Polka Dot Tea Blogger Bundle

I was asked by the lovely Danielle of Polka Dot Tea Fabrics if I'd be willing to pick a bunch of fabric to make a blogger bundle. I love Danielle, so of course I said DUH. I mean, I should even be slightly insulted she bothered to ask hehe! 

And these are the 16 fabrics I chose for my fat sixteenths bundle!!! I can't wait to finally sit down and play with them... so many ideas but they're so lovely and precious that I want to make sure I use them wisely!

Let me tell you, they were not easy to pick! Everything in their shop is just gorgeous and I changed my mind about a dozen times before deciding on these beauties. And I'm so honoured that I'm the first blogger they've asked to pick a bundle! Whee! :)

So please visit the Polka Dot Tea Fabrics shop and get yourself a bundle... and check out their other gorgeous fabrics while you're there!

Outside My Comfort Zone. Again.

Look at this stack of pretty. It's not very me, is it? But I love it. I love the colours and the small prints. Ever since I've known about Jo Morton fabrics, I've wanted to work with them. I had the chance earlier this year when I helped out a friend for a quilt book. It didn't really quench my thirst quite enough, so here's another project! This will probably become several wall hangings... the first of which will be for a dear friend who's just moving her business into a new office space, and I want to give her something to mark the occasion. The rest will probably end up in my shop.

I can't wait to cut into these and make her wall hanging. So many thoughts are popping into my mind but I've thankfully narrowed them down to a couple of ideas. It's fun working on a mini quilt... makes you work within the size constraints, and what a block will look like if you miniaturise it.

P/S: Everything looks cute in miniature. It's like a law or something.

Look at those colours. Even if these aren't your colours, you have to admire how rich and beautiful they are. Even the creams are divine.

Seriously. LOOK AT IT.

When I told my boss / friend Laura that I was going to work with Jo Morton fabrics, she almost fell off the floor hahaha! Then I told her it wasn't for me, and her BP started to slow back down.

I've got a couple more projects to do before I can get started with these fabrics. In the meantime I have them in a stack on my desk so my eyes can molest them.

So what are you working on these days? Anything fun? Or not so fun? Do tell :)

Tango Mango Quilt

I made another Tango Mango quilt! I can't stop making them! They're almost like a palette cleanser to me haha! Sometimes in between a project I need something like that to give me time to mull over what I want to do for the next quilt. 

I still love these colours together... But I think for my next one, I'll do something different with them. I don't want to get tired of triangles! God forbid!

This time, instead of Kona Ash, I used Aqua instead. Sort of brightens it up a little, no?

The quilt is currently listed in the shop SOLD.

Oh! And before I forget (again), I've got a little Blogger Bundle inspired by this quilt at Pink Castle Fabrics for you to purchase!

Randomness

- I'm shopping for my first pair of eye glasses and I never thought it'd be this bloody difficult. There's always something wrong with the shape or colour, and then when you find the perfect one, you turn to the side and see a giant Chanel emblem on the sides of your face. Or some weird plastic criss-cross pattern. Not cool, Chanel. And then the hubs has me try one on a Gold & Wood pair that was perfect in every way... except the price. $895 before lenses or tax. Umm... NO. At least I didn't fall in love with the $7,500 pair. And no, I didn't add an extra zero there.

- This was my fifth summer in the States and I still haven't had a smore. I cannot explain this except maybe that the hubs is sleeping on the job.

- My sisters are arriving in two weeks and I'm going so crazy with anticipation!! I just hope the weather cools down a bit more by the time they get here because we might've grown up in tropical weather but none of us are fond of heat.

- This little kitty is 5 today. I can't believe I managed to keep anything alive for 5 years. That sounds terrible.

- Also celebrating birthdays today are my cousin, Lavinia, and Keanu Reeves. But not together. Because that'd be weird. Awesome, but weird.

- I remember seriously stupid and useless information.

- I started another scrap vomit quilt. If the hubs behaves, I'll let him have it. (It's already for him but shhhhh...)

- The number of fabric collections that came out last month is astounding. I went with Chicopee and Bella... I'm contemplating Field Study. What collections are you guys currently obsessed with? (Like I need help finding out new collections...)

DS Quilter's Quarters

Look what I have in my grubby little hands! DS Quilts Quilter's Quarters! I really think it's a very clever idea -- each piece is one yard worth of fabric but made up of four different fat quarters. Brilliant. I don't  know what I'll do with them yet so I'll just pet them a lot then add them to my DS pile (or more like mountain?).

