FITF: Film in the Fridge | modern quilts, clothing, fabric, and photos

solids!

Posted on January 12, 2010

My stash of solids had gotten way out of hand. I can’t really find a good way to store them, and I found that I was consistently buying solids in colors I already owned (but couldn’t find!). So I spent a little time this weekend folding and organizing them.

One bin for my Moda Bella Solids –

moda-bella

(purchased from the Fat Quarter Shop)

And two bins for my Kona solids –

kona-solids

(purchased at Pink Chalk Fabrics and Fabric Shack)

If I had been a bit more motivated, I might have even organized them more completely by color and maybe even further by hue, but I think this is good for now.

Let’s see how long they stay like this!

(oh, and for those who might ask, I don’t think I have a preference between the Moda and Kona solids – I just like having more variety, and sometimes one line has a slightly different hue…)

Posted in Fabric | Tagged cotton, fabric organization, kona solids, moda bella, solids | 33 Comments

a flea market fancy quilt for me!

Posted on January 11, 2010

I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how much I love this one.

It took me so long to commit to actually using up so much of my Flea Market Fancy stash, and I mentioned last time that I was still cringing when I looked at all that fabric in one quilt, but now that it’s done, I’m so happy that I went ahead with it.

I used all my favorite FMF prints in this simple design. I wanted to see larger sections of each print, and this design worked well for that. Plus, it’s quick and easy to put together — so easy that it’s possible to end up with a much larger quilt than you originally intended…

I didn’t set out to make it this large, but really, is a quilt ever too big? This one measures about 64″ x 78″, so a very generous throw for the couch. You can kind of tell how big it is from the photo below, where Morgan is wrestling with it – trying to hold it up without dragging it on the ground.

The back is mainly an aqua solid, which I’m obviously quite fond of — I used it on the back of this quilt, and I have plans to use it on the back of this one as well.

I added in a strip of the FMF scraps, and then several small blocks at the bottom.

They make me smile. And lately I’ve been including a few in each quilt I make. Kind of fun, I think. The quilting is once again straight lines on the diagonal, with a double stitch line on every other diagonal.

What you can’t tell from these photos is that despite the sun, it was only about 10 degrees out. I owe Morgan big time for traipsing around in the snow and patiently waiting while I got the shots I wanted.

I did let him use the quilt later on though, so that’s gotta count for something, right?

Posted in [search] Charm Quilts, 2010 Finished Quilts, Finished Quilts, Posts about Quilts, Quilts | Tagged denyse schmidt, flea market fancy, handmade, quilt, quilting, squares, straight line quilting | 51 Comments

my new favorite fabric…little folks voile!

Posted on January 7, 2010

This quilt turned out even better than I had hoped!

We’ll call this the first finished quilt of 2010 (it’s actually the third, but since I have yet to show you the first two, this can become the first). As I mentioned in this post, I decided to use prints from Anna Maria Horner’s Little Folks line, specifically the prints from the Playground palette, with a few extra blues added in for good measure.

I did a simple patchwork design, with 3.5″ squares. And then I went for simple straight line quilting, sewing diagonally through every other square. I added a second stitch line to every other line because I just love the look of a double stitch line!

I was really feeling a white backing, so I went with Kona Snow for the majority of it, adding in a vertical strip of the extra voile squares.

This white backing with just a few squares really makes me really happy. So does that pattern the quilting makes. Oh, and for those who have asked, I do use a walking foot for the straight line quilting. I don’t have a double needle though, so when I do a double quilt line, I just do a second line about 1/4″ away from the first.

A few of you commented that you wondered how the voile would be in a quilt, and I’m here to tell you that I think it’s wonderful. It’s truly the nicest-feeling quilt that I have. I kinda wish I had made it my size (this one is about 37″ x 43″, so more baby-sized than Ashley-sized)… although then I probably would have spent all my time laying under it on the couch!

I only had two small problems working with it, but they’re really minor, so don’t let that deter you… first, I had a bit of trouble determining the right side of a few of the fabrics. This might be the only fabric I own where the back is almost as nice as the front! I had to get a second opinion from Morgan on a few of my squares before sewing them together (see, minor!). My second issue was in basting… not my favorite part of quilting. I use spray adhesive so I can get it over with faster, and unfortunately, spray adhesive doesn’t seem to adhere to this fabric! I don’t own safety pins, so I had to resort to straight pins. And any of you who’ve tried this will know that it’s a bad idea. I stuck myself more times than I’d care to recall.

Otherwise though, I’m totally in love, and already planning the next one. Probably in the Moonlight palette. Yes, definitely.

Oh, and this is unrelated, but I did a bit of organizing and fabric-putting-away last night, and I pulled out some older fabrics from my stash which I’ve listed in the shop (had to make room for new fabrics you know!)