Restocking The Basics :: Must Haves & Gotta Haves

There are basic fabrics we need on hand all the time.  Like white.  Lots and lots of white!! And of course one of my favorite background colors such as gray.  If I could I would have bolts of these two on hand times two!

Kona White, Kona Nightfall, Kona Shadow

  I used the last of my Kona white on my Drunkards Path quilt.  Which was just barely enough, but I got clever and was able to make it work.  I knew I had better get more ordered and the quicker the better.  

I would love nothing more than to buy by the bolt on a couple colors.  Since I don't have a connection the next best thing is buying from fabric.com.  They always have a buy more, save more on most of their Kona cottons.  For 10 yards of Kona white, I was able to get the price down to $4.34 a yard.  That's not bad!  

While white is must, probably my favorite background/backing color to use and have on hand is Kona Shadow.  My dark blue stock was also getting low, so welcome Nightfall!

Pink Flamingo, Honeysuckle, Valentine

I've been trying to find a Neon Pink solid with very little success.  These lovelies made it in my cart for 'just in case', but they were a far cry from Neon!!  I tried unsuccessfully to grab Kona Color of the Year Pink Flamingo when it first arrived on the scene.  When I saw it was actually in stock...I pounced.  Tell me why I didn't buy more than one yard!  Because it's really, really pretty to me!



This is my second batch of Diamond Hexie Stars.  I started making them while I was in Oregon.  Star Light, Star Bright was my first batch.  I've decided these will be my long term project for the rest of the year.  I'm using bright Kaffe Fasset fabrics and fussy cutting for the most part.  But I needed more...and when I was tempted with more...I couldn't resist!



Cyndy at Quilting is more fun than Housework offered up a hand picked bundle to fulfill my EPP diamond project.  I loved her note!  I know!!! What the heck is going on with me and prints?  You'd think I have finally developed a relationship with prints after all these years! 



I see many more diamonds being cut from these fabrics and I think I'll start right now!  

There it is, my latest acquisitions to my stash.  Some must haves, and some gotta haves!

LINKING:

Oh Scrap

Sunday Stash

Star Light, Star Bright

So, we all know it's Eclipse day today!   Many of us will get that once in a lifetime chance to see it in all its glory.  I'm excited even though I don't have the proper glasses.  ARGH!  I'm still going to experience it, and it is okay to look at it with the naked eye without glasses when the sun is totally covered...take a chance or not?!  

I have to say all the hype has gotten to me.  While I was in Oregon it lead every single news story several times a day. Then when I got home, same thing.  At 1:27 PM (CST), for two exciting minutes...I will be busy doing nothing more than watching a event...a big memorable event!

Before that, after that and for those don't get to see 'that', I thought I would share the only sewing I have done in a month!  Yep!  You heard that right!  I won't go into detail, but it's been a terrible month for me and my family.  

I spent two weeks in Portland with nothing more than a needle and thread.  English paper piecing is the ideal travel project.  Before I left Nashville, I had a mad scramble to come up with an EPP project to take with me.  I ended up keeping it super simple.  Diamonds. 



I'm going to sound like a broken record again, but the hardest part was picking the fabric.  I settled on Kaffe Fasset fabric for the center diamonds and added a bright solid for the outside.  I was in need of very bright, bold and happy colors.  Kaffe Fasset fit that bill to a tee!



My little EPP kit was filled with the essentials.  Scissors, thread, clips, needles and glue pen. I also brought the extra fabric both in prints and solids.  I grabbed Aurifil Sandstone thread (2370) in 40 wt.  I was hoping the color would blend with all the bright colors of the fabric and disappear...and it did!  I have to say it was the perfect choice!

Of course you must have plenty of the most important component of EPP, the templates.  I found this template at Sew Quickly where you can cut hexies, jewels and diamonds from one PDF template.  I love the versatility you get with this PDF.  I printed page after page on card stock and then cut the out with scissors.  



I used two different prints for each star.  Some prints I fussy cut so they would stand out, some were cut with a texture and color in mind.  The fabric I was working with were smaller pieces, so getting three pieces that were exact was sometimes an impossible task.   



After the stars came a solid that I felt would pop with the combination of prints.  I tried to be strategic, but it didn't always work out that way.



This one is the perfect example of semi-fussy cut diamonds.  The three circles are not the same, but they each have a green ring.  The other diamonds have the same linear blue print.



Here is another example of fussy cut matchy match!



I ended up making nine complete hexie stars and three stars.  With another half a dozen more in the pipe line.  



This was purely a project to keep me grounded, give me an emotional escape and keep my mind occupied while I was in Portland.  I still don't have a clue what I'm making or what it will become. Frankly, the last thing on my mind was a plan.  It was more important to have a distraction and not a plan.

Now that I've come home and had a chance to look at these sexy hexie stars, I've decided I want to make more and more!  This will be my long term EPP WIP!

LINKING:

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