Fabric Favorites 2009

So, over at True Up , there’s been a giveaway running for those who submit their lists of favorite fabrics in 2009.  For some reason I didn’t feel like I had anything intelligent to add to the discussion until AFTER I started reading everyone’s submissions.  While I totally missed the contest, after reading the lists of others, I just have to chime in for the fun of it.

So here goes….

Favorite collection of 2009:
This is a tough one for me.  I  have two.  The first is Rouenneries , by French General for Moda.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this line of fabric.  For the first time in my life, I wanted a piece of EVERY print in a collection.  I already raved about it here .


My second favorite fabric line of the year was Whimsy by Pillow &  Maxfield for Michael Miller Fabrics.  I bought a ton of it in the pink colorway for my baby’s blanket, and designed a quilt for my niece in the emerald blue colorway.  This was just so vibrant, I loved it.  And did you know they just released the large whimsy prints in a new colorway at the beginning of January?  In aqua and chocolate brown?  Hello!  But I digress, for this is 2010, and I’m talking about 2009.



whimsy quilt

Favorite new designer:  I’d have to say Kaari Meng/French General .  I’ve been watching her for a couple of years now, and was super excited to see her first fabric line.

Favorite Solid fabrics:

Kona Cottons by Robert Kaufman
.  Love the variety.  Just wish I could find a local shop that carried a good selection of them.

Favorite new trend in quilting:  Ok, some might think this is on the edge, and to some it might be old, but to me it’s new.  Selvage quilting.  You can learn about it here .  I’ve always wished I knew what to do with the cute selvages when I cut them off, and now I wish I had them all back!  I’m collecting mine for some fun after I’ve got a good stash.  I want to make a spiderweb quilt like this one .  At least I discovered this in time for the neatest selvages ever, again from French General.  I LOVE the little design on each one.

Rouenneries selvage

Favorite colors:  I’ve been on this one for a few years now, but I’d still have to say aqua, white, and red.  Oh, how I love these colors together!  Most of my house is painted a shade of aqua.  I never get tired of it.  And if you want to see an adorable blog in all these colors, check out Camille Roskelley’s blog .  You’ll be happy if you do.

red, aqua and white fabric

Favorite go-to fabrics:  Polka dots.  I’m loving them as much today as when I first fell in love with them.

polka dot fabrics

Favorite holiday fabric (that I didn’t buy ANY of):

Spooktacular
by Sanae for Moda.  What was I thinking?  Oh yeah, I had a newborn baby then.  I guess that’s a good excuse.

Favorite out-of-the-ordinary collection:

Authentic
by Sweetwater.   I was really drawn to bolts of fabric with dictionary type pages printed on them.  I liked how unusual it was.

Favorite random print that I just loved:  Flower Power stripe in Heron blue by Lakehouse.  I went on a huge hunt to find some of this fabric.  Can’t wait to use it!

flower power by lakehouse

Favorite new quilt pattern that made me catch my breath:  Cotton Way’s Life’s Journey (which I haven’t bought yet, but really want to).  I saw it first on True Up’s post here .

Ok, I’ll stop there.  I can’t believe how much I found to love of the 2009 fabrics, even with how out of the loop I felt due to adding baby #8 to my life.  I’m sure 2010 will be just as wonderful!

Jennifer

Book Page Wreath DIY (Part II)


book page wreath four colors

After making my first book page wreath, I made a second one while showing some friends how to do it.  If you’d like to try it, you can find my tutorial here .

It was so interesting to see how different the colors turned out simply by using a different book.

One thing led to another, and I made four just to demonstrate how the book you choose will influence the final product.

The first one I made is from a dictionary, purchased at the dollar store.  The paper is a newsprint kind of page.  You can see how it’s more grey in color than it is white.

newspring book wreath

The book was approximately 5 x 8 inches in size, so the wreath turned out a lot more full.  The pages were also very thin, so the rolls in the paper are softer.


