Fabric Moratorium 2022
08-18-2022, 01:14 PM
#272
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2021
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 402
Finished my quilt top from the 20+ year old stashed fabric. I ended up having to make a few more of the kaleidoscope blocks to make it work but I'm quite pleased with the result. While it's technically a Christmas print (the music and words are from "The Holly and the Ivy"), I think it would pass for an anytime quilt as long as people don't obsess over that little detail. :-)
I have enough of the main fabric (that I cut up for the hexes) to use as a backing AND enough of another fabric from the same collection to bind with (I was worried about this one because I've used a lot of this up in other projects). It's going into my "to be completed" tote and will hopefully be finished sooner rather than later.
In searching for that elusive piece of binding fabric I found a few more pieces of potential theme fabrics that are now waiting for their own transformations into something wonderful. I also saw Karen Brown's interview with Vanessa Génier from Quilts for Survivors and have another project I'm just sketching out that I hope to donate to this great charity.
I don't know if this is true for others here, but I'm discovering my stash-collecting/hoarding is strongly influenced by two emotional responses. One is "I love this fabric and would love to use it in something," so I buy it (whether new or thrifted) and the other is "I love this fabric and am not ready to use it in something," which mostly happens when I look at some of my long-term residents. In general, there are very few pieces in my collection that do not evoke the "I love this" part of the statement, for which I feel very lucky. :-) However, I am also going to try to keep this in mind if I do see a fabric that does not grab me in this way - I will then be able to just walk away or perhaps, if it's already here, let it go to a better home.
I have enough of the main fabric (that I cut up for the hexes) to use as a backing AND enough of another fabric from the same collection to bind with (I was worried about this one because I've used a lot of this up in other projects). It's going into my "to be completed" tote and will hopefully be finished sooner rather than later.
In searching for that elusive piece of binding fabric I found a few more pieces of potential theme fabrics that are now waiting for their own transformations into something wonderful. I also saw Karen Brown's interview with Vanessa Génier from Quilts for Survivors and have another project I'm just sketching out that I hope to donate to this great charity.
I don't know if this is true for others here, but I'm discovering my stash-collecting/hoarding is strongly influenced by two emotional responses. One is "I love this fabric and would love to use it in something," so I buy it (whether new or thrifted) and the other is "I love this fabric and am not ready to use it in something," which mostly happens when I look at some of my long-term residents. In general, there are very few pieces in my collection that do not evoke the "I love this" part of the statement, for which I feel very lucky. :-) However, I am also going to try to keep this in mind if I do see a fabric that does not grab me in this way - I will then be able to just walk away or perhaps, if it's already here, let it go to a better home.
08-19-2022, 11:26 AM
#275
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2021
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 402
Thanks, Elly and Joe'smom :-)
While I don't think I'll be making another one of these terribly soon (so many points and ironing little bits at a time!), it was SO much fun playing with the kaleidoscopes and seeing how many different patterns I could come up with before finally committing to one and sewing it together. :-)
I would recommend giving the OBW a go if you've got a big length of appropriate fabric you're not quite sure what to do with - you'll be amazed at how it is transformed into something unique and visually exciting. Just make sure you are using an actual 60 degree triangle template - there are a couple out there that look almost right but they're not (at least they're not for this particular pattern). Donna Jordan's tutorial on "easy hexagon kaleidoscope quilt" was really helpful for construction (and she also goes over what makes a good fabric choice for these blocks), although I chose to turn mine into a hexagon star pattern overall instead.
Happy quilting, all!
While I don't think I'll be making another one of these terribly soon (so many points and ironing little bits at a time!), it was SO much fun playing with the kaleidoscopes and seeing how many different patterns I could come up with before finally committing to one and sewing it together. :-)
I would recommend giving the OBW a go if you've got a big length of appropriate fabric you're not quite sure what to do with - you'll be amazed at how it is transformed into something unique and visually exciting. Just make sure you are using an actual 60 degree triangle template - there are a couple out there that look almost right but they're not (at least they're not for this particular pattern). Donna Jordan's tutorial on "easy hexagon kaleidoscope quilt" was really helpful for construction (and she also goes over what makes a good fabric choice for these blocks), although I chose to turn mine into a hexagon star pattern overall instead.
Happy quilting, all!
08-28-2022, 01:40 AM
#277
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2022
Location: New England
Posts: 376
Oops. Fell off the wagon. Two requested quilts plus pattern. But, I did pride myself in only getting what I needed for the pattern with only a slight extra in case of mistakes, instead of getting yards extra!
08-28-2022, 03:57 AM
#278
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Portage, Michigan
Posts: 6,308
I almost fell off the wagon. My list was created for what was needed for another quilt I wanted to make. Then, feeling a little crummy, I put off the shopping trip for another day. What do you know, when digging through my bin of neutral fabrics later the same day, I found just what I needed. Well almost what I needed but it will do. Lesson learned. Dig a little deeper and you may find the treasure you were looking for right in your own sewing room. Sorry LQS but I did my shopping at home today. The new quilt is all cut and kitted for my next quilting adventure and I used up more from my stash. Yeah!
08-30-2022, 12:32 PM
#280
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2021
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 402
Sounds like some great success stories there! Well done, quiltsfor, WMU and Irishrose!
I'm not making very much right now as life got extremely busy very suddenly, but I do have a "pull" of fabric out on the sewing table. Trying to figure out how to use a sample pack of fabric (why, oh why did I need to buy this? I do love the fabric but these small bits of very coordinated fabric don't always play nicely with the other stuff I have).
I have some nice purples and greens that tone in but they aren't really the "hydrangea blue" theme I was hoping for. There is also a rather weird mix of allover prints, large scale prints and solids in the sample pack so I need to figure out a way of placing the different "densities" of motifs. The largest pieces are about the size of a FQ - the smallest are about 4" x 8" (from my memory). If life calms down a bit I might try to sketch something out (not my strength) just to see what might work before I cut and regret or just toss it all back in a bin for another day.
One benefit of being crazy-busy? No time to go to the LQS or thrift stores or even browse for new fabric online so there's a good chance the fabric moratorium will continue for a little while here. Definitely still peeking at quilt ideas, though. :-)
Have a great week, everyone!
I'm not making very much right now as life got extremely busy very suddenly, but I do have a "pull" of fabric out on the sewing table. Trying to figure out how to use a sample pack of fabric (why, oh why did I need to buy this? I do love the fabric but these small bits of very coordinated fabric don't always play nicely with the other stuff I have).
I have some nice purples and greens that tone in but they aren't really the "hydrangea blue" theme I was hoping for. There is also a rather weird mix of allover prints, large scale prints and solids in the sample pack so I need to figure out a way of placing the different "densities" of motifs. The largest pieces are about the size of a FQ - the smallest are about 4" x 8" (from my memory). If life calms down a bit I might try to sketch something out (not my strength) just to see what might work before I cut and regret or just toss it all back in a bin for another day.
One benefit of being crazy-busy? No time to go to the LQS or thrift stores or even browse for new fabric online so there's a good chance the fabric moratorium will continue for a little while here. Definitely still peeking at quilt ideas, though. :-)
Have a great week, everyone!
