A new project (*sly smile*)

As usual, I have other commitments and WIPs to finish. But summer is flying fast, and LAST summer I promised I'd make an all-voile quilt, and it just has to happen. These voile fat quarters from Westwood Acres have been sitting in my stash for far too long :(. I keep thinking about how nice it will be to take the occasional nap/watch an hour of Game of Thrones under a light and airy quilt, and how this one will be sure to stick around my apartment-one-day-house for years. Maybe one of our future kids will claim it and I'll steal it back from them repeatedly. If anything, these constant thoughts were a sign to start.

Also, I've finished up so many WIPs this month (3 QUILTS!!) that I felt the itch to start something brand. spanking. new.

I chose to follow Debbie's Postcard Quilt tutorial. Simple, beautiful, and striking. My quilty math was successful and I was able to enlarge the blocks from 4" x 6" to 7" x 10." Anna Maria Horner's prints are meant to be showcased in all their glory!

I made Mike touch the voile and I said, "see, like butter!" and he goes, "not quite." LOL. It really is amazingly soft though! Anyway, I've scoured the internet and here are the basics you need to know about sewing with voiles:

1. Use a ballpoint needle. If that doesn't work, try a universal needle. It depends on the machine and the voile you are using. I'm sewing together high-quality amazing Anna Maria Horner voiles and I'm using a ballpoint needle with no problems at all (thank goodness!).

2. PREWASH and lightly press (with a cloth, if you wish, and on a low temp - lower than what you use for cotton) before you cut. I never ever prewash cotton fabrics but I do for voile and any fabrics I use for garments (HA, if I ever finish one). You don't want your voile to shrink after it's been sewn together. I found that about an inch was lost on each fat quarter after prewashing, but it's no big deal.

3. Sew with good quality thread - if you are spending this much on high quality/specialty fabric, why not take the same care with your thread? I use Aurifil for all my piecing and quilting now, unless I need to dig into my Connecting Threads stash for a specific color. My machine loves Aurifil the most!

4. Change your rotary blade (you'll thank me later) and cut SLOWLY. Voile is slippery but you'll get the hang of it!

Anna Maria Horner has a GREAT, detailed post about voile that you should read, too, if you are going to sew with voile.

The prettiest laundry basket in all the land!

I'm pretty sure I won't be able to free motion these voiles (though I imagine the drag would be minimal) - plus, I want to be able to feel the texture throughout, so there's no point in dense quilting. I haven't decided how I'll quilt with my walking foot yet.

I planned on taking my time on this project but half the quilt top is done already... :) Tomorrow night, I'll have a big Sunday Stash post up!