Thursday, January 28, 2016

Tale of the Splendid Sampler and the Textile Archive

Beading, quilting, knitting... you name the craft, I have a stash for it. Today I saw the term "textile archive" to describe a stash. Well. That sounds much classier than stash! So, I am adopting that term for my fabric collection.

I have a habit of purchasing fabric because I think it's pretty, not because I picked it out for a specific project. Come to think of it, I've only picked out for specific projects a few times: the first was for a lap quilt (my first completed quilt) for a local friend; the second was for a quilt I made as a wedding present for a couple of bloggers I knew (who unfortunately split and I have no clue what happened to the quilt - I'm afraid to ask the one who I am still friends with on FB); the third was a wall hanging present for a blogging couple who I am thankful are still quite married; the last is a quilt I made my sister as a Christmas present. Technically, we both picked out the fabrics.

Last week I heard about a quilt sampler project starting in February, called The Splendid Sampler. The fabric requirements call for 35 fat quarters (a fat quarter is an 18x22 cut of fabric, commonly used in quilting), and a bundle of 12 fat quarters can range from $25 to $50, depending on the fabric designer. I decided I wanted to visit my textile archive rather than buy all new fabrics because (A) I have a lot of fabric waiting for a project, and (B) quilting is flipping expensive!!

Many years ago, when I first started quilting, I picked up two matching fat quarter bundles of winter/ice themed blue and silver fabrics. I paired those up with several other fabrics I had, and purchased just a couple more FQs. It's hard to see that the colors really do go together because of the lighting when I took these pictures, or see the shimmer on most of them, but here a number of the fabrics that I'll be using. I've never done my own sampler quilt, so I'm looking forward to the process and the completed quilt. Shiny!



There are over 7,000 people from all over the world in the Splendid Sampler FB group, and it's been really neat seeing all of the different fabrics people are choosing for this sampler. I can't wait!!

Monday, April 27, 2015

Oh, hey. It's a new blog.

Center block from my Downton Abbey quilt

When I was working on my Downton Abbey quilt today, I had an idea for a new blog. Quilting On Horseback. What on earth do horses have to do with quilts you might ask. Like with everything else, people get super critical about mistakes they make in their quilts, whether it's in the piecing (sewing blocks together) or the quilting (the decorative stitching that holds together the layers of a quilt). There is a saying "If a person galloping by your quilt on horseback can't spot the mistakes, they're insignificant."

My Yankee Puzzle block that will take the place of the Earl's Pipe block
Do my center points match up? Nope. They don't. Am I going to worry about it? Nope. I'm not. I'm going to quilt like I am the one on horseback, and I know that I'm not going to notice this if I'm galloping by my own quilt.