Fabric Collection Review: Moda Sultry by Basicgrey

Basicgrey is traditionally a paper design company that branched out and introduced their Sultry paper line into fabric for Moda. I ordered a charm pack that consisted of all 40 selections in this particular line, and frankly, I feel most of these designs translated very well for use in the sewing room.

Check out the entire collection online HERE at the Fat Quarter Shop.

In this collection you will find botanical prints and smooth geometrics that have a wonderful range that can please the palates of fans of shabby chic to whimsy to contemporary sleek. The color palette of Raspberry, Vanilla, Chocolate and Pistachio hues mesh very well with current trends. The only snag I had, however, was that I was left wanting in the chocolate-hued category. There were very few selections that were of a predominantly brown design. To someone who blends and harmonizes fabrics in projects such as me, (and those millions of quilters out there especially) the lack of a few more balancing darks in this fabric family does leave me wanting (just a tad). But overall, this truly is an interesting collection.

Moda Sultry by Basicgrey : 4.5 out of 5

Custom Order: Megan's John Deere Gift Set

Here are the first two items in a gift set (split into two orders) ordered by a young woman named Megan for her nephew. (My apologies in advance for the low-quality indoor pictures with flash, but we haven't had any good sunny days here to allow me to work in natural light for a week or so).

The first, a crib sized blanket in the John Deere theme. The blanket is backed with a solid cotton flannel in a coordinating green. I sewed along the squares in the fabric with my machine to quilt the two sides together. Detail shot below.

The second item is a set of John Deere-themed weenie beanies, a diapering accessory for little boys.

Custom Order: Kylee's Strawberry Shortcake Bib

Kylee's mother sent me a swatch of the fabric being used to make another boutique-style outfit for her. I feel this bib was a great example of coordinating a bib to an outfit that allows the clothing to stand out with a bib that has a personality of its own instead of simply being "matchy-matchy".

Instead of going out and buying an identical measure of yardage of the same fabric, I pulled colors from the fabric and based my bib design on elements in the swatch.

Here is the front side of the bib. If you notice, I chose a green gingham print for the main background that would mimic the square elements in the swatch, and pulled the strawberry design from the fabric and replicated it in applique, as shown in the detail shot below.

I then embroidered around the strawberry top with a darker shade of green to add texture and make the image stand out from the gingham background.

The reverse is raspberry dots on a bubble gum pink background, which matches the dark pink on pink elements in the swatch. I am able to enhance the look of the ensemble and make it more visually appealing by harmonizing the bib with the fabric instead of making a carbon copy (which in a lot of cases with children's clothing, a carbon copy is perfectly fine, but with a very busy fabric like that found in this swatch, it is my opinion that the bib can actually take away from the outfit's look if it matches because it will camouflage the outfit's design).

Custom Order: Kylee's Ladybugs

This is another bib from Kylee's custom order, made to match an outfit with ladybugs on it.

Here is the picture of the outfit her mother sent me:

And here are both sides of the finished bib:

Quite a nice match, don't you agree?

Custom Bib Order: Kylee's Bee-utiful Bib

This bib were ordered for an adorable little 1 year old named Kylee to match or coordinate with existing boutique outfits she owned. More posts to come!







Bumble (front)













Bumble (Reverse)












Detail of the hand stitching over an existing design in the fabric.