What to do when you strip........

Pouch purse. SO easy! 8 1/2 by 20 inch rectangle, sew strips and trim onto the foundation. Fold in half, add a lining, a strap, and voila.......great way to use up those fabric strips.

The Stash

I just realized that I have a lot of fabric.

Everywhere, in fact. Organized. But everywhere.

In every nook and cranny, shelf, box, chair, that can be had. A lot of trims, gold, pearls, sequins, laces, fat trims, skinny trims, buttons and beads. Fabric is cathartic. It's the gingerale in the pineapple juice of life.

SO many fabrics: velvets, brocades, sequins, crunchy cottons, prim polyesters ( though not great to quilt with, they have their place). Fabrics with sheen, with texture, embroideries that dare to be cut with a pair of sharp scisssors. There is nothing quite like dipping your hand into a box of beads, and sequins, or buttons, and go rummaging for buried treasure.

Sooooo many possibilities.....Hmmm....but there's a lot of it, staring out at me. I've thought of a way to start using some of it up......I think I will start making all sorts of quilt tops, not the actual quilts, just the tops, and see how far all of this stuff can go, and post the panels as I go along. Make it into a game show of sorts.......besides......It's time .......I don't want to end up on one of those reality t.v. shows, buried alive in buttons........

Purple Passion Wall Hanging

Purple embroidered silk/satin, bordered with a purple , gold emblazoned sari.....draped together to spice up a bare wall, with colour that shimmers. My friend Christine gave me both of these, pieces. I didn't know what to do with either of them at first....would have been fun to wear somewhere...even shopping, but figured C. River wasn't ready for it.Thought about quilting it, but was concerned that the fabric was too fine, too beautiful to ruin with stitching. Sometimes, it is best to leave well enough alone. I DID cut the brocade in half ,to make it wide enough to match the embroidery on each panel, threw it onto the quilt rod, tossed the purple sari over the edges, and presto: SHAZAM!

Thanks, Christine........you are one in a million.

"Some people weave burlap into the fabric of our lives, and some weave gold thread. Both contribute to make the whole picture beautiful and unique." (Anon)

Sarong panel from St. Lucia

Gorgeous sarong fabric woven from Terivole. Effective as a wall hanging, even without being quilted. Terivole feels like silk, and is often mistaken as such, but it is a true polyester , and considered better for warmer climates, like St. Lucia.

Diagonal Trip Around the World

"DIAGONAL TRIP AROUND THE WORLD" Easy enough to do, it can be strip pieced, but I decided to cut out individual little squares and piece them one by one.......old fashioned way. Then I soaked the finished top in strong tea to dull the colours a bit. Didn't dull nearly as much as I'd hoped. But still turned out older looking. Turned the colours on the diagonal, and gave decided to keep it.

"Ask not what your fabric can do for you,but what you can do for your fabric."