changing direction

My purple quilt has turned into something much, much different than I had originally planned.

I added some greens, pinks, and bits of orange to my purple and gold fabrics for something much more colourful and fun.  But my new fabrics left me re-evaluating what I had envisioned for the quilt.

I carry my Moleskin notebook every where. I'm a terrible artist, but my drawings are usually all that I need to remember what I thought up; I also use it to catalogue colour combinations I love for later.

Inspired by this quilt by Red Pepper Quilts, I switched gears and starting pulling new fabrics from my stash to add to my pile.  Even though I adore the look of fresh, colourful quilts, I've been hesitant to try one myself, instead opting for palettes with two or three dominant colours.  I can't wait to get started, and I've even purchased a new tool to help mark and make all of the half-square triangles I'll need for this quilt.

Now, if only I could get this organized (and motivated) when it comes to holiday crafting, I'd be all set.

working with purple

 

There are certain colours that I'm drawn to: yellow, grey, pear (chartreuse?), pink, and navy.  I don't really care if it's true or not: for me, these are neutrals and I think they've made their way into nearly every quilt I've made.

But there are other colours I barely glance at, unless in very specific tones: purple, blue, brown.  I can't recall a single time I've sewn with black fabric.  It's not because I don't like them.  I just don't know what to do with them.

Imagine my surprise when not one request for something purple came my way, but two.  It seems that nearly everyone I know is having a baby, and these days, I find myself making baby things galore--mostly in purple.

While I found a great fabric for the bag quickly--a Freebird print by MoMo-- finding suitable quilt fabrics was more difficult.  I finally settled on a stack of purple fabrics accented by, what else, shades of butter, gold and pale pink.  But now I'm at a loss about what to do with them!

I'm trying to decide between the Fenced In quilt from Elizabeth Fransson's new book, The Practical Guide to Patchwork, and the Flock of Triangles quilt from Denyse Schmidt.  I've been traveling around with my stack of fabric waiting for just the right inspiration (seriously!), but I'm finding it tough.

What do you think?  Flock of Triangles? Fenced In? Something entirely different? Help me make my purple quilt!

autumn stitching

 This is my favourite pair of shoes.  Er, rather, they were my favourite shoes: a super cute, vintage-inspired pair of comfortable heels.  Gordon, it seems is a tad upset with me these days.

These shoes--more accurately, the non-state of these shoes--are an apt analogy to the state of my crafting these days.  Even as the weather gets colder and the days get better for sewing, I'm having difficulty finding some quality time with my machine.

To help remedy my meager crafting time, I started a new class at the workroom, this time on whole cloth quilts.

Inspired by the cooler weather and grand oak trees, I chose a stencil pattern that reminded me autumn.  For my fabric, I picked one my all-time favourites, a print from Heather Ross' Far Far Away 2.

I'm keeping this project small--just a pillow cover--but the portability of this project makes me believe it will help end my quilting drought.