Threads that connect...

I often find myself saying out loud, "I love my quilting stuff". To which my family roll their eyes and respond with "yes's" and Stepford Wife nods, too scared to disagree or to fight a losing battle!
Even though I consider myself an emerging quilter having only been quilting for 4 or so years, I've managed to build an extensive assortment of 'stuff' quite apart from the fabric that is lovingly glanced at every time I pass the glass paneled cupboard.  Amongst other things, there's the various configurations of rulers, different sized cutting mats and roller cutters, special needles for hand and machine, pincushions (well they're almost at collector stage), machines for piecing and quilting, a hera marker, curved and straight pins, tape measures and then there's the threads....not only in a range of colours but some of which that are antique and purchased for the spools, not likely to ever be used!
It's these haberdashery items that connect quilters around the world. Symbols of what we love and use and items that we could all talk about for hours on end given the chance. 

It's fair to say that very little willpower was applied when I pressed the 'order' button for a pdf of the Spools pattern from Thimble Blossoms as a quilt just for me. A quilt design that celebrates the cornerstone of quilting...thread. Mind you, the construction phase took a quite a while as it was something that I picked up and put down! However, on a mission to finish what's been lying around for far too long, it became the second quilt this year to be pulled from the 'half-baked' pile.

I used a jelly roll of Snippets by Sandy Klop that I purchased on my very first interstate fabric buying spree with the Sew & Sews girls...way back in May 2009! It was high time this little treasure was used in something so personal. I love the traditional primary and secondary colours this line features which I think work perfectly with this design. The greys are Kona Coal and some Bonnie & Camille Ruby in various shades and pattern.

One thrilling note was the unearthing of a 30cm piece of Snippets featuring the pink 'outfits' lying on a remnant table at Ballarat Patchwork and purchased whilst the family was travelling to Melbourne last October. For such an old fabric line, this was surely a wonderful find and the piece was promptly incorporated into the back.
The binding is some Denyse Schmidt Picnics and Fairgrounds that combines beautifully with the traditional colours of Snippets.

And speaking of trips away, this time to Sydney visiting a gorgeous shop, Burnt Orange in Mosman, NSW just last week. Another item to add to my plethora of quilty treasures, a beautiful little bowl featuring a button print that is nothing short of delightful. Originally designed as a sugar bowl, meet my new thread bowl.

I'll tumble for ya....

Yes, showing my age a little here with a Culture Club/Boy George reference but I could also say I really fell for this quilt and in more ways than one!

This is my red, pink and grey tumbler quilt. It was born out wanting to have a go at a tumbler pattern, which I strongly recommend. But more importantly, falling instantly in love with the quilt featured on the front cover of Sunday Morning Quilts by Amanda Jean Nyberg and Cheryl Arkison. So it's absolutely fitting that I should finish this quilt this week and share it through Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday.
It's fair to say, I'm a red and pink girl and had plenty of it in my stash and when I started pulling fabric from the pile was pleasantly surprised at how much grey I also had.

One such piece of grey was a piece of re-purposed fabric from a shirt of Joe's that met a sad demise. It was a shirt that I had help him buy when we first met. We both loved the print but I think I was more of the enabler in the purchase. His mum wasn't too impressed that he'd spent so much of his pay on one shirt and it always made me feel awful that I'd talked him into buying it! But he got lots of wear out of it (...perhaps to prove that he too really loved it) and it ended up ripping across the back. When we were cleaning out his mum's place I found it in the bottom of his wardrobe. I couldn't bear to throw it away so I squirreled it home, washed it and popped it in my stash cupboard. The colours are perfect so I cut quite a few blocks for this quilt.

I have to admit that this quilt was a long time in the making. My initial, "I have to make this" flurry soon passed and it became one of those long-term projects. I picked it up and put it down and then late last year I decided I would make an effort to finish it.

So out it came again and I began to share it on Instagram. My sister noticed it and commented that her friend would love this quilt. Sure enough that was indeed the case so it finished with a new purpose. The really funny thing is that what influenced their liking for the quilt was that little bit of Joe's shirt when they exclaimed, "there's even a bit of Yayoi Kusama in it". I don't know if Yayoi ever designed fabric used by Sportscraft back in the early 90's but I have to admit...it does look like her work! Wouldn't that be funny!

 Later edited: Here I am in 2016 and haven't blogged for months when out of the blue I received an email from Artsy. Somehow they managed to track down my earlier mention of Yayoi Kusama. By way of explanation Artsy strive to make all of the world's art accessible to anyone online. Their admiration for Yayoi Kusama is demonstrated through their bio featuring over 150 of her works and exclusive articles and up-to-date Kusama exhibition listings. To check it out visit here. Thanks Artsy for getting in touch. More than happy to help share the love.