Friday 21 June 2013

Fabric Fast Experiment #1: The Problem Prints Quilt.


I am having serious.fabricshopping.withdrawals. I am now very close to half way through my year long {new} fabric fast, and I'm wishing I allowed myself a little break at the 6 month mark. Sigh.

So last week I set myself 3 challenges. I want to make a serious dent in:
  • The 'too hard to sort' scrap bucket (multicoloured scraps)
  • The pink bucket (I never, ever bought pink fabric before making girls clothes. Now it's my most copious scrap.)
  • The overflowing cupboard of scrap batting/wadding.  
And somewhere along the line I was going to stop and write about them and show you my processes, but instead I've been on a wild, quilting, hormone induced frenzy. (Not the fun nesting kind, but the disappointing 'that time of month' kind.)


So here instead, I present to you a quilt I'm beside myself excited about. This is my collection (or about a quarter! It takes a lot of quilts to empty a scrap bucket!) of my 'too hard to sort' scraps. They have big prints, lots of colours, and some of them are loud and clashy. I do like loud and clashy, I just always seem to put them aside these days for flatter alternatives.

For this quilt I basically only set one colour limit - no grey. And I made sure I included my brown background prints to create some variation in value (and because I never use those either.) I chose 2.5" squares because I wanted to see the prints all broken up, and I thought bigger or more irregular pieces would look too much like mud. And then there's the reason that all my scraps are left over from necks and armholes. Much easier to cut little squares than charms! I also used the opportunity to throw in a stack of scraps won in giveaways which aren't really my style, but fit in well here.


And Hurray! It works, don't you think? While I still feel like scrolling through a screen of new fabrics, it does make me feel like I really can use anything in my stash, even if I regret buying it now, or I thought it would only work for clothing. And look at those apples on the back. Aren't they perfect?! Here I was trying to use them for pinafores and not really liking it, but it's been waiting all this time for a quilt like this.


Driving into the city to this park today, I was reminded of all the beautiful places in this city for taking photos. So that's my other challenge for the year: no more next door neighbour's grey house! It is SO convenient, but not nearly as interesting.


I used zig-zag stitch-in-the-ditch to sew on my binding again. A kind of mix between Rachel's and more traditional machine binding. I'm sold!

Well, I have to say, I'm not completely cured of my addiction. I do love the whole process of making a quilt, including the fabric buying. But I'm trusting like anything it will come and go. And I'm leaving ample hints for Tim for my birthday coming up in August. (That's not included, right?!)

This quilt is now available here


18 comments:

  1. Inspiring - I have been wondering if I can hide lots of my scraps that aren't to my taste anymore in a scrappy Trip Around the World. I think I will give it a go. It has to be better than the fabric being stashed in boxes right?

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  2. Awesome! This is what i want to try with that bundle of charms i was telling you about, but hopefully no mud and agreed, no more photos of that grey house ;)

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  3. I am absolutely enamoured with with light pinkish/orangeish hue that this quilt glows with. It is stunning! Great job on the stash busting. Birthday gifts definitely DO NOT count.

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  4. It's just beautiful Jodi! I love the mix of prints and colour

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  5. Wonderful how all those different come together to look amazing! Congrats on the finish :)

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  6. This is the perfect way to use those little buggers up! I think you've inspired me to go and start cutting up some of my less than favourite prints :D

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  7. Looks great. And a great way to use scraps up..

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  8. The patchwork turned out great! It really is proof that any scrap can make something beautiful. Did you spend a lot if time placing fabrics in order or did you just chain piece at leisure? What made you decide to use brown but not gray? I'm just curious about the thinking behind that because I am never good at picking fabrics together.

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  9. Brown is one of those colors that I really struggle to work with, so I'm really impressed with how well you were able to integrate the into this lovely quilt. I like that your self-imposed fabric purchase ban is giving way to creative risks. They are most definitely paying off!

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  10. This is great! I never would have thought to put all those together but the finished product is so fun! I love the binding too.

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  11. It definitely works! And birthdays are absolutely NOT included in fast rules! ;)

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  12. Gosh, Jamie had some good questions! I'm curious to know, if you do answer her. But, yes, this totally turned out. I have my own drawer of multi colored/hard scraps. Your idea of going small to break them up is so right on. Thanks for the inspiration!

    p.s. Crossing fingers for your next chance.

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  13. Love it. Especially the back.

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  14. This really turned out great! I would love to make a quilt using up all those same type of scraps. I have so many!! That's for the inspiration!!

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  15. Success Jodi! And such a great one! Shows that it pays to have fun playing!

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  16. It loks great, you have created something unique and beautiful without buying afresh.

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  17. this is absolutely gorgeous! i love it!

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I so love your comments! I read all of them and reply when I can. If you don't hear back, I'm lost under a mound of scraps or outside jumping on the trampoline with the kids. Jodi. xx