Last year, the lovely Helen of Hugs and Kisses generously gave me fabric from her range, Basically Hugs, in advance of its release to the shops. The commission from Patchwork & Quilting magazine was to make a cot quilt from the range, and so I featured the fabrics around some Australian animals:
There was a little bit of fabric left over - not a lot, but enough to make me think it deserved another project. Dresdens are popular at the moment, so I gave them a bit of a twist, divided them into four, added a bit of embroidery and Fan Dance was born:
I love the effect of the colour shading:
It was easy to turn them into fans with just a little bit of embroidery:
You can find the pattern in Patchwork & Stitching, Vol 16 No 9.
The cushions now look really lovely sitting in our Family Room on my grey lounge suite.
When I buy a new fabric range (usually one or two a year), I like to have a layer cake and 2 or 3 yards of fabric. The thinking behind this is that with the 10 inch square layer cake, you receive small pieces of the whole range of fabric, then the yardage gives you what you need for borders and binding. I can usually make 5 or 6 projects from such a purchase. Here, for example, is what I made from the Double Chocolat range:
Two wall hangings, a tablecloth, placemats, a table runner, a wall quilt and a peg-bag. That's a total of 7 projects. (I had to buy a bit more yardage to complete the extra project and I also bought two packets of 2½ inch squares which were on super special.)
I love how each project has its own colour focus, depending on what fabric is used in the border. Then it's always fun working out how I will use the last little bits of fabric that are left over.
I've just completed a pretty bag using the Autumn Lily fabric. It's my third design from this range and I thought it would go really well using some French Braid and Jumbo Ric Rac:
and a sneak peak of the other two:
You would hardly know they came from the same range, would you? One thing for sure is that you have to really love the fabric before you commit to making so many projects! I'm actually going to put the rest of this collection away for a while and come back fresh to it in a few month's time. There's another range burning a hole in my cupboard!
Happy stitching!
Val
3 comments:
Wow, Val, I'm so in awe of your designing ability. I already was, but this really shows how wide-ranging your thoughts are! I absolutely love the fan, and will hope it shows up in your Craftsy sometime, if I can't find an online version of the magazine. Thanks for sharing your plan, because I have a couple of pieces that go with part of a layer cake and this gives me some ideas. I like the way you think. =)
Your cushions are lovely, Val.
There is some gorgeous fabric there, Val. I went to a local patchwork shop today and so enjoyed just looking at the beautiful colours and designs there. There is such a variety which must make it so difficult to choose if you do patchwork.
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