For the first time ever, I am linking up to Sunday Stash.
I'm not someone who normally buys up fabric to build my stash, but sometimes I do get tempted. Last week Craftsy had a mystery box on sale...50 fat quarter for $50. That is a serious steal, as fat quarters are typically $3 each. So I looked back at my finances, saw my quilting spending had been very low thus far this year (because I'm catching up on so many UFOs that I haven't started any projects!) and decided to treat myself!
All of the fat quarters were from Free Spirit Fabrics and were high quality with fun, bright patterns. The only downside was that there were duplicates, so I didn't get 50 distinct fat quarters. I made my boyfriend model some of my favorites.
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| I love the big, bold print on this. Not sure what I will do with an FQ size, but the fabric itself sure would make a lovely quilt backing! |
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| I love how bright and cheery this one is |
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| This one was metallic! |
Now I also had another stash addition...my monthly color FQ bundle from
The Fabric Shoppe. This month's color was green.
This month had a few more hits and misses than last month. While there were a bunch that I was head over heels for...
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| I LOVE this color scheme! |
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| This one brings in so many fun colors |
...there were also a few that I was not so thrilled about. To me these two came across as old fashioned.
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| The color scheme is really muted and pastel-y. |
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| I think the duckies are cute, but this is not my shade of green. The little patterns remind me of older fabrics. |
So that's my stash for now. As an aside,
Esther Aliu recently blogged that her top advice for new quilters was to NOT build their stashes. There are definitely some people I follow where I'm like "what the heck do you do with all that fabric? How can you afford to purchase so much all the time?!" I thought it was an interesting dichotomy because it seems older quilters (who probably have 30 years worth of fabric stashed up) are against stashes, while it's the young quilters who are powering full steam ahead with stash building. I guess I don't have a big opinion one way or the other. I used to be anti-stash building, but it sure is a treat to receive new fabric. :) What's your opinion?
I didn't get that In My Room FQ in my box and I just love it! :-(
ReplyDeleteI was thinking a zipper pouch or small tote bag would be good for that first print you showed. That's what I may do with mine.
Love all your fabrics and find the ones that I am on the fence about when I receive them in the mail usually turn out to be my favorite. As for stashes--I say the more that I have (That I Love) the better. When inspiration strikes I pick something from my stash, see if there is more in my stash that works and if not--I head to the store. I never buy something in person if I don't LOVE IT!
ReplyDeleteHhmmmm... Funny,but the pastel one green with pops of pink is something I had yardage of that I used to back a quilt recently. My advice for stash building is know what you use and stash it. Don't buy too much for one quilt. You'll end up with a lot of stash you won't use.
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting question.. I have quite a big stash (or it feels big to me, though I've seen people with far, far more and others with far less) and I like having it because I can pull this and that out and try different things. But it's VERY easy to get into the trap of nothing ever being quite right and then just winding up buying more of something different. I've been trying (and largely failing) to fabric fast this year, but even though I have been buying more, I've also been better at using things I've got and it's been fun to pull out things that I bought whenever ago and to just... use it. It's a little too easy to get to precious about fabric, always waiting for Just The Right Project. It's there to be used, so it's fun to just use it.
ReplyDeleteI keep trying to remind myself that there will always be more and other beautiful fabric, so if this or that passes me by now, I might not be able to find it, but I'll be able to find something else I'll love. Maybe I'll get better at remembering that as the year goes on...
Lovely stash additions!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I've been sewing for years and I've always had some amount of stash, it's only been within the last 2-3 years that I've been able to afford to buy something just because I love it (which explains the expansion of my quilting stash). I love to make quilts with many different fabrics in them, so building a stash has finally made that possible for me and I couldn't be happier. I think you have to find what works for you - I find inspiration comes from my stash and that I find it easier to have a good assortment to work from.