Sunday Stash and MAQS Recap

I went to the Mid-Atlantic Quilt show last weekend, and believe it or not, I bought some fabric! lol

In addition to these super sweet repros, I also got some Lizzy and Tula, and a stencil set thing so I can improve my FMQ a little bit. I also got my first skeins of "fancy" yarn! (Aka not from Joann's/Michaels/AC Moore) I think these will become some really sweet Christmas-y socks!

I didn't actually take any photos of the actual show quilts, because I was distracted by another purchase, which is getting it's own post next week!

In the meantime, I'll tease you with the promise of a new quilt in the next couple of weeks. I'm turning these 30's prints into a quilt for my BFF's new baby. Who will probably be walking by the time it's finished. But at least I am SO much more inspired with this than the quilt I was working on for her before!

Stashtastic Sunday - Organizing!

So my stash has been getting out of hand. Not growing too fast, luckily, but just getting messy. And I'm running out of room, if I'm honest.

If you remember from this post, I re-did everything not too long ago. (ok, it was longer ago than I realized...) Here is how everything looked at the last house tour:

I really like the mini-bolts, but I was at the point where things were getting put away two layers deep, and I was forgetting about stuff I had already bought. This is how I ended up with several yards of the same Architextures print. Not that I mind about having more of that, but I do love some variety instead of buying the same things over and over, you know? At least it means my taste is consistent ;-)

I wish I had taken a before picture recently, but I just jumped in one day and started moving things around.

First I took everything off the bolts, and was left with a hefty stack of empties...

Then I put everything back all pretty :-)

I organize fabric by size of cut, and then by color. The FQs are on the second shelf, and I honestly try not to buy too many of those anymore. They're just gone too fast!

The half yards are on the little shelves to the right, and the 1-2 yard cuts are on the top two shelves. The second and third shelf have collections that I want to keep together instead of organizing by color. There are also a couple stacks that are pulls for projects I haven't started already. I also kept the solids on the mini-bolts because I use the foam board to label the solids with maker and color, since they don't have a printed selvage.

I like it! We'll see how long it lasts...


P.S. this post makes me think I need to invest in a decent camera (i.e. not an iphone!) sooner rather than later.

Stash-tastic Sunday: Kona Hexies

I ordered some of these new Kona pre-cut hexies when I was ordering some more fabric for my On a Whim, as well as a couple more prints from Les Amis. I've seen these around the blogosphere, and wanted to check them out. I ordered one pack in the 'brights' colorway.

Of course I started throwing them up onto the design wall before I had the insight to take a picture of the stack, so here are the warms that were still in my hand when I got smart.

You can kind of see the edges here, where they are burned a little bit during die cutting. It's a little distracting at first, but it helps to keep them from fraying. The burned bits are also well behind the 1/4 inch, so I really don't think they'll be a problem.

On the wall! So pretty :-) I have no earthly idea what I'm going to do with these kids, but it will probably end up being a wall hanging. Let me know if you have any ideas!

Stashtastic Sunday - MAQS loot!

I spent Friday at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show in Hampton, Va. It's an annual tradition for me, so I was definitely looking forward to it.

It's also something where I look forward to spending some cash money.

I got a magazine and a pattern, and a purple thing and some hexie papers. I also got a pair of machingers. I tried them out when I took my one and only quilting class, but I preferred being able to feel the fabric a little better. But after the gardening gloves incident, I decided that they were worth another shot.

I also got a straight stitch plate for Bridget, as well as some bobbins (and a holder). Bobbins for this beast have been IMPOSSIBLE to find! My shop in Richmond hasn't been able to get any in in months! Bridget's a new model, so accessories in general have been hard to come by, but I've been working with five bobbins total since November. The Bernina dealer at the show said that they only had 12 to bring with them, and they sold out within 30 minutes of the first day of the show. I took a shot and tried the Bernina dealer in Newport News and got lucky!

I also got some fun blenders - some more Simply Color as well as some ovals and a yard of some really fun sherbet-y orange.

I also finally found some Les Amis! I first saw this line a while ago, and thought idly was so cute and sweet, but I've never seen it in stores. So when I saw it I had to forgo the fat quarter bundle and get some half yards ;-) I also got a fq of the large scale focal print too.

I'll have a post of the quilts in the show tomorrow, hopefully! It was amazing, so many beautiful pieces!

