Fabric folding and storage

I have this obsession to when it comes to organizing and storing my cotton fabrics. I need to se them all at a glance and I love having them in rainbow order. So I made a little video showing how I fold and store my fabrics.

I recommend clicking the link and viewing it on YouTube directly though: https://youtu.be/d1pc2XVb8ic

I store most of my cotton fabric in an IKEA "Billy bookcase" with "Oxberg glass panel doors", to prevent the fabrics getting so dusty - while still allowing a nice overview. I try to sort by color for that pretty rainbow effect. But it's not always possible, some fabric just doesn't "read" like a single color, so those I have at the bottom there in the "messy and yardage section" *lol*

The Craftsy Mystery Bundles

Some of you have contacted me about the Craftsy Mystery bundles I purchased before Christmas, and I'm finally back in Malta and have unpacked them =)

They where as I suspected not many "feature prints" or "focus prints" or what we should call them (you know what I mean, the pretty racoon print in Tula's Acacia line for example) but more of the fillers and blenders, which are absolutely great to have! But greedy me would have loved one or two more focus prints, and more pink, always more pink ;)

The Joel Dewberry Bundle!

The Tula Pink Bundle!

They came pre-packed from Freespirit actually to my surprise.

I was overall happy with my bundles, and I'm sure I'll make good use of them =)

On a side note, I took my newest pair of boots (oh how I love after christmas sales!) out for a spin for lunch today in the sun. And my original Bring The Basics Bag was just begging to be matched with them, so as I didn't need to bring a lot, it got to come along =)

Please forgive the poor photo quality, cellphone photo. 

Black Friday Shopping & A Lovely Gift

I did it, I went a little Black Friday crazy and bought quite a bit of fabric, from Craftsy I bought one Tula Pink Mystery Bundle, 15 fat quarters from one of my absolute favourite designers for only $30.23!

I also went totally crazy and got one Joel Dewberry fat quarter mystery bundle too, this one for only $24, I'm so very excited to see what's in them!!

Then I folded and bought an Evergreen by BasicGrey layer cake too, for only $18!

And I also went by Fat Quarter Shop, their 24h flash sale was just too good to pass up on, I ended up with their ruler, some batik precuts, and for good measure, a little Tula Pink yardage too =)

I also got a lovely package from my mom. Various scraps from some of the new collections in her store, and I LOVE them - thank you mom!! I love you! <3

Look at the adorable sheep! They're balls of yarn, I just love this line so much! =D

These colors are just amazing!

A little hippie for my taste but still so adorable =)

I'm so going to make a watermelon pouch from these, look how cute.

Auntie Acid is always a good idea, and look at that lovely stripe.

So adorable little giraffes and crocodiles, and those matching sketch like fabrics are just awesome stash builders. 

Gorgeous, just gorgeous all of them, imagine the black and white stripe as binding <3

And this line Patch from Makeover UK is just so perfect for so many things, look at the adorable little doggies, that stripe and those sketch fabrics, amazing! And the colors in this line are just pure love!

A Thread Rainbow and A Kitty Log!

I really do like Ebay! I bought 100 different colors of embroidery cotton thread for $11! Including shipping! Here I'd pay $3 for one color! And they look great and I don't see any issue with the quality either, I'm very happy! And I did have a fun time sorting them into a pretty rainbow.

I started with this: 

And ended up with this lovely rainbow!

I immediately had to try them and I made a "kitty hiding in a log" pencil case for a dear friend ^^ 

It came out really funny and weird looking, but you can't win every time right? She looks a little more like a bear I think, but I had fun and my friend got a laugh out it of so all was well =) 

I'd seen such cute ones on Pinterest but my little experiment just didn't turn out right *lol*

I was really hesitant about wether or not to blog about her as I'm not 100% happy with the outcome... But then I realised that I do love reading about other peoples less then successful ideas and mistakes (sounds horrible I know, but don't you? ;) ), so I did decide to let her show off here. I did at least succeed with my very first french knot for her nose and giving my friend and myself a laugh =)

Stash Update!

