There is snow outside right now! Which is not exactly what I expected to see when I looked out the window this morning… (I think I brought the snow with me when we moved to Seattle, since everyone around here says that it hardly ever snows & this winter it just keeps snowing.) Luckily today’s plans were rescheduled for tomorrow and the snow isn’t predicted to last for long :)

A big welcome to any of you who stumbled across my blog via apartment therapy la. I was pretty excited when Beth emailed me to ask if she could post my inspiration wire photo… Apartment Therapy was actually one of the very first blogs I started reading when I got into blogging. So it was a fun surprise to see my studio inspiration wire on there. :)

Of course a post would not be complete without a photo… So a closeup of those adorable owls you saw in my studio fabric cabinet. Both were made by Laurie of Old School Acres, and the little guy on the right is new. She sent him to me a couple weeks ago & silly me never posted about it. :) They are both just too adorable! :)

Sew Mama Sew is hosting a “tell us about your stash.” So for fun I thought I would join in and post about my fabric stash.

What do you usually sew?

Everything! Bags, clothes, scarves, quilts, curtains, pillow covers, pretty much everything and anything :)

When you shop for fabric, what size cuts do you usually buy? (i.e. If you see something beautiful, but you don’t have a use for it right away, how much do you buy?)

What I can justify buying at the time :) Usually 1/2 a yard or 1 yard, unless I think I might make a shirt or dress out of the fabric & then I buy 2-4 yards (depending on how much the fabric is and how much I might need).

Do you buy on impulse or do you go out looking for something you need?

Both. Mostly on impulse to be honest :) Although sometimes I have a project in mind, or need a certain fabric to go with another fabric in order to make something.

Are you a pre-washer? If you are, do you wash your fabric before you need it, or only when you’re ready to use it?

I pre-wash everything as soon as I get it. That way I don’t have to figure out whether or not I washed a fabric already, and I don’t have to worry about colors running or a project not being washable after I am finished.

Do you iron it?

I dislike ironing, so I try to iron as little as possible :) I do iron when I am working on a project, but after pre-washing I don’t bother since the fabric is going to be folded up right away.

How do you sort it? (color, print size, collection, etc.)

Mostly by cut length. So fat quarters on the same shelf, 1/2 yards on the same shelf, 1 yard on the same shelf, etc.

Do you have any special folding techniques?

I love Happy Zombie’s fabric folding method… I follow her method & use my 6-inch wide ruler, which is the perfect width for my shelves.

How do you store your fabric?

I have a glass cabinet that I store all my fabric in and my sewing supplies (in white boxes). I love it! I can see all my fabrics, so even if I don’t have time to sew I still feel inspired :) To stay organized, I also have a dedicated works in progress shelf so when I break in the middle of a project I have somewhere to put it away and keep my studio clean. My scraps are in a clear bin (which is pretty much overflowing)…

What tips do you have for building up a well-rounded stash?

Depending on what type of sewing you love, buy small cuts (1/2 yard to 1 yard) of lots of different prints. I love prints, although I do have some solids in my stash too. For solids though I mostly stick with linen… When I need cotton solids I usually pick them up for a specific project. I also buy muslin by the bolt, since it is great for testing garment patterns, lining skirts, adding extra thickness to scarves, and so much more :)

When do you say enough is enough?

Um, never :) (Well maybe if I had more than I could use up in a lifetime…)

What are some of your favorite stash-busting projects?

Quilts, definitely!

Do you have a current favorite print in your stash? Let’s see it!

Oh I feel like this would be playing favorites… Honestly, most the prints in my stash end up there because they are my favorite. I am loving the new “Good Folks” line by Anna Maria Horner though.

What’s your definition of the perfect stash?

Lots of prints, mixed with lots of different shades of linen and some basic cotton solids. My perfect stash would take up my whole entire cabinet with no room for anything else :)

Today I got together with this lovely lady for a bit of coffee & chatting :) We also managed to fit in a little fabric scrap swap. Look at how pretty she wrapped her scraps for me…

The hearts are a little garland, which I now have hanging on the door of my fabric cabinet…

Look at all these lovely scraps!

I am already thinking of ways to use these… While going through my scraps to find some to give Katie, I decided I really need to make a quilt using some of my scraps. I just might have to add these lovely fabrics to such a quilt :)

I just couldn’t resist…

I have been eyeing the above Echino fabric for awhile now, and finally broke down and got some for myself. It is so lovely! I am thinking a purse out of these would be just perfect.

Honestly, you wouldn’t think I was trying to resist buying fabric, because I also broke down and bought a fat quarter of each print in Anna Maria’s new fabric line, Good Folks. Twenty-four very lovely prints!

I think I might have to get some of these in yardage, because I see summer clothes when I look at these fabrics. Some lovely, light summery tops, skirts, & dresses… (If I wish hard enough will it become summer sooner :)

I think I will just stare at these a bit longer and imagine all the lovely things I could make and summer breezes… I am going to take the weekend off of blogging, but I should be back Monday :) Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

I already finished reading both the books in my last post, so I would love to hear more book recommendations :) Of course, I don’t really have the time to spend reading this next month… (Although I am sure I will find the time anyways.)

I can hardly believe it is the second week of February already! This year is flying by so quickly already! Of course not helping time feel any slower is the slightly crazy goal I set for myself at the beginning of the year.

At the beginning of the year I decided that I wanted to make a quilt a month this year. My goal isn’t too strict, since I figured some months I wouldn’t have as much time as other months to work on a quilt. So mostly it is a goal to finish 12 quilts this year. (Which might not be that crazy of a goal, if only life would slow down just slightly :)

Of course I cheated a bit on my January quilt by using some quilt blocks I had already made. I added a few more quilt blocks & then added a border to make the quilt a bit bigger. I still have to finish the binding, but I thought a little sneak peek might be nice.

I am actually saving the binding for a craft night, so that I have a bit of hand sewing to work on… The whole quilt should be finished soon though, so I guess now I need to start thinking about February’s quilt :)