Blending with an old favourite...

A few years back I purchased two yards of this beautiful print because it had an 'olde world' feel about it and I knew that one day it would feature in something special...

(Sophie by Chez Moi for Moda)

In fact, I loved it so much that while waiting for inspiration to strike it would often be found gracing our home disguised as a tablecloth! The two raw edges were hemmed, and wash after wash it's colours remained vibrant and homely - I wished I'd bought more of it. 

Last month when stitching the Dove Garden design for this month's Stitchery Club I purposely chose my thread colours to compliment this fabric because in my mind a plan was forming for a bag...

I knew I'd need a blender fabric to bring the bag to life, so wasn't it a blessing when some Origami squares arrived in the mail from Lecien fabrics with the perfect fabric in the perfect colour and print? 

In fact there were a number of fabrics which would have blended beautifully...

...but in the end I settled on this.

Saturday afternoon I pieced the outer bag, backed it with an off-cut of cotton quilt wadding, and began hand quilting.

The red blender added just the right amount of colour beside the floral...

I'm hand quilting with Perle #12 threads in red and olive, both colours to compliment the fabric...

Up till now my fabric stash hasn't included many blender prints, but I can see just how important they are so shall invest in more for future projects.

Later this week I'll show you the finished bag, but for now there's a little more hand quilting needed before I assemble it. Fun.

May your week contain many blessings!