"Layer Cakes" and "Charm Squares"

Oh, a whole new way to blow my budget.

Yeah... I was in deep trouble when I saw the display in my favorite quilting supply shop. I'd taken my friend Jen (whose gorgeous first project I showed you last week) for a shopping excursion there, and while she was looking at the kits, I amused myself at the display of Layer Cakes and Charm Squares. Both Charm Squares and Layer Cakes packs are just pre-cut prints. Charm Squares are 5x5" and Layer Cakes are 10x10". Here's one as an example:

There are 36 different prints in this package. Some packs come with more, some less, so it's important to pay attention when you're buying them; you could end up with less than you think you have.

Here's a sample of the different prints in that pack (below). Aren't the colours just wonderful and warm? The prints remind me of civil war prints, but are a bit more vibrant than I usually think such calico is (of course... what do I really know about civil war prints? Not much...)

After picking out the fabric above I fell in love with this Layer Cake pack:

It's a stack of 42 different "William Morris" prints. I showed these to my friend Julie, who instantly recognized the designs - and who told me about William Morris (1834-1896). He was a poet and political activist, but also famous as an English designer of the Victorian era. His nature-inspired wallpaper and textile designs were very popular in Victorian homes.

I'm still stitching away on the Christmas quilt, having decided to go ahead and finish it now, rather than pack it away, unfinished, for next Christmas. But as I'm working on that, I'm thinking about these William Morris prints, especially, and will most likely make those my next project. I'm thinking about another queen-size bedspread.