Sweet Treats, Sweet Deals!

Last week I had a few days to do some "stash management" going through the tubs and fine tuning the stash and cycling the old to the smaller bins so it will be used up quicker. 

 This required me to go through the 12 large tubs of fabric that I keep under my long arm machine, pull out the fabric by color and sort them into groups of scraps/pieces smaller than a fat quarter and anything fat quarter size or larger.

 

This is the pile of fabrics smaller than a fat quarter and will be cut into...

 

 

my scrap user system sizes (strings, 1 1/2", 2", 2 1/2", 3 1/2", 5" sq).

 

The larger pieces (1/2" cuts) got cut into fat quarter sizes and the remaining yardage got put back in the tubs under the long arm. You might be wondering why go to all of the trouble....well I have found it is much easier and quicker to "shop your stash" if you are able to see it quickly. It also gave me a better idea of what color families of fabric I was lacking and was in need of adding to. Which brings me to the 2nd half of this post.

This week I celebrated a birthday and I wanted to "round out" my fabric stash color families instead of receiving the regular birthday gifts. Originally I was planning on going to my local quilt store to do the birthday fabric stashing but for some reason I decided to look at some of my favorite online fabric stores to see if there were any specials being offered. Fabric Shack  just added a HUGE amount of fabrics to the sale-abration section of their site fabrics as low as $2.98 per yard and up (minimum amount per cut is 1/2 yard pieces). But don't forget to look in the main fabric section of their site also because there are A LOT of fabrics that are on sale ($4.99-$7.99 per yard with the smallest of cuts being 1/4 yd cuts).

 

 

I was able to get 42 yards of quilt shop quality fabric for only $195.00 plus another $8.00 for shipping! if I would have gone to my local quilt shop for these I would have paid anywhere from $419.00-$503.00 based on the current fabric prices of $9.99-$11.99 per yard.

 

Here is another pic of my new fabrics out of the plastic...per the postage on the box it cost $43.00 to ship but I only paid $8.00 priority mail because I spent over a certain amount in the transaction! As you can see from the pic I was lacking a lot of grey and black on white fabrics from my stash ;0) the three larger cuts of fabric (black, red & orange) is for Bonnie Hunter's Orange Crush quilt I want to make in the future. Also you can get some more sweet deals at the following online quilt stores Whittle's Fabrics, and Connecting Threads

  

and speaking of sweet deals....my daughter Rachel bought me some of my favorite jelly belly flavors for my b-day!

 

Of course dear hubby couldn't be out done by our daughter so he bought me some more jelly bellies!

Kaffe Fassett Fabrics

I am very traditional when it comes to color and design. I like classic prints with a dash of whimsy here and there. I have never been swepted away by the modern design or color combinations of the fabric lines of Amy Buttler or Kaffe Fassett. When I see the individual yardage of these lines I scratch my head and think what were they thinking and what on earth could I do with that. But then I started seeing some quilts made from these fabrics, mostly scrap quilts or as I like to call them organized chaos quilts because some are very well thought out with placement of color.   

See in the above photo these fabrics look ugly (at least to me). 

But if you spread them out a little based on color and value, and not look too closely at the print of the individual fabrics, they start to take on a whole new look.  

Then if you add these fabrics (a border, binding and an accent border).

You could get a quilt like this! This quilt pattern is in the new "Scrap Basket Sensations" book by Kim Brackett. It uses 2 1/2" strips. Great book to own if you are into the jelly roll strips/ patterns.

Then I came across this beauty over at Green Fairy Quilts Blog It's a Dear Jane Quilt made in the Kaffe Fassett fabrics in a rainbow trip around the world layout. It combines traditonal quilt blocks with trendy mod fabrics. What you end up with is a gorgeous quilt! But Judi's quilting on this quilt really turned it into an heirloom that will be talked about for decades or more! For more pics of this quilt click on the link to see what I am talking about. It was this quilt That really made me stop and rethink my opinion on this modern fabric designer. 

Up until now I have avoided these fabrics, didn't want them in my stash, didn't want to make anything from them period...but never say never because I decided to give them a chance and started buying some for my stash. I view it as a love hate relationship...I hate them by themselves but together they are starting to grow on me. Perhaps it's because of the bright colors or how they look when sliced and diced in small pieces (2 1/2" or smaller) that make these fabrics come alive. 

Sneak Peek at the New Bali Pops

The one one the left is Blue Hawaiian, the center is Grasshopper and the one on the right is Mango Margarita

The one one the left is Pink Lemonade, the center is Sangria, and the last one on the right is Zinfandel.

My 3 favorites are Mango Margarita, Pink Lemonade and Sangria. All of these are due out in the fall (Sept/Oct). I can't wait till these come out, I just love Bali Pops!