Fabric Friday – Featuring Fat Eighths

I’m excited to bring you another version of Fabric Friday to get you inspired (and to try and encourage those of you on a fabric diet to break your fast – just kidding!!)

SphereSphere Fat Eighth Bundle by Zen Chic

Today I wanted to showcase bundles of “Fat Eighths.” These are like smaller versions of fat quarter bundles. Each piece measures approximately 9″ x 22″ which is half of a fat quarter.

april showersApril Showers Fat Eighth Bundle by Bonnie and Camille

Fat Eighths are very user friendly and are a little easier on the pocketbook, especially when you are looking to buy an entire line. They also make a gorgeous sewing room decoration, tied up in a pretty ribbon like that!

sewing boxSewing Box Fat Eighth Bundle by Gina Martin

Aren’t they just scrumptious? My String of Pearls quilt features fat eighths for the center squares. Just a small pop of color in the right place goes a long way!

Finished QuiltString of Pearls by Christa Watson

Have you ever made a quilt from a fat eighth bundle? If so – tell me about it!

Fabric Friday – Moda Preview

For Fabric Friday I usually like to share what’s new in my store. However, this time around I thought I’d do something a little different. I just met with my awesome Moda sales rep. this week and she showed me all the super yummy deliciousness that will be coming out over the next few months. So I thought I’d share a few sneak peaks of what we ordered.

See that mess below? This is what working from home looks like! 🙂

20140305_moda_sonjaSonja, my Moda sales rep., scanning orders for me as fast as I can place them!

The latest line from Pat Sloan is called One for You – One for Me and is due out in August.  She’s combined prints with batiks in this fun bright combo and I’m getting all the precuts from both groups.

20140305_pat_closeupHere’s a better closeup. Aren’t these great?

We have a very “scientific” way of determining how many precuts to order from each line. Each group falls into 1 of 3 categories: “Good”, “Awesome” and “Super Awesome.” Jason and I think Pat’s new collection is super awesome, so we have ordered tons! Let’s hope everyone else thinks it’s super awesome, too!

Next, we decided to scoop up precuts from Momo’s latest line called Avant Garden. I love her contemporary-modern aesthetic and her medium to large scale whimsical motifs. Moda is starting to add cotton/linen blends to the mix, so we grabbed a few of those to try. The cottons and linens are both due out in July.

20140305_moda_momoSee those coordinating solids? Those are linens!

We ordered some of the Linen Mochi Dot fat quarters last time Sonja came to visit, and those are available for purchase now. I haven’t tried any linen in my own quilts yet, but I keep hearing great things about it!

20140305_mochi_linenLinen Mochi Dot fat quarters are available now. Click here to purchase.

Jason and I are now focusing exclusively on precuts and thread (while clearing out all of our older yardage, kits and notions). We are pretty much trying to carry all the precuts we can. It’s a tall order, but the process sure has been fun!

20140305_moda_grungeBasicGrey is out with a new selection of 20 almost-solids. We picked up a healthy amount of fat quarters, layer cakes, jelly rolls and charm packs of these beauties which should arrive next month. If these do well for Moda, they will consider making them a “basic” which means they are indefinitely restockable. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!

I ordered about half a dozen more new groups, but only managed to get a picture of a few of them seen below. We were so busy chatting, I forgot to take more pics!

20140305_moda_abiNative Sun by Abi Hall, shipping in July of this year.

20140305_moda_chez_moiLulu by Chez Moi, due out in July.

20140305_moda_milk_cowMilk Cow by Mary Jane, also coming in July.

More of the Moda precuts we ordered earlier in the year are finally listed in the store. It’s so fun to order new fabrics, but so hard to wait for them to arrive!


Two of the new groups include April Showers by Bonnie and Camille plus Vanessa Christensen’s Color Me Happy. Doesn’t fabric just make you happy?

Fabric Friday – Tonga Treats

I’m excited to continue my Fabric Friday series, sharing my love of fabric with you every other week! Today I’d like to put a little spotlight on Tonga Treats – precut batiks from Timeless Treasures. I love the convenience of precuts, since most of the cutting is already done for you!

Tonga Squares

Tonga Treats come in a nice variety of precut sizes including 5×5 charm packs, which they call “Mini’s,” the standard 2.5 inch wide jelly rolls known as “Strips,” 10 inch layer cakes called “Squares,” and popular 12 piece fat quarter bundles which are simply known as “Quarters.”

