Welcome to Color Inspiration Thursday. It’s a two-posts-in-one-day kind of day here, so I will keep this one aesthetic. Color palettes are made using Play Crafts’ Palette Builder 2.1 and my photographs. Your inspiration this week comes from two very different locales. The first photos are from more of my garden harvest. We have had tomatoes galore, which means fresh tomato on everything, salsa, salsa, more salsa, and tomato sauce!
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Black, Poppy, Chocolate, Smoke, Taupe, Paprika
Add a helpful two-year old and your palette changes a bit:
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Black, Taupe, Earth, Coal, Paprika, Mahogany
The next photos are from Holbrook Island, off the coast of Maine.
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Coal, Steel, Ash, Black, Windsor, Pewter
Sometimes simple, “plain” things are beautiful. I found this roof-to-wall transition quite aesthetically pleasing, and I love the combination of violets and seafoam greens that result. The seafoam green is a bit lost in the Kona matches, but I might tweak my fabric choices if using this palette in the future so that the green is more prominent.
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Basil, Grass Green, Moss, Spring, Espresso, Steel
With beautiful beaches on the outskirts, deep dark pine forest on the inside, Holbrook Island Sanctuary State Park is a gorgeous place to explore. The forest floor was covered with moss and lichens, which created another little world best seen from an inch or two away while laying on your belly.
Corresponding Kona cottons from left to right:
Steel, Charcoal, Ash, Buttercup, Deep Rose, Denim
These rainbow strings were washed up on the rocky beach, which adds a fun pop of color to an otherwise stony palette. I kind of love this one!
Last month I had a revelation during some early evening vacation hand-stitching: wine and fabric go splendidly together. My first serendipitous pairing of wine and fabric has resulted in a habit of maybe choosing wine based upon its fabric-pair-ability, and in seeing various types of wine and fabric mates all over the place.
While my first wine and fabric duo were quite specific, pairing the specific wine with a single fabric line, this match is a bit more general: Sauvignon Blanc pairs wonderfully with low volume & mostly-white fabrics. This is good news for all of us! The next time you’re working on a project involving low volume prints, you know a Sauvignon Blanc will be just the varietal for you (especially on these hot summer nights)!
Bonterra has been producing wine from 100% organic grapes since 1993, and they passionately believe that organic grapes make better wine. Since I already opt for as much organic food as I can, and after trying their Sauvignon Blanc, I can’t disagree.
Yes! I would add that wine should also be paired with a fabric that is a perfect expression of the varietal or flavor. I have decided to step up to that task. I grabbed a stack of some of my favorite low volume, mostly white fabrics, and a bottle of Bonterra Sauvignon Blanc and headed to Crescent Beach in Owls Head, Maine for a photo shoot. Crescent Beach has gorgeous fine white sand that sparkles in the sunlight, a rarity in Maine where rocky coasts are the norm. The stones that meet high tide are smooth, round, and often white, so I knew this was the perfect location for the blanc-low volume shoot.
The perfect pair:
Fabric
Any low volume or primarily white fabrics.
My stash grab includes:
Description of wine from the label: Intense aromas of grapefruit, citrus, kiwi and fresh cut grass greet the nose. As you drink, the crisp acidity gives the wine a fresh vibrant feel with flavors of grapefruit, lime zest and grass that closes with favors of melon and a nice tart finish.
Sometimes, after a long, hot day on vacation, you open up the perfect bottle of wine to help refresh the evening. And sometimes, when you open up that perfect bottle of wine, something serendipitous happens: you realize that it’s also the perfect bottle of wine to pair with your current handwork project.
Who knew that wine and fabric could pair so well? There’s no debate that this is the perfect pair, though. Birds & Bees Sweet White wine is a refreshing and crisply sweet wine perfect for cooling off on a hot summer’s evening. Properly chilled, this wine is smooth and has the perfect balance of sweetness to make it pleasant and refreshing. I love that the back label says “Birds and Bees Sweet White evokes sunshine and laughter, passion and romance.” What’s not to love?
