiful fabrics in gorgeous colours. Jane explains in the introduction to her book how in the past she had felt daunted by the prospect of making a quilt. I too was unsure that I could ever create a worthy quilt...would my points be sharp enough, my stitches even, my corners correctly mitred? But as Jane's friend tells her, patchwork is basically cutting up fabric and stitching it back together again. This book is not for quilters who want to learn tricky techniques but for those of us who want to have fun quilting and at the same time, produce stunning quilts which we'll both love and use.

The Gentle Art of Quilt-Making is completely inspirational and has made me look at colour and my surroundings in a totally different way. Now I just have to decide which of the wonderful 15 designs to create and with what fabric.

You can purchase The Gentle Art of Quilt-Making here and you can visit Jane's blog here