I love this sight, it means progress is on it's way. By now, I didn't see myself still doing it like this. I have a Brother Scan n Cut sitting on my table.. but I've been so busy, I haven't actually had time to 'use' it. How ridiculous is that? I have to finally tackle it before it gets covered in dust!

Anyhow, here are my template shapes, ready for cutting. I've already selected the fabrics. Well, most of them- you know I love to change things up as I go along..

When you open a box and are greeted with a sight like this, you know you've made a good decision. Those folks over at Craftsy know what they're doing. And phew, am I glad! I went a bit crazy and shopped their fabric clearance sale, picking up fabric ranges from a manufacturer I'd never heard of. I know, it's crazy. And I knew it would either be fabulous or .. a mistake. Gladly, I'm delighted with my purchase. Not only did I get slashed prices, but the fabric quality is excellent too.

I have been in such a pickle over selecting fabric for my latest quilt, Hold Onto Your Heart. I am so in love with this quilt and feel that a gentle colour scheme in antique reproduction tones (as used in the pattern which is a French General range by Moda) would be perfect. But by the time I went to purchase the range, the prints I wanted were sold out. It's still possible to pick up certain prints but the exact ones I had my heart set on are out of stock everywhere. This was a huge disappointment as I was really 'feeling' the fabrics and was sure my selection was set. Ha! as if! You know the course of my fabric selections never run smooth!

I spent days looking at fabrics everywhere and not feeling anything. I just couldn't see my pattern made up in them. That is, until I stumbled across the Craftsy clearance sale; suddenly the almost monochromatic idea I has been playing around with as a colourway option was coming into focus.. and this fabric seemed to fit the bill. I love how these tones work together..

'Hold Onto Your Heart' is a sentimental quilt: it's full of evocative motifs that represent all those values I hold dear to my heart; love, abundance, perseverance, sanctuary and journey. 

I was really hoping that my chosen fabric for my latest BOM 'Hold Onto Your Heart' would have arrived by now; I want to show it off and share my fabric colourscheme with you all. I have stepped out of my comfort zone and into a scheme that I never thought I would embrace. Not only that, but this is an extra special applique quilt and I expect it to be in my family for, well, forever. So I was full of fabric indecision. Originally I settled on a beautiful range by French General which looks like this:
I saw this range in real life a few months ago and I thought it was very special, it has a reproduction feel to it and the antique styling of the hues really appealed to me. Frankly, it's just beautiful and looks much more inviting in life than the screen image here allows. Unfortunately, when it came time for me to shop the range for Hold Onto Your Heart, it was all but sold out. I could only find bits and pieces but not enough for the whole top. I've learnt the hard way that mixing and matching  between ranges can be a hit and miss affair owing to the undertones and pigment hues and I didn't want to be trying to match up colours the whole time I was working. For me, I like to have all my fabrics 'at hand' when I start out, so I don't have to overthink the fabric process with each little step.
I absolutely fell in love with my polka dot colourings- both the orange and the purple based bright beauties really spoke to me. And if I were making 2 x Hold Onto Your Heart quilts, one of these would have to make the cut - they're gorgeous. In fact, it's hard for me to even look away from them right now as I type this. They hold huge potential to be good love stories, fabric wise.
However, I am mindful that I'm making 3 x Love Always quilts and two of those will be bright and bold beauties just like these two so I want Hold Onto Your Heart to really stand 'separate' from Love Always. And that's how I decided on the black and whites on beige theme which is the first quilt pic at the top of this post.

It's almost monochromatic, but not quite. The beige background gives this otherwise decidedly cool tones quilt a bit of a pulse - it's sophisticated but not cold and the more I look at it and think about it, the more it grows on me. I know that taking this step will be a huge act of perseverance and control - working with low contrast hues like this is not something I've even wanted to do before; but sometimes a certain design calls for you and you can't resist. At least that's what happened in my case. I would never have planned for a cool, black and white on beige quilt, but now that I'm about to start, I really can't wait. I'm hopping foot to foot for my fabrics to arrive so I can see how they shine in real life.

Fingers crossed that I won't be waiting too long now..

I've started 2019 by giving away 5x entries to my BOM 2019 'Hold Onto Your Heart' Quilt. Crazy huh? I thought I'd share my love of WIPS! So I suppose you can say that I've started 5 x WIPs for 5 x fellow applique adventurer's! 2019 is already turning out to be a fabulous year and I can't wait to show you what I've decided for my own Hold Onto Your Heart!