Completed Sidekick Tote!

I love it! Stitching through multiple layers of this thicker wool herringbone proved to be challenging on my cheap-o sewing machine (I’m used to quilting weight fabrics almost exclusively) but after fiddling with different needles and different tension settings, I finally finished it this afternoon!

The lining fabrics (both the purple on the strap and the orange on the trim/inset area) are from the DS Quilts “Aunt Edna” collection at Jo-Ann’s. I don’t know what the brown herringbone fabric is; it’s also from Jo-Ann’s. Sidekick Tote pattern by Noodlehead. 

I’m linking up to Amy Lou Who’s “not going to Sewing Summit” link-up party as well as  Funky Junk’s Saturday Nite Special – I love these linky parties!

Fabric Shopping and Scheming

I seem to be doing a bit more shopping than sewing these days, but that’s all about to change!

I was in London over Christmas and I finally got to visit the famous Liberty of London store. I definitely spent a bit of time freaking out over how the quilting fabric costs roughly 4x more than what I normally pay, but it was all so pretty and inspiring. I only ended up getting two half-metres of fabric but also satisfied my desire to have a little bit of everything by getting a precut pack of hexagons. I’ll make attempt #2 at English paper piecing soon! Not sure what it’ll all turn into, but I’m excited to touch all those little bits of liberty. I also got three handkerchiefs that I’m planning to cut up and turn into fancy little infinity scarves.

Then soon after I got back from London, I placed a big order from my favorite online fabric shop, Hawthorne Threads. I basically had thought about my recent fabric purchases and realized that I was often passing over fabric that I loved because I wasn’t sure what I’d do with it, then ending up with fabric that I wasn’t totally inspired by. So I focused in on two collections that I have loved from afar but don’t have much (or any) of: Anna Maria Horner’s Loulouthi and Denyse Schmidt’s Hope Valley. I love the big, bold prints of Loulouthi and the pinky-orange-brown-muted green/blue color combos of Hope Valley. So I picked two Loulouthi velveteens (upper left corner of the photo) and a selection of six Loulouthi quilting weight fabrics. I threw in one Innocent Crush print that I’ve always wanted, too! Then I ordered two fat quarter stacks of Hope Valley (the Fiesta palette and the New Day palette) and then a few other half yards from the Piney Woods palette, so I’ve got nearly all the prints from that collection now! And then, to completely screw up the Anna Maria Horner/Denyse Schmidt dichotomy, I threw in one purple print by Jane Dixon (bottom right) because purple is my favorite color and I have hardly any purple in my stash! I kinda love how all the different prints from the three different designers all seem to work together somehow! The pinks and oranges and blue-greens all play together nicely.

So I’ve been scheming about what to do with all my AMH and DS pretties. The velveteen is definitely intended for a Noodlehead 241 tote bag, and I’m planning on using one of the other AMH prints for the lining. My current plan for the Hope Valley and some of the other Loulouthi prints is to do a drunkard’s path quilt with warm circles on cool backgrounds and vice versa. (It’s hard to explain, but I think it’s going to be really stunning.) I recently ordered a drunkard’s path die for my Go Baby cutter, and I’m not-so-patiently waiting for it to arrive! It was supposed to be here yesterday or today.

I can’t wait to get back into the creative groove!