Sunday Stash #75

Thank you to Amanda from What the Bobbin? for hosting Sunday Stash last week.

Next week Sunday Stash will be over at Ms Midge and the following Sunday at Fabric Mutt.

Briar Rose is here!

I finally have my hands on the 'sweet as pie' collection I have anticipated all year. I bought my fat quarter bundle of Heather Ross' Briar Rose, with matching solids, from Amanda at Westwood Acres. It arrived here on August 1st from the US.

For those of you who are not familiar with Heather Ross, her fabrics are always a bit whimsical and you can play a healthy game of eye-spy with them.

This collections has some sweet flowers...

and bees...

and strawberries.

Here is my favourite print. The Froggy Picnic.

Before I got sick late last week I was sorting through my stash and I culled quite a bit of fabric. I might post about it in the next few weeks.

So what's happening in your stash this week? Linky below.

Sunday Stash #39

Mendocino and Far Far Away #1 Retro Buys

My favourite fabric designer is Heather Ross, but I came to quilting loooooong after she released fabulous fabric lines in the USA.  Heather has a very witty blog here.

Just recently I made an investment in retro-buying some of her Mendocino and Far Far Away #1 lines for my mermaid/unicorn-loving daughter.

I bought these in a SALE at Janey Mac Shop a few weeks back. Aren't they delightful? Heather always has a snippet of detail and a dash of whismy in her prints. It may be the expression on a character's face or a tiny beetle but it makes me smile.

Prints by Heather Ross

And now she has a her FIRST book out. It is called Prints and it has soooooo much in it! 

Not only can you make great sewing projects 

but there are over 20 cardstock prints included for making other crafty items. There is a CD included as well (I have not tried this out yet).

She also teaches you how to design your own fabric using a computer.

You can order her fabric prints from Spoonflower too...and even change the colourways yourself.

Surfing for a Cause

If I lived in the USA I would definitely be buying tickets for this fantastic Heather Ross and Walden mini mal. 100% of ticket sales  raise money for those affected by Super Storm Sandy which battered the eastern seaboard of the US last week. Heather Ross is a downtown New Yorker. I have a soft spot for NY - been there twice (pre 9/11).

And I could really use a mermaid surfboard in my life!

Hosting Sunday Stash

 Next week Sunday Stash is off to Blossom Heart Quilts with Alyce. So please make sure you head over there to link up and say hello. 

I am trying to get together a schedule for Sunday Stash hosting in 2013. I only need 12 folks to host on the 3rd Sunday of the month (happy to increase this too). So please comment below if you are interested and even nominate a month or two if you feel inclined. I'v e had 2 nibbles so far.

Sunday Stash Link Up

Thank you to all the regulars and new folks linking up each week. I am learning about LOTS of different fabrics from you.

Sunday Stash #29

There's been a lot of fabric movement in my small circle of quilting gals lately. Lot's of squishy mail received. I have not missed out myself.

Heather Ross

Now HR is a very talented illustrator/artist and she makes mostly thematic and whimsical fabric lines. Some of you may be familiar with her:

Very popular Mendocino mermaids in purples, browns and pinks.

Far Far Away 1 - featuring the Frog Prince, unicorn and the Princess and the Pea
Far Far Away 2 - Sleeping Beauty, Owl and the Pussycat, 
Far Far Away 3 - Snow White, Rapunzel

May she ever continue that theme of FFA infinitum. I would love to see some Emperor's New Clothes, Rumplestiltskin and Aladdin designs for the boys out there.

Also on Spoonflower where you can pick up some of her out of print designs.

Munki Munki was a range of pyjamas that women loved enough to cut up and sell off in small amounts. I personally have the goldfish set for summer and the sledding flanny set for winter. I have resisted the urge to cut them up.

Then she has also designed flyers, surfboard decals and illustrated books for herself and others. She runs workshops for those fortunate enough to get to NYC.

She also has new book out on fabric design called 'PRINTS.' I have ordered a copy from The Book Depository.

You can check out her blog. She does not write often but when she does, it is witty and descriptive. What I like most about her is her lack of snobbery. She is very down-to-earth despite being extremely talented and having a huge fan base/cult. 

Nursery Versery

So here is her latest line called Nursery Versey. And features the 'Town and Country Mouse, Incy Wincy Spider and the Three Little Pigs' in 4 colourways - pink, purple, green and grey.

I ordered half yards from Fabric Worm and have already fussy cut into mine for the Nursery Versery Contest drawn last week at Stitched in Color.

They also carry her other new line called 'Crafty Chloe'. I bought half a yard of each and a full yard of Chloe crafting.

Who else is in love with HR now?

So what's new in your stash this week. Feel free to link up below.

Nursery Versery Art Folder

Phew! I made the deadline! 

I saw the Nursery Versery Competition early last  week on Stitched in Color but did not think that I could even contemplate entering. 

• First there was my deadline for the Practically Paper Piecing blog hop on Monday. 
• Then there was volunteering Wednesday and Thursday morning at the school the Library to help set up the Art Show and Bookweek.
• Then my parents came to stay from Thursday afternoon to enjoy Grandparent's Day and the Bookweek Parade at school the next day.
• My mum and I also went to the movies for a Pre-School Fundraiser on Thursday night.
• Making a Darth Maul cape Friday morning right before the Bookweek Parade.
• Saturday saw me at 2 soccer games with the boys and then onto a birthday party in Byron Bay with Fran.
• Then we took my mum out for a birthday brunch this morning (Sunday).

If that wasn't enough to dissuade me, I had no Nursery Versery Fabric until the folks from Fabric Worm delivered my order on Wednesday.

