New Fabric (I couldn't help myself)

Well, I did it. I bought more fabric when I promised myself I wouldn't. I could tell you it's because these charm packs were on sale at Green Fairy Quilts, and that may have played a small part. Mostly, it was because I thought these collections were bright and cheerful. I've had them for about a week, and I think they'll make up really cute simple lap or twin size quilts.

Then today while checking my email, I saw that Craftsy was offering another free quilting class. Of course I signed up for it. I learn new things with each class I take, and the teachers are all really good. This mini class is called Piece, Patch, Quilt: Basic Quiltmaking Skills with Gail Kessler. I doubt I can get something done before Christmas (too many other projects), but that's sort of what I had in mind.

This charm pack had me thinking of my sister, so she may get something in the distant future:

 

And this one appealed to me.

The color schemes of both are pretty similar, huh?

 

Incidentally, Craftsy is offering another free class called Professional Family Portraits, and as I just purchased a REALLY NICE camera, I signed up for this one as well. My new camera is a Canon EOS 7D, and I'm just starting to find my way around all the cool features. Even in the basic Auto mode, the photos are fantastic. I got the "For Dummies" book for this specific camera and I've got a DVD tutorial coming soon.  



Organizing Fabrics ~ SOLUTION FOUND (but such a time-consuming task)

There's no question I have too much fabric in the studio. I love that friends think of me and pass on remnants, but the fabric tends to accumulate. So I started shopping eBay for a solution. I found a seller who listed hand-held wire shopping baskets in lots of 12, for a pretty good price (and shipping wasn't through the roof, either). They were the right size to fit on my wire shelf.

Over the past week I've been organizing the fabrics by color family. Now I can easily pull out a basket and see most of what's in there. And I don't have to worry about fabrics slipping behind the shelf ('though I found a few treasures back there!)

Trouble is, I ran out of baskets. So I ordered a second lot, which arrived yesterday. I may have a few baskets left over, but I'm sure I can find uses for them.

This is a before photo taken a couple years ago. It didn't look quite that good at the beginning of my project last week. If anyone is interested in these baskets, check out seller Bentley's Display on eBay. They're located in Portland, Oregon, though these particular baskets are made in CHINA (for those who feel strongly about buying American). I prefer to do that as well, but these were the only baskets I could find that were the correct size. They arrived the day after I bought them. I am not affiliated with the seller, just a happy customer.

More fabric arrived!

Bingo! This is the same fabric I bought at Fabric Depot several years ago ( "powder" color). Now I've got nearly 8 yards of beautiful skin tone fabric for dolls with the powder and cameo shades. Here's a photo of the two fabrics side-by-side. 

Maybe I should order one of the ethic shades, too. I've got quite a lot, but all are knits of various kinds - not woven.

New fabric came today

The "cameo" fabric I ordered has arrived, and I compared it to what I've been using. The cameo is just a little darker than what I've been using, and would also work very well for doll skin. After looking at the photos on the Hingeley website (link in previous post), the stuff I bought at the Fabric Depot may have been the "powder" color, as shown below.

Favorite Doll Fabric

A couple years ago I was at the Fabric Depot in Portland (Oregon) for a doll class. It's the largest fabric store I've ever seen. Really, it's amazing. While there, I picked up some fabