Some unusual fabric choices - for me!

Friday was the end of a very looong week at work for me and I needed a fabric fix!

As well as working in Canterbury, I also work in what is known as the Medway towns composed of three adjacent towns in north-east Kent - Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham. They are all historic towns with a castle or two, a pre-Norman Cathedral, Napoleonic prisoner of war tunnels, Maritime dockyards going back to Tudor times and very, very close links to Charles Dickens.

I decided to leave work an hour early and went over to Rochester and a quilt store called Hometown. I rarely have the chance to visit this quilt shop which has been in Rochester High Street for about 18 months. It sits under the shadow of the Cathedral and as well as being a quilt shop has lots of other things of interest such as lots of buttons in bowls and ribbons.

The store has about 150 bolts of mainly contemporary fabric such as Kaffe Fassett and Amy Butler, but hidden amongst it all are some fabrics from other mainly Moda collections and I even found a bolt of fabric with New York yellow taxi's all over which I instantly recognised as being from the City Quilter in New York City - Diane I know is going to find that so funny!

Not having had a fabric fix in some time and being drawn in I came away with some rather unusual choices - for me!

I like the dusky pink and purple combination on the left. I do not know though how I will use them! And, I like the brights on the right particularly the middle teal and red fabric, which I bought a long length of as I thought it would make a border and setting squares for a future quilt.

The fabric on the left will be used in the Spratley Quilt. It will replace another fabric which was rather "flat" and the rather creased fabric on the right will be going in another quilt for which I have been gathering the fabrics below.

This is the collection thus far, quite a departure from my normal pre 1860's style and shows the influence  Cath Kidston and 1950's retro fabrics are having on me. May it's an attempt to try and cheer up my stash??

So, how am I going to use these fabrics? Well, I have an idea and it involves a pieced and appliqued quilt from the 1840's...

Have a good week!