Pieces for quilt top

Couldn't wait to start on the quilt top from Joel Dewberry heirloom collection. Still guilty about not finishing the first quilt. I cut up pieces from fabrics marked A to I. Got the golds to go. This fabric is very brightly colored.

Finally completed cutting the pieces.

Starting on new quilt

In true crafting style I have started working on my second quilt instead of completing my first quilt. Here is the fabric I ordered for my second quilt. I may give this to my mother so asked her to pick the color palette. She chose the Heirloom in Ruby palette by Joel Dewberry. I would have picked the Citrine or Sapphire palette but she feels that bright colors really make the quilt pop. I found this free quilt pattern by on the blog. Decided to just use this pattern instead of stressing over the design myself. I might replace the white swatches with some other solid color. To me the white seems abrupt on the quilt front. I ordered the required material from Hawthorne Threads. They have the preassembled kit. The material arrived yesterday and the colors do look brilliant.

Joel Dewberry - Heirloom in Ruby Palette

This time around I plan to wash the quilt after it's made. I am not going to prewash the fabric like I did for my first quilt. Just trying things out for myself and see what works best.

Duck fabric

Finally took a trip to Purl Soho in NYC. They have some lovely stuff. Tons of wool. I am not into knitting yet but here's what I picked up.


Some really nice duck fabric with webbing.

Duck fabric

Also picked up some brightly colored felt. Want to try out applique work or make a stuffed toy.

Felt fabric

New fabric

There was a huge clearance sale at Joann's fabric. Picked up a few pieces to use for spring sewing.

It was a good weekend..

Got a lot done this weekend. Need to finish the quilt I started. Went to Joann's fabric and spent a good 2 hours looking for batting and fabrics. Got this batting from a bolt of Warm & Natural. It's 100% cotton, with 3% shrinkage and requires 6" quilting width. Also picked up fabric for the quilt binding. This quilt is really getting technical now.

Pin cushion

While I was busy sewing realized that I needed a pin cushion. Found this pattern by Heather Bailey and used it to make one. Skipped the button as I thought it took away from the real estate for pins. It does take away from the look though. Anyway here it is.

Baby pants

Created some baby pants for my niece from the corduroy I had bought earlier. Thanks to these instructions by make-baby-stuff.com. Here's the outcome. I love working with corduroy, it's so easy to work with as a beginner.

Front of the pants

Back of the pants

The seams and the signature

Inside seams

The elastic

Reversible A-line pinafore

Used some of the fall fabric I had bought earlier to create a reversible A-Line pinafore for my niece. It was a fairly simple task thanks to the detailed tutorial by Prairie Wild Rose. This was the first time I drew the pattern myself. Used 100% polyster ribbon for the embellishment. I am not sure how it will hold up with washing and wear? Here are my pictures of the process and the final outcome. Hope it fits a 6 month old.

Cut the front pattern

Cut the back pattern

Two backs

Two fronts

And voila!!!

Added a little detail to the plain side to break it up a little

Added a little detail. I will get labels someday to replace this. 

The back of the pinafore

The reversed side (front)

The reversed back

Specimens of Indian hand printed fabrics

Since my last post on Indian hand printed fabrics I found some specimens from my wardrobe to give an idea of what some of these fabrics look like. They have vibrant colors and a real organic look and feel. These are just a few quick things I found and don't quite do justice to the plethora of options available. Most of the fabrics are hand spun on manually operated looms. You can see the uneven weave which makes it so much more desirable.


Block printing on cotton:

Batik

Bandhani

Bandhani

Hand spun silks with block printing:

Plain hand spun silks:

Hand spun silks with embellishments:

Hand tacked

Machine embroidered

Hand spun wool:

With a paisley pattern

Embroidered in Kashmiri style

Mirror embroidery on cotton