I Went To NYC And All I Got Was Fabric

Well, and a skirt from American Apparel, but that doesn't quite have a ring to it.

When I booked our hotel in Chelsea, I wasn't aware that it was a mere three blocks from The City Quilter! How thrilled was I?! We'd arrived at the hotel before check-in time so we wandered around and the quilt shop was our first stop. 

The hubs (bless him) sat on a chair and let me have my fun. And what fun I had! Well, I did control myself... my basket was pretty full initially, then I put back things I didn't 'need'. Ahem. 

I got this tiny little Japanese hexagon patchwork book, and it's so darling! I need to start drinking tea so I can make a tea cosy for teapot I don't currently own! 

And I also made off with a few cuts of Japanese fabrics that were too good to pass up. Love those scooters and hexagons! 

There was a small bit of yellow pearl necklace in the large scrap bin so I scooped it up. And I got New York fabric that only The City Quilter sells because they designed it themselves. I have a few FQs of their New York fabric so I got yardage in hopes that I can finally get round to making something.

Didn't go to Purl Soho this time, but I reckon I spent enough there last time so I could skip a visit!

Randomness In Pictures

Here's some randomness for your viewing pleasure...

Pretty, pretty solids. Shannon came over and almost squealed at the sight of them haha There's no question why we're friends :)

The hubs had breakfast with an acquaintance and his wife over the weekend, and he came home with these lovely flowers from them :) So sweet! I had to cut the tulip stems way down because they kept drooping over the sides of the vase.

Daffodils! In the backyard! So pretty :)

Izzy continues to be cute and cross-eyed.

THE END.

Instagram

A few pictures from my Instagram...

Halfway through quilting the churn dash quilt; beautiful solids from the first Block of the Month I'll be doing! (Amish with a Twist); hand quilting my little improv quilt in bed; and some shot cottons I bought on Etsy recently :)

Bibambap from Trader Joe's; tried a new chicken recipe (I highly recommend it!); gyoza drenched in sriracha; and spinach and ricotta lasagna.

In The Studio

I've been a wee bit quiet on the blog front. Which means there's plenty of fabric and thread flying around the studio. I have a good handful of orders to work on, and slowly, but surely, they're getting shipped! 

I pulled a bunch of solids I thought might look good in a boy churn dash quilt but now I'm second guessing myself. Will the poor child's retinas get seared right off? Some of them might have to come out but I think they look so bright and cheery! The greys and off-white seems to tone it down a little, no? What do you think? I'm going to have to ask the client because I just don't know!

I'm also working on a Swoon baby quilt. I was inspired by the Mega Swoon quilt so I'm making a baby version where the swoon block itself is 32" square. It's all pink, green and white... so sweet it'll give you a cavity haha!

And this block is perfect if you want to learn flying geese or half square triangles. One day soon, I'll make myself a Swoon quilt. I'm thinking out of Prince Charming perhaps? I tend to change my mind a zillion times, so don't marry that idea just yet :) But you already knew that.

Other Uses For FQ Bundles

Fat quarter bundles aren't just for quilting anymore...

In a pinch, they make great weights for your tripod too.

Just sayin'.

DS Quilts Collection: Australia-Only Prints

Since quite a few people have asked me to take proper pictures of the Australia-only DS Quilts fabrics, here they are! These were the ten fabrics in the smaller bundle so I assume they're the Australia-only ones.

(I counted 21 in the other pile so I'm guessing I'm most likely spot on.)

Hope this helps :)

Will Work For Fabric

I'm home from the shoot! Got home last night and promptly fell ill. Now I'm coughing like it's in fashion. Blech.

Anyway, we realised that while we were on the shoot, quilters everywhere we were getting very excited about the new fabrics Denyse had released at Joann's.

By the way when she told me she was doing so, I was like "WHAT? Are you serious? No way! WHAT!?!", and she laughed saying that was the usual reaction. But I told her as long as the fabrics are of good quality, then who cares where they're being sold... right?

Seeing as I was helping out at the shoot as a favour, Denyse presented me with this bundle of the new line. She did say there were some in there that could only be found in Australia, and since I'm not so familiar with the line yet, I have no idea which ones.

No idea what I'll do with them quite yet, but all I know is the quilt made will live with me!

