Sunday, August 25, 2013

Stash Hoarding, The Sequel, Day 5: Dream On

To conclude my week of stash-hoarding posts, I'll feature one of my favorite collections by Urban Chiks called "Dream On":

This collection has such a vintage look -- in fact, I think I'm drawn to it because it reminds me of the sheets on the twin beds in my grandmother's guest room.

I especially like the collection when paired with a crisp white solid (although you may be able to tell that I accidentally used a different white for the borders of the quilt above)!

So pretty and cheerful!

 

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Stash Hoarding, The Sequel, Day 4: Fandango

Given my love of Kate Spain fabrics, it is not a surprise that another one of her collections would be part of my "stash hoarding". Fandango was her second collection for Moda Fabrics, and I love the soothing color palette and Art Deco feel of the fabrics.

I really love to pair the Fandango fabrics with an ivory solid -- so pretty!

However, I also like the way this jelly roll quilt came out: (pattern is Jelly - Filled by Thimbleblossoms

Such a lovely collection-- it's still hard to resist those elusive precuts when I come across them!

 

Friday, August 23, 2013

Stash Hoarding, The Sequel, Day 3: Hometown

Yesterday's Stash Hoarding post featured the Sweetwater collection Make Life. Today's will focus on another Sweetwater favorite, Hometown. I'm really not sure I could choose a favorite print in the collection -- I just love the way they all go together! The color palette is great, and all the basics are there: text prints, stripes, plaids, dots, etc.

I had a great time making Christmas stockings out of this non-traditional palette:

When I wrote my When the Stars Align pattern, I knew I wanted to use Hometown for the cover photo:

As I mentioned, I love the way the palette works together. However, earlier this year, I had a custom request to make the quilt in only the reds and yellows. I love the way it turned out!

At this point in time, precuts of Hometown are pretty hard to find, so I grab them whenever I find a good deal!

Tune in tomorrow for another episode of Stash Hoarding!

 

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Stash Hoarding, the Sequel, Day 2: Make Life

A stash hoarding series would not be complete without an entry by Sweetwater. In fact, this year's Stash Hoarding Series will include TWO Sweetwater collections.

Of course, I am still completely smitten by one of last year's stash hoarding entries, Authentic, but I have other favorites as well.

Sweetwater's second collection for Moda, Make Life, was an entirely different color palette from their wildly successful collection Authentic. But it contains some of the same elements that make their fabrics so wonderful: dots, stripes, text prints, etc. As soon as it was available, I wasted no time in making one of my Hip to Be Square quilts:

I also made a tumbler quilt out of some of the collection. This picture is a nice representation of the beautiful colors and prints:

Earlier this year, I revisited the collection and made a couple of additional Hip to Be Square quilts, as well as a matching burp cloth and stroller blanket for a customer:

This charcoal grey minky dot was a perfect backing for the burp cloth, even though the fabric in the collection reads dark brown.

I can't believe I was able to find enough of the green text print on the Internet to back the quilt -- very hard to find nowadays!

Occasionally, I come across some reasonably priced Make Life charm packs, and I can't help but snatch them up. I'm definitely still not over this fun collection!

Tomorrow, I'll share my next favorite Sweetwater collection, Any guesses as to what it will be?

 

Friday, August 16, 2013

Stash Hoarding, The Sequel, Day One: Ruby

Last fall, I did a series of blog posts on my favorite fabrics to "hoard". (My working definition of this is "out-of-print fabric collections that I can't resist purchasing if I find a reasonable price on them, and although I will sew with them, I seem to have to maintain a healthy amount in reserve in order to do so!"). I decided to do a second series of posts this week called "Stash Hoarding: The Sequel".

It will come as no surprise that the first collection, Ruby, is a "sibling" of one of last year's collections (Bliss). I would buy any Bonnie and Camille fabric collection sight-unseen. I just love all of them, and I especially like the way they work together. In fact, I've made several quilts with multiple collections, including my Scrappy Trip Along (Bliss, Ruby, Vintage Modern, Marmalade, and Happy Go Lucky), which now lives on my bed.

