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?

The hat above is part of the quilt top that I worked (ahem, played) on while on quilt-cation. (Photoshopped for secrecy. I’m not ready to reveal more just yet…)

I used the same painting with fusible fabric technique that I used on No Paints Were Harmed in the Making of this Quilt and Magritte and Me. Now I’m back to work, even in my quilting studio, so I’ll continue on this particular quilt Labor Day weekend for a mini quilt-cation.

A very important detail when planning a quilt-cation is fabric. Here’s my suitcase of quilt-cation fabric. I hand-carried it with me onto the plane because it would definitely be a disaster if the fabric got lost along the way.

THE FABRIC I BROUGHT

Most of that is what I packed and brought, although I did order 8 or 10 yards online and had it shipped to my destination. I bought some irresistible batiks at Quilt Lovers’ Hangout in Fort Myers, Florida as well.

There is a delicate balance when packing fabric for a quilt-cation. You don’t want to be in the middle of a project and realize the exact piece you need is still in your stash at home, but you don’t want to pack your entire stash either, even if you could fit it all into a suitcase. And you definitely want to leave some room for the fabulous fabric that you will find at the local quilt shops near your destination.

Luckily there was just enough room in the suitcase to fit all my fabric for the return trip. Expandable suitcases are great for this, but in case of fabric shopping overload you can always mail your extra fabric back home.

But the real question is, how much of that quilt-cation fabric did I actually use?  For my quilt-cation project, 8×10 inch pieces, not 1/2 and 1-yard cuts would have been more than sufficient. I’ll know better next time…

THE FABRIC I USED

Happy quiltcation!

How do you pack for a quilt-cation? What kinds of projects do you like to make?

Got scraps? If you quilt or sew the answer is probably yes. Some of them you might save, and others may be too small for you to use … or can you use them?

I have just the project for you, an easy-peazy pet bed. You know you can’t resist those eyes!

After all, your faithful animal companion is right there, helping you through your every quilt-making journey. When you finish your next quilt, why not pick up all the fabric scraps off the floor and use them to fill a cozy pet bed or two?

Don’t have any pets? No problem.

Pet beds make a great community service project. In fact, at your next community service quilting day, you can save everybody’s scraps and make pet beds as well. Since I don’t have any pets (yet) these two pet beds are on their way to the local animal shelter.

(This is the part that Eleanor Burns never told you about: what to do with all those pieces of fabric that you so enthusiastically flung over your shoulder in your quest to make a quilt in a day.)

Here’s a pile of fabric and batting scraps that I’ve collected from the past month or so of quilt-making. This was enough to make two beds: one for a dog and one for a cat. A tip from my friend Jessica: If you’re making a cat bed, use soft fabric on the outside because kitties like soft.

Easy-Peasy Pet Bed

1.Decide what size you want your pet bed to be and add 1″ all around for seam allowance.

2. Cut two pieces of fabric for the outside of the bed (or use a single piece folded in half).

3. Sew the outer pieces right sides together all the way around the edges with a 1/2″ seam allowance. Leave a space large enough to fit your hand through.

4. Turn the pet bed right side out and stuff loosely with scraps.

5. Fold the open part of the seam allowance under and machine stitch near the edge to close the opening.

(If you make the pet bed cover ahead of time you can keep it by your cutting table or sewing machine and drop the scraps in as you go, keeping your sewing area nice and neat all the time. Although I have to agree with Eleanor, it is really fun to toss the scraps over your shoulder.)

Voilà! Now didn’t I tell you that was easy? Sweet dreams, furry friends.

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Not these kind of buttons!

Hope you were able to take a little time from your busy day to celebrate. If not, join me for some eye candy and enjoy what I did to celebrate buttons today (fabric cover-buttons, of course. My favorite kind of buttons!) They’re samples for some of my upcoming Fast, Fun & Easy Fabric Cover-Button Jewelry workshops.

Takumi Brooch

Takumi Mini Purse, view 1

Takumi Mini Purse, view 2

Hope you enjoyed your mini tour of Button Wonderland. Where did I find that gorgeous fabric, you say? Glad you asked. It’s from Kona Bay Fabrics’ Takumi Collection. And yes, for those of you enrolled in one of my upcoming workshops, it will be available in the workshop kits.

As you can see, this very lovely Wildwood for Free Spirit/Westminster print caught my eye not once, but twice. Guess I must really like it!

Keeping a book of fabric swatches in your purse like the 3×5 card notebook pictured here (which I haven’t updated since 2003) can help you keep track of your fabric stash when you’re out shopping.

Just cut a little piece of fabric from the corner and stick it down with a glue stick. You can write any pertinent info next to the swatch such as manufacturer, date of purchase, the store, how much you bought, what you need to go with it, etc. You can also arrange them any way you wish: color, style, designer, project, and so on. This is my 30s repro swatch book.

If you’re a pre-washer, then washing and ironing your new fabric right away is one way to burn it into your memory (just don’t burn the fabric itself). Using the fabric in a quilt is another good way to help your purchases stick in your head. Alternately you could just spend a whole lot of time admiring the new fabric, but unfortunately you’re not going to make very many quilts that way.

Today’s fabric selection is a fun folk art vine in autumn colors. I won it at my guild meeting last week. (woo hoo!) There are some great ideas in this fabric for easy coordinating applique and free motion quilting designs.

I don’t know about you, but I’m really into vertical designs these days (like the layout in my basket quilt). Usually I would think of this as columns, but I’ve only heard quilters use the terms vertical rows, or sometimes bars. I wonder why that is?

I almost forgot to post my Fabric Friday today. Continuing with the leaf theme, here’s my sun-painted silk. I used Pébéo Setacolor Transparent on China silk, with real leaves and little round pasta for the designs. Yes, it really is that pink. Not very autumnal but it makes a great scarf nonetheless.

Setacolor is a fantastic fabric paint. I love their colors and the silk comes out very soft. Check out the Pébéo website to find out more about Setacolor and how to use it for sun painting.

I’ve heard that you can sun paint inside with a bright light instead if it’s cloudy or the wind blows all your leaves or other stencils away, though I haven’t tried it indoors myself yet. It’s nice to know there are other options if you get inspired for a little sun painting but the sun won’t come out to play.

This would make a great border for a quilt made of spool blocks (Read my post, Muse Monday: Inspired by Thread). It would be fun to try to practice free-motion machine quilting on as well.
Thanks for all your wonderful suggestions on what to do with my frog fabric. I’m loving all your creative ideas!

Today’s fabric comes to you from my stash, a cotton denim weave from 1997. These fabulous frogs are so much fun! I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this fabric. Any suggestions?

Here’s a fun little batik that I used just last night to make a binding for an upcoming workshop sample. What’s great about this design is the way the curly vines dance and flow across the surface of the fabric. You could follow the lines for a terrific (and easy!) free motion quilting pattern. The design is subtle enough to be used as a very interesting almost-solid background or border, but not so subtle that it’s boring. If you cut it into small pieces for piecing or applique the pattern stands out more. And when you cut it really tiny (like for that 1/4 inch binding) you get the best little blips of color.

Speaking of color, I love its vibrant and unique color palette too! Not just magenta, but burnt orange and violet are swirled throughout the background with the pale pink, peach, green, and blue leaves on top. Don’t those leaves seem to glow? You could use this batik just about anywhere. Sure wish I could remember where I bought it! =(^_^)=