Saturday 2 November 2013

Got My Christmas Fabric Stash From Calico & Ivy!!

Calico & Ivy stash by Rhapsody and Thread
The stash!

We are always SO excited to go to Calico & Ivy and we NEVER walk out of there empty-handed! Our mission today was to find Liberty of London fabrics that would work with our Australiana Christmas theme (and I think mum wanted some Liberty fabric for her next quilt project too).

Mum and I both love Australian flora. Every chance we get, we're whipping out our cameras and snapping away until we've covered every angle of a flower or branch of some bush or tree. All with the dream of one day producing our own fabric to make our crafts with. Like Christmas crafts - how great would it be to make all your decorations with your own design and colour theme?! That's the plan anyway, maybe next year... Definitely not this year!

I still can't believe that there is less than 8 weeks to go. Eek! There are so many things to do and not enough time in the day with 2 beautiful babies keeping me on my toes. But it's those 2 beauties that inspire me to make this Christmas a truly special one. This year will be Logan's first Christmas and the first time that our family will be celebrating together as a complete (as in no more children) unit!

So my priority is Christmas stockings for all of us, and being the matchy-matchy type of person that I am, I like the idea of having coordinating decorations for the tree and table. BUT my dilemma is what fabric to use. I've searched everywhere for Christmas fabrics that don't have snowmen, reindeer or gingerbread men all over them. I'm not saying that they're not pretty, but in my opinion they are not very typical of an Australian Christmas. I think all three of those American Christmas icons would melt in our 40C heat. Hence the idea of creating a more typically Australian Christmas fabric range. But, like I said, not enough time. So, we figured we would look at what Calico and Ivy had in their Liberty of London stock to see what might work.

This is what I decided on - I'm so excited! I know they are not 'Christmas' fabrics, but I think that is what makes them perfect for me. I like things to be a bit different so that I can make them my own. And this colour range is perfect. It has red and green, but also gold and blue - which to me symbolise the sun and the sea! They also have a bit of a masculine edge to them, which works because I'm making stockings for boys too.

Calico & Ivy stash by Rhapsody and Thread
Christmas stocking fabric and pom-pom garland for the kids

This next batch is mums pick for her next quilt - loving the reds and blues!

Calico & Ivy stash by Rhapsody and Thread
More Liberty tana lawn

And these little fat quarter sticks were irresistible sitting there on the counter. I'm going to use the far left for Justin's Christmas stocking, and the rest will go in mums quilt (unless I pinch them when she's not looking!).

Calico & Ivy stash by Rhapsody and Thread
Liberty tana lawn fat quarter sticks

Oh and I nearly forgot these gorgeous designer felts by Heather Bailey. This was actually one of the reasons I wanted to go to Calico and Ivy. I've hunted everywhere for decent quality and colour felt for my projects, with no luck. But I saw the felt baskets last time I was at Calico and knew that they would have the Australiana colours I want for my Christmas flowers. And here they are! My inspiration is the Red Flowering Gum and I can't wait to see if I can make them using this gorgeous felt.

Calico & Ivy stash by Rhapsody and Thread
Designer felt by Heather Bailey

And that's it! Now I'm ready to get cracking on my Australiana Christmas Projects!

xx Tab

 

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