Denyse Schmidt « make something

I just wanted to gush a little over the darling little coin purse I made in a class taught by Reva on Sunday. Figuring out how to make these purses with the metal frames was on ‘my crafty list of things to do’, so I was delighted when Reva proposed this as a class at the workroom.

I used fabric from Denyse Schmidt’s new line ‘County Fair’, it’s a heavier canvas weight perfect for home decor and accessories. The lining is a print of antique coupons by Anna Griffin.

These little purses use very little fabric, so you can make a few from just a fat quarter or make good use of your scrap stash. With all the different sizes of frames in the shop, I see a matching token purse, sunglass case and clutch bag in my near future.

‘Lorelei’, originally uploaded by the workroom.

This is Lorelei. She is the centre piece fabric in an epic Queen-sized quilt that has been ‘in the works’ for over five years. It is also my first quilt. Now that I’ve got my own quilt and fabric shop, I think it’s time to push this project back to the front of the line.

I first took notice of quilting years and years ago at ICFF in NYC when I saw Denyse Schmidt’s quilts for the very first time. It was one of those moments when a whole new world opens up before you and swallows you whole. I started collecting fabrics for a quilt that is inspired by a couture quilt that Denyse did for the amazing store Takashimaya made from vintage Kimonos. I collected fabrics for this quilt until last summer when I finally found the last fabric to complete the collection… for the quilt top. I’ll fill you in on the quilt back fabrics later on.

Lorelei is a vintage cotton print that I bought off of ebay. Everything about it is perfect. The name, which also happens to be the name of one of my favourite songs by the Tom Tom Club. -love!- The typewriter font notes on the selvedge, which also read “Never Misbehaves”. -love!- The colours and the off-set printing of that sweet floral. -love!-

I’ll be introducing you to all the other fabrics of this quilt in the next little while. I hope you love fabric as much as I do.