What are You Going to Be When You Grow Up?

Scrumptious, huh? The circle potholder that I made a few days ago was made by the designer out of Cross Weaves by Moda. They are basically shot cottons, which I talked about before. The color weaves are subtle and luminous! The fabric, 100% cotton, is almost like a fine linen or silk. Just gorgeous. I ordered this assortment from fabricquarter.com . I am not sure what I want to make - I am almost unwilling to mar the perfection. I just want to stack it up in my sewing room and look at it a while. Silly. On another note, I had another Folkart Clothesline Tote class the other day, and the star student, Angie, came back for the second half of the class and reported that she made FIVE totes in a week. She hadn't lined them yet. That was what I was going to teach. One tote I especially loved. It was a tote made entirely out of one fabric, a blue and black varied stripe. Most of the tote she cut the fabric selvedge to selvedge so the stripes were going up and down on the bag. Twice, though, for a few rows, she cut the stripes so they went the other way. Very attractive, and only one fabric. Wow! Of course, I forgot my camera. Darn it. Also, very good news: we went to see our grandson, Aaron, today. Two weeks after the horrible ski accident with the news that he might not make it, he is probably going home from the hospital tomorrow!!! Yes, he looks great, all therapists say he is doing really well. He will be able to go back to school for a couple of classes in a month. He was bummed that the doctor told him no contact sports for a year...so he will miss his sophomore year at football, but, again, it is a miracle! It felt good to give him a hug. We told him that fishing was definitely not a contact sport and the fish in Beaver Dam Lake will be happy to keep him busy this summer. Jerilynn

What did the Cotton Say to the Wool? "I've Been Shot!"

I have fallen in love with the new shot cotton fabrics from Kaffe Fassett. Shot cottons are solids that are woven with two different colors of threads. So, while a solid, there is a very interesting texture/color play going on. I bought quite a few at the Madison Quilt Expo in September and I am not quite sure what I am going to do with them, but some of these modern quilts that are out there now are good options. They remind me of the very traditional Amish quilts which were done with solid fabrics. If you get a chance, look up some of the traditional Amish patterns and be prepared to be amazed at their beauty. The quilt pictured above I made back in the 90's and is a Double Nine Patch. It is hanging in our stairwell, and, yes, it is straight and square, but I took the picture at an angle so it looks a bit wonky. Anyway, I made it using a very unique line of fabric at that time. The colors are shot cottons, and all the colors in the quilt were on the same bolt of fabric! Yes, the fabric came with big stripes. I cut the stripes apart and sewed them back together, hoping to get some interesting contrast. I loved the results back then, and I still love the quilt today. It is old fashioned and modern all at once. So, seeing all the shot cottons that are out now was a little trip down my quilting memory lane. I know that there are lines of fabric now and then that have several colors, or even several stripes of prints on each bolt. If you see such an animal, buy a yard or two and have fun! By the way, my sewing room still looks pretty good. I made an embroidered coaster today on my machine that just got back from repair and it looks great. Yay! Just in time for some holiday crafting! Jerilynn