Fabric Frenzy

A favorite pile.

Quilt Market was last week. I've never been, will probably not go (being an amateur quilter and all -- level one forever, baby). Still, it's hard to ignore: for days all of my feeds were full of Quilt Market photos, fabric launches, fabric purchases, fabric designers, fabric giveaways, fabric, fabric, fabric. It was too much, really. Don't get me wrong, I love fabric! I love print and color and seeing what people are making. Yet I am increasingly feeling overwhelmed by all of it, and no longer sure what my likes and dislikes are. 

My Guild, DCMQG, is in the middle of a zipper pouch swap. Swaps are nerve-wracking, in my opinion (what if they don't like what I make?! What if they request something beyond my skills?! What if...?!), but I'm challenging myself to be a participator because I love this Guild. Anyway, swaps always get me thinking about my favorite designers and fabrics and whether I could name one print as being my absolute favorite.

Could you? Do you have a favorite fabric?

When I started sewing I fell madly in love with Anna Maria Horner and her Field Study and Loulouthi lines. The throw quilt that sits on my bed remains my favorite quilt. I've started re-stashing many of the prints because the quilt brings me so much joy. Along the way, though, I've realized there are a few prints I can do without. And while I love all of them together, I'm not sure I could single out one print as my favorite.  

Pilar on her (our) favorite quilt.

I used to get so much joy out of fantasy fabric shopping. I'd visit my favorite online shops and fill up my cart with all of the prints. Echino, Anna Maria Horner, Lizzy House, Michael Miller novelty prints (I am a sucker for a good novelty print)... I still do this, usually lured in by a good sale, but it's more stressful and less fun. I am hyper-aware of how much fabric I've accumulated (still a fairly small stash, I think/hope), and I'm self-conscious about my choices. Do I love it, or is it just a fad? I'm often not sure.

At the last DCMQG meeting I sat next to Mary Fons (Mary Fons!). She was working on a beautiful baby quilt of tiny nine-patches, sashed in black. Her fabrics were small-scale prints, the sort of prints I don't usually buy. Her quilting style is so unequivocally hers, it got me thinking about my own style and taste. And there I was, blazing through the quilting on a self-described rush job -- a baby quilt I had whipped up quickly without much consideration for design. And the quilt I showed to the group? My Cotton + Steel plus quilt, still in progress. I was a little embarrassed by how faddish it seemed.

So I've realized: I've been coasting through my quilting. Making without a lot of intention, rushing to the finish (I love the finish). Don't get my wrong, I've made a lot of beautiful things and I am proud of them. I've chosen some really lovely fabrics. And my sewing has improved with the practice I've gotten from all of this making. But I think it's time to find my quilting voice.

I've started cutting the fabric for a quilt that will be a gift to a dear family member. I took a lot of time deciding on the pattern ("Boxed In" by Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts, included in her book Skip the Borders), and I love the fabric I've chosen (Priory Square by Katy Jones) and I know she will, too.

Getting things squared away. Ha! 

But once I finish this project, I'm going to take a break from projects with self-imposed deadlines. I'm going to try to take some time to experiment and make what I love, and sew what I have. Which probably means a lot of simple patchwork with squares. For starters, I'm imagining a very large, king-sized quilt of 10-inch squares of my favorite Anna Maria Horner prints... OK, I admit it, I pulled that pile pictured at the top of this post expressly for the King quilt project. Seeing all the colors together makes me so happy. I should also finish my Greatest Hits scrap quilt. Greatest Hits = many favorites. And I'd like to finish the aforementioned Cotton + Steel plus quilt. It's not ALL Anna Maria Horner around here, after all. Heck, I've got a really pretty pile of Natural History by Lizzy House that is destined for M's bed, you know, when I get to it. And one thing I'm sure about? HE will love it.

So, OK, I have some favorite designers, and maybe some favorite fabric combinations. I even have a favorite quilt. But I haven't found my one favorite fabric yet. Let me know if you find yours. I might try applying Marie Kondo's rules and ask myself of each print in my stash: Does this fabric spark my joy? It just might work.

Sunday Stash -- My Fabric Binge

I love fabric and color, print and pattern. It has been hard to resist buying all of the new fabric out there. Because there is so. much. loveliness. Since I've managed to amass quite the stash in just the last few weeks, I'm linking up for my first time ever to Sunday Stash hosted by Molli Sparkles.

I've had lots of time on my hands to dream of sewing, so my sister's friends sent me a gift certificate to Fabricworm, my first favorite online fabric shop. When I was just starting to sew, I would spend hours pinning fabric from Fabricworm to my Pinterest boards. (Now I spend that time sewing. Or buying fabric.) I spent the gift certificate the day it arrived.

Cotton + Steel overload!

Meanwhile, in recovery land, I developed an Instagram addiction. (Instaddiction?) And saw Stitch Supply Co., a new fabric shop, advertising a launch sale. So I bought some more. (You should check them out! What a great new indy shop to support!)

That beautiful AMH fat quarter (top) was a freebie!

And then my online cart at Stash Fabrics filled up with Anna Maria Horner prints I needed (NEEDED!). But I had too much fabric-buying guilt to click through to checkout. So my BFF sent me a gift certificate. She freely admits she is an enabler. So I bought it all. Free shipping with a $50 purchase, and you can buy quarter yards!

AM Horner goodness plus one Doe by C. Friedlander, one Mesa by Alexia Abegg!

But really... the whole fabric buying frenzy started with this haul from the Intrepid Thread:

Honor Roll meets Pretty Potent by AM Horner

I love the Intrepid Thread! I ripped open this package so quickly you missed the sweet handwritten note and the two free charm squares they threw in -- they come with every order! This pile might not look like much, but this is serious yardage. I usually buy half-yards but these Pretty Potent prints were on super sale so I bought whole yards, people. Helpful for a project I'm working on. You'll see soon.

At this point I have more fabric than ideas or space. I'm not proud of all of the shopping I've been doing (hangs head in shame), but I'm going to choose to think of this as the Pile of Potential. And isn't it pretty? The Pretty Pile of Potential.

There probably won't be any more fabric shopping for a while. I'm feeling better and we've got sewing to do. Plus, there just might be a fancy new sewing machine coming home soon...

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