Then there was the small matter of coming up with a project for the competition. I had contemplated using the fabric in this week's Zakka Style Sew Along project, a patchwork photo frame, but it did not seem a good match. Rachel from Stitched in Color had made the most adorable mini quilt that looks like a storybook cover and I found it inspirational.
Then Juliet of Tartan Kiwi posted a very practical paper pieced Art Folder tutorial on Thursday and the idea began to form. 

But I only got a chance to start the project today. Sunday. Deadline Day. Luckily we are a few time zones ahead in Australia. So it is after midnight as I write this after spending from 11am this morning on this project virtually non-stop.

So here's my version of the paper pieced Art Folder by Tartan Kiwi. I followed the tutorial closely but decided to make my large enough to fit in an A4 colouring book. My paper pieced blocks were 10"square and adding the purple border bumped the project out to a finished 14" square.

I paper pieced the familiar paper pieced little house, from my Neighbourhood Playmat with fussy cut mouse windows but just made the roofline less steep.

I went with the purple colourway and then was able to use some of my precious other Heather Ross prints from previous lines like Far Far Away 2 and Gnomes and Mushrooms from  Spoonflower. I did minimal quilting, mostly outlining and then continuing the raindrops. It should be a one-stop art shop, for Fran when we head out to restaurants for more birthday brunches.

You should pop over and check out the other contestants on the competition post. Some are pure brilliance!

Swapping Saturday #2

Rainbow Charm Swap

I joined in Lauren's second round of rainbow charm swap in July and the returned pack yielded some lovely tone on tone prints. 

Far Far Away 2

There has been a new destash page on Facebook where you can pick up some lovely prints. I am not quick enough I'm afraid but lovely Kristy from Quiet Play snapped up the blue version of 'the Owl and the Pussycat' for me. I never got this colourway but I did have the purple and orange version. 

So Kristy and I arranged a swap. She sent me 1/2 yard in blue and I cut into my stash of Heather Ross Far Far Away 2 prints to give her a selection of four fat 8ths in return.
She will get the Owl and the Pussycat in purple and orange, Sleeping Beauty in yellow and Rapunzel in blue.

I love swaps and have found a lovely group of bloggers through Facebook to swap with. Do you have similar experience with swaps. There is a whole page on Facebook called Fabric Swaps - Australia and International if you are interested.

Giveaway Reminder

Less than one day remaining in my Practically Paper Piecing Giveaway with a chance of winning one of two 'Summersville' charm packs. You can find it here.

Sunday Stash #25

Scrap Savers


Are you a scrap saver? 
I mean, how small does a piece of fabric have to be before you relegate it to the Preschool donation bag? 

My current 3 boxes of scraps

If you are into Paper Piecing, then no scrap is too small to save. Since starting this method I have been saving the MOST ridiculous sized pieces. 

By the way this is my Preschool scrap basket!

Have you been following the Practically Paper Piecing Blog Hop these past 5 days? If you saw Kate's post you will see her miniscule PP blocks measuring 2" square! What! Really? Oh yes - she's making a sweet mini quilt for the mice of Brambly Hedge.


This week I was the beneficiary of two generous scrap savers. The first was Jane, from Where Jane Creates, who sent me some scraps (see my previous reference to her scrap bin) for my PPP 'Summersville Neighbourhood' project. She sent me these delicious snippets in yellow, red, green, blue, orange and black. Thank you Jane.

The second was an amazing windfall of scraps from Kelly of Kelby Sews. I won these by linking up with her 'My Precious' post in June. Kelly has great taste in fabric and I was not disappointed to get some choice pickings from her floor. And many of them were decent sized.

Ok I will need some help with naming most of these prints so feel free to make a comment if you know one or two or ten. I only really recognise the Denyse Schmidt, Aneela Hooey and Heather Ross prints.


Reds

Oranges

Pinks

Greens

Blues

Purples (not a lot of this colour in my stash)

Wouldn't it be nice if more of us packaged up our scraps and sent them off in the mail to make another person's day? Or even manage a scrap swap?


Tips - Now scraps that are very small can also come in handy for making:


fabric covered buttons

cute gift tags (I used to bother sewing these on but now I just use a bit of stick glue for these)

Don't forget to link up with your stash additions below.

A Fairytale Ending

'Fussy Fairytales' Quilt Pattern available as a downloadable pdf from Kate Conklin Designs

I started the quilting of 'Fussy Fairytales' on the 2nd day of the month and finished it on the 2nd last day of the month. That's a nice set of book ends right there.

'Far Far Away 2 & 3' fabric in cotton/linen blend by Heather Ross

Although the hand-quilting with DMC thread has been time consuming I have been able to develop hand-my sewing skills and fall in love with the results.

So here is the end of the Fairytale.

Just to acknowledge again that the piecing for this quilt was all done by my mum, Audrey McLeod. I only did the 'Snow White' block on the back.

Although our frames are floating, Kate Conklin has a tutorial on how to make the 'Fussy Framed blocks'

I am linking up with...

                           

                                                                

Flying a Kite

Fussy Fairytales

 I have been slowly working my way through tying the larger patches of un-quilted windows with flourishes of hand-quilting to highlight the features in the print. 

That's what make Heather Ross' Far Far Away prints so delightful to work with because there's always a little flower, owl or sock to embelish. 

I have only to make a few more panels secure and then I should be able to start making the binding.

Katie Jump Kites

Meanwhile I have been flying through the blocks of the 'Katie Jump Kites' top. I guess that I am just over half way now. Each block is so easy to put together with only 3 seams.

This week's stats:
Completed projects - 0

  

Currently in progress   - 'HR Far Far Away 2&3 Fussy Fairytales'  hand quilting the larger sections

                                               - Katie Jump Kites - 37 out of 56 blocks sewn
                                               

On Hold projects   - Mystery Quilt - top pieced

How are your WiPs this week?


I am linking up with...