…is filling up again!
On the left is a very old Kaffe Fasset print I bought many years ago at a sale in Maine where a fabric store was closing as the owner was retiring. And because it is an old KF print, it has sturdy fabric, not the sheer fabrics the market gives us today, fabrics that require starching to even cut them properly. LOL, no more on that rant this morning.
I was thinking of using this fabric for the Cat’s Cradle quilt top next to it as I’m trying to use up stash fabrics, but these two critters are fighting. I’m going to use this old KF print for a backing for another 8-inch Cat’s Cradle quilt top that uses solid fabrics in the colors in this print. I’m VERY happy with how the match of my two cut pieces matched up with the method I use. See the seam on the left? (I blogged about matching prints some time back.)
And now, the 4-inch Cat’s Cradle top is on the longarm.
And you can see this fabric actually has lines of pattern running lengthwise. I didn’t really notice that at first.
I’m excited about this new 8-inch Cat’s Cradle project with these unusual colors (for me). And I think I have collected enough of these colors for this new quilt now.
My online quilt project from Rachel Hauser of Stitched in Color is coming right along. I am using 2 1/2 squares from those stored in my 2 1/2-inch square bin, and I’m loving the blue sashing and the darker purple/blue (Kona “Nightfall”) for the triangle star block. I added a neutral outside border so I will have full stars on the border. Right now these squares are in the leader/ender category.
And I’m sewing together the Kites in this top. I like the movement with this arrangement. The long lines of one color are functioning as sashings–as are the single blocks that separate the double blocks. I found an adorable backing (a Tilda print) for the backing. This quilt will be for a girl, thus all the pink.
Below is the block I’ll use to show my Charleston Modern members who come to tomorrow’s Sit and Sew how to mount a quilt on stretched canvas. I did some very subtle hand-sewing on the green center, which added just a little texture.
My changing design wall shows how my quilting rolls along. And it is so much fun.
Louisa Enright's Blog 
Louisa, I enjoy following your blog. Your willingness to push the boundaries and try new things is refreshing. Like you, I also have some old Kaffe fabrics that actually have a decent amount of cotton in them. Quilting fabric is heralded as ‘heirloom quality’, but I fail to understand how fabric that is so thin that I can see through it is going to last for generations – unless it’s never used. We willingly pay extra for ‘heirloom quality’, but many of today’s fabrics don’t qualify, and I’m unwilling to pay what the vendors ask regardless of whose name is on it. I feel strongly that some of our fabric manufacturers and even the designers are betraying us. It’s a sad state we’re in. I remember as a girl in Home Ec class choosing fabric for a dress and Mom stressing that she wouldn’t buy any fabric that was see-through. Ann
Thank you probe94 for reading my blog and for this comment. I so agree–and I refuse to buy these thin fabrics as well. For instance, Tula Pink’s new collection is stunning, but “see though” thin. I won’t buy it. I recently found Tilda fabrics, which have a nice weight. The more traditional prints in Tilda don’t fit my vibe, but some of her prints do. This fabric issue is one reason I make a lot of quilts with Kona solids. Many of the solid makers have also gone to the sheer fabrics too. They are hard to sew, hard to cut, etc. I won’t buy any of these really sheer fabrics. Like you, I don’t think they will last–and my quilts are mostly meant to be USED and washed, etc.
Louisa, you and your design wall never fail to inspire me!!!
I love the matched seam on your Kaffe backing! It’s always worth the effort to my way of thinking as you know!!