As I enjoyed this lovely wine, I worked on my Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses, my first ever foray into English Paper Piecing. The feature fabric fussy cut for the center cross is none other than the Bee Sweet Fabric from Bonnie Christine‘s Sweet as Honey line. Talk about the perfect fabric to pair with Birds & Bees Sweet White!
This serendipitous encounter on the coast of Maine got me thinking about pairing wine and fabric more often. For those of us who love stitching, and love a glass of wine at the end of a long day, why can’t there be a perfect pairing of the two? You would pair the “right” wine with your dinner, so why not pair the “right” wine with your stitching? I admit, this idea of pairing wine and fabric had me giggling and laughing into the next day (or was it the wine?), so it is decidedly something I must try to do again.
The perfect pair:
Fabric Fabric: Bee Sweet in Sunset Collection: Sweet as Honey Designer: Bonnie Christine Manufacturer: Art Gallery Fabrics
Wine Wine: Birds & Bees Sweet White Producer: Trivento
What is your favorite wine? Favorite fabric? Maybe I’ll try to find its perfect pair!
I’m one of those online window shoppers, with about fifty items in a “shopping cart” at a variety of fabric shops at all times. One of the bundles that has been in my virtual shopping cart forever is the Jewel Tone Sketch Fat Quarter Bundle at Stash Fabrics. Last week, when I saw Stash was having a sale on all Bella Solids, I knew that the time had come. I needed some more gray yardage as a background for my in-progress Canvas place mats, so with the sale on solids paired with free shipping on orders over $50, I decided to build my stash 56 dollars worth. Here’s what I bought:
Stash building from Stash Fabrics.
Let’s take a closer look, since who doesn’t want to get a closer look at fabulous fabric?
From bottom to top, I got 1 yard each of Bella Zen Gray, Silver, and Steel, as well as 1 yard of Pointelle in Noir from the Art Gallery Fabrics Chromatic Collection (swoon). I also added in 1/4 yard each of Bee Sweet in Sunset and Morning colorways, from the Sweet as Honey line by Bonnie Christine for Art Gallery. I’ve been eyeing them for ages and just couldn’t pass up the chance to have even a bit in my stash.
Of course, the Jewel Tone Sketch bundle got a photo shoot all its own. How could you resist!? Mid-photo-shoot, I decided that these lovely colors really needed more of a white backdrop. The only problem is, we have blue walls. Here was my solution:
Blue walled background + some momentarily helpful kids who had refused to nap + 1 white poster board = whiter background to help the rainbow colors pop!
Yes? Yes! I love the difference the slightly different angle paired with the white background make.
This week, I also got a fabulous package from Alex Veronelli of AURIfil. A few weeks ago, I semi-jokingly, very-hopefully tweeted:
@CrystalblueRT@alexveronelli if Aurifil is ever looking for another quilter-blogger to supply with gorgeous colors of thread, I’m your gal!
Much to my excitement, yesterday I received the best package ever!
It didn’t take me long once I started quilting and getting into the modern quilting community to realize that many of my favorite quilters raved about AURIfil thread. I finally found a local shop that carried AURIfil and bought my very first spool: a gorgeous all-purpose gray. I haven’t used anything except AURIfil since. Look at it-you can see the shine even in photos. The colors are fabulous, the thread is smooth and I haven’t had a break yet.
Rather than swoon, here are some more photographs so that you can see for yourself:
I’m very excited about the color cards, since now I will be able to order the perfect color thread for every project, even though my LQS doesn’t carry the full spectrum. You know how I am about color; I am thrilled to have these added to my stash. I can’t wait to play!
I’m linking up with Molli Sparkles’ Sunday Stash because, well, it matches my favorite bits on the aurifil color card!
We’ve been having a lot of fun over in the Late Night Quilters Club on Facebook, the group I started with Stephanie and her friend Michelle a few weeks ago. Tomorrow that fun is about to go up a few notches. If you haven’t joined our group yet, now would be a good time to do so!
