A Colorful Thread: March 2023
Weaving together my life as a maker and other spheres of life.
Best of Stitched in Color {March}
Teeter Totter, a scrap quilt (sew your stash - sew-along coming in May!)
On My Mind
Experimenting:: with different batting. For years I’ve been stocking and using Quilter’s Dream batting. However, last year shipping costs to Europe rose dramatically, so that I feel forced to search for a new batting source. A convenient option would Luna batting, which is a Moda product stocked by a local Dutch distributor. I had never heard of it before! Does anyone have experience with Luna batting? I might choose to stock the 100% cotton option and the 100% bamboo option. Thoughts?
Reading:: I’ve been listening to an audio book that takes me back to my childhood in California. The novel L.A. Weather by Maria Amparo Escandón has me reminiscing on the delicious Mexican cuisine, the tangled Mexican-American heritage and the state’s multi-cultural/multi-class society. It’s also an interesting insight into how life has changed for Californians in the last decades. I left the state in 2005, before the effects of climate change were so pronounced. The novel explores struggling marriages from a variety of perspectives. I’m not quite done yet, so I’m curious to see how it ends.
Sponsor of the Week
TAles of Cloth
Announcing Willoughby Quilt - a new pattern and kit coming mid April. It’s a combination of English paper piecing and machine piecing - yay! For first access and a special discount, sign up for the Tales of Cloth newsletter.
Celebrating:: This quilt, this photo - it’s all together stunning! Christine of @lopolokko has sewn a masterpiece Pas de Deux quilt, and her photos certainly do it justice. In fact, you should visit Christine’s Instagram for more photos of this beauty and follow her as well! Look for the butterfly in the lower right corner of the quilt. That’s a clever touch.
I find it fascinating the way Christine’s quilt is so boldly divided, with patchwork groups in contrasting values and colors. At the same time, it feels like a fun and funky whole. Maybe it’s that golden yellow or lime that threads through much of the quilt? I’m not sure, but it’s definitely magical!
Anticipating:: Book club tonight. My Dutch book club is a small group, just four of us in all. It’s small, but perfect. We meet once a month to discuss our book, but more importantly to spend the evening connecting with and enjoying each other. It is these friendship rituals that build depth and strength over time. Tonight it’s my turn to bring book choices. I hope they vote for Big Friendship!
Featured Freebie
Colorbrick quilt
Stitched in Color includes a library of free tutorials, more than 10 years in the making. Each month I’ll feature one to spread the good news.
Colorbrick was my first sew-along, and it is absolutely ideal for the beginner. Now and then I receive a happy email with pictures of someone’s very first quilt - a Colorbrick quilt. Makes my day!
March has been better, friends. Thank goodness, we haven’t been sick and the signs of spring have given my spirit the pick-me-up I so desperately needed.
At the same time, the honest truth is that the past six months have brought to light some big, fat bumps in my personal life. I am an optimist at heart, but if I’m being realistic I know that this is going to be a hard year. Maybe I will find a way to make a quilt that helps me process this time, like Never Easy did with Eleni and Brave did with our decision to move abroad. I am certainly open to such a quilt, but also cautious not to pressure myself. Such a quilt cannot be called up, like a performance, but must be birthed when the heart shouts.
May we all find the strength to listen to our hearts, in every season of life.
xoxo,
Rachel