A New Project; A New Go-To

5:30:00 AM

I love Spring.


Not as much as Fall (my favorite season) but Spring is pretty darned fabulous. The snow is melting, I can finally see my grass (although this year in Chicago we had an unseasonably green winter (ssssshhhhh - do NOT tip off the snow gods...)) birds start chirping, my yard starts to look fabulous again, the view from my basement sewing area window is much prettier and more enticing than the season before.

I feel like it's a great time to start something new. Something I've always wanted to do...I have more time now (or I will - my tenure on the Chicago MQG board as their Social Media and Communications Chair is coming to an end, which theoretically should free up some time, right??)

I pulled fabric from my stash this week for my latest project; I'll be sticking to solids and near solids for this one, and I'm not wanting to buy anything for this project but some yardage for the backing. I'm going to try to make do with what I've got on the shelves here at home:



and at night I started pressing in front of the t.v. after the kids went to bed. Any ideas on what I might be making? It's a quilt for our masterbed, and it's relatively simple. That's all I'm gonna give ya. Any guesses?

And, I'll link this up with Sunday Stash Share over at Molli Sparkle's blog on Sunday when he goes live to show off my new Bella Solids card. I'm really stoked about this one; I've owned a Kona card for years and have bought several bolts of Kona (especially Snow), but, *cough*, I have to say - I'm kinda upset with Kona's lack of color continuity.

Like, really upset.

And I really, really like Kona's hand and drape (I like a stiffer cotton. What can I say.) especially because I tend to use a lot more whites and creams for my negative space. I'm bailing on Kona. I'm jumping ship to Bella. They've been much more consistent over the years for me, and, after a fantastic lecture given by one of my fellow Chicago Modern Quilt Guild board members at the last Guild meeting (which was all about solids), we all learned why: Kona dyes in multiple plant locations in two different countries, Bella, only one. So, off I go. Harder to get, especially locally for me, so I'm forced to buy online, but I don't care at this point. For my bolts for backgrounds I'm going to make the switch and I'm super stoked about this color card! WOOT!!

  

I'll stick with Konas for the smaller projects and because I love their multi pack color bundles, but for backgrounds and negative spaces that need to be consistent, I've taken the plunge. Bella it is.

What is your go-to for solid quilting cotton? Do you have a manufacturer you love? Hate? Why? Leave us all a comment! Or just leave me a comment. I always love to hear what people have to say about their favorite brands of solids.

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12 comments

  1. Wow! I did NOT know that about Kona! Thank you for the heads up. I too have difficulty finding Bella. I have not done much with solids so I am interested to see what you are up to!

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    1. Thanks Beth!
      Yes. Ugh. Unfortunately, it's true re: Kona. It's okay if you buy enough all at once for one project, but if you're like me and maybe it takes you *cough* years to finish something, batches of Snow won't necessarily match each other. Another reason I started buying bolts of stuff. Oy. Anywho!

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  2. I knew from experience that Kona cottons were not very consistent in colour lots. Wondered if different manufacturing sites played a part in this issue. Being from Victoria (on Vancouver Island) our local selection of anything is not that great. (I added the location for you Erin as you'd know where that was!) So for solids, I use what I can find that I like the color of. The Northcott line sews up nicely and is available locally.

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    1. Hey Laura!
      (I have family on Van Island! couple of uncles, cousins...they love it there, migrated from the lower mainland years ago (where the rest of all of us were all from) if we ever move back, that's where we'll go me thinks...) Northcott was one of the samples brought in for our lecture at the Chicago MQG meeting, and it is nice. I LOVE the hand and drape. Unfortunately it's not widely available here (most likely because it's a fabulous Canadian company heheh) but I'm on the lookout. Me likey!

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  3. I have found the same issue with Kona - so inconsistent in the shade of their solids. I've had this happen on a couple of projects now. Thanks for the education!

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    1. Ugh! I wish you could have been at the lecture. It was fabulous. Our member did such an amazing job of researching every company you could imagine. If you like Kona, Bella is really similar in hand and drape but more consistent; if you haven't tried Northcott, you'd probably like them, too!

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  4. Nice to know about Kona. Don't the fabric manufacturers ever think about how their customers use their product and the fact that we require consistency? I've used both Kona and Bella, but ever since the "modern" quilts using so many solids, others are jumping on the band wagon, like Pure Elements, Centennial Solids, and Cotton Couture Solids. I love the solids that kind of have a linen look to the weave. But they need to be consistent in their dyes across the years! It may take me a few years to finish a quilt and if I need another bolt of fabric, I expect it to be exactly the same as the one I purchased a year ago!!

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    1. I know. It's frustrating. And I'm with you. I'm a slow quilter - because I have children (therefore limited time AND funds, hahah!). Most of the time I can kind of fudge it but there's been a few quilts where the difference in the Kona Snow I've used has been glaring. I love their FQ bundles, though - so for smaller pieces and stash building where I don't have to be as strict with color matching, they are usually my go to.

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  5. That is so interesting about Kona-- which is what I typically buy. I haven't made any projects that are huge spans of one color so I hadn't noticed an issue... but thanks for sharing so I won't make that error! As for that amazing fabric pull... it reminds me of Mondrian... and if that's where you're headed (and even if it's not) I CANNOT WAIT to see what you come up with!

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    1. Konas have generally been my go-to, but I will always make sure that I have more than enough on hand to complete a project before starting, otherwise I'll probably go with another brand just to be on the safe side, especially with larger pulls of fabric. Like I mentioned in the comments above, for smaller pieces/pulls, I don't mind as much. For large, expansive negative spaces though, it matters, as the difference has always unfortunately been quite glaring. It's too bad.

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  6. I've always loved Kona; it feels like my first child. But I have to admit, Bella is a VERY close second. It's also easy for me to buy locally as my LQS stocks it and not Kona. I didn't know about their dying process - that's very interesting information. Thanks for sharing!

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  7. I go back and froth between Kona and Bella, but I tend to buy enough for the project no matter which one I use. I did recently do a king sized quilt and found I lost the Kona Snow I had bought (it got put with something else). I had some left from a previous project, but when I brought it out, it was different. So I had to search for the yardage I bought for that project.

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