Tomorrow kicks off a brand new weekly event–Tuesday Fabric Stash Swap! We decided to keep it at swapping rather than buying and selling, and it will be a great way for all of us to destash the fabrics we’ve loved but that haven’t found their way to any projects, while at the same time swapping for new-to-us fabrics to help bolster our stashes. The swap is also open to quilting tools and notions. I am super excited!
I’ve fairly recently entered the quilting world, and my SAHM budget doesn’t allow any major fabric splurges, so my stash is teeny tiny. Even still, I have a few fabrics I bought with the intention to use, but that just haven’t found their way into any of my projects. I figure it’s a good time to pass them along and see what else comes my way.
The swap goes live tomorrow, but here’s a sneak peek at what I’ll be offering to swap:
Chevrons and Dots
“Mixxoni” by Greta Lynn for Kanvas Studios in association with Bernatex: 1/2yd
Remix by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman, Bermuda Chevron: 18″x21″ (a hair shy of a fat quarter)
Remix by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman, Bright Chevron: 13″x20″
Remix by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman, Spring Dots: 10″x44″
I’ve tried to love chevrons, really I have. I know they are all the craze in the modern quilting world, and I do like large chevron patterned quilts, sometimes. I bought these chevrons thinking that one day they would just hop successfully into a project, but lo… here they still sit, lonely as ever. I know that many quilters love chevrons, so I hope that they find a happy new home.
Watermelon Scrap Pack
Remix by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman, Summer (Yellow dots): 22″x25″
Remix by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman, Bright (Pink dots): 21″x14″
Remix by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman, Garden Chevron: 1/2 yard
These fabrics are super cute, and despite the chevron I kinda love them. They would make a really cute watermelon table topper or other summery kitchen decor. I would hold on to them, but my list of works-in-progress is long enough as it is, so I’m letting go. Let it go, let it go! Can’t hold it back any more! (sorry, I have toddlers)
Stripes
Sis Boom Basics by Jennifer Paganelli for Free Spirit, Westminster Fibers, Eliza Stripe (Yellow): 1/2 yard
Sis Boom Basics by Jennifer Paganelli for Free Spirit, Westminster Fibers, Eliza Stripe (Green): 1/2 yard
Richloom Odilon Twill, Jewel: 1/2 yard
When I first started quilting, I joined up with the Spool Along hosted by Laura at Adventures of a Quilting Diva. Since I had next-to-no striped fabric with which to make my spools of thread, I went a bit crazy and bought way more than I needed some. I’ve since realized that the fabric doesn’t have to be striped to make a good spool, and I’ve decided to downsize my stripes a bit. So here you go!
One of the best parts about taking on a new quilt challenge is the fabric shopping that ensues. Since I’ve officially joined the Supernova Friendship Swap partnering with Laura from Adventures of a Quilting Diva, and we finally decided on our color plan and background fabric, I had to do a little fabric shopping.
Since I was shopping online so that Laura and I could be sure that we were getting the same exact background fabric, I ordered a few more prints to bring the total to >$50 (free shipping from QuiltHome!).
I ordered mostly half-yards, and 2.5 yards of our background fabric, since the pattern calls for 2 yards and I wanted a bit left for another project-in-the-works. Here’s what I bought:
Pretty Potent-Candy Fabric by Anna Maria Horner
Pretty Potent-Outloud Fabric by Anna Maria Horner
Edges in Sky by Laura Gunn
Acacia-Honey Fabric by Tula Pink
and some Kaffe Fassett Shot Cottons in:
-Ice
-Spruce
-Eucalyptus
-Quartz
-Heather/Mushroom
-Granite
-Prune
-Coal
Gorgeous stack of Kaffe Fassett shot cottons.
We chose Kaffe Fassett’s Granite shot cotton as our background, after debating between various shades and textures of gray. As you can see (the third one up in the stack is the granite) it is very purple! Yet somehow, with our jewel tone color choice, we both think the greyish purple shot cotton will be awesome! Everyone uses gray as a background. We’re going to push the envelope a bit. I’m nervous and excited all at once.