I couldn't help myself when I was in my mothers store last time and I had to bring home some new fabric of course =) I will have to add another Benno pillar from Ikea tobe able to fit my ever growing stash soon! Happiness!

A lovely fat quarter bundle of the Cats collection from Makeover UK had to come home with me of course! Just look at the little kitties and mice! <3

As I used up a bit of my basic beiges in my Circles of Times table runner I had to stock up a little, and I seriously couldn't possibly say no to the lovely sewing fabric! LOOK at those scissors!

I'm also very excited to share two beautiful Bring the Basic Bags made by the talented Sulan and Annelie, lovely work ladies! The photo is borrowed from Anki =)

Stash Bee Hive #5 - February Block

So this month we're making a Feather Block for Alyson who just had a baby! Congratulations Alyson! =D

Honestly, all the bias edges in this block had me a little on edge too, I almost feared I'd have to bring out my pins! *gasp of horror* Luckily that wasn't the case and they came together nicely anyway!

It was a really fun block to make so I ended up making two, packing them this weekend and hope to have them on their way to Alyson along with a little gift on Monday =)

This months Stash Stack Club brought lovely Purples, presented to you by Diana who naturally assumed I'd laid them out so nicely on the floor as a bed for her. As you can see in the photo she was shocked when  I informed her that wasn't the case ^^

The perfect purples of January:

Surrounded by Love

A few days ago, I found a tiny little package in my mailbox and when I opened it, along with a sweet note from my lovely mother, this adorable, teeny-tiny little charm pack fell out! <3

And I truly felt so lucky to be so Surrounded by Love as I am. I immediately decided that this little pile had to be turned into a Valentines Day table runner to celebrate love a little more =)

So the past few evenings I've been sitting in my couch, with this little pile of hexies next to me on the armrest growing slowly but steadily. Those of you who know me know that sewing by hand really isn't my strong suit - hence the "slowly" part, but I'm really enjoying it!  

Late last year (so before Christmas) she also sent me a new pair of quilting gloves among other things, how she knew how badly I needed new ones when not even I realized it - I'll never know! Mother's intuition? ^^ I just had a to take a comparison picture and I want to point out that the old ones were washed not that long ago! It didn't go out in the wash, eeew!

I've also received November and December Stash Stack Club bundles of course! The colors that aren't my favorites generally but there where some seriously lovely and beautiful fabrics in there. 

The outstanding oranges of November 

And the balanced browns of December

I've Been Shopping!

Even though I haven't got much time to sew lately, I've done some shopping! Always a nice substitute to prepare for future sewing ^^

I also bought myself a Kona Color Card, better late than never right? Feels weird to pay  $19 for samples, but it's worth it to have an idea of what colors one has to choose from. =)

Diana is definitely a fan, wouldn't leave me alone when I tried to photograph it ^^

I also received my Stash Stack Club from Pink Castle Fabrics for October, lovely, lovely greens! My favorite has to be the swirlies second furthest to the right,  "Flumes in Citron" from Luxe in Bloom by Sarah Watson.

The gorgeous greens of October

I'm alive!! A Stash Stack Club Update =)

I'm alive and while somewhat overworked - I'm very well! I've however, not had anytime for anything but work this summer, which is really quite sad. We've been diving I think maybe a total of 6 dives this summer, which is just plain depressing numbers when you live in the middle of the Mediterranean.

Anyhow, I've luckily still received beautiful bundles from Pink Castle Fabrics which has managed to keep my spirits up so I've at least been patting some fabrics from time to time as I've folded them into my stash. I've actually managed to make a couple of baby quilts this spring which I still can't share yet as they've not yet been gifted =)

The gorgeous grays of June

The pretty pinks of July:

The lovely low volumes of August:

The tantalizing teals of September

Now I just wish I had some time to make something out of them... 

Stash Stack Club and more fabric!

