Monday

Although the weekends are always eagerly anticipated, I tend to quietly rejoice on  Monday mornings.  Calm has been restored and we are all back to our weekday rituals.

The Sisters' Market on Saturday was great fun.  It was an early start to the day, but with some help from my sister, for which I am ever so grateful, our stall was set up and the quilts displayed as scheduled.

I also have my MIL to thank for some of the display props which made setting up the stall easy, and added so much charm to the overall look of the stall.  Check out the huge collection of buttons stored in the vintage glass bottle!  Oh envy!

It was such a great opportunity to actually meet some really lovely like minded  (and incredibly creative!) people.   The blogging community has been so warm and welcoming, and to actually meet some of the people who read my blog made my day at the market a very rewarding experience.  Thank you to everyone who stopped by to say hello!

But it is back to the sewing machine today and it comes with comfort and relief  - my natural environment - and I am ready for some more stash busting.  My inspiration comes from Material Obsession Two, and I hope to test a block from one of the patterns in the book today. We'll see - the weather forecast is for a really long hot week, and my only coping strategy for this is to pretend it is not happening.  So far, so good.

Sunday Stash #28

Definition: To fussy cut is to target and cut a specific motif that's printed on fabric, rather than randomly cutting yardage as we normally do.

 

I found these fabrics at Patchwork House in Melbourne last week, and immediately thought they would not just be a great addition to the fabric stash, but also perfect for fussy cutting.  These Japanese fabrics are manufactured by Lecien and are from the My Folklore range.

I also love to stash magazines, and was happy to get my hands on a copy of Quilting Arts Stitch Magazine Fall 2009.  I might even try my hand at sewing something other than a quilt.  Maybe?  Purchased from the Crafty Girls Workshop on Etsy.

Enjoy Sunday!

Just One More Thing ...

A Fresh and Modern Baby Quilt (are you getting sick of seeing these? yet again?)

What can I say? Some my favorite fabric designers, Amy Butler, Denyse Schmidt,  Heather Bailey - lovely fabrics make cute baby quilts.

Together with a very basic but sweet pieced back.  The small floral print is a Japanese print called Spring Garden purchased from This and That from Japan on Etsy.

 

Quilted with straight vertical lines, just one inch apart and I am still loving polka dot fabric for binding.  This time another Japanese import - Kei Honeycomb in blue.

A reminder also that whilst I am at the Sisters' Market on Saturday November 7 (Australian Eastern Daylight Time), my Etsy Store will be closed, re-opening Sunday 8 November 2009.

Behind the Scenes

It has been rather frantic at Red Pepper Quilts HQ this week.  Not only have we just enjoyed a four day weekend, but I am preparing for the Sisters' Market.

Saturday - November 7th, 2009

10am  - 4pm

Brunswick Town Hall

233 Sydney Road

Brunswick Victoria 

It was a spur of the moment decision to attend, and a lucky break saw to it that a position became available.  So at the last minute, I have been preparing tickets, labels, business cards, flyers, displays, packaging, so much to do!  The printer has been slurping up the ink, the accountants have been calculating costs with a raised eyebrow,  and I have forged ahead regardless.

The sewing machine has not stopped either, and I have indulged myself with some red and aqua fabric play.  This cute baby quilt came together like a dream, some days are like that.

 

The motto for market quilts is definitely "keeping it simple", and allowing the fabric colors and prints to speak for themselves.  I thoroughly enjoyed choosing the fabrics for this quilt; the initial color inspiration being the large flower print by Kokka fabrics which is featured on the front and used as backing.

This quilt is ready for market day!

If you are in Melbourne this Saturday, be sure to visit the Sisters' Market, and come and say hello.  I would love to meet you all!  Check out the list of stallholders - RPQ is going to be in the company of some very talented and creative people!  Thoroughly daunting but also very exciting!

Around the Block - November Part II

More Around the Block for the month of November.  Lynn from Craftstew  requested blocks with a variation on zig zag, any block as long as it incorporates at least one zig or one zag.

 The blocks measure 15.5 inches square

Lynn also asked to try to work any printed selvedge edges into the blocks.  I was happy to oblige:

The fabrics Lynn selected are from the Moda Wonderland by MoMo range; adding solid fabrics within the general color palette.

The zig zag variation theme was fun and easy to work with, I think this is going to be a truly unique quilt.  I hope you like your blocks Lynn!

Amy Butler - Love

Finished!  And I have had the opportunity to take some decent photos, so here follows a rather picture heavy post.

There are 26 different fabrics in the Amy Butler "Love" range and I used approximately 6 to 7 squares from each of the fabrics.  The squares measured 4 inches at the cutting stage.  A total of 169 squares were cut to form 13 rows by 13 columns.  The finished quilt measures 46 inches x 46 inches.

The back of the quilt is also pieced.  Although I really wanted to make the back of the quilt from more of the AB fabrics, I ran out of fat quarters with sufficiently wide enough pieces of fabric (due to inadequate planning on my behalf!)  for each of the 11 inch squares.  As a result I have added an alternating Kona Cotton Solid in Ash around the outside.  I think it works well.  I am also pleased with how well centered the backing is this time!  A tricky task, but works much better when you also mark the center lines of the backing onto the batting.

The quilting is again very simple, just a matter of outlining the seam lines, (approximately 1/4 inch on either side of the seams), using the inner edge of my walking foot as a guide.  I also adjust the needle  position on my sewing machine to give a fairly generous 1/4 inch.

The binding was added without much hesitation this time.  I think this quilt really need a quiet print as binding, one without too much color and pattern variation.  .

I have chosen Bali Gate in Periwinkle from the Love range for the binding.

As all of the printed fabrics in this quilt are from the one fabric range, I have made a label from the selvage.  It reads "Love - Amy Butler")  It is doubled over and tucked into the binding in the diagonally opposite corner to my own label.  An understated tribute to Amy Butler's retro but very modern fabric range. 

Sunday Stash #27

Although not widely celebrated in Australia, but in the spirit of Halloween, my Sunday Stash is a sampling of orange and black fabrics.

From left to right they are:

1. Heather Bailey - Swirlybuds - Tangerine
2. Denyse Schmidt - Fleamarket Fancy - Orange Medallions
   
3. Japanese Kei Honeycomb in Black
4. Heather Ross - Far Far Away  - Unicorns in Orange 

I hope you have enjoyed your Halloween celebrations!

More happy Sunday Stashers can be found here.