petthefabric

Teach, Way to go.

Gemm

Okay - there was a bit of a stumble off the wagon over here.

I've not been able to sew much lately (as I'm sure I've whined about recently) and to make things even more difficult I put my back out and am even less able to do anything in the sewing room. The binding for the car quilt is made and ready to go, but until I can stand and bend long enough to trim the quilt it will have to stay in its neat little roll. :-)

So to the wagon evacuation...

A difficult day led to my desperate need to get out and indulge in a little retail therapy. Knowing the dangers of walking into a LQS in that frame of mind (especially an LQS with lots of sale fabric available), I made a list:
1) a fabric that would go with a lovely, but somewhat dated floral from the 1990s (originally purchased to make an apron) that I really want out of my stash and in use somehow
2) a piece of white that will match as closely as possible the gifted white 5" squares I used in some little house blocks but miscalculated how much I would actually need
3) some sort of white/neutral to go with a sample pack I bought on impulse last summer and haven't been able to use yet

The results?
1) I found a really pretty coral print that should work perfectly with the fabric - now I'm just narrowing down my options so I have a definite plan for when I can start sewing again :-)
2) Close enough for jazz, and there was only .7m on the bolt so I felt pretty lucky to have found it (my LQS tends to focus more on batiks so there aren't generally a lot of plain/neutral fabrics around). It's technically more than I need, but then I got an idea that could use up some little dresden plate pieces I found at a thrift store in the same quilt... we'll see what happens here
3) I found some great white-on-white meter cuts for $7.50 each that were the "right" tone for the sample pack fabric. While the motif is not exactly in line with the florals of the prints, it's so subtly printed I don't think anyone who cares will notice that my flower bed includes sea horses and sailboats :-)

and then...
4) I stumbled and bought 5 batik FQs for $2 each - three are gorgeous jewel tone with metallic dots on one side (so really two fabric choices in every FQ!) and the other two just called to me :-)

I'm not too unhappy with my overall success. Funny how the grocery shopping rule of "Make a list" works in much the same way in the fabric store. I guess it's because both groceries and fabric are necessities!

Hoping to be able to share some pictures of stash reduction again (one day), but in the meantime, look forward to hearing about/seeing others' journies here. :-)

petthefabric

I stumbled, too. Have a project that’s beyond my usual organized abilities. This is the first project for my new design wall. The fabrics were purchased on sale in California long before moving. Got pushed to the back and now coming out. Have had a tough time figuring out what is really needed. Cut pieces too large. Bought more fabric I thought were needed. Took everything down and started over. Bought more fabric. More designing. More evaluation. More stash hunting. It’s been wild and there’ll be lots of scraps.. Now I think I’m getting an understanding of the project. Back to store tomorrow for more of one purchased as it works great.

this is one crazy project that’s a big waste of fabric. Not happy with myself. Experience, note to self….don’t do this again.
Stand up, dust myself off, get back on wagon, forgive myself. Life goes on.

Gemm

Good for you, petthefabric, for seeing the lesson in this experience. I'm so intrigued to see what you are working on!

Thanks for sharing :-)

petthefabric

So here’s the project that was bought for years ago. One mistake after another, buying more fabric….. And I’ve run out of an important one. Back to the store tomorrow.


progress is happening. Realized where neutral needed to be. Figured out the rounded corners. About 20% is sewn together

Gemm

What a complicated-looking pattern! I think it's going to be absolutely stunning when it's done. :-)

petthefabric

Yep, looks complicated. It’s actually a simple concept; 4 patch with sashing.

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