It's Fashion Week here in Malta which means a lot of work for me (yay!), it's a really fun week but oh so exhausting on top of normal work! =)

It was my birthday a while back and my lovely mother sent me the most adorable packet with this inside: 

It's Keep Calm from Timeless Treasures, I LOVE IT! I bought a pattern just for it so I hope I'll have time to make something out of it soon ^^ 

I've also received 2 Stash Stack Club packages which I haven't had time to blog about yet, March and April. Let me tell you, it was fantastic to receive the full pack of 12! I loved the amazing range of shades and styles I got now, I'll never be able to stop this club, it's such an amazing addiction! =D

Look at it! Isn't it glorious! <3

My favorites in the yellow are many but the top two has to be the Flora Dots in Saffron from Free Spirit's La Dee Da and Leafy Stripe in Mustard from Moda's Simply Color line. So pretty! Had no idea I was such a mustard loving girl ^^

And I also bought some Noteworthy by Sweetwater, love their lines so much! Got it from Fat Quarter Shop whom I love for their fantastic customer service, always so helpful and kind!

And I've even found time for some quilting! Isn't that amazing! Diana isn't a fan of midnight quilting so she fell asleep, she knows she's not allowed on the project so she snuggled up right next to it for her nap. ^^
I'm remaking an old pattern of mine, will share it with you after Sunday =)

FMQ Feather Border & Stash Stack Club

I have been quilting a little when I haven't been able to sleep from cough. A very special little quilt this, but since it's going to be a gift, I don't want to show the whole thing until it's been gifted. But I'll tell you I'm loving this quilt and it will be really hard to part from it. After some practice I decided to go for FMQ feathers for the borders, all thanks to the help of the December tutorial from the FMQ Challenge, by Patsy Thompson.

It's not perfect but 100% freehand, the only marking I did was a line for the start and end and middle where the feathers meet and I'm super happy with the result of my first FMQ feather border =)

The brilliance of painters tape when quilting borders!
The painters tape was a new thing on my side, I hate quilting the borders because they tend to bunch up, get stuck and just be generally tricky to hold down nice and flat. With the tape I could mark off what would be hidden by the binding and at the same time tape the top to the batting to ensure I could easily quilt it all while it stayed in place. I will always tape the outside edges of my quilts before doing border designs from now on, makes life so much easier! =)

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A little belated but I naturally received my Stash Stack Club for January & February =)

January was purple and all the fabrics where just so yummy! Delish! <3 My favorite is the second one from the bottom, Orchid Citadel - Cuzco by Kate Spain tightly followed by the top print, Leafy Stripe in Eggplant - Simply Color.

For February there was blue on the menu, some where oh so lovely - but I wasn't a fan of the bottom two. They felt like "grandma fabrics" (not judging my grandma here, she has fantastic taste, just your "typical grandma") with the yellowish white contrast and washed out look, not my cup of tea. I have to say, after 8 months I've receivd 2 fabrics that I didn't really fancy - this club is awesome! =D

Stash Stack Club & Sew Solids Crew Stash Club!

Today I got my first stack from Sew Solids Crew Stash Club, it's so pretty and is simply adorably packed! <3

I'm not sure which is which color but my favourite is the top one for sure! It is all beautiful colors but I have to admit I'm just a little disappointed that I didn't receive the ones listed on the blog for this month. According to the blog I was supposed to get Kona Hibiscus, Dk Violet, Amethyst, Cerise, Orchid & Lavender and instead I got Eggplant, Tulip, Lavender, Amethyst, Plum and Petunia. I also would have loved to know which is which color, maybe with some little sticker on each FQ or something? 

This months Stash Stack Club was brown and it's normally really not my color but these where really quite pretty, my favourite is the top one, Tiny Diamonds in Brown - Town and Country (Dear Stella).

These stash clubs are sooo much fun! =D

Other then that I've actually been stealing a little time to quilt which has been so much fun! I hope to have my Chameleon Quilt quilted and bound soon! =)