Monday, April 27, 2009

Fabric Packs

People come to crazy quilting from different directions...from sane quilting, from cross stitch, graphic arts, painting, beading, and of course, from embroidery.
I've heard some embroiderers say that they don't care about the fabrics on their CQ blocks; they just want something there that they can stitch on.

Well!
We can't have that!

My goal in putting together the extra fabric packs to make available to sell to my students (and any of you readers who are interested...just contact me) is to demonstrate that a fantastic mix of fabrics can be employed to great effect in their crazy quilting.
I've put together a dozen little collections, 8 fabrics in each and all of them different. There is more than enough for a good sized block.

I put little round warning stickers on the fabrics that would melt under a hot iron. It's such a bummer when that happens, and I don't want my gals to have that wretched experience.

Basically, I picked out a great print and built my palette off of it. I love that shot of red in this one.

Robert likes this one the best.

My favorite border print plus some handpainted wool highlight this bunch.

For those purple/pink lovers....

This Australian cloth has designs taken from their indigenous people's tradition.
Who says CQ has to be Victorian?

It could be French as well. Love that toile from Paris.

French country colors are great, too.

This print is vintage, so I put a vintage quilt block with it. Why not?

Kind of woodsy. Here's a picture of this toile so you can see how cool it is.

I sure do love this stuff!

This is one of my favorite prints of all time. Good thing I bought a lot of it!

You can probably tell, I LOVE putting together fabrics like this.
But occasionally I get interrupted from my bliss at the cutting table by hungry boys...

....begging for food. My son Chad (on the right) is very, very good at this. His friend Kyle picked up the technique right away.
They got fried turkey meatloaf and cheese sandwiches which were delicious.....

Next up....flower petals!

16 comments :

Possibilities, Etc. said...

Poor little starving and neglected children. I LOVE the Australian pack - but also the pink and green one second from the top. I really must find time in this lifetime to get into this thing. I would even help can tomatoes for a private lesson.

Esther Gregory said...

If ever a burly weight-lifting man was to look pathetic, Chad sure pulled it off!

Heehee, fabric packs are a great way to reduce your stash. And from the other side of it, I really love the idea of a kick start to a personal stash.

(I just started quilting this year so I know how frustrating it can be to not have fabric on hand, and have to go to the fabric store again before getting that project started)

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Handsome boys, even if they are pouting!! Nice fabric choices too.

Raspberry said...

I love the 'Robert' one, the 'vintage' one, and the 'woodsy' one. They're all so fun of course - gets me all motivated. What are you selling them for?

Courtney Short said...

the poor little waifes! that is the funniest.. so I guess you are saying my begging little boys will grow to begging young men LOL..

I LOVE the fabric coordination.. the toile is lovely - that's one of my favorite kinds of fabric.. I must say that I prefer to piece cotton b/c it's not wonky and doesn't move around like the fancy, but I love how the fancy turns out. If I didn't have a small collection myself I would ask to buy some from you :-)

P.S. Glad to find your blog again!! During one of my blog redesigns I lost all my blog roll and had to wait to run across ppl again ;-)

Debra Dixon said...

I guess those guys don't know how to fix their own sandwiches!

Cool packets--that's an exercise that I could do forever; and, that's the advantage of a big stash. I am, however, working on adding the fancies. I scored well Friday at Hancocks. The manager had just unloaded some bridal satin bolts and made remnants.

Summerset said...

Nice fabric combinations! The "kids" are cute, too. You never can feed them enough.

Marty52 said...

Poor mistreated little guys... how in the world could you let them starve?? LOL!! I love the Robert one, too. It seems very William Morris to me.

sharonb said...

The packs are lovely and I would tell the ravenous crowd that they are on a diet-
The packs are a very good idea

Sandra said...

Aww! Don't they know how to cook? Young guys can be so pitifully cute when they're hungry!
I also want to say that I sure miss your being able to check daily for progress on your cottage quilt. That was SO interesting and lovely!!

Maureen said...

Allison, These are all great. That took sooo much time to do I know!!

I fell short in teaching my daughter to take care of herself - sandwiches, etc. - but got better at it with my son. I even taught him to iron his own dress shirts and he won't let anyone else do it to this day. He's 39. He did get a lot from me with his "pout" too however! Reen

Barbara C said...

How fun to pull all those fabrics and not have to actually sew them together. It's good of you to save that bit of fun for your students.

The faces on those hungry kids is priceless. I think Chad has had a lot of practice with that look, and from his healthy appearance, it's been very successful.

Margaret said...

I love your fabric packs! Hey -- wait! I think I have some of those fabrics! You've given me a great idea for some stash-busting: put together some of my own packs to grab-and-go when I want to start a block. Thanks, Allie!

As for the "boyz" -- yes...I had one of those at home too. Now he's graduated with a BFA(Dramatic Arts) and is working in theatre...you can see where this sort of performance leads! LOL!

Susan Elliott said...

OK, I know a 44 year old isn't supposed to say these things publicly but...Chad is a hottie!

OK, back to fabric packs -- my faves are the border print...the vintage pack with the vintage quilt block and the fave print pink/yellow combo...

though that toile is TDF! Can you say -- "sell like hotcakes??"

Jean said...

So nice to see that you take the time to cook for them... sweet! But to be honest... they don't look too malnurished! LoL...
Reading this today, I reflect on my son's own best friend, who took his life a week ago. So sad. He was going thru a divorce and couldn't handle not being able to see his little girl. We will miss him. He was a wonderfully warm individual.

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

I am new to crazy quilt. I embroider and bead and sew and have made simple quilts. I admit that I didn't know where to start to select fabic for a block. After reading this post, and this is silly, but a light bulb lit up. Thanks. I am a visual learner.