new fabric, part three.

so i know i am not the only person in the land of modern quilters who collects heather ross fabric. she's a legend. she's a myth. her first ranges are rare, out-of-print, and highly covetable. mendocino is probably the most famous, but other collectors also have lightning bugs and other mysteries and west hill. i enjoyed her linen collections, but for me, the buttery-soft poplins of her early ranges with freespirit were the draw. it's why i've already made one mendocino quilt and am planning another. it's why i hunted down every piece of west hill, even though it meant i paid way too much for way too much of the damn lavender stripe. (i shared it with another fabric curator!) i check janeymacshop and blijeolifantje weekly, sometimes daily, for those achingly soft, perfectly strong and fuzzy cottons.

so when i heard, like everyone else did, that heather was releasing a new range, through a new fabric house, my ears perked up. i didn't dare hope. when i heard she was with windham, i felt a bit deflated. windham fabric, to me, is strong and thick and durable. it's nice to work with; great to sew; colorfast; but not as soft as mendocino. so. bated breath.

i ordered a half-yard set anyway, before i'd even looked at the swatches. then i ordered another half-yard set after panicking because i'd accidentally put my address in the form slightly incorrectly. i had the second half-yard set express-shipped, because i am ridiculous.

but you guys?

it is really nice fabric.

amanda (who has briar rose bundles listed in her shop as well as coordinating solids bundles!) described it as "vintage sheets". and it feels exactly like that - soft, a little thin, but still sturdy enough to sew. this fabric has a fantastic drape. it's not the same softness as the earlier poplins, but...i like it. it's gorgeous.

i cut into it today, and i immediately knew what to do with it...after i made a 40pc charm pack! (which is the prize for the sydney modern quilt guild name tag challenge.) it was surprisingly easy to cut. the grain straightens beautifully. i feel like i'm running out of adjectives here. i kind of love this fabric.

and i'm not denying that a big factor is sheer fabric fangirling. i will probably always buy heather ross fabric. (i feel much the same way about anna maria horner, aneela hoey, and lotta jansdotter.) but the other factor for me was that this range marries perfectly a vintage feel with her sweet, folksy illustrations. this could have been on my bed growing up, on my mom's bed growing up even!

my favorites are the florals.

i got extra of the strawberries too. i am not stupid. everyone else loves those and it is always good to have some on hand. (a bit like my having a full cookie jar.)

so. i made my family model the fabric for me. owen did the best job. he is clearly going to be the next major thing in fabric design. or maybe just modeling. watch this space.

daddy (aka mr poppleton, aka "slightly larger owen" [seriously, aren't they exactly alike?]) was not keen to have his photo taken. tough stuff, mister.

and my most enthusiastic model, miss piper rose, insisted on displaying her favorites. right after this she squirmed off the couch and took them over to her little table, folding and unfolding them, flinging unwanted ones on the floor (low-volume prints seemed to be the worst offenders!) and patting the brighter, ditsy prints lovingly. help. she's already eyeing off my stash.

so that is is, new fabric series concluded. i'm waiting on a half-yard bundle of nordika, some belated tula pink meteors (finally getting on the tula bandwagon!), and a pattern for the esme blouse from sew liberated. but until then, i am happy to begin my briar rose project, and work on kat's quilt, and decided on the binding for the beautiful quilt for kcb that arrived back from jeannette this morning. (thank you again jeannette! the quilting is as always perfect!)

tomorrow the mister is going on a big bushwalk with his baby brother - wish them both luck! afterward we are having lunch in the national park. i made dinosaur cupcakes. (well, they have green icing.) i still can't believe my baby is two. (and not still a baby. or yet a teenager. kids are funny.)

thanks for putting up with my fabricking - regularly scheduled sewing will soon resume!

cheers

penny xx