thinking about quilting

Yesterday our lovely modern quilt-along hostess Kim posted an update of everyone's progress so far. You'll note that I'm not on the list. Not because I'm being snubbed by Kim but because I have done close to nothing on my Love Beads quilt. I can't say I haven't done anything at all, but the progress has been imperceptible at best. I’ve decided on colours, but finding the fabric has been the tricky part.

While I was in Vancouver in August, I helped my mum organize some of her quilting fabric. The woman has TONNES of fabric. She could almost open her own shop. To be fair, she has downsized a lot, but she still has a monumental stash. Because that stash is so incredible, I'm hoping that she hasn't noticed that I poached some of the light blues from her quilting solids (Hi Mum! Love ya!). It just so happened that the pale, aqua colours were exactly what I had in mind for Love Beads. I've been cruising through fabric stores with little swatches of them, but I haven't found anything even close to the perfection of poached fabrics. I'm hoping I have enough, because they are going to be the beads in Love Beads.

I've also been wandering around with a swatch of chocolate brown (also pinched from mum's stash) in my wallet but no luck finding anything suitable for the background and backing yet. I've got samples of the Kaufmann solids from Hancock's of Paducah, but they're not quite right either. All the browns are either really purple-y or washed out and chestnut-y.  Anybody have any leads on where to find 15 yards of the perfect chocolate brown cotton?

Comments

[Cathi]

I'm not a big fabric girl, but have you tried eQuilter? That's really the only big fabric place I know of.

Also, saw those Isaac Mizrahi towels on sale this week- 1/2 price. Wasn't sure if you were over them or maybe wanted more, but thought of you when I saw them.

[Kim]

Hoo! For the first few lines I thought I HAD snubbed you. Relief!

Yeah, those R.K. Kona Cottons don't have a middle ground, do they? The one I used in my quilt is so dark it reads as black when you step away. Have you checked the Quilt Store on Anderson? They have another brand or two of solids along with R.K. Hobby Lobby has another brand too, but its quality is significantly poorer.