Spring at Eternal Maker

A little while back, Anna at Eternal Maker travelled to Japan on a fabric finding mission and the deliveries are just starting to arrive.  They really do stock an incredible array of Japanese fabric at Eternal Maker, especially for the UK and they are happy to ship worldwide.  Here is a glimpse at some of the latest additions.

Cosmo Panda double gauze (comes in a range of colours too.

Kiyohara Voile from the World Petit Collection- a colour range in this too

Another voile, this time a trellis print from the same collection- gorgeous! 

A cotton twill which is on my list to buy also by Kiyohara- this would make a great skirt!

A beautiful panel print that would make lovely curtains or even a simple  wall hanging to show off the design.  Cotton and linen blend.

Another double gauze, this time a Tomotake print for Kokka

And a larger scale print, Doughnuts, from the same designer, again in double gauze

There is some great Japanese binding too- I find making my own binding comparable to the boredom I get when applying interfacing so the chance to buy it ready made is very appealing! This Captain 88 knit tape binding is great for edging t shirts or a rounded corner baby blanket.

This pretty Captain 88 lace print bias linen blend binding would give a lovely finish to a purse, pouch or clothing 

And to finish, lets get the roller boots out, Ruby Star Sparkle Roller Skates from Melody Miller

Enjoy your weekend, snowy, wet, cold but with dreams of Spring x

Feeling texty

Just a couple of years ago I struggled to find text prints on and would snap up any that I discovered quick as they were such hot property.  Since then, availability has improved so much and they are much more widely used.  Amy Friend is running a Texty challenge- Texting Whilst Sewing contest.  The aim is to use text fabric imaginatively in a 12" quilt block.  I am lucky enough to be judging the top ten entries with Ayumi!   There is a lot of potential with such an open brief for creative ideas and there is ample time - entries need to be in by the end of August.

Text fabrics are an essential part of my stash and I find they fulfill a range of functions.  They are great blenders, providing background interest and texture, as seen in this graffiti print by Keiko Goke for Yuwa.  White/cream fabrics with a mono print are so useful- they lighten a mix of fabrics and provide a bit of space whilst the dynamic scribbles create direction and a bit of life!

 This print by Yoshiko Jinzenji develops abstract lines adding pops of colour, illustration and text.  I bought this a while ago and as soon as it arrived I realised how great it would be for clothing.  It is a very fine cotton- you can see the print of the layer underneath- and the print is random so needs no matching up.

 Effective number prints can be a bit harder to find and designing a print with a twist is more of a challenge for the fabric designers.  This is a Sukuko Kosekit fabric, 'What's the Time'  The curves were exactly what I needed when i planned the grocery scales block for Ayumi's Vintage grocery store theme Ringo Pie.  The background is a lovely pinky shade of cream too, a nice variation on neutral colours.

Other text prints lend themselves to fussy cutting.   This is another Suzuko Koseki print.  You can find a coral colourway available here.  There are instant images and text so you can almost code your work with messages!  I sometimes feel like my mini quilts tell a story with fussy cut words and pictures.

This Kei fabric is also ideal for fussy cutting, love those cute retro telephones- the cord making the word is genius!

You can find a good variety of text prints at Eternal Maker- look under Numbers and Letters Fabrics and also under Japanese Imports.  I hope some of you feel inspired by Amy's competition to have a go and submit a block- I look forward to seeing what you come up with- and check the prizes out, that might be enough to push you over the edge to enter!

Take a Letter Miss G

You may have to indulge me a little, a squillion quilt pics in this blog post.  This quilt is 'Take a Letter Miss G', a present for my sister's birthday- she has happily received it now so I can share it with you!

My sister is a 'writer' in the same way that I am a 'sewer'.  It is her creative outlet and she is good, award winning even!  We are a creative family- my brother is a digital artist working in below the line advertising- it hasn't lead to riches but not bad for three state school kids.  

My sister's breakthrough poem was 'Imperial 58', inspired by our dad's vintage typewriter.  

The fabrics all relate to her- candy colours, lots of pink, text, typewriters, recipes, pretty things.

The design was a simple tile quilt from Jane Brockett's The Gentle Art of Quilt Making.  I made it as a quilt as you go project- that but did seem to take forever with an unforgivable amount of hand stitching- but worth it.  

The backing is a mix of Amy Butler's Organic soul blossom prints, very soft and silky plus random greens that fitted in.

Aurifil 50/2 for piecing, quilting and hand sewing the binding.  Hot pink is not a good colour for machine binding I found out!

And a beautiful day on Sunday made for a great photo outing.  Lula is crouched behind the quilt below, just making sure it doesn't fall into the stream.

One special square for the top right, stamped with Versacraft ink.

Basket

Charise has the last month in 318 Patchwork Bee and she chose baskets.  I restrained myself from making the sewing basket, I am designing a sewing basket block for Sew Out Loud quilt-a long so I went for knitting, just in case Charise feels she wishes to take up a new hobby.