Radiant Orchid Color study with the Canvas pattern by Leanne at She Can Quilt.
The shot cottons are all they’re made out to be. The colors are so dynamic and deeply rich; they just beg to be touched. I have a feeling these will not be the last shot cottons to enter my stash.
Last week, in my most epic shop hopping day to date, my kids and I visited four quilt shops! The shops were in a cluster in or near Waterville and Augusta, about a 75 minute drive from us. It amazingly went fairly smoothly, although I learned that a quilt shop is really not the place for a toddler. Here’s the rundown:
Reviews for this shop talk about the wide selection of just about everything related to quilting, sewing, and even knitting. This indeed is a large shop, with lots of everything. It has more of a warehouse/department store feel with lots of rows of fabric, rolls of batting at the ends of rows, patterns and books on top of the rows, and rooms in the back, side, downstairs, and next door. The fabric seems to be mostly traditional quilting fabric, with a wide selection of novelty themed fabric. Are you looking for horse fabric? or space-themed fabric? Maybe baby’s rocking horse fabric? food fabric? This is the shop for you. I saw four different popcorn fabrics alone.
Yardgoods Center has a wide variety of themed fabric.
Maddie loved this shop, since she was able to find dinosaur fabric with which she plans to make a birthday blanket for her friend Noah.
Maddie with her prize.
The large, full store layout made it less than ideal for an “I want to walk!” toddler. Within five minutes, Max had escaped and climbed INTO the window display. I found him five seconds later with a packaged rotary cutter in one hand and a spool of thread in the other. Straight into the carrier he went, to ride squirming and complaining on my back for the rest of the time in the shop. Here’s a look around, albeit blurry:
Themed fabric galore!The lowest level was filled with large rolls of batting and rows of upholstery fabric.Thread, buttons, notions galore.Gorgeous yarn!
Yardgoods Center at a Glance
Location? Located in Waterville in a large shopping center. The shop was fairly easy to find with gps and has a large parking lot.
Sells? Traditional quilting fabric, themed fabric, upholstery fabric, batting and other quilting, upholstery, and other sewing needs, sewing machines, notions, buttons, books and patterns, yarn and knitting supplies, books, and patterns, and more!
Modern or Traditional? Traditional with a few modern quilting books.
Swag? 5″ charm square of Shop Hop Theme fabric, and coupons for both during the Shop Hop and afterward.
Kid friendly? Not really. This is a very large shop with many rows down which a toddler will bolt. I’m finding that a quilt shop is not the greatest location for a 2 year old 🙂 Older children who also enjoy sewing may like all of the themed fabric.
Cozy Cottage Fabrics is a cute shop right in downtown Augusta. They specialize in Maine Woods fabric, decor, patterns, etc. but also have a selection of batiks and tone on tone fabrics as well as other traditional quilting fabrics. While we were there, they were promoting the yo-yo quilt patterns by local designer Marcia Layton. This is a small shop with very friendly shopkeepers who were eager to talk all things Maine. They also offer long arm services as well as tailoring and alterations.
Max’s mischief of choice in this shop was to run to the door and stand right in front of the laser bell that set off a loud, high-pitched chime when someone walks in, or in his case, a constant high-pitched chime since he just stood right in front of it. After wrangling him back into my arms the third time, a smiling fellow shopper turned to me and incredulously but kindly asked, “You find time to quilt?!” I honestly don’t blame her surprise with the way Max makes mischief in quilt shops.
Here’s a look around the shop:
Promoting the yo-yo quilt patterns by local designer Marcia Layton.Maine woods decor and patterns.A detail look at the way the yo-yos are incorporated into larger quilts.
Location? Located right in downtown Augusta, this shop was quite easy to find. Free street parking is available right out front. We had lunch at a lovely cafe right down the street after our visit here, too.
Sells? Traditional quilting fabric and notions, specializing in Maine Woods fabrics and patterns. Cozy Cottage Fabrics also sells patterns, books, Maine woods decor, offers long arm services, and tailoring and alterations.
