Fabric studies with quick sewing projects

Don't ya love small, quick sewing projects? Using those eclectic fabric leftovers you can't bear to throw away is so satisfying! But quick projects also offer opportunities for experimenting with color, pattern, texture and different fabric substrates... without a huge investment in time or materials.

The Melba Flower Basket is an ideal quick project for experimenting with color, print and texture.

I've made the Melba Flower Basket [pattern from The Textile Pantry] many times over the years. Recently, I pulled a variety of quilting cottons, batiks, digital prints and yarn-dyed textured wovens to do studies with color, pattern and texture... and crank out a few little fabric baskets in the process.

Fabric Studies

On occasion, quilting teachers and quilt shop owners hear this question, "Can I mix _____ (batiks, wovens... you fill in the blank) with cotton fabrics?"

The answer is: "YES!" ... and these small projects are ideal for experimenting with this concept.

Selecting and pairing fabrics for the flower baskets.

Actually, many different fabrics can be used together in quilts, garments, home dec and other items. Currently, there is a trend out there where quilters are intentionally incorporating recycled clothing in their pieces. This is not a new idea, however, as generations past have applied a "make do" concept to prolong the life of textiles or for economical or emotional reasons. 

When mixing different fabrics in a single project, the maker should be aware of each fabric's properties and its fiber content so the proper tools (needles, threads, cutting tools) are used, and what stitches, machine settings and care instructions are ideal for working with and caring for these fabrics (especially if a project incorporates several different fabric types).

Fabric pairing study.

The basket (below left) is an example of combining a digital print [P&B Textiles] with a Stonehenge blender [Northcott Fabrics]. The other basket (right) combines an Australian aboriginal design [M&S Textiles Australia] with two yarn-dyed wovens [Diamond Textiles].

Left: a digitally printed fabric with a cotton blender.
Right: Aboriginal print with yarn-dyed textured wovens.

Two different textured yarn-dyed cottons were used for the outside of this basket.

Two yarn-dyed textured cottons are used for the outside of this basket.

Half Square Triangle Bonus!
A bonus of making the Melba Flower Basket is the triangles that are generated while cutting the fabric pieces for the baskets. This is another opportunity for a fabric study.

Fabric trimmings.

NOTE: the Bloc-Loc HST ruler tool is very handy for squaring up these HST [half square triangle] units.

Half square triangle units [HSTs] trimmed using the Bloc-Loc ruler tool

What to do with fabric baskets? 
I hope you give the Melba Flower Basket project (or another quick project) a try and experiment with different fabrics. Studies in color and pattern will build your color confidence and help in your understanding of what does or does not work for a project. Experimenting with a variety of fabric substrates—batiks, yarn-dyed, denim, rayon, etc.—will improve skill mastery and expedite the process with larger projects.

And, what can you do with your new fabric baskets?

Fill fabric baskets with Fat Quarters or other sewing notions.

Fill them, use them, or give them away!

Fill the baskets with sweet treats—or even doggie treats—and give them as gifts!

They make sweet, thoughtful gifts.

Fall Quilt Market Recap, part 2: Quilting

As one would expect, Quilt Market booths were draped with colorful, striking quilts—examples and inspiration for creating with fabric manufacturers' upcoming fabric collections.

Painted Ladies quilt (center) featuring Street Art batiks from Banyan Batiks.

A repetition of simple shapes and basic block patterns provided a framework for the array of colors and fabrics to a dance in rhythm in these quilts—with each quilt featuring a different fabric collection.

I attended two schoolhouse presentations by Banyan Batiks. Designer, Tiffany Hayes [Needle in a Hayes Stack], talked about her upcoming Sazerac batik line for Banyan Batiks. The collection was inspired by the era of the Speakeasy and is portrayed in sultry, rich earthy colors with spicy citrus-toned accents.

Tiffany Hayes talking about her Sazerac batik collection [Banyan Batiks].

Banyan Batik quilt at the schoolhouse session at Quilt Market.

Karen Gibbs from Banyan Batiks talked about the batiking process and passed around an example of the hand-crafted tjap [pronounced "chop"] that is used to stamp and create the designs and motifs on the fabric.

A tjap used in making batik fabrics.

Technique Reboot!
Classic patchwork techniques and quilt blocks are just as fun and popular now as they ever were! Diamond Textiles featured its textured cotton embossed collection with this one-block Carpenters Star quilt. The cotton embossed fabrics are created with a resist process—much like the process for making batiks.