Another quilt for me : Great Granny Squares (Bliss and Ruby), and backed Ina cozy flannel print from the Ruby collection.

Patchwork Squares (Bliss, Ruby and Vintage Modern)-- this is one of several I've made for Etsy customers.
I really haven't made too many quilts solely out of Ruby, but I did make this queen size version with matching shams for a customer in January.
This quilt was inspired by a pillow I made from Bliss and Ruby. Instead of using a white background, I chose the Ruby aqua dot to set off the stars.

I am working on a similar version using the grey Ruby dot as background:

Here are the most recent additions to my Ruby stash: a couple of scrap bags from Ebay that I think are destined to become Christmas stockings!

Tune in tomorrow for the next installment of Stash Hoarding!

 

My Sewing Studio

Since The Sewing Loft and Ellison Lane Quilts are currently hosting a linky party to share your sewing space, I thought it was time for another visit to my studio, which did undergo some improvement since the last time I posted about it.

My favorite thing about my tiny (approx 8 x 8 foot) space, aside from the fact that I have a place to call my own in which to create, is my fabric storage system. These cubes were purchased from Michael's over a period of time (either when the scrapbooking storage was on sale, or when I had a coupon). I had seen them on a blog and thought they would be perfect for fabric, and they really are!

Folded fat quarters fit in them beautifully, as do charm packs. I labelled the drawers, so it is easy to find or store fabrics from all of my favorite designers and collections. The cubes also stack in any configuration. Most of my cubes are the four drawer variety, but I do have some open slotted cubes I use to store Accuquilt dies or layer cakes.

Even with all this storage, I still have some overflow, which I store in bins on top of the cubes. Yardage for backings, as well as my book collection, are stored in stacked wood crates (also available at Michael's or Joann's). These fabrics are grouped by designer rather than color, in keeping with my drawer storage system.

My other main storage area is a stainless steel shelving unit from Sam's club. I use this for all of my Etsy quilts that are ready for shipping.

The room is so tiny that I really had to take advantage of vertical storage, so all three storage systems fit the bill quite nicely!

When I rearranged my sewing room last fall, I was able to move my sewing table to the window wall, so I have the added bonus of a nice view while I work.

This summer, I decided the old linoleum and area rug had to go, so I installed some peel and stick vinyl tiles from Lowes. I wanted an inexpensive, easy fix, but I did select a good name brand tile on clearance, so I'm really happy with the durability and comfort of the tile. Changing the flooring gave me a chance to so some major cleaning and dusting, and I've been enjoying my updated space all summer long!

Hope you enjoyed your visit! Next week, I'll be doing a series of posts on "stash hoarding", so be sure to come back for another peek inside my fabric storage units!

To see previous posts on my sewing space, see here and here.

 

 

 

 

 

Finish it up Friday

Wow -- I didn't realize how much time had passed since my last post. My silence is certainly not due to lack of things to show -- I have been sewing up a storm! Get ready for a picture-heavy post!

This past week, I finished up four quilt bindings while I was away at a conference. First up is All Hands on Deck by Dear Stella:

Good Fortune (Kate Spain, Moda Fabrics):

I was able to use almost all of my scraps on the back -- this project was part of my personal "use it up" summer challenge.

Midwest Modern (Amy Butler)-- this quilt had been planned at least two years ago -- I'm glad to have it finally completed!

Les Amis (Patti Sloniger, Michael Miller Fabrics) -- one of the four Les Amis quilt tops I posted about here.

When I returned from the conference, I finished these matching Ahoy Matey pillow shams for a customer:

Today, I'm hoping to get this top quilted (made out of mostly Wheels by My Mind's Eye for Riley Blake Fabrics).

And maybe get these sewn into a top (Seaside, Riley Blake Fabrics)

I'm also giving myself some blogging homework -- I'm planning a follow up to my Stash Hoarding Series that I did last September. Stay tuned!

Linking up to Finish It Up Friday and Needle and Thread Thursday.