Organizing the Fat Quarters

In the continuing saga of straightening up my sewing room, I have a pretty nice little set up for my fat quarters which I have been using for many years.

Now it's new and improved.

This little dresser (chest of drawers) is packed full of fabric. The top drawer is where I have most of my fat quarter packs - those complete sets of fabrics of a single line. Some are getting to be almost vintage, I fear. Also, some charm packs are there, and other groupings by designer or line.

The second, third and fifth drawers all contain fat quarters, sorted mostly by color. I have a small section in the second drawer with some groupings - see the front left of the second drawer, - but mostly the FQs are color-ordered. It took me forever to get this task accomplished. For the last many years, I have been super-duper lazy about orderly storage. I had haphazardly stuffed pieces into drawers, paying no attention to color; if space was available, and I had a handful of FQs, I packed 'em in there. 

In the 4th drawer, I had some larger cuts of fabric - these are mostly 1-yard cuts - and since that's where they were and it worked nicely enough, I just left them there. I am reconsidering that decision, now though, as I keep finding FQs in various tubs, and the other drawers are all full. I may end up moving those larger cuts into the tubs that contain yardage fabrics.

I am pleased with my progress. My goal to clean off the cutting table by today was met, mostly. I had an ulterior motive for the goal - Sharon was coming to sew, and I thought she might need space to cut. I knew I would be cutting out a new project, one that she, too, will be starting. I had to make space for her, just in case.

I still have some items sitting out down at that far end, but those are the scrap-busting tubs and baskets that remain on my immediate agenda. I didn't work on any of that today, but I do plan to return to scrap management steadily over the next few weeks, if not longer. (I have a lot, a l-o-t of scraps.)

Bit by bit, I am making significant in-roads in the fight against clutter in this sewing room. I will bring another episode next time I post. 

I have other exciting things to bring to the blog (exciting?? well...) and since I am not teaching this semester, I hope I will get back to a more regular posting schedule. I really have slacked off in the past year or so, and there's no time like the present to correct that situation.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Vacation Mode

GAH!

I have been so busy since getting home from vacation! My satisfactory blogging record from the beginning of the month has become non-existent here at month's end.

Hubs and I took off on Sunday the 17th for Key West, Florida. We booked a nice single room on Simonton Street and had close walking proximity to nearly all the local hotspots that KW has to offer. It was a wonderful week which ended much too quickly. I will share some vacation pics and memories in an upcoming post.

Today, let me just mention that I sought out local quilt shops with success! The Island Needler is a yarn and embroidery shop on Fleming Street. I found some floss needing to come home with me. The Seam Shoppe is a quilt and yarn shop on Truman Street, and of course, a few fat quarters were purchased.

There's my haul. I have 8 FQs there; 4 dark prints and a light print (4 of them) that will be the background of whatever I decide to make. I actually do have an idea, so this might happen sooner than my normal rate of starting things. The floss looks like basic crayon colors, and I think I can find a use for them.

I hope life settles down here in the coming week. We are about to end March and move on to the glories of April!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Recent Retail Therapy

It comes as no surprise to you regular readers that I rarely shop for fabric anymore. At some point in the last 7 years, I had this epiphany about the stash I have already amassed, and that continuing to add to it was senseless. I will never sew all of this fabric. Couple that realization with the increasing cost of fabric, it just became crystal clear that I needed to curb my buying. 

But I have not stopped entirely. Case in point, in the past month or so, I have splurged on some fat quarters. Wanna' see?

The fabric group above came from Old Town Fabric Shop in Chillicothe. I needed to go in for something - needles, I think. Anyway, I allowed myself to select a handful of pretty stuff based on a picture Emma and I had been looking at back when we were discussing a wall-hanging for her apartment. (I still need to get on that!) Anyway, this grouping struck me as pretty, in addition to being out of the norm for the type of fabric I usually go for. Branching out, you know? 

Last Friday, I met Sharon P. and Dee (you met her last fall) in Columbus for a lovely lunch at Marcella's at Polaris. It is a Cameron Mitchell restaurant which is synonymous for delicious food, in this case Italian. What a fabulous meal to linger over with friends. 

Then we hopped over to Quilt Beginnings on Sawmill Road for shopping. I had a gift card burning a hole in my pocket. Again, I shopped for fabrics that aren't typically 'me.' 

That first group I found appealing based on the colors - intense and saturated. Dee and Sharon suggested that they'd make great-looking zipper bags or a purse, and I agree. I bought an extra fat quarter of 2 fabrics, just for that purpose.

The next group makes me think of the fresh, spring-y quilts from my youth. Those prints look like vintage '60s to me, and the green accents all three. I might do some great granny squares with these. 

So far, I have done a lot of petting and fondling, unfolding and refolding. I sometimes hesitate to cut into pretty fabric, so I hope I can get on these soon.

Happy Quilting, Friends!