Mini Art Quilt Swap 4 (Sign-ups CLOSED, Sendouts April 6)

[tristitia]

Okay, I signed up.  Couldn't help it

[funthreads]

Frustration....  My LQS is having a HUGE sale tomorrow.  $2.99 a yard!!!  A great chance to pick up some colors that I might not otherwise put in my stash, but that my soon to be MAQ partner would love.  But I don't know who my partner is.  So just tell me your favorite colors and I'll know what to look for.  Because if it isn't in my stash then it obviously needs to be there.... right?  I mean that whole use up my stash and drain the UFO swamp thing doesn't REALLY count in this case does it?  Arghhhh. 

Wow!!! With that kinda sale I would have to shop with the idea of stash...what stash?!

[StickerChic87]

Im newer to the sewing community so I have about...4ish fat quarters that have been cut into, and thats it! Once I get my partner and figure out what I want to do, its stash building time!!! Haha!

[rosyposie]

sent in my questionnaire, now off to learn some new techniques for prep.

[theballandskein]

I am in too ...I too am gonna get prepared

[waggonswest]

Fortunately for me, I arrived about half an hour after the store opened and the sale fabric was already well picked over.  I am trying hard to follow the 'rules' posted by Allison Harris at Cluck Cluck Sew http://www.cluckclucksew.com/2011/01/stashing.html
I was able to get some dots and stripes in colors that I liked.  I was also sucked in by a Halloween fabric that exactly mimicked our mad science lab theme with mice and eyeballs in jars and flasks.  I got a half yard for my stash and then I had to get enough for a tablecloth for the kids table!  I also got sucked in by one of the drabbest fabrics ever.  I'll try to get a picture that does it justice... drab grey/brown with blue chickens.  Weird.  But the bolt jumped off the table into my arms.  Who knows what I will do with a half yard of the stuff.  Anybody thinking about a chicken theme? 



There you can see it.  There is also a goofy robins Christmas fabric that kept trying to go home with me at full price.  But I resisted and there it was in my stack yesterday!  (Dumb thing is, I really don't even like birds all that much...)


Here are the ones that follow the rules.  I probably should have ditched everything in the first pic and bought the yardage of the blue stripe.

The question is, do these fit the requirements? 

[margiej]

That was an interesting article on how to build a stash!  Mine is so hodge-podge, but it was all given to me or from thrift store or yard sales, so I guess I can't complain. I wouldn't know what to do if I could actually walk into a FABRIC STORE and buy stuff!  Oh well, dream on....at least it allows me to do most things I can think up to make.  LOL  I work within my possibilities.  still.....

[MareMare]

Fun article! I have a decent to huge sized stash lol! I have my stash organized by color but with all the solids pulled out and put together (organized by color in that pile) and then my "blenders" pulled out and put together organized by color in that pile. My blenders are pretty much polka dots, color on color, and stripes. Maybe not the correct definition of blender but that's how I do it

When I notice a deficiency in a color in my stash I try to pick up some half yard pieces or fat quarters. When fat quarters go on sale for around a dollar I try to pick up at least 10. And when I'm making a quilt I usually buy a little extra (especially if I love it) and then that gets added to my stash. Basic rule~if you see something you love and you can afford to buy a couple yards of it, go for it! If you love it you'll use it sometime (or just be happy every time you see it on your shelf).

Fat Quarter sets are also great! Sometimes the $10 sets go on sale at Joann's, or they aren't on sale and you can use a 40% off coupon to get them. It's a nice way to get some coordinated fat quarters.

If you're a designer fabric junkie and have an extra $30 a month to spend on delicious fabric, I highly recommend joining a fat quarter club at www.fatquartershop. com They have different manufacturers, and if you know you like a certain one it's a really fun thing to do. You'll receive 12 fat quarters a month from the same line (they post the lines maybe 3 or 4 months ahead, so you don't really know what you'll be getting for the whole year). I think you can cancel anytime, I did it for about 6 months last year before I couldn't afford it anymore. And these fat quarter sets are a little different than the ones they usually sell. You can usually buy a certain colorway from a line in fat quarters there, but the fat quarters of the month are a mixture of all the colorways from that line, which is really cool.

[waggonswest]

I love to look at the designer lines and have been known to put together quilts using one line.  I like to use the coordinated things when I am learning a new technique.  That way I know that way I'm not stressing out about the colors.  But I do think it is far more challenging and interesting to mix things up and to work with what you have.

I also think it is really cool that you can put together a stash from thrift stores.  I never seem to find the right store, yard sale or time for the big fabric finds.  If I find a pillow sham with an interesting pattern it is usually the wrong kind of fabric.  I wait for sales.

[lacey0828]

Wow, thanks for all the awesome information from everyone. I usually get my stash from the thrift store too. I go every other Saturday during the 50% off everything sale. I have a huge box of descent sized scraps that I got off of Ebay too, but other than that, I wouldn't really consider myself having any stash. I just remembered I still have money left over from Christmas, so maybe I'll just go stash shopping. I think about it all the time, then can never justify buying stuff I don't need at the moment. Joann's is so far away so it would be awesome to not have to run there everytime I need something. My biggest problem is trying to figure out how to organize everything and where to put it. Right now I have one tote and one cardboard box and everything is just stuffed and overflowing. I wish I could figure out how to make it nice, it's a bit of a headache now when I want to look for something.