So pretty. I've been petting them more than I care to admit to.

Has anyone gotten their hands on this line?

Greenfield Hill

My Greenfield Hill fat quarter bundle arrived today!!! The hubs took in the parcel since I was on the couch feeling icky (I'd taken my multivitamin over an hour after breakfast and the nausea punched me square in the face)... He handed it to me and I held it like a baby lol Pretty sure he thinks I've lost the plot. Can't say he's wrong there!

Behold the pretty!

I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet. I still haven't even cut into my Hope Valley bundle! I had an idea for the Hope Valley fabrics, but I might use the Greenfield Hill ones for that, and do something else with Hope Valley. I'm just babbling now because I'm so excited :)

Okay, I'm going back to petting the fabric now.

Randomness

Just a few pictures from the last few days...

I decided to attempt to take a picture every day for a year. So far, so good :)

My in-laws often ask me to alter / repair clothing. I don't know how. I really, really don't. It was my first time sewing denim, and it absolutely scares me because I think at any given moment, the sewing machine will explode or the needle will break and land in my eye.

Not that I'm overreacting or anything...

I ordered a Kona fat quarter bundle from Jackie (Thanks Jackie!!) to make my middle sister a quilt. It's my gift to her for being a wonderful sister and friend :) And yes, the other sister's getting a quilt too! Can't be playing favourites, now can I? Hehe!

My cutie, Isobel.

Just A Head's Up...

Sweetwater has another line coming.

We're in trouble.

Fabric For Sale

I'm getting rid of a tiny bit of fabric and thought I'd see if my blog peeps wanted any before listing them in the shop :)

A fat quarter bundle of all 24 prints from the Hope Valley collection by Denyse Schmidt -- SOLD

-- US$60 + shipping.

(I couldn't be bothered to take a picture, so this one's

courtesy of Denyse Schmidt Quilts. Hee.)

2.5 yards of the Tadpoles in Jars (in peach) from the West Hill (discontinued) collection by Heather Ross -- SOLD

-- US$9 per yard + shipping

2.25 yards of Daisy Willow (in lilac) from the Ginger Bliss collection (discontinued) by Amy Butler -- SOLD

-- US$9 per yard + shipping.

Please email me at blueisbleu@gmail.com if you're interested in purchasing any of these fabrics. (As for the Heather Ross and Amy Butler fabrics, you don't need to buy the entire lot but a minimum 1 yard cut would be greatly appreciated.)

Thanks!!

Favourite Corner Of My Studio

As much as I think my stacks of fabric are pretty, I love this corner of my studio the most.

I just received a couple of prints from The Black Apple and I immediately hung one. The other print didn't look good in the other frames I had in the house. Also, I feel like my house is becoming a Black Apple gallery... this puts it up to six prints in the house now. Good grief.

But the print I did hang has always made me think of the hubs and I. Him with the glasses, me with the dark hair, lots of flying early on in our relationship... and my great love for hedgehogs.

Speaking of hedgehogs, Michael Miller's Hedgehog collection is going to make me extremely poor. Damn my hedgehog obsession.

Colour Me Surprised

Occasionally I find good things at Jo-Ann.

First I found Lizzy Dish fat quarter bundles, and today I found Alexander Henry's Willow Shroom! :) I love anything with toadstools and mushrooms.

They do have a few AH prints now and again, but I almost bought this one online then decided against it.

It's selling for $7.99 / yard but with a 40% coupon, it's a pretty damn awesome price.

Pulling Fabrics

I've been pulling fabrics for a newly commissioned quilt and it's driving me a wee bit nutty. The client wanted a yellow in the mix, but I don't know that it looks good. I personally am not a huge fan of pink and yellow sitting side by side, but I have to remember it's not my quilt.

I made a draft design of the quilt and it's got alternating blocks like the birdie quilt I made a while back. Each block will be one colour instead of mixing all the colours up... so perhaps yellow blocks wouldn't look half bad. Right?

She likes this yellow (Kona buttercup).

I'm thinking a pale yellow (Kona maize) would probably look best.

Thoughts? Any ideas would be much appreciated :)

Sweetwater Is At It Again

Once again, Sweetwater has new collection coming out that's uber cute. Damn you, Sweetwater. Damn you.

It's called PURE and will be available later this year. Oh boy.

In the meantime, they're having a little giveaway at their blog so go visit!