Choosing Fabrics for Soupcon, Block Storage Idea & A Hexagon Block of the Month

Missie of Traditional Primitives suggested that I show pictures of the fabrics I purchased for my Soupçon QAL and I am more than happy to do so but I didn't buy any fabrics. I just went to my stash and used what I have. I don't generally purchase fabrics for a specific project; I buy fabrics that tickle my fancy (my fancy is easily tickled judging by the size of my ever growing stash)! If I buy fabrics I like then I find that they tend to work together. I am always looking for subtle neutral prints that work as backgrounds and I also like prints with a great deal of variety in the print so that I have lots of fussy cutting options. With that being said, here are the fabrics I started with for the blue version of Soupçon. The blue print was bought specifically for fussy cutting. I put the star on the dark background on the left. Sorry I meant to take a picture of that but I forgot.

This is sort of the best I can do to show you the two together. They don't match but the work together just fine!

Yesterday I demonstrated the same big blue fabric on a light green stripe background.

These are the fabrics for the red version of Soupçon. I bought the red specifically for fussy cutting.

Missie also suggested that I show how I go about selecting a motif to fussy cut. I don't put a great deal of time into it; I just move my window template around on the fabric until I like what I see and then I start tracing and cutting. I don't have much of an idea of how the star or flower will look so that means I am eager to get sewing so I can enjoy the big reveal! Tomorrow I'll show you some befores (the "raw" fabric) and the afters (the stars I made from the fabric). I hope it will inspire you to get creative and have fun!

Kath asked if it would be a good idea to select her fabrics in advance. It all comes down to how you like to work. I sometimes select my fabrics in advance but usually end up changing my mind as I go along. When you lay fabrics out together you are often seeing equal amounts of each but that isn't the way the block is constructed. And that's why I end up changing my mind. This is a scrap quilt so if you pick fabrics from your stash just give yourself permission to change them as you go along (if you want to that is)!

In my travels around the interweb I came across two interesting things: a hexagon block of the month and an fabulous idea for storing blocks. I am reluctant to store blocks flat because I can't see them and if I can't see them I forget about them. I can't remember where I saw this idea but I thought it was brilliant! A pants hanger was used to store blocks. I think I'll invest in a few more hangers to store blocks in this way.

The second fun thing I found was mentioned on blog I read, Sarah Did It. Sarah is an admitted hexieaholic and she linked up with a Hexie Block of the Month pattern at The HEXIE Blog. If you are truly addicted to hexagons and need just one project this might just fill the bill! The instructions call for 1" hexagons. You can find a master template for 1" hexagons under my tab English Paper Piecing & Hexagon Fun. You can make your Block of the Month Hexagons and store them on a pants hanger!

If you have any questions about the Soupçon QAL please feel free to email me or just leave a comment. I'm more than happy to help and share! So until I post again, keep warm (it is -20C here, -27C with the wind chill) and keep sewing!

Karen H