recent inspiration

As I continue to grow my little fabric shop and prepare to add new designers to its shelves, I'm constantly searching for inspiring fabric makers, projects that feature hand-printed fabrics, and tutorials that show you how to print your own designs. Here are a few of my latest and favorite finds:

1. Kate's step-by-step tutorial for how to screenprint on fabric at home is super thorough.

2. Great way to use a fat quarter: Anna's invisible zipper pillows made from gorgeous Skinny Laminx fabrics.

3. Love this interview with Australian fabric designer Leslie of Maze and Vale.

4. Two projects featuring Umbrella Prints Trimmings Packs (there are still a few left in the shop!): wide-mouth zipper pouch by Anna and a gorgeous wall quilt by Ashley.

5. Design Sponge's silkscreen tutorial (They make it look so simple---I want to try this method!)

do. Good Stitches: Churn Dash Quilt

Way back in, oh, you know, JULY, I tasked my fellow members of the Wish Circle of do. Good Stitches with making two churn dash blocks, using solid black and low-volume prints. Six months later, and during my short holiday break, I finally managed to quilt and bind our quilt---my first finish of 2014!

I was obviously on a black + low-volume print kick when we started this project (my houndstooth quilt is further evidence of that). I really love how the black can recede into the background and form a grid when seen from certain angles.

For the back, I used a few cream-and-black prints that had been hanging out in my stash for awhile; it was nice to finally put them to good use.

In addition to donating our group's quilt to Project Linus this weekend, I'll also be donating a small quilt that I made two years ago. The front is a pixelated heart, made from red and pink solid squares, and the back features a Japanese goldfish print.

I'm so happy to finally get both of these quilts off the studio shelf and out to people who can enjoy them! 

houndstooth baby quilt

Happy New Year! Just before the end of the year, I was able to finish up a quilt I'd been working on throughout the fall. While at Quilt Market last spring, I had the pleasure of meeting Vanessa Christenson and snagging her Houndstooth Quilt pattern, which I'd been eyeing for some time.

I made the crib-size version of the pattern, using scrappy low-volume prints and solid black. The piecing took quite some time---which made me thankful that I was making the smallest version!---but I loved seeing the blocks come together to form the houndstooth pattern.

I backed it with an orange crosshatch and a light gray Heather Ross print from her Crafty Chloe line for Hancock Fabrics, and bound it with a dark gray polka dot by Lotta Jansdotter. I'm definitely leaning toward polka dot bindings for all of my future quilts!

I quilted it with my favorite straight lines in light gray thread, and tossed it in the wash to make it crinkly and ready for snuggling.

If you'd like to see a few more photos, I've added this quilt to my Etsy shop.