Has anyone ever made a Kaffe Fassett quilt and...

[sethstarkaddersmum]

...know if it really takes as much fabric as the instructions say?

Even with seam allowances he just seems to be telling you to buy vast quantities - it'll end up costing £150 just for the main fabric of the quilt without even the backing or the wadding

does anyone have experience or do I have to just sit down with a pen and paper and work it out?

Me too... I have several of his books.

Also think twice about buying Liberty prints for quilts, because they have such a "pure" cotton content, they do have a habit of rotting, especially if you use any of the lawns.

You might also take a look at some of the shops on e-bay or if you are in London, there are some that I can suggest there.

right, I have had a look and he does tell you to fussy cut. I've compared it with other quilts in his books of the same size and it adds up to 18 yards compared to around 12 for the others. So that would account for it.

It's the Red Diamonds quilt in Glorious Patchwork, except I'm not doing it red; the plan is to use his measurements and template for a green quilt (meant to evoke the woods in spring) made up of green medium to large leafy prints (where possible with browns, whites and a smattering of bluebell. The greens should mostly be leafy (you know when the sun shines through leaves) but also some darker ones. Some of them can be flowery but I want a preponderance of leafiness. I think some batiks could be in there as well as prints - the colours often seem to be what I am looking for.

He tells you to centre a flower or fruit in each patch, which I won't be doing. So I should be able to manage with half a yard of each fabric rather than 3/4. And if I don't have enough of any particular one it is the kind of design where it will be fine to have mistake patches.

I won't be starting it for a while; I was planning to gradually gather the fabrics over a few months so no-one notices how much money I'm spending.

Any tips for cheap places to buy fabrics very gratefully received.

I'm not in London but I might have a shopping trip when I go down in March....

Thank you Butterfly and LatteLady.

am going for a more yellowy green predominantly but when I started to think about patchwork last spring whilst walking in woods I looked carefully at colours and there were bluey greens and silvery greens too.

do please pm any more links!

yes, I suppose the Kaffe Fassett business model involves synergy between the books and the fabric ranges....

his fabrics are so gorgeous though.

OP, I buy Kaffe Fassett fabrics from this site which is consistently excellent (found it via ebay initially). Not sure how useful it would be if you're looking for very specific patterns, but worth checking out. I can highly recommend it for speed of service and attention to detail.

Thanks Evenkeel.

Butterfly - thanks for those brilliant links. Some real bargains there.

Saw this and it reminded me, we had a project at college (fashion/textiles B.A) set by, overseen, and marked by Kaffe Fassett.He was a lovely kind and gentle man,and full of expression, and passion for colour, as you'd expect...
We all had such a good time!

oh how lovely JellyKat - I have so many of his books now I really want him to be nice!
what did you have to do in the project?

Well it was 20 years ago, so i can't remember the details exactly,but i know our print designs were based on our surrounding flora, as i still have a metre of my end result!
I am a fabric hoarder..

I can also remember that he was very good looking and serene,our head of year tutor became very gushing and giggley in his presence, we teased her for months!

While i am here,does anyone know where i can get backing for making Rag rugs??

I just looked him up, he is older than my dad! And gay and lives with his partner who is also a fabric designer. I bet their house is amazing. Probably a temple to minimalism (only kidding).

Yes, but our head of year was a very determined lady!