Tonga Strips

The one precut I haven’t carried yet is their “6-pack” – 6″ x 44″ strips of 20 different batik fabrics. Has anyone tried these out? If so, what do you think of them? I’m considering adding them to my store if they will sell.

Tonga Six Pack

While some people wouldn’t consider batiks when making modern quilts, I personally think they have a lot of potential to create knockout quilts. The newer Tonga Treat Packs come with a free pattern, which I think is smart of the company to include.

Free Shutters Pattern

Free “Shutters” Pattern Included with most Tonga Treat Fat Quarter Bundles.

Sometimes it’s hard to think of what to do with these yummy treats so it’s nice to get those creative juices flowing and whip up a quick and easy quilt without too much planning.

Tonga Minis

Timeless Treasures does a great job naming their collections with descriptive titles like Lace, Sugar, Sea Glass, Rockport, Mocha Kiss, and more. Which color scheme is your favorite?

Christa’s Year of Weekly Giveways #44 – Two Charm Packs up for Grabs

Charm packs make me happy. Even if I don’t use them all the time, they are just so pretty to look at! This week’s giveaway is pretty straightforward. I have 2 charm packs to give away, but I’ll need a little help in deciding how to distribute them.

Kona Sunrise

I have a charm pack of Kona cotton in the Sunrise colorstory, and a charm pack of Snowbird prints by Laundry Basket Quilts (not available in shops yet)!

Moda SnowbirdSo here’s my conundrum. Should I give them away to two different winners to spread the love? After all, they are completely different styles. Or should I sweeten the pot and send them both to one person? It’s okay – you can leave me your totally honest opinion here.

Leave your answer below and I’ll pick one (or two) winners at random from all those who comment. Giveaway will run through next Wednesday, February 12th at noon. And yes, I can this ship anywhere so it’s open everyone!

Last Week’s Winners:

I had so much fun reading your comments about why you wanted to win the little Goody Bag with a big old G on the front. Many of you were so clever to remind me that Grandma also starts with a G! Good thinking!

The winners are Christa H. who does not have a G in her name but it’s still a great name. 🙂 Her grandson calls her “Grammer.” Too cute!

The other winner is Peggy D. who is going to give it to her daughter Gwen. Congratulations gals – they are on their way!

Fabric Friday – Carolyn Friedlander’s Botanics

I’m excited to start a new series with you this year – Fabric Friday! I will try to keep up a regular schedule of posting about a few of my new fabric finds every other week.

Here’s a little background before I get into the meat of this post. Although I’ve been selling fabrics online in some form or another for 10 Years (yes – 10!) I’ve always shied away from being too marketing-driven on my blog.

Botanics

Botanics by Carolyn Friedlander

For years I’ve tried to keep a separation between quilting for business and quilting for pleasure. But after getting hit over the head with the “modern” stick, I’ve realized that often times, they are one and the same for me.

Since quilting is my business and business is my pleasure, I’ve decided it’s okay to talk fabric with you all. After all, without fabric, how would we ever make quilts?!

Botanics

Botanics Fabric Swatches

So I’ll start off this series by gushing about Carolyn Friedlander’s Botanics. This collection first caught my eye when everyone was blogging about their trips to last fall’s quilt market.

I love how Carolyn furnished her booth with a simple splattering of color and design. I think these fabrics are universally appealing because of their rich tone-on-tone color with a nod to elements of nature. Botanics is only her second line for Robert Kaufman, and I hope she sticks around with them for a long time!

Botanics at Market

Carolyn’s Wall of Color at Quilt Market, Fall 2013

Botanics precuts are available as 31 piece fat quater bundles, 42 square layer cakes, and 40 strip roll ups (Kaufman’s version of jelly rolls). Aren’t they lovely? And just itching for the right project, too! I love it when a collection includes both rich colorful focus prints and soft background (low-volume) colors.
Botanics FQ

Botanics Jelly Roll


Kaufman was also clever enough to put together a roll up of Kona solids that coordinate with the line.

Botanics Solid CoordinatesBotanics Solids


I have a healthy number of these precuts available in my store right now, but I recently checked the manufacturer’s website and not-surprisingly, they are no longer available for stores to re-stock once we sell out.

It’s always a guessing game for stores, trying to figure out how many of a certain item to purchase, and balancing that with your business budget while predicting what will be a smart purchase. But that’s also part of the fun of running a shop – keeping my eyes and ears tuned to what’s trending in blog-land. It’s all good! 🙂