I feel like I’ve
joined all the sew-alongs at the moment. I’m doing three, which is more than
enough of a juggle for me! First one, and the one that has really got away from
me is the Firefly Quilt. The pattern is by Pen and Paper Patterns and was the Patterndrop
offering for July. I was immediately and irresistibly drawn to this pattern
because of the glowing effect the firefly bodies have and the way they seem to
swarm on the quilt. I’ve never seen a firefly, apparently they live in some
forests on the east coast of Australia but not here in the west. I’ve made one
test block and the rest are sitting in a pile at cutting stage while I try and
keep up with..
The Happy Go Lucky Sew-along. This sampler quilt is designed by Sharon at Yellow Cat Quilt Designs. I’ve been running one or two weeks behind all the way along with this one. I’m going with a spring green background which I bought thinking it was mint (the quilt store was a little dark and it was a rainy day). I stalked the Instagram feed of Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts for inspiration on colour schemes before I started since she seems to be a big fan of this shade of green. Other fabrics are from my stash including some charms from the Blush Metallic collection and Grandale by Australian designer, Keira Job and mini charms from the very lovely FrontPorch.
And last but not
least is the far more relaxed pace of Tish’s
Fireburst Mystery Quilt-along. I changed my mind about fabric selection several times before
finally settling on a scrappy version. This gives me the added bonus of being
able to make the larger size and I don’t need to go shopping for it.
Not that I haven’t
been shopping! A local chain of fabric/craft supplies/window treatments stores
decided to close its bricks and mortar stores and go on-line. This is most
upsetting since they sell (a limited selection of) good quality quilting fabric
at much reduced prices for Australia and they often discount beyond that.
Anyway they announced they would be closing their stores back in March with the
last store due to close at the end of July, and gradually their stores have
been closing one at a time. Here we are in August and my local branch is still
open with no closing date although the ‘for lease’ sign and the fact they’ve
sold off a lot of fittings says they will. Anyway, with the idea in mind that
I’ll no longer be able to just pop down there I’ve been attending every sale.
They rotate stock through the remaining stores and bring in the stock from
closed stores so there’s always new stuff coming in. What’s a girl to do? I’ve
been buying and I need to use it! Scrappy is probably going to become my style
for some time to come!
Anyway, I’m liking
the way this is coming together. It’s a bit of a first for me, using a scrappy
low volume background on anything bigger than a bee block. There’s still plenty
of time to join this one, since the final parade is not till New Years Eve.
What’s your limit on
sew-alongs?
Sue
Linking up to Lorna at
Sew Fresh Quilts, Needle and Thread Thursday at
My Quilt Infatuation and Wednesday Wait Loss at The
Inquiring Quilter
