Summer Solstice QAL- Finished Quilt Top!!

I finished my quilt top for the Summer Solstice QAL!

I am making the one block 48" quilt.  If you remember, I started off with this beautiful piece of blue gradient fabric...

Then I cut all my pieces very carefully to make the gradient work from the center of the block out to the edges...

Last week my block looked like this....

This week I added the white border and then I added an extra gradient border (both to use up the rest of the gradient fabric and also because I thought it would look awesome).  I ended up with a 4" border of the gradient fabric.  I tried a skinnier border first but my sister told me it would look better wider (thanks Christina!).  Without further ado, here is the finished quilt top...

I love it with the extra border!!!!!  The final size is about 56" square.  Unfortunately I am not going to get it quilted up by this Thursday.  I had originally bought Kona Pacific for the backing but upon further inspection, the Pacific isn't quite the right color and I need to get a different blue.  Plus, I did some calculations and I don't seem to have enough backing fabric for the quilt top and binding now that I added the extra border.  Hopefully in the next week or two I will get the right backing and I can start quilting it!

Thanks again to Melissa for holding such a fun QAL!  I can't wait to see everyone's finished quilt tops!

Wednesday Fabric Love #8

As a rule, I don't (usually) buy flannel fabrics.  I don't use them in quilts, but I might occasionally use them for burp cloths or other small projects/gifts.

However, this fabric is so cute!!!!  This is "Zoomates Flannel" by Henry Glass.  I wish so much that this came in a cotton but I can't seem to find it in a cotton online.  If anyone sees it, let me know!  I don't really love the coordinates, this is the best one in the line (in my opinion).

Zoomates can be purchased here and at many other online retailers!

Sunday Stash

In July, my husband had a business trip to Paris and I went along with him for a couple days!  We flew out on a Thursday and arrived on Friday morning.  On Friday, we toured the Eiffel Tower and then we took a boat ride on the Seine.  On Saturday, we went to Versailles for the whole day.  On Sunday, we walked almost the entire city of Paris!

However, on Monday, my husband had to go to his work meetings and I wasn't leaving until Tuesday so I had the whole day to entertain myself.  I started looking for fabric stores in Paris because one of my favorite things to do is visit fabric stores in the cities where I travel.  In my Google searches for fabric stores, I came across Barbara, from "Stitching Up Paris".  Barbara gives 3 hour tours of the fabric stores in Paris, and she will customize the tour for you and your particular type of crafting (knitting, embroidery, clothes sewing, quilting, etc)!  Barbara is from New Zealand but has lived in Paris for a long time and speaks French fluently.  So, I signed up for a tour with Barbara!

I had so much fun touring the fabric stores with Barbara!  First, she took me to back alley haberdashery stores that I never would have found myself.  They sold all types of buttons, ribbons, trims, etc.  Then we walked through some areas with custom upholstery stores and checked out all the windows.  We ended up in the fabric district in Montmarte and we went in tons of stores there too.

One minus was that they don't sell a lot of quilting cottons in Paris.  Apparently most of the quilting fabric is imported from the US (Moda, etc) and sells for almost double what it costs here.  I knew that beforehand and really I just enjoyed the experience of going in all the fabric stores and browsing. 

I did buy a couple things though (after all, this is Sunday Stash!)...

Embroidery scissors (so sharp!), pins, and needles at Sajou:

These interesting zippers at some back alley store, I can't wait to figure out how to use these on a pouch:

A metre of the gray fabric and a fat quarter-ish of the blue flowers:

Some small pieces of a Paris-themed fabric and the cool colored dashes:

I didn't buy that much, but I had such a fun afternoon with Barbara!  It was so nice to have her take me everywhere so I didn't have to worry about getting lost (I don't have the best sense of direction), and since she speaks French she could easily speak to all the shopkeepers and also help me with anything I needed.  If you are ever planning a trip to Paris, you should consider looking her up!  (She also has a book out detailing a lot of the Paris fabric stores so that could be another option)

Linking up with Sunday Stash at Molli Sparkles!