Finding fabric for me...in the colours I love
Recently I've taken some time to review my fabric collection. On closer inspection I realised that I've built a collection of fabrics mainly for children's quilts and gifts and not one that truly reflects me and my tastes. Over time I have gradually added to my medium-weight cotton and linen fabric collection and I have some gorgeous fabrics but nothing that is particularly suitable to be made into a cushion or quilt for our home.
There are fabrics I have in my collection that I love and have used to make a cushion for a friend, and some of the fabrics I used to make a patchwork sewing machine cover for my Mum's sewing machine but they are almost all used up. There are a few of the patterned fabrics I have used to make the two baby patchwork quilts that I adore but there isn't really anything that particularly matches the colours and styles I want displayed in our home. I really felt that there is a gap in my collection that is holding me back from creating projects for our home.
We have a beautiful teal coloured sofa and snuggler seat that I spent many years searching for, they are my absolute pride and joy. I made some gorgeous piped cushions last year in a navy blue japanese waves fabric that look great on the sofa. However the sofa really could do with a few more cushions and a snuggly quilt for Mr C and I for the winter.
So after coming back from the Festival of Quilts I decided to take the plunge and start building a collection for me that I know I'll love and happily use for projects in our home. I love the idea of combining grey, navy blue, teal and white to make patchwork cushion covers for our home.
To kick start the fabric collection I headed to my local patchwork and quilting shop, Country Threads. I love going to a fabric shop and deciding what to buy, I love popping in for a material fix and spending time looking at all the different fabrics on display and selecting a few fat quarters. I've also spent some time on M is for Make and Fabric Rehab websites to see what they had in stock that would fit what I was looking for. The selection of fabrics that both websites have are great and I was so excited to receive the fabric parcels through the post at the end of last week. I've mentioned before about simple pleasures, I really do love receiving things in the post, especially books, magazines and fabric, so this delivery of post was extra special.
Last week I also discovered these Moda mini charm packs. I love the idea of charm packs where you get a sample of each patterned fabric from a collection in a pre-cut bundle but had never bought one. To ease myself into pre-cut fabric I decided to buy these mini charm packs that have charm squares measuring 2.5 inches by 2.5 inches square.
One of my favourite patchwork and quilting blogs is Simplify by Camille Roskelley, and I love the way she combines colour and pattern in her quilts. I decided to buy a mini charm pack in the Happy-go-lucky design which she created. I love the range of colours and designs and plan to use these charm squares on a cushion cover for my craft space. I also picked up the Indigo Crossing mini charm pack design that combines off-white and navy blue. I dream of one day creating a pretty navy blue and white floral quilt, so this is the start of the fabric collection for that project!
I'm really looking forward to using my new fabric and over the next few months I'm planning to embark on making a few simple projects for our home alongside the pinwheel quilt that I've started making. I can't wait to start using these fabrics in our home and I finally feel I have a collection of fabrics for me in colours and patterns I love. I'll keep you updated with my making progress over the next few months.