Every Bit of BLUE!

I haven't posted much about what I'm making lately. Why? Because I really really like to share with you the finished project, but there aren't many finished projects to share lately, so I thought I will share with you the work in progress and a couple of great books instead.

I've mentioned in my previous posts that I'm making quilts for our beach cottage "Seabird". I started one here and here. I need two double-size quilts and two-single size quilts for the cottage. At the moment I'm working on the two single size quilts. The latest quilt came about when I met Quiltsalad aka Sally Cutting (no blog) on Instagram. Sally kindly offered me some Japanese fabric. Japanese fabric, yes please! What wonderful and generous people you meet online. Sally is a terrific quilter. She doesn't keep a blog, but you can see all her quilts on Pinterest. Hop over and have a look at Sally's quilts. 

Sally posted me a large box full of Japanese fabric both in blue and in prints. Most of the pieces are big enough for 6.5" x 6.5" square. I want to showcase the prints on the fabric so I came up with the setting in the above photo. To make it more interesting, I add sashings from off cuts and use the red prints for corner stones. I'm very pleased with the overall look of this quilt. I might crazy piece the border, either from the red prints fabric, or the blue fabric, if I have enough of them. 

There are a few strips of South African indigo fabric in the box too. The strips were too small for the sashing so I joined the pieces together to complete the piece. Waste not want not, that's me!  

Here is a piece of South African indigo fabric. This is the back of the fabric with the company logo. I like the look of it so I'm using it for the front. I already have some of this fabric in my stash so I'm using it as well. 

What a treat to the eye when I opened the box, and this is what I see. The indigo blue fabric, the darker blue quilting cotton and the colourful Japanese prints. Thanks Sally for your generosity in sharing your fabric with me. They have come to the right place. A good home! 

After cutting and slicing the 6.5" squares I need for the quilt I was left with smaller pieces that I could not use for the quilt. They are perfect for a wrapped/coil basket. 

Here is the finished wrapped/coil basket using off-cut fabric from the quilts I'm making for "Seabird". It's quite a large basket, but for some reason it wasn't easy to photograph. 

I'm on a roll and started a second wrapped/coil basket from scraps Washi (Japanese papers) given to me by my Japanese friend before she returned to Japan. This is going to be a little tray for nick knacks.   

This is a book 'Indigo, The Color that Changed the World' by Catherine Legrand that my library purchased. It's the latest book on indigo. It covers indigo dyeing from Europe, India, Laos, Japan, Africa and China. It's not a how-to dye book. It's a great coffee table book full of beautiful images. I can't wait to get my own copy. Below are some photos from the book. You have to see this book to appreciate it!

A journal in my library is the latest issue of Kateigaho International Edition. It's a journal that we subscribe to four times a year. This issue is a Spring 2013 issue. 

I received this book before I went to Bangkok and didn't get a chance to share it with you. No, it's not blue or Japanese. It's the 'Civil War Sampler' compiled by Barbara Brackman. The year 2011 was the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. To commemorate this anniversary, Barbara kindly shared a weekly pattern on her blog for anyone who would like to make a quilt. I made about 20 blocks along with the others. I got the book hoping that I will get back to make the rest of the blocks one day. This is my way of supporting Barbara for her generosity in sharing the patterns with us. Barbara also brought out the fabric line called Metropolitan Fair that is perfect for the Civil War quilts. Do you feel  that there is so much more you would like to do with so little time to do it? 

Until next time

Nat