Fabric Deliciousness

As the astute blog reader may have observed, I've had a hard time getting back into the swing after Market. I am not sure exactly why, but instead of coming home inspired, like I usually do, I just felt completely sapped of all creativity.

I think we can all agree that is NOT GOOD. And also that perhaps I shouldn't be in charge of marketing for Houston.

We all go through it now and then, and we always snap out of it. My fun with Phoomph was a little respite from feeling useless in the design realm, and I've spent a lot of time playing with EQ7 to come up with some new ideas, but most were rejected immediately and overall I've spent the last few weeks wondering where my inspiration all ran off to, and please for the love of all that is holy what can I do to get it back?

The answer finally came on Friday, in the form of two sets of delicious, delectable, and delovely fabrics from Art Gallery.

The first is a set I bought at sample spree. These fabrics are from 2009, which explains why they were cheap at spree, and makes them 900 years old in fabric years. But one thing I love about Art Gallery is that they don't just push a line of fabric through in two months and then discontinue it as seems to be very common in the industry today, and this line, "Paradise" by Pat Bravo, is still in the catalog. Hooray!

It's almost like the Delta Zeta house is looking to redecorate the living room, but better.

I actually added a couple of these to the mix from my own stash because I really do try to avoid making quilts all from one line as I think they tend to look muddied. But that is another reason I love Art Gallery - even their lines don't look like lines.

They make cute 2" strips, too.

No promotional consideration was provided by Art Gallery for this post. I really do just love them.

These fabrics helped inspiration to strike by combining themselves with my Leaves Galore rulers, which I believe I have finally learned to use properly, and some taupe solid background fabric, which in a million years you could never have made me believe would be a choice I would actually make without a gun to my head. But voila!

Photo intentionally horrible so as not to end up all over Pinterest before I get the pattern done.

I'm getting back to my machine applique roots and loving it. I mean even in this horrible photo, you can tell that I used some fantastically contrasting thread on the pink in the upper corner, and it is just popping!  The setting and fun extras I'm coming up with along the design path are singing to me, too, and that is all just making me really happy.

Could the slump be over?

Then on Friday, just as I was bemoaning it being my last full day of school for the year and finally having gotten back into the design swing, this packet of fabrics arrived from AG. My AG, Art Gallery, not my daughters' AG, American Girl. No miniature roller skates could have ever made me as excited as these fabrics did.

Happy happy

These babies are mostly from the Sunlight Bazaar colorway of the "Indie" line by Pat Bravo. I really should have made a point to meet this woman and tell her I love her stuff.

Stay with me on this one....I see these fabrics as the stripes of the pumpkins in my oldie but goodie pattern, "Pick Me!" So I plan to redo it just in time for Maine Quilts at the end of July, adding some Phoomph leaves, too. It is going to be way modernized in a good way, and I really think it will be stunning.

I do love it like this, but it's been good to me and deserves an update.

Or it will be a horrid mess. Time will tell.

So the return of the mojo and summer vacation make an epic collision this year. Let's hope we all come out the other end happy and creatively satisfied.