July at Eternal Maker

I always find the unusual and more than a hint of buried treasure on my virtual visits to Eternal Maker, and July is no different.  There have been some ingenious additions to the stock, things I have not seen elsewhere!  Starting with free style zips:

This is total freedom to build your own  chunky zip; you buy each side so they can be in different colours, and you also buy the pull.  Great for making a hoodie or a bag, love the colour selection too!  The zip sides are 1.2metres long and can be cut to size or even be cut in half to make a single 60 cm zip.   If you are looking for a smaller thinner decorative zip, there are also lace zips

and rose garden zips. 

Quilter's vinyl does not make for the best picture but it is very useful stuff- wanting to make a bag with a clear plastic pocket?  Or maybe line a bag to make the inside water proof?  Quilter's vinyl is the stuff you need!

Having just made a quilt using a plush towelling backing for Quilt Now magazine, this terry fabric caught my eye, mini terry cloth printed with teddies:

I can think of a multitude of uses for this.  It is 100% cotton, you could use it as I did, as an alternative quilt backing and skip the batting layer.  It would also make great face cloths.  I use muslim cloths to take off my make up and clean my face- it saves on cotton wool and lots of wastage and my daughter uses little towelling ones, this fabric would be perfect for this.  Baby burp cloths or baby/toddler face wipes- good alternative gift for a new baby.

Back to an old favourite with some Nani Iro double gauze.  There are some of the latest Spring 2014 prints including lots of colour variations for the joy flower print, from cream…

To a rich blue…(this colour really makes my pupils dilate! I just love it!)

To a dark charcoal.  

Decent boy friendly prints can be hard to come by, October Afternoon recently came up with Rocket Age for Riley Blake fabrics, a great selection of prints, good for boys, girls and grown ups…love this ads print

This rocket captain print would fussy cut rather nicely

And this rocket blast print is stunning!  I think this would work well in large pieces- quilt backs/clothing  (lovely in shorts?) and also in small pieces as part of a quilt block.

There are also blenders/stripes etc as part of the range.

Obvisouly you would have to be living on another planet to miss the Cotton and Steel fabrics.  That doesn't take away from the fact that there are some utter beauties in their ranges as well as some great basics and blenders.  Here are my favourites:

I struggle with many metallic prints but this one- Dottie, Cotton Candy Gold- is beautiful, it positively glows.

Amongst the different substrates (quilting cotton, canvas and lawn) I loved this navy lawn print from Alexia Abegg's Hatbox collection.

And this Mustang print in pink is positively iconic already.  Available in canvas and in a range of colours.

And this print, Light a Candle, is possibly my favourite in the whole Cotton and Steel range.  I am not sure what I would use it for but I love the overlapping colours and print.

There are so many prints in the Cotton and Steel ranges, find more here.

Enjoy