This is 6.5" with tricksy Y seams to make the handle at the top.  I used my new favourite tiny ruler to add a generous 1/4 inch to my freezer paper pieces, the block is template style piecing rather than foundation.  

I do love the designs in this book, the simplicity and boldness of them is a constant reminder to me to keep it simple, less is more.  The basket is made with Kumiko Fujita fabric, possibly my favourite all time text fabric as there are so many great words and motifs to fussy cut.

The blue yarn is Suzuko Koseki fabric- currently available at Kit's shop The Happy Elephant on Etsy, an excellent source of text, Japanese fabrics and general loveliness.  The needles were bias strips and the tops are buttons cut from a Kaufman print 'Vintage Couturier' all sewn on with needle turn applique.  I used to be a ferocious knitter.  When Lula was born I made her cardigans, hats, jumpers all from beautiful yarns.  Moderation is not in my vocabulary, all or nothing and I did way too much!  My hands and wrists can't take that any more and I sold all my knitting supplies a few years ago but I do love seeing yarn projects pop up over Flickr and Twitter and a small part of me aches just a little to be able to knit again.

Now, back to completing a quilt, I am trying a quilt-as-you-go technique and will share next week.   At the moment it is proving to be tedious but effective.

 Meanwhile the Sew Out Loud QAL starts tomorrow at Julianna's blog!  Details of the final block competition can be found here- start preparing now, the judge is Suzuko Koseki, yes I know, I can't believe it either!

Yuwa in the UK

I had a very exciting last night looking at The Eternal Maker, Suzuko Koseki, Kumiko Fujita, Yo and other Japanese designer prints on sale in a UK shop.   Search under the themes section, in Japanese Imports and there are other designers including Yoshiko Jinzenji and Keiko Goke.   

Anna at Eternal Maker says more Yuwa is coming soon!

I should add, I first got a hint of these on Ali's blog, which reminds me that her Resolved to Sew Giveaway starts tomorrow, you can see a few hints at what is to come but more will be revealed tomorrow!

Pillow talk

Are you ready for a little pillow talk... I hope you can tell I am using my most alluring voice for this!  Yeah right!  This is really a post about friendship.  Many of you have seen this pillow before and I always feel a little guilty about reposting an item but I wanted to take part on Brigitte's feature so here goes.

This pillow was a house warming present for Ayumi on her big move back to Japan.  So why this design? Having got caught up in the traditional blocks of The Farmer's Wife quilt-a-long, I found many of my favourites were friendship blocks and I started looking for more- 5,500 Quilt Block Designs was a great source!  The pillow features 9 different friendship block designs.  My favourite is in the centre, the corners all feature an X type design and I balanced out the other blocks in a + pattern.  The brightness and the business of the fabrics make the blocks merge but I have cropped a few so you can see individual blocks

Each block has a mini theme going on.  This block has a sweet food theme.

The top one with the tea pot is about home, comfort and tea!

The bottom block is  all about text and a love of typography.

Ayumi loves pink and I like pink/green together so I set out to see if I could make the whole thing work in a limited palette.  There is a mix of modern and vintage fabric something we both like and the design had a simple lattice quilting- there was enough going on with the fabrics

Pillows make great presents so if you want to be inspired in time for Christmas, head over to Brigitte's blog and have a look at the other designs for this month and previous months- there is a lot of inspiration to be had and just about time to enter your own- I day 13 hours when I last looked!

Birthday stuff ♥

Just in case you haven't entered yet, my birthday mug rug giveaway here

I thought I would share the crafty bits of my birthday with you.  Damian excelled himself- he made this card, the funny thing is I found a sewing machine image on my computer this week that I didn't remember using but wasn't sure, it was the source material for this!

You can't see but there is a heart cut in a third section, he is such a honey  x

He also got me these, Kei Kerchief ladies- so hard to find, I had to pounce on them on Etsy, and the linen blend paper fabrics, also Etsy.  My big gift was an overlocker which I have to spend some time with.  I have watched and eye popping DVD that accompanies it with the most annoying music but I can't wait to make jersey clothing for me and Lula.

Ayumi made me this incredible mini quilt and matching pincushion, I can't tell you how much I love it. Every fabric is calling out to me!

And this beautiful stationery set was from my lovely friend Kathy, beautiful hand printed cards- the salutations one cracks me up!

I am a lucky, lucky person.

New Sewing Machine

That would be a new sewing machine in fabric form.

A 6.5 inch quilt block from Kumiko Fujita's 318 Patchwork for Amisha,  

It is her month in the 318 Patchwork Bee and she chose all things sewing themed.  I modeled this block on my little Singer featherweight.

I know it may seem strange as I know paper piecing stresses a lot of people out there, but I find it rather  therapeutic, relaxing even.

Once some obligations pass and I have a bit of extra time I will do some paper piecing tutorials- a foundation one (not my favourite method) and a freezer paper one- now you're talking...