Wednesday, June 18, 2014

50 shades of grey?



I made significant progress on my MQG challenge quilt this week and am about to begin working on the second side (no photos, because I'm keeping the overall design secret until VMQG's July 21 guild meeting).  I also hit a roadblock, however, because I'm running out of the gray Kona cotton fabric that constitutes the main background for both sides of the quilt.  When I started this thing, I thought 1-1/2 yards would be plenty, but it's not even half of what I need for my two-sided quilt, plus the binding. 

I immediately headed to the nearest LQS that carries the full line of Kona solids, only to find that they're out of the matching gray.  Kona Ash, which was in stock, offered the closest alternative, but it's a little too yellowish.  Of course, I can't remember exactly which gray I bought in the first place, and the person manning the shop that day couldn't find the latest color card, so I had to resort to online guessing.  Fortunately, Kona doesn't actually come in fifty shades of grey, but there are still more than enough possibilities to make things difficult.  I can't be entirely sure, but I've narrowed down the choice to two: Kona Shadow and Kona Silver.

I called around, but one LQS is about to go out of business and hardly has any Kona solids left, and the other two fabric shops that I telephoned don't carry Kona solids.  Sorry, LQSs--I tried!  What's a quilt maven to do, other than buy both grays online and hope one of them is the right one?  I had difficulty finding a Canadian dealer that carries both, plus I don't want to wait for Canada Post, because I'm on a deadline.  Sorry, Canadian fabric shops--blame our slowpoke postal service!  Instead, I ordered 3 yards of each gray from a U.S. dealer and will drive across the border to pick up the fabric.  Fingers crossed that the package will arrive by Saturday.

In the meantime, I also returned to sewing for my poor, neglected Etsy shop.  I found great infinity scarf instructions online, learned how quickly and easily the scarves come together, and on Sunday, I immediately whipped out five in a range of kimono silks:






Last night, I finished number six as well.  The key, which I didn't know when I first tried to make cowl scarves a few years back, is not to sew all the way to the ends when making the fabric tube.  That makes it a lot easier to join the ends that close the circle.  Voila!  I'm going to keep churning these out, because they're fun to make, and they're beautiful.  What's not to like about that?

The weather is on the cool side, and I haven't had time for the necessary fabric prep, so no indigo dyeing today, alas.  I've got my eye on Monday or Tuesday next week.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday on Freshly Pieced and The Needle and Thread Network.  Cheers!


2 comments:

  1. I love these kimono silks! The blue and coral one is so cheerful, and I really like the elegance of the gold one. Plus, the knot looks great too. I hope they will do well for you!

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  2. Bummer about not being able to find a local shop that carries the colors you were looking for. I broke down and ordered a color card from Robert Kaufman to (hopefully) help me out of jams like this that we always seem to end up in! It has been great for color coordination and ordering. I hope the fabric arrives in time for you!

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