Dashing Away With The Smoothing Iron

The phrase "dashing away with the smoothing iron" has no relevance for me this week. No, it does not. I have no ironing. Not a hanky, not a thing. 

I do have a basting pile though. That's a great thing to say - I have a basting pile. I have three small quilts ready to baste, my Jam Sandwiches and Red Lemonade quilts x 2 and my Freefall qal lap quilt, aka #dougiesshirts . 

The fun thing about a basting pile is it sits on the chair my ironing pile usually takes up.
I can stack my basting pile this way:


I can stack my basting pile that way:


I can even stack my basting pile any way:


The thing about ironing is it is always there, hiding around the corner.


My Freefall qal quilt is basted with more Ikea polar fleece, dark green this time. I talked it over with my sister. This is to be a caravan quilt, we thought, like the picnic quilts, that the polyester fleece maybe better than the cotton wadding which may soak up any damp. The sister thought the dark fleece which make an interesting backing, rather than just wadding. So, all pinned now and ready to go.

A little fabric may have popped through my letterbox yesterday. A quilty friend Sarah, from my blog hop days,  was kind enough to send me a gift certificate for Simply Solids. And I had a lovely time picking my fabrics. I find I am mostly drawn to solids these days, so I picked a range of kona cottons.


 First up was a bundle of cool colours. My stash of blues was fairly depleted by the Wedding Quilt of last year. Fair enough, that's what it was bought for. I missed looking at and admiring that stash of blues. Between these and the blues bought at Easter in Purl Soho, this gives me a good base again.



 
Next up were the pinks, the warm colours. I have very few pinks. I ordered a cross section of pink konas from Simply Solids, added in a red, an orange and a yellow. If I add these to the pink yardage from Purl Soho at Easter, and the lilacs from The Village Haberdashery a few weeks ago, well, I am all set to go. I have the fledgling of an idea. I have been hankering for a while after the Postcards From Sweden quilt and the lovely Sarah herself  made an ombre hst quilt. Very very far in the future, but I am thinking along these lines. Like the best financial advisers say, it always pays to invest in the future.

 
Leaving you with this photo just to prove I'm in the pink these days.
 

Helen x

Comments

  1. What an exciting basting pile! You'll have some lovely finishes coming up. I love your nearly rainbow new fabrics, and you are looking great. :)

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  2. Oooh lovely happy mail!
    Ironing is never far away is it! :(

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  3. Oh Helen, if you are missing your ironing pile you can always pop over here, I can give you plenty! I love Simply Solids, I just got my first monthly low volume fat quarter pack, it's a great way to build up my stash. Have you seen their Kona solids club?

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  4. I love happy mail! What a great basting pile!

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  5. Oo, so many pretty solids! And you look lovely in your lilac top in front of that flowering shrub! I don't recognize what the flowers are, though?

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  6. I like to play the how many ways can I stack things game too :) I'm happy to say we hardly ever have a clothes ironing pile at my house, only quilty things. Those are definitely some solid choices for your stash...sorry I had to :P Really love all those lovely blues.

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  7. I think a basting pile is much better than an ironing pile :) I love the new fabrics.

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  8. My rule is, if it's waited more than a week to be ironed, it gets folded up as is and put in a drawer. Some great stash building going on in your household.

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  9. You look so cool in your matching shirt against the gorgeous rhodos (I think) and guess what?? the big one here in the front garden is about to burst forth in that very hue! So glad Freefall is on the pile and now being quilted (yay for Instagram updates). We should talk about doing Postcards together...I have loved it forever it seems. I bet Tish would join in (she needs more QALs she does lol, maybe Sue, maybe Julie... very far in the future but let's talk!

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    1. Always such a coincidence my timing with Sandra's! Julie thinks, "Brilliant idea! Jättebra idé!" That's been on my bucket list for some time, and I'm all in. A plan for fall?

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  10. I have envy of your empty ironing chair. Mine is rarely empty these days, but better hidden than yours. Basted quilts are so much more enjoyable to look at than shirts though!

    I've had a catch up this morning reading through many post here. I love, love the leaves done up in your dad's shirts. So meaningful. So lovely to think of him when they'll be keeping you warm.

    Your solid-buying-spree turned up a gorgeous palette. I think I enjoyed how it trickled from various shops instead of one big delivery. You choose your fabrics carefully with thought, Helen. It was nice to feel a part of it. Perhaps a "T" quilt for Temperance now?

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