New Project

Remember my last post when I said that I was going to make a quilt for my cousin's new baby?  Well I actually did it!  Okay, so I just did the top part, but I think that was my major hurdle. 
I've never made a quilt before, and I felt totally intimidated.  I did a little bit of questing online for different quilts that I thought were attractive and not too complicated (I needed to have it finished by this Wednesday).  I chose a strip quilt because I thought that I couldn't really mess it up too badly. 

Step one was digging out my favorite kid themed fabric prints.  Step two was deciding on a color pallette and then selecting prints within that pallete.  I chose Heather Ross' Swimming mermaids first, and I had a LOT of other prints by her, but I didn't think it made a cohesive theme to pair swimming mermaids with VW vans and bikes, so I nixed the overly terrestrial prints. 

I put in some fish, some sea horses, and some prints that reminded me of seaweed and beach blossoms.  The one print that might be a digression is the linen strip that depicts the main characters from the fairy tale, The Owl and the Pussycat.  But they're in a boat, and I love it, so there.I'm pretty happy with the way it came out.  Now I have to work on the back and put it all together.  I would love to bind it in a bold, high contrast stripe, (espresso brown and white?) but I don't have anything like that.  We'll see what I come up with; wish me luck!  Please excuse my photos for this post; the light is pretty bad right now because of all of the overcast. But you get the idea!

Color Inspiration

I love the color chartreuse or mustard yellow. I especially love it when paired with grey, but today, I saw this fabric in my local shop, Canvas Works, and fell in love! It's not a color that I can pull off wearing, but It excites me nonetheless.

While I was chatting with Nancy, the owner of Canvas Works, she mentioned to me that Kaffe Fassett and his partner Brandon Mably are going to be in town! Brandon is going to do a day long knitting workshop, and Kaffe is going to do an evening lecture and book signing. I am just so thrilled! Both of these men are intensely creative and inspiring. And while I don't always love everything that they do (heck, I don't love everything I do, and I like myself a lot!), I am inspired by them very very much and I can't wait to soak up anything that they are willing to impart. This will happen on October 5th, and it's already in my calendar! If any of you are planning to be in town, and are interested in attending this event, you can contact Nancy at Canvas Works to sign up. It's going to be amazing! I also purchased some of the koi fabric (not by Kaffe or Brandon) in two additional colorways: I thought it was lovely in all interpretations. I'm not sure what I'll do with it yet, but I'm sure I'll come up with something.