Townmouse

Too good

I think this fabric range was designed just for me.  Yesterday I dropped in to Amitie and found myself face to face with a very pretty range of fabrics in a perfect French red and naturals.

Adelaide, I think you're going to need a red coat next winter.  The top fabric I think I will make into something smocked with red thread.  The others, well I'm not sure yet.

I spent at least 30 minutes looking over the fabrics.  It was too hard to decide which ones I liked best - they were all so lovely.  The only thing to do in such a situation is buy a fat quarter of all the other favourites - which I did.

I wasn't planning on it, but it seems now I'm making another quilt.  So tonight when the house is quiet I think I'll pull out all my quilting books and look for a pattern.

But for now, I'd better get back to work to pay for my fabric purchases.

For all those little scraps

For those of you who, like me, cannot bear to throw out even the tiniest scrap of fabric - here is some inspiration.

 

I was tidying up my studio last night and came across an old quilting book that had this image in it.  (Click on the image for an enlarged version.)

Isn't it wonderful?  Each leaf is comprised of multiple fabrics.  The use of colour is so clever.

Baby quilt

I've nearly finished the quilt for the new baby.

 

It's bound and mostly quilted.  Although there's still more quilting to do, I couldn't resist washing it today - just to give it that vintage, crinkly look that I love.

 

It's whizzing round in the drier now - just to finish it off.

 

I've enjoyed having some hand quilting to do in the evenings, although it's getting harder to find a comfortable position as my belly gets bigger.

Getting acquainted with pink

Yesterday I did something I never do - I spent the whole day on something just for me (well I mean the part between school drop off and pickup).

I resisted the urge to work on Townmouse.  No customer orders went out.  No housework got done (although that's nothing unusual).  I spent the six hours working on a baby quilt.

Remember this quilt?  I decided I didn't like the linen blocks in it - they were a little too heavy for the delicate pinks.  And after seeing the beautiful quilt in this post on Sharilyn's Lovely Design blog, I decided to reset the blocks in a white background.

 

I'm now much happier with the result.  I'm making it into a single bed quilt.

When I was at Amitie buying the batting and thread, Jenny - the owner of the store, remarked that she was unused to seeing me working with pinks.  And it's true that all my other finished quilts have been blue.  I'm slowly coming round to pink.  Soon, no doubt, I'm not going to have much choice.

Tokyo International Quilt Festival

Jennifer from Moving Hands has posted photos from the 2009 Tokyo International Quilt Festival on Flickr.

I always enjoy the photosets from this quilt show. 

Thanks for sharing all the lovely quilts Jennifer! 

You can view Jennifer's photos here.

Summer projects

I do love the change of pace this time of year brings.  Townmouse orders slow to a trickle, the streets are quieter and everything generally winds down.

 

I find time for my own craft projects without feeling guilty about all the other things I should be doing.  There are a few things on my list already.

• I've stocked up on stranded threads, with which to smock my way through the summer;
• I'm going to resurrect this unfinished quilt top.  Although now I'll make it into a cot quilt.  It only needs one more row to be the right size and ready for quilting,
• I plan to make another one or two of these tops.  Yes, secretly I was making maternity wear.  The latest ones will have more room around the waist to get me through the 9 months.

 

What projects are you planning for the new year?

Pentagon balls

The last time I made one of these I was about 12.  Back then I used Liberty too.  It became a pincushion for my mother's sewing room.

 

The boys were rather enamored by these.  Here are Tom's little hands testing one out.

 

It occurred to me that these might make sweet Christmas tree ornaments if done in Christmas fabrics (I'm thinking cute Katoh-esque reindeers - certainly not that gold accented Christmas fabric to be found at Spotlight).

  

They would also make a sweet baby gift for a newborn.  Something soft to grab at - maybe in the leftover fabrics from a cot quilt.  They reminded me of these fabric balls.

 

All you need is 12 pentagons for each ball.  Dig out your old school protractor to get an even sided shape.

Paper piecing

I felt like a small hand sewing project.  Some simple sewing to do in front of a Friday night movie.

 

I'm also always looking for ways to use all the fabric scraps left over from production.  This is a favourite Liberty from my recent winter range.  I just love this fabric so it gives me great satisfaction to use all the tiny pieces that came back from the manufacturer.

The thing about sewing pentagons is that you don't end up with a flat finished piece.  What will these become?  Stay tuned.

Unfinished symphony

There's a bit of a pattern with me and quilts.  I do a lot of starting, but not a lot of finishing.

 

I get excited by a new quilt idea, race into it, whip up 10 or so blocks, do the maths, realise I've got another 40 blocks to get to at least single bed size, then run out of steam.

I wasn't going to share this with you until I was at the quilting stage, but, well, who am I kidding.  It's September and I'll find scant little time for quilting between now and Christmas day.  So I'm showing you my work in progress. 

Maybe sometime next year I'll have a finished project to show you.

For now what I can show you is the quilt picture that inspired this project.

And I'm sorry I don't know the source.  I found it on a blog I don't recall.  The blog writer thought it might be from Franke magazine.

Japan Craft Journal

Earlier this year I mentioned that I'd love a blog that captured all the good tips about shopping for craft in Japan.  Leslie, Corrie and Belinda left encouraging comments.  As a result we have recently banded together to get this little idea off the ground.

It's hard to keep a secret amongst bloggers.  We wanted to keep a low profile until we had a few posts on our blog.  But somehow some lovely bloggers found it and we got a mention here and there.  So the cat is now out of the bag.

We're having fun reliving our shopping experiences in Japan and hearing from other bloggers in the comments and via email about what they've found or posted on their own blogs. 

So please drop by and visit our new blog, Japan Craft Journal.  And to make it worth your while, the gorgeous Leslie is having a little giveaway to anyone who tells us what they want to see on our blog.

Feel free to link to our blog, and you're welcome to use our little blog button too if you like it.  Enjoy!