The second book wreath I made came from a falling apart murder mystery I picked up at the thrift store.  It was more like 4 x 6 inches in size, and the pages were yellowed with age.  This also meant that they were more stiff.

yellowed book page wreath

The final product was smaller in size when I finished, due to the smaller pages.  It wasn’t as full, but was still pretty.  I liked how it took on more of a brown tone instead of a gray one.


Intrigued, I went back to the thrift store and found a small book, about 3 x 5 inches in size, but with crisp white pages and bold black print along with some small black and white illustrations on each page.  I was curious how “black and white” it would look.

book page wreath

This wreath was definitely the lightest in color, as well as the smallest in size.  It’s really fun to look at, though, because the pages I used were so interesting due to changes in font size and tiny illustrations on every page.


On the last two wreaths I made, I tore some pages into strips and glued them around the foam wreath so you wouldn’t see any Styrofoam in the finished product.


The last book I used was chosen for it’s creamy white pages and the red ink on the edge of the pages.  The red didn’t go all the way around the outer edges of the book, so I bought a good tomato red acrylic paint to match and painted the other two sides.  I was really generous with the paint because I wanted to be able to see the red.  Like my first project, this book was about 5 x 8 inches, so it turned out really full.

book page wreath

I love the red edges!


You could use so many other pages, as well!  What about an atlas?  I think that a blue colored steno notepad could also be really fun.   When we think about books, we tend to think of them all as being pretty much the same inside, as far as color goes.  Yet it is so interesting to see the subtleties in color changes when they’re used next to each other in a project like this.

The one in my family room enjoyed a red ribbon and a bird for the holidays.

bird on book wreath

I hung one on my laundry room door for fun, since it’s at the end of a hallway and I like to make it pleasant for myself to visit my laundry room (this increases the chances for clean clothes at our house).

book page wreath hanging on door

I like all four of these wreaths for different reasons, and in different places.  The question I have is, which one is your favorite?

book page wreaths

If you haven’t made one yet, I really hope you’ll try it.  And I’d love to hear your what kind of book you use, too.


Lest you think that it would be a waste if you decided you don’t like it, just give it to your 9 year old son and see what he does:

boy wearing book wreath


boy wearing book wreath

Just wanted to make you smile.  Have a great day!

Faith Sings Quilt

Well, I finished my first quilt for 2010.  I am calling it my Faith Sings quilt.

bird applique quilt

I like how it turned out.  It was one of those projects that sort of evolved as I went along.

I couldn’t find a pattern that I wanted to cut the background fabric for, so I decided to just make a quilt with it alone, and added some borders.

Then I decided to use a little free pattern I’d photocopied at a local quilt shop for a branch, two birds and some leaves.

bird applique quilt

Once I got going on that path, I remembered the quote I’d put on my Christmas cards for 2008, and decided to embroider it onto the quilt.  I lengthened the branch so there would be room, and embroidered it in brown.

Faith is the bird that feels the light embroidery

I love, love, love this quote.  “Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.”
It was sort of my quote for 2009.  Many times the dawn felt dark, but we tried to sing.  I didn’t sing as much as I should have, but we pressed forward.

At the bottom corner, I embroidered this:

"sing on" embroidered on quilt

Okay, so I realize that it should have been finished in 2009.  I tried, I really tried.  It just didn’t happen, so instead it’s the first completed quilt of 2010.  And I still love the quote, so it’s fine with me.

"Faith is the bird" quilt

Originally I thought this quilt would be for my baby, but with once the embroidery was done I decided it’s mine instead.  If I’d planned for it to be mine, it probably wouldn’t be pink and green, but I like it anyway.

I used a soft minky stripe on the back.  YUM!

back of quilt

Hooray!  One project done, countless to go!  (Could you imagine how bleak life would be without lots of projects to look forward to?)

applique birds on branch

Hope that you’re feeling the light and singing, even if the dawn still feels dark!  Have a great day.

Jennifer

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