Ever visit Spoonflower.com? It’s a website where you can design your own custom fabric and have your designs printed on various types of fabric: cotton, canvas, silk, etc.

Here’s a swatch (8″ x 8″) of a fabric I designed and had printed recently at Spoonflower:

What fun to design your very own fabric! Just don’t get so distracted that you never get around to actually making a quilt.

Here’s my Pandamonium Collection so far:

It’s a bit pricey, ($18/yard to shop other designers and $16.20/yard with designer discount when buying your own designs) but not a bad deal considering that you get to design your own fabric, exactly the way you want it.  Now I just have to design a quilt to go with it!

Here’s a link to the Spoonflower website and to my fabric at Spoonflower.

What kind of fabric would you like to design?

Today’s fabric shopping spree consisted of 10 beiges/taupes. There was not a chartreuse, magenta, or orange in the lot of them. I’m getting better at stashing neutrals now. It’s actually quite fun. Most of these will find their way into my my hand-pieced star quilt.

Above is a Civil War print from Windham Fabrics. It’s one of three Civil War reproductions I bought today. The organic feel of this one caught my eye. It’s not what I usually think of when it comes to Civil War prints, but then again I’m not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. The other two are very Civil War-looking: a indigo-on-beige floral and a black-on-beige floral/polka dot stripe.

I’m not ready for a whole new fabric obsession, so for now I’m going to stick with just the reproductions that I think will blend with what I already have in my stash. Someday though, it just might become an obsession.

Here is a whimsical French Provençal fabric from my collection of French charm squares. I love its lighthearted hand-drawn feel.
French Connections is one of my favorite vendors at Road to California. I’ve been collecting their fabric for several years now and am currently deciding what kind of quilt to make with my charms. What’s not to love about great African and French fabrics and those fantastic African baskets! If you are not lucky enough to live near Pittsboro, NC, you can visit them on the web and check out their new online store. French antiques and African arts, crafts and jewelry round out an eclectic and delightful mix. If you’re planning a quilt show trip to round out the year, don’t miss French Connections’ booth at the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza XVI or Quilt Fest Jacksonville in September or International Quilt Festival, Houston in October.

Here’s a fab indigo tie-dye cotton from Dali City, Yunnan in western China. It was once a hair scrunchie, but the elastic gave out. I couldn’t bear to just throw it away, so I cut it open and saved the fabric to use in a miniature quilt or maybe some jewelry.

If I had known any better of course I would have bought yards and yards of amazing indigo in both tie-dye and batik. At the time (1993) I was unfortunately not a quilter, so I hadn’t a clue of the wonderful things that one could create with fabrics like this. I did know at least, that I really liked the indigo fabric, so I bought various articles made from it. The local women were not only talented in making the fabric, but they also sewed up all kinds of clever articles to sell and help support their families.

Here’s one of the indigo vendors and her roadside shop. She is wearing traditional dress and you can see some colorful embroidered tote bags as well.

Here’s a view down an alley in Dali.

Taking a break from the city sights, that’s me in the middle.

happy fabric hunting! =(^_^)=