Friday, April 1, 2016

Selfish Sewing?!?

Over the past year or so, I've developed a blogger friendship with Australian quilt maker, Carla at Granny Maud's Girl.  Carla and I met during the 2015 Stash Bee and made blocks for one another.  For 2016, Carla decided to focus on a bit of "selfish sewing" and is doing a monthly feature, "Bee, Myself, and I" to share her selfish success -- you can read about it HERE.

Since most of my stitching this year has been focused on "goals" -- some for the 2016 Finish Along and some for the APQ 2016 Resolution challenge, I like the sound of Carla's idea!  So my selfish sewing this month has been to do something I really want to do with NO deadline!! 
And here it is!
I've been sitting on my hands about starting this project ever since I first saw it on Brigitte Giblin's website.  It's the Nundle Dilly-Bag (see it in glorious color HERE).  It's English paper pieced which I find relaxing and a good size bag at 22" across and 16" tall.  The hexagons are 1 1/2" so it will be a quick project.
My color inspiration came about while working through the blue shelves in my stash -- weeding out pieces, sorting what I keep back into stacks by value (light, medium, dark), and generally tidying the shelves up.  This morning glory print from Hoffman Fabrics surfaced with a bit of nostalgia about the old days when I owned a quilt shop.  As you can see, it's a subtle print -- the leaves are more gray than green and the ivory background keeps the contrast of the print soft. 
As I folded and sorted, I set aside any blue that looked good with the morning glories -- the darks were the most difficult to select since they look harsh but they might be needed so I pulled a few. 
I pulled some prints that will be interesting to fussy cut. 
And this "stripe" has possibilities suggested by Karen at Faeries and Fibres in recent post about using stripes in hexagons HERE.
This print is a charmer and there is a big hunk -- good addition -- lining perhaps? 
I want a bit of another color that will maintain the soft look -- I considered grays and greens -- greens won.  
This is one of my favorite prints from King's Road Imports back in the 90's -- I hope I can work it into my piece!  I hoarded a good size hunk of every color way they printed.
So here is the beginning of the base of the bag.  Not so sure about the dark hexies at this point, but the easiest way to be sure is to try.  You know that a basted hexie will never go to waste even if it doesn't make the cut!! 
I'm looking forward to hearing what Carla and her other friends have been up to for their selfish sewing during the month of March!!

To see what the other quilters have been doing for their "selfish" sewing, go HERE.

I hope your weekend has all the stitching time you want!

Mary Huey



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7 comments:

  1. I guess in a way I'm into selfish sewing as I am finishing a 28 year old project for my bed and another 10 year old project for my wall. I fit them in between other stuff.

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  2. I find it kind of sad that we call making something for ourselves as selfish. I know its meant as tongue in cheek and has become a buzz word but it still bothers me. It perpetuates the image that women (mostly) are supposed to always be taking care of other people. I am writing this not to be critical - I am just curious about your thoughts.

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    1. I never thought of it that way, Linda. Interesting!
      Last year I made a gazillion quilt blocks and gave them away in sewing bees. This year, I am trying to focus some time on making blocks for my own projects.
      Sometimes, I think all of my sewing time is selfish. It is my fun. If I were not selfish, I would be doing housework instead! :)

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  3. My most recent quilt was using a pattern by the same designer. We must be on the same wavelength, Mary! Pretty colours.

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  4. I love your little hexies, and it is fun to see the details of your fabrics...wonderful choices together!

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  5. Hello Mary, those fabrics just melt in my mouth. I am a blue girl through and through but for some reason I don't seem to make many quilts that color and don't have many blues in my stash. YOur project is fantastic and I will enjoy watching it progress.

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  6. I love your colorway. The dark hexies look good at this point, but I'm not sure what the final plan is, so will be interested to see if they stay or go. Beautiful fabrics!

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