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

city gym shorts!

Posted on August 7, 2014

The free city gym shorts pattern was posted on the Purl Bee recently, and I had it printed out the same day. [And yes, it’s as great, and as fast!, as I thought it would be!] Since then, I’ve been a bit obsessed with making (and wearing!) these shorts. I like the chambray paired with the Liberty, so I haven’t veered from their design, though if you check the #citygymshorts tag on IG, you’ll find them made up in a variety of fabrics.

I find the Liberty to be a bit thin (not so much for shirts, but perhaps a bit thin for something covering my bottom half!) so I opted to use a layer of Liberty along with a layer of voile. I cut two pairs of each front piece (one each of the Liberty and one each of the voile) and just treated it as one fabric (I think Meredith mentioned doing this?). I really like the extra little bit of weight it provides. So far I’ve made the three pairs above, and also a plain chambray pair, which I was wearing while taking this photo, and I have a lightweight (unlined) pair nearly completed for pajama bottoms.

And of course Hazel needed a couple pairs as well. Nothing cuter than a little one who’s just learned to walk wearing teeny little gym shorts!

I couldn’t get my act together to get photos of us actually modeling these shorts, though you can see a partial photo of mine here and a pic of Hazel in hers here.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged baby clothes, city gym shorts, free pattern, liberty of london, purl bee, purl soho, robert kaufman chambray, shorts | 6 Comments

all signs point – a finished quilt in Cotton + Steel

Posted on August 4, 2014

As soon as yardage of Cotton + Steel became available I bought up a few yards of the Tiger Stripes print in pink for the backing of this quilt. I just couldn’t resist! As a bonus, both kids seem to be loving cats at the moment, so it’s become a fun game to find the cats on this quilt (not a real challenge, but provides some entertainment!)

I love the colors in this one – the majority of the prints come from Alexia’s Hatbox collection, along with a couple prints from Melody’s Mustang collection and a number of the C+S basics.

I paired those with a few Cotton Couture solids and then grouped the prints a bit as I put it up on the design wall. You can see my inspiration in my previous post about this quilt.

I kept the quilting simple, which I really like. Someday I’ll have the time to experiment with different quilting styles, but for now this is about all I have time for. I fancied it up a bit by using a pink Sulky variegated thread. I usually am more for the thread blending in, especially on a white fabric, but this pink is light enough that I’m ok with it and I like the extra bit of color it adds.

And hey look, a barn quilt! I exclaimed loudly in the car to the kids as we drove by it on our way to pick blueberries – they weren’t as impressed, but I was pleased to return to get a few photos in front of it.

Posted in [search] Other Quilts, Fabric, Finished Quilts, Posts about Quilts, Quilts | Tagged Alexia Abegg, cotton + steel, cotton + steel basics, handmade, melody miller, michael miller cotton couture, quilt, triangles | 17 Comments

squares of Maze & Vale

Posted on July 23, 2014

Apologies in advance for the back to back Maze & Vale posts, but man, I love Leslie’s prints! I collected her fabric panels and sample packs for quite a long time (years, maybe?) and while I often took them out and admired the lovely prints, I hadn’t used them in any quilts.

One day I took them all out and decided it was time to use them all in one epic Maze & Vale quilt! I really loved how they all looked together, so I added in a few matching solids and a background color (Cotton Couture Soft White) that matched quite well with the M&V basecloth.

I started making these blocks many months ago – very early this year, I think? – and as I type this now, I was trying to remember what the inspiration was, but I’m not sure I really had any when I started. I think my main thought was how well the Cotton Couture soft white matched with the background of many of the Maze & Vale prints, so I decided to just alternate the prints with the soft white. As I added rings, I realized it might be fun to add in little pieces of the solids where they matched the prints.

I kept making blocks and sticking them up on the design wall. I still don’t think there was too much of a plan in my mind, but as the randomly sized blocks accumulated on the wall, I decided I really liked how they all looked together so I kept making blocks. At some point I realized that I was going to have a little trouble piecing in the background fabric while keeping the layout I had going, but I decided not to let that bother me.

I think it was a good thing I was really excited about this project, because consequently the tedious job of piecing in all those little background pieces didn’t bother me – I was in such a hurry to see it all completed!

Since the layout is random, and includes lots of differently sized blocks, there was a lot of measuring required, lots of inset seams, and a bunch of standing back, staring at the design wall and trying to figure out what to sew together next. Luckily I find that kind of sewing to be a fun challenge, and I felt pretty proud of myself when it was finally all sewn together!

And, best of all, I absolutely love it! Leslie’s hand printed fabrics are so beautiful, and I’m so thrilled to have a quilt top that showcases so many of her fabulous designs. I have the perfect backing in mind, and now I need to figure out the right quilting. Ideas are welcome!