Fabric

So Then This Happened • 19 Comments

sarah • February 4, 2015

I try to pre-wash my fabric and get it neatly into my stash as soon as possible. On Friday, I got my first Patchwork City BOM kit, the rest of the fabric I need for my king sized ninja quilt, and I picked up some other odds and ends. As always, there was some other fabric around here that I hadn't yet pre-washed. So the last couple days have been spent pre-washing and ironing. The washing end is in sight (there's still a healthy pile of ironing left!) and this morning I put in one of the last groups of fabrics, including some Cotton & Steel Viewfinders, some lovely Alison Glass Sun Prints, and some solid purple yardage. Darks. So I threw in a couple color catchers. Then I started up the washer and went about my morning.

When I came back to move the fabric to the dryer I was a bit confused at first. I opened the washer and picked up the top piece of fabric, and three color catchers. Hm. I thought I only put in two. Perhaps there was one in there from the previous load. I started trimming the unraveled edges of the fabric and there was something on it. Crud, looks like a piece of paper or a tag somehow got into this load of fabric... ya know, like how a tissue disintegrates in the washer, little bits of brown on my fabric. :-P I dusted the fat quarter off a bit then threw it into the dryer. Then I picked up the next piece of fabric and it's covered in brown bits, and underneath it were about fifteen color catchers. In that moment I knew what had happened, I WASHED THE ENTIRE BOX OF COLOR CATCHERS! Well, at least none of the fabrics bled. ;-)

A *few* more color catchers than needed.

Now I'm pretty sure when a small cardboard box disintegrates into wet cardboard dust, it results in about a million little brown specks... so yeah, they weren't exactly coming off real easily. So I shook the fabric around and kinda dusted it off with my hand as best I could and start loading it into the dryer. Then I had to babysit the dryer so I could empty the lint trap when it filled up, about every 4 minutes. At least this mostly took care of the problem and a second wash and dry seems to have left all my fabric looking like new again. You non-pre-washers are pointing and laughing now, aren't you?

See that... stuff... that used to be a cardboard box.

In summary, here's my pro tip: Don't put the entire box of Color Catchers in the wash.

Stash Audit • 10 Comments

sarah • January 18, 2015

In 2014, I really got back into regular quilting and sewing. Much of my stash at the start of 2014 was pretty outdated and I was seeing so many great projects being made from newer, more colorful, bold, beautiful, modern fabrics! So naturally, I had to have some. I certainly spent some time doing some quality fabric shopping last year, but I also worked really hard to create my sewing space, prewash all my fabrics that I hadn't yet prewashed over the years (read as: a lot of fabric) as well as to get it organized, a la Jeni Baker's suggestions in her awesome "Art of Choosing" blog series.

I'm working my way through some old WIPs, sometimes with less than inspiring fabrics compared to my new stuff. Participating in mini quilt swaps on Instagram and a couple quilting bees has allowed me to start dipping into the new stuff, and I've started making piles of some of my newer fabrics so that once I'm allowed to start some new larger projects, I have a palette ready to go. ;-)

I have found in my shopping this year that I am a blender addict. The majority of my purchases this year have been tone-on-tone or white-on-color fabrics. I participated in the Stash Stack Club for a few months (turquoise, citron/lime, orange) which built up my stash in those areas. You'll see my gaps in the rainbow, namely pinks and true greens. I'd also like a few more reds to choose from.

Lots of blues... but many of those are a decade old (originally collected for a bed quilt I was going to make myself when I was single, and never even started) and slightly less than inspiring. I destashed some to a friend recently, but the blues could use some more work.

Neutrals (I clearly lean to greys over browns/tans):

These are holiday prints (Halloween and Hanukkah) and miscellaneous multicolored prints, including novelty:

Once I got the stash all organized it made it so easy for me to pull fabrics for projects, or potential projects in some cases. Yeah, I just like to play with my pretty fabrics. Here are a few of my current piles. I'm building this first pile for some future quilt project. I'm currently crushing on greens/turquoises/teals.

I have a sorely neglected WIP to make my 2.5 year old a cuddle quilt. These batiks will be the fish on her ocean quilt.

And these cute zebras and elephants will become a baby quilt. Still thinking on a pattern choice for them.

Any fabrics that are over a yard I have stored on my mini bolts (cut up foam poster board from the dollar store).

Three of those are slated to be backings on specific projects in my current to do list. A few others I'm intending to make children's clothing with. My son will probably use the turtle or octopuses for the backing on his quilt.

I'll have to show you my precuts and scraps in another post. All in all my stash is in much better shape than it started the year. The gaps that I'm currently shopping are:

white on black
red blenders
low volume (esp text fabrics)
non-blenders (stuff with more than one color in it!)

That said, I'm not in particular need of filling those gaps at the moment. I need to knock out some finishes before I start a fun new project. I'll be linking up to #sewmystash2015 on IG led my Leasa as I use some of what you see above throughout the year.

What's in your fabric stash?

Linking up to Sunday Stash with Molli Sparkles.

Sunday Stash #15: A Baker’s Dozen Blenders • 6 Comments

sarah • October 12, 2014

At the beginning of the month I placed an order at Pink Chalk Fabrics during their (still ongoing) fabric liquidation sale and filled in some of the color gaps in my stash of blenders. I've decided I really like blenders. A lot. They arrived this week and did not disappoint. I think I'll be working some of these into my IG mini swap mini quilt that I've yet to design or start. ;-) (Note: I think part of the reason that I'm trying to finish up some old WIPs is that I really want to dive into some new fabric without old project guilt.)

Eloise Renouf Shape Of Spring Full Circle in Sunshine and Midnight and Modern Quilt Studio The Color Collection Rain Chain Yellow