Stash Sunday

Over at Sew Mama Sew they are interviewing many sewists and asked asked anyone to take part in this month's Tell us about your stash event:

SMS: First of all, what do you usually sew?

At the present moment I'm mostly sewing patchwork and quilts. I do enjoy making bags, stuffed animals, sock monkey's, pillow cases, curtains. I'm not fond of clothing sewing but I can if I must!

SMS: 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?)

I used to buy 1/3 yards and after a while realized I was going through them quickly. If I loved something and wanted more of that print it would most likely be gone! When I started collecting fabrics for the Purple Passion quilt I broke my one third rule and went with one half yards. Lately I've been splurging and buying a full yard of something "if" I love it. I also will buy 6 yards of a print if I want to use a certain fabric as a backing. For bindings I buy a yard and add the rest to my stash.

I also want to add that I'm not a person who shops with designers in mind. I don't buy whole collections of a specific fabric designer. Sometimes I suffer from designer overload and see a designers fabric online through other quilter's works and I can't admire the fabric at that time. I may see it a year or two later and then love it. I'm a girl after colour, not designer. Although I have my eye on some beautiful Kaffee Fasset green leaves right now. It's not in my stash, yet. But it will be eventually. I'll be getting 6 yards to use it as a backing because I love it!

I think it's this one

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

Half and half! Most of the time I buy for the quilt top, then I'll get the quilt backing, then the binding. Lately I've been trying to consolidate trips and buy as much as I my budget will allow for a project or two. Also where I shop at the fabrics are in constant rotation and if a bolt runs out it that print may never be seen again. This is what I've learned in the last 2 years of shopping there. "You snooze you lose!" I'm snoozing a lot less lately.
The impulse comes from when I see something new and love.

SMS: 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 am a vigilent "washer". I wash within a few days of bringing it home. Washing to me means soaking it in the sink or a bowl when the sink is full, in the hottest tap water possible. This is to remove the chemicals of the dye process and to avoid post quilt bleeding of fabrics.

In the winter I dry in the dryer and in the summer I dry on the clothes line. (I miss my clothes line.) One day I hope to get a drying rack so I can dry them overnight and save electricity. I've been known to put the mop and the broom over two chairs in the living room and hang the fabrics over that with a big towel underneath to catch water dripping.

SMS: Do you iron it?

I like to iron my fabrics and I'm a constant spray water bottler.

I love to spray spray spray then iron iron iron

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

Mostly I sort by colour. Colour is what inspires me most to make something.
SMS: Do you have any special folding techniques?

A couple months ago I used the Happy Zombie Fabric Folding method.
I've acquired much more fabric since that time and it seems unrealistic to keep diligently folding fabric this way. I'll take it out cut what I need refold it back and place it back in the drawer.

SMS: How do you store your fabric?

I store my fabric in clear plastic bin drawers. It works for now. Although I'm running out of room which means time to create more stuff!!

I also store in piles. I'm a piler. I will stick different projects I'm working on in open baskets or other types of bins.

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

When I got back into sewing a lot more 2 years ago (when I discovered the great fabric store) I bought for specific projects. Then I got involved in a lot of swaps and bought for the swappee's tastes, but I had to like it too. Then last year I started buying with colour families in mind. I wanted to build up a nice stash. Each trip would include a specific colour family, I'd buy a few prints of the colour I wanted and then a few "just becauses". Just becauses' are fabrics that I like and want to add to my stash.

SMS: When do you say enough is enough?

I'll let you know! I'm not there yet!

SMS: What are some of your favorite stash-busting projects?

I'm not a "stash-buster". I make what appeals to me or if it's a gift something for that person. I don't decide one day and say to myself I think I'm going to use up my fabrics today. Not me.

SMS: What’s your definition of the perfect stash?

It's never perfect because I'm always on the lookout for that one spectactular piece that will add colour to my life.

SMS: Do you have a current favorite print in your stash?

My favorites are the ones that I only have little bits left of them and can't find anymore!

My next project: An airplane lap quilt for Aaron.

Reason: He's going to a respite care home for children with special needs during March break. He'll be sleeping there for the first time and I want him to take a little piece of home with him.

Estimated Size: 40 by 50 inches

Time frame: 9 days!