dear Chicopee
You all know that there are a LOT of great collections coming out right now. Too many, some would even say. But, I think when they say that they're mostly feeling that all the options make it incredibly hard to choose what to actually buy, with a limited budget and all. (I think we all have those? The limited budgets? Yes.) But still, I'm sure we'd rather have this problem than the lack of temptation. We're so brave! Soooooo brave.
Well, after wading through the fabric onslaught I came out with a personal favorite, and it's Chicopee by Denyse Schmidt from Freespirit. I think after working with Flea Market Fancy so much this year, I just plain "believe" in her for one thing. You see, I had missed the original Flea Market Fancy release and never actually tried Hope Valley (shhhh... don't tell anyone). And then we don't have Jo-Ann's near bye, so I've also never had a chance with those Schmidt fabrics. Flea Market Fancy was my first. And I'm sold.
It seems to me that Chicopee has many of the classic Denyse Schmidt characteristics that make her fabrics so nice for patchwork: small scale, lots of basics shapes (dots and stripes), limited color schemes for easy mixing, and a full range of values (from dark to light colors).
I ended up getting the whole collection. The day it arrived I took a million pictures (mostly in bad lighting - I was desperate) and whittled the collection down to these, my favorites. Or, at least I think they'll be my favorites. They're what I would have definitely bought if I'd had to choose just a few, at least.
That very night I lay awake mulling over quilt ideas. I know this has happened to you. I've been told it's completely normal.
Anyways, I'm thinking in multiples here. Definitely 2 quilts will come to be before I let this collection settle its way into my fabric stash. The first is a simple quilt from Denyse Schmidt: Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration
- the Churn Dash, so named for its resemblance to a manual butter churn one learns in the historical intro from Denyse' book.
Quickly, eagerly I made up a few blocks in nice, dark values. I'll be reversing Denyse' use of value in her Churn Dash quilt by making mostly dark value blocks and sprinkling in a few light values. The two prints on the left are among my "favorites", but I actually adore the print on the right, called Duet Dot, now that I see it sewn up. It doesn't look overly sweet anymore, cut like this. And it is such a nice contrast to the Kona Bone I'm using for my solid.
I'll be adding to this quilt here and there throughout September in between the things I really "ought" to be doing. I've spent so much time working on the craft show that I have some catch up work to do in September. It's rather out of character for me to start something else "for fun" in such a situation, but sewing is fun. So there, left brain. I'm going to enjoy this!
Chicopee is available at these great online shops:
Intrepid Thread
Pink Chalk Fabrics
Fabricworm
Fat Quarter Shop
Sew Love Fabrics
Lark Cottons
Stash Modern Fabrics
Mad About Patchwork
Sew Modern
Marmalade Fabrics
Well, after wading through the fabric onslaught I came out with a personal favorite, and it's Chicopee by Denyse Schmidt from Freespirit. I think after working with Flea Market Fancy so much this year, I just plain "believe" in her for one thing. You see, I had missed the original Flea Market Fancy release and never actually tried Hope Valley (shhhh... don't tell anyone). And then we don't have Jo-Ann's near bye, so I've also never had a chance with those Schmidt fabrics. Flea Market Fancy was my first. And I'm sold.
It seems to me that Chicopee has many of the classic Denyse Schmidt characteristics that make her fabrics so nice for patchwork: small scale, lots of basics shapes (dots and stripes), limited color schemes for easy mixing, and a full range of values (from dark to light colors).
I ended up getting the whole collection. The day it arrived I took a million pictures (mostly in bad lighting - I was desperate) and whittled the collection down to these, my favorites. Or, at least I think they'll be my favorites. They're what I would have definitely bought if I'd had to choose just a few, at least.
That very night I lay awake mulling over quilt ideas. I know this has happened to you. I've been told it's completely normal.
Anyways, I'm thinking in multiples here. Definitely 2 quilts will come to be before I let this collection settle its way into my fabric stash. The first is a simple quilt from Denyse Schmidt: Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration
- the Churn Dash, so named for its resemblance to a manual butter churn one learns in the historical intro from Denyse' book. Quickly, eagerly I made up a few blocks in nice, dark values. I'll be reversing Denyse' use of value in her Churn Dash quilt by making mostly dark value blocks and sprinkling in a few light values. The two prints on the left are among my "favorites", but I actually adore the print on the right, called Duet Dot, now that I see it sewn up. It doesn't look overly sweet anymore, cut like this. And it is such a nice contrast to the Kona Bone I'm using for my solid.
I'll be adding to this quilt here and there throughout September in between the things I really "ought" to be doing. I've spent so much time working on the craft show that I have some catch up work to do in September. It's rather out of character for me to start something else "for fun" in such a situation, but sewing is fun. So there, left brain. I'm going to enjoy this!
Chicopee is available at these great online shops:
Intrepid Thread
Pink Chalk Fabrics
Fabricworm
Fat Quarter Shop
Sew Love Fabrics
Lark Cottons
Stash Modern Fabrics
Mad About Patchwork
Sew Modern
Marmalade Fabrics