Modern or traditional? Traditional.
Swag? 5″ charm square of Shop Hop Theme fabric.
Kid friendly? They were certainly friendly to kids, and it’s a small store so it was fairly easy to keep track of my toddler and four-year-old. Max was able to be down on the ground, although I had to collect him from in front of the entry bell to save the hearing of all the shopkeepers and shoppers.
Mystic Maine Quilts is a big, bright, spacious shop with a wide selection of fabrics, Janome sewing machines, notions, finished quilts, books and patterns, and they offer custom quilt making services. They have an extensive selection of tone on tone and blender fabrics, as well as batiks. In talking with the shop owners, they, too, haven’t found a market for modern fabrics. In the back room at Mystic Maine Quilts lives a gorgeous long arm machine. They offer long arm lessons, and then rent out the machine at an hourly rate to facilitate completion of the project. The women with whom I spoke were very kind and helpful in answering all of my questions.
Max was an angel at this shop; he was asleep in the carrier the entire time. Maddie, on the other hand, was ready for a playground so our visit was short. Here’s a quick look around:
Location? This shop is located on River Road, in Chelsea. It should be noted that it is NOT located on River Street, which is located on the other side of town. You can trust me on that, since my gps brought me to River Street first. On River Road, Mystic Maine Quilts is a well-marked shop with a large parking lot. As long as you keep your eyes peeled, it’s easy to spot as you’re driving.
Sells? Traditional quilting fabric, Janome sewing machines, notions, finished quilts, books and patterns, and they offer custom quilt making services. Mystic Maine Quilts also offers long arm training and rental.
Modern or traditional? Traditional.
Swag? 5″ charm square of Shop Hop Theme fabric, and a choice of an additional gift from a basket on the table (included measuring tapes, seam rippers, buttons, and seam gauges); I chose a seam gauge!
Kid friendly? This shop is spacious and organized in a way that I think would be suitable for roaming toddlers (of course always under a watchful eye). Since Max was asleep on me during my visit, I didn’t get to test it out.
We got lots of running out before we went into the shop. Even still, I should have known with this kid that there would be trouble inside!
Even beyond the name, Whippersnappers was my favorite quilt shop of the day. The shop is adorable, with gorgeous exposed brick walls and a good selection of modern and traditional fabrics. Whippersnappers sells fabric, books and patterns, notions, quilting tools, buttons, and offers long arm services. The women in the shop were very friendly, despite the unhappy toddler strapped to my back. In the front of the shop, there is a long arm quilting machine that was quilting away as we shopped around it.
Here’s a look around the shop:
In addition to the welcoming atmosphere in the shop, the location is superb. I had never been to Hallowell before, but I would definitely go back! It is such an adorable little town.
Whippersnappers at a Glance
Location? Whippersnappers is located right in downtown Hallowell, about 10 minutes from Augusta. The town is adorable, with many shops and cafes. There is street parking available in front of the shop.
Sells? Both modern and traditional fabrics, books and patterns, notions, quilting tools, buttons, and offers long arm services.
Modern or traditional? Both! This shop has a good mix of both modern and traditional fabrics.
Swag? 5″ charm square of Shop Hop Theme fabric, free fat quarter, and a seam ripper.
Kid friendly? No. This is a small shop without much open space. Especially with the long arm machine running right in the front of the shop, I would not let my toddler free in this shop. Babysitter, next time!
My children especially liked the candy shop across and down the street from Whippersnappers. They spotted the bubbles floating down the street, so we had to investigate. This may be the most clever marketing strategy ever: put a bubble machine right in front of your candy store. Good thing neither of my kids are old enough to read well yet, and they were so distracted by the bubbles they didn’t look in the window.
Best marketing strategy ever: Set up a bubble machine right in front of your candy store.
We played with bubbles for about 20 minutes and then departed FINALLY to a playground. What a full day!