Stash organization

In the midst of making the first few x-plus along blocks, I realized that I have no idea most of the time what my fabric 'inventory' is. This is the first truly scrappy quilt I've done, and I wanted to see what I had to work with. Which, of course, led to me reorganizing my stash.

I've seen a couple of tutorials about how to make mini bolts out of foam core, so I gave that a try. I essentially just used an exacto knife to cut them up after measuring and marking how big I wanted them to be. The ones I made are 10x7 I think.

I used the mini bolts to store yardage, and anything less than a yard I folded up. I put everything back on the shelf in color order, so I could see quickly what all I've got to wrk with. (That's when I realized I needed to stock up on yellow. Like a lot. )

The third shelf is collections that I want to keep together, and solids I haven't figured out where to put yet.

The boxes on the lower shelves hold pulls for projects that I'm currently working on, as well as some home dec fabrics.

The whole shebang is really pretty, if I do say so myself... I love being able to see my stash, it gets me really excited to make pretty things :-)

Stash-tastic Sunday

I worked a lot this past week, so there isn't anything productive to show you. I did manage to finish quilting a secret project this afternoon, but no pictures of that yet.

Here are some pretties instead...

...I lied

So yesterday I was all like "I haven't bought fabric in ages" etc.

I apparently couldn't handle it. I went to my LQS just to look. Riiiight. Like that's realistic.

I ended up getting some more FQs for the two BOMs I'm doing, and I think the depth of those stacks has improved. I like how it's turning out.

Did you know they have Kona at Joann's?!? See those two bolts up there? Yeah, that happened.

Stash-tastic Sunday

Believe it or not, I actually haven't bought any fabric lately. I know, I must be ill. But it's ok, really. Since I've started really using my new sewing room, and pulling out fabrics that have been hidden away for a long time, my stash seems to be growing at an excelerated rate.

One of my goals for this year is to become more comfortable with cutting into well loved hoarded fabrics. I mean, I have a full fat quarter set of Good Fortune that I'm waiting for the 'perfect' project for.

I've put together a couple of color stories that I'm thinking about using for the BOMs for this year, or Swoon. They are still getting rearranged, and I think they both need a little more depth, but we'll see what happens. I'll probably throw some solids in there too, since solids are my jam.

Stash-tastic Sunday

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday, and that everyone can spend some quality time with loved ones.

There were just a few odds and ends this week, which is ok, because I buy too much fabric. Seriously, it's a problem.

So, here are some dotty stash builders, some pezzy and chevron remnants, a narwhal or two, and flags!

Stash-tastic Sunday!

Here are some of the pretty pieces I picked up this past week. I don't usually get this much in one trip, but my LQS was having a promotion where I could spend "dollars" that I earned in November.

Some more Cuzco and some other stuff that I'm not sure of the collection...

Dots! I need more blenders like this...

aaaaaand.... Architextures! I've been seeing this line all over the blog-o-sphere for weeks now, and I'm so glad my store got some. I picked up just a few pieces, monochromatic ones that will blend well with other lines. I might need to go back and get some yardage of this line...

Stash-tastic Sunday

My LQS had a super fun fq sale this weekend. I got a bunch of those, some solids, and the backing and quilting thread for the blue quilt.

Eye candy!

Stash-tastic Sunday

Here are some of the fabrics I've acquired in the past week or so. You can never have enough fabric!!

Denyse Schmidt - this is the first of her stuff that I've gotten from Joann's. It was during the Black Friday sale, so I couldn't say no!

From one of my LQSs, some Michael Miller "Out to Sea" and "Shore Thing".

And finally... Cuzco!!! I feel like I've been waiting for this line forever! I'd like to get some more, I'm thinking about doing a Swoon in these fabrics. I love them!

What have you been hoarding lately? Any new lines out that you're excited about?

Stash Building

So I've been working on my stash building skills lately. I tend to have a problem buying fabric when I don't have a specific plan for it. Since I understand the importance of having fabric on hand for impromptu projects, and since I do a good percentage of my quilting in the middle of the night when the stores are closed, I've been making an effort to buy a little bit of fabric for a "rainy day".

Here are some of my recent spoils - these are from two of my LQSs, the prints I got just because, and the solids are actually for two projects that are still in the planning stages. I'm not working with patterns, so I'm learning as I go about pattern design.

These are from a new (to me) fabric store I found online, and the prices were so good, I ended up buying 7 yards for the same price 4 would have been at the store. Yay!

So pretty.