One block Carpenters Star quilt with Cotton Embossed [Diamond Textiles].

The Superior Threads booth featured Leesa Chandler's Melba fabric line using the classic Stack N Whack (kaleidoscope) technique. The Melba collection [from Australia-based fabric company, The Textile Pantry] also has a teal/silver colorway that is just as striking in the Stack N Whack quilt.

The Melba fabric collection [The Textile Pantry] is stunning in the stack n whack quilt.

Northcott Fabrics is pushing the traditional attic windows technique to new levels with its upcoming collection, The View from Here. What's the view you'd like to see out your window?

The View from Here from Northcott Fabrics.

The View from Here fabric collection

The Log Cabin goes Uptown
M&S Textiles Australia brought a contemporary twist to the traditional log cabin quilt. A mix of colorful aboriginal prints paired with a light fabric offers areas in this on-point log cabin setting for fun machine quilting. In the classic log cabin patchwork style, it's all about the placement of the lights and darks!

Log Cabin quilt in the M&S Textiles booth at Houston Quilt Market.

The big block Durango pattern [Villa Rosa Designs] offers easy piecing for this log cabin quilt. It's a great pattern to show off a variety of large scale fabrics like these aboriginal prints.

Durango [Villa Rosa Designs] quilt in the M&S Textiles booth, Houston Quilt Market.

Whether you're a cat or dog lover, this clowder of "calico" cats is a cute way to show off the Australian aboriginal fabric designs. The Cat City pattern [Villa Rosa Designs] is a fat quarter friendly pattern. 

Cat City quilt [Villa Rosa Designs] using Australian aboriginal prints
from M&S Textiles Australia.

Another log cabin quilt—this time with the barn raising setting—features the Primitive Collection from Batik Textiles.

Log cabin quilt in the Primitive Collection from Batik Textiles.

We never tire of these classic blocks! They stand the test of time because they are so versatile.

Primitive batiks at Houston Quilt Market.

New Techniques

MJ Kinman's booth showcased her stunning gemstone quilts. MJ has trained a team of Gem Affiliates from across the USA and Canada in her unique piecing technique. 

MJ Kinman's Gemstone booth at Quilt Market.

Northcott Fabrics is bringing her gemstone designs to the quilting community with fabric panels and jewel-toned coordinates in its Jewel Box collection. Now quilters can achieve gemstone designs in multiple ways.

MJ Kinman's booth at Houston Quilt Market

Ask your local quilt shop [YLQS] about these fabrics and any classes they will offer to help and inspire you in your quiltmaking endeavors. YLQS is your source for what's coming in the quilting world.

Make a Melba flower basket, a free pattern from The Textile Pantry

These little fabric baskets are made with the Melba Flower Basket pattern from The Textile Pantry. I’ve made several of these cute containers recently. They are fast and fun to make and an excellent distraction from the unseasonably cold, rainy and snowy weather we’ve been having for April.

Melba Flower Basket, a pattern from The Textile Pantry.

Fill them with candy and pop in some Peeps.

Use them beside your sewing machine to hold small tools like a seam ripper and binding clips.

Download the free Melba Flower Basket pattern at The Textile Pantry.

Leesa Chandler, the owner of and  creative force behind The Textile Pantry, is a fabric designer, quilt shop owner, quilter, sewer, and pattern designer. She does it all! Her patterns feature her fabric lines that are inspired by the landscape of Australia, where she lives. Here she is in her booth at Fall Quilt Market, 2017.

Leesa Chandler, The Textile Pantry, at 2017 Fall Quilt Market.

A few examples of her project creations.

Overlander Bag featuring Under the Australian Sun fabrics.

Melba's Evening Robe

The Textile Pantry donated several patterns to support the One Stop Shop Hop that was held this weekend at the north Georgia Dalton Convention Center. Congratulations to the lucky winners of the door prizes.

Textile Pantry patterns at the One Stop Shop Hop.

You can find Leesa’s fabric collections, Melba and Under the Australian Sun, at these and other quilt shops: Chattanooga Quilts, Sew N So Quilt Shop, Huntsville Sew and Vac, Dizzy Divas Fabric Shop, Stitch N Quilt, Fabrics Galore, Absolutely Fun Sewing, WV Quilt and other quilt shops in your area.