Today began in the best way: in the garden with my children, smelling, exploring, and admiring the growing sea of blue flowers. The day was a whirlwind day of sunshine, playgrounds, and shopping with Grandma. Since today is my birthday, my mom treated me to some fabric. Since it was right before lunchtime with two cranky, hungry kids, my browsing time was quite limited. “You can get whatever you want, as long as you get it now,” my mom said as we arrived. Anyone who has shopped for fabric knows how long one can spend deciding on fabrics.
I’ve been really drawn to black & white and grey tones lately, which is very much reflected in my choices. Within five minutes, this is what I had grabbed:
You can tell that today I was drawn to black and white and grey… with just a splash of color!
I got 1/2 yard of the black and white hexagon fabric, and 3 yards each of the other two. I think the two grey tone color-splash fabrics would make great quilt backs. Especially the yellow and grey fabric; wouldn’t it make a great back for a quilt like this free pattern from Craftsy?
Star Bright Free Quilt Pattern by Swim, Bike, Quilt found on Craftsy
I have been saving and buying small amounts of grey and black & white fabrics so that I can make this quilt, so when I saw the black, grey and yellow fabric, I had to get enough for a quilt back. Maybe? Yes? Whether I use it to back this quilt or not, I think it’s a great fabric to have in my stash.
Now that I think of it, I could bind the quilt in dark red and use this fabric for the back, instead:
Either way, it was a good stash-building birthday, don’t you think?
What’s your strategy if you only have five minutes to shop for fabric?
As a new quilter, my stash is far from extensive. In fact, I’m trying to complete some of my works in progress with the fabrics I’ve already bought before taking on new, large projects. My stay home mom budget just doesn’t fund extensive stash building, no matter how tempting the fabric; and trust me, some of those new fabric lines are mighty tempting!
Today I was visiting some local craft shops in search of super bulky yarn for an awesome new project (more on that soon!). Out of the corner of my eye, I happened to spot this adorable Alexander Henry “ABC With Me” fabric… on sale!
That got me thinking about fabric: I don’t have many purples in my little stash, and I’m working on designing a new paper piecing pattern of lupine, a gorgeous flower ubiquitous in Maine. They often are purplish, and I will need a few bits of purple to test the pattern. I decided to get some bits (1/4 yards) of purple, and a lovely swirly blue for the background/sky.
I think they will look lovely as a lupine flower.
My latest paper piecing pattern-in-progress. Lupine are gorgeous wildflowers ubiquitous in Maine.
Don’t mind the wrinkles and shadows in my fabric photos; I was trying to quickly snap some photos while keeping my kids off the fabric–no easy task! Here they are, “helping”. Maddie is reading the fabric while Max tries really hard to resist flopping on top of the whole pile.
One of the occupational hazards of following other sewing blogs is exposure to awesome new (or old) fabrics. Last week I saw a post about a fellow quilter who found a small square of a gorgeous fabric remnant that she was trying to track down. I’ve been all about black and white fabrics, gray scales, and texts lately and this post was all I needed to bump me out of my fabric buying moratorium briefly enough to get half-yards of a few awesome and soon-to-be out of print fabrics.
I found all of these 100% cotton fabrics at Fresh Modern Fabric’s Etsy shop. The fabric came expertly and smoothly folded, gorgeously packaged, and Alice threw in samples of Up, Up and Away and Jewels! This may be a slippery slope…
I grab a needle and thread once the kids are in bed
Reviews for this shop talk about the wide selection of just about everything related to quilting, sewing, and even knitting. This indeed is a large shop, with lots of everything. It has more of a warehouse/department store feel with lots of rows of fabric, rolls of batting at the ends of rows, patterns and books on top of the rows, and rooms in the back, side, downstairs, and next door. The fabric seems to be mostly traditional quilting fabric, with a wide selection of novelty themed fabric. Are you looking for horse fabric? or space-themed fabric? Maybe baby’s rocking horse fabric? food fabric? This is the shop for you. I saw four different popcorn fabrics alone.
Night Quilter 