Fabric Love

Yesterday my fabric came in, and I practically kissed the UPS man. Not really. But I was waiting on the porch for him, arms outstretched, since I had been tracking my package's progress all week and knew that it was, in fact, set to be delivered sometime that early afternoon.

I was, you see, stalking fabric. 100% knit cotton, to be exact.

Well, it came, it was beautiful, I hyperventilated, blah blah blah. I was so in awe of my fabric's loveliness that I didn't even unfold it or sully it in any way--I simply gazed at it lovingly, occasionally rubbing my fingers against the various smooth patterns, letting my mind imagine just what this fabric would become.

That was yesterday. Today I sucked it up and got down to business. These wares aren't making themselves.

And I wanted to share my first batch of fabric with you, so you can be excited along with me!

I should again give credit to Raechel, who pointed me in the direction of some good, solid designers. I took her advice, purchased some fabric from a couple of her suggested designers, and then went from there. Fabric.com is good about prompting patterns and designers based on your searches, and I found a few others I really liked just by searching far and wide. I wasn't able to buy everything I liked, but I bought some, and of course I bookmarked other favorites for later.

Without further ado, the fabric! First up, three patterns by Kaffe Fasset. Here is some of his Suzani design in red, already measured and cut and pressed to become a nursing cover, complete with chenille pocket:

I always admire people who can successfully pair pinks and reds. Pink and red are two of my favorite colors separately, but apart from fabrics/curtains/rug in Baby C's nursery, I usually fail to make them work together.

(If you want to claim this nursing cover as yours and just can't wait for the craft show, then go here and get in touch with me.)

Next, Kaffe's (I can call him by his first name, right?) Floating Flowers in green:

That background color falls somewhere between chocolate brown and dark plum. I'm really befuddled by this, which thrills me.

My last bolt of Kaffe Fassett material is his Paperweight pattern in pumpkin:

I never really go for the orange/yellow palette, but I know plenty of you out there do, so I wanted to include you. I'd hate to lose you in all the bold reds, greens, browns, and purples.

One designer that Rae suggested and with whom I fell in love was Anna Maria Horner. Here we have her Receiving Line in both magenta and turquoise:

I LOVE this pattern and wanted to buy it in every color possible. Those wobbly little flowers look like spiky, summery limes to me, and I can just see them lining up together, chattering and giggling. And please do not try to make any sense out of that last sentence. I just go with what comes to mind, okay?

Anna has a lot of great stuff, but I limited myself to just Receiving Line this time.

Last up, Amy Butler. I stuck to some of her older stuff (it was cheaper), and I tried to pick out some gender-neutral tones. On the left is Lotus Lacework in brown and on the right is Midwest Modern Floating Buds in sage:

Those rosey-type flowers on the right are very subtle and very lovely; they're done in an olive green. I love green and could use it in fifty different shade in my home and my life if I were allowed. I think that's why I have so many plants.

So! That's what I currently have to work with, along with some scraps from my stash I've had on hand. My craft table will probably look crazy and might induce seizures, but that's okay! I love all these fabrics individually and also as a group. I think we all work well together.

I'm off to sew and maybe say a few curse words under my breath. I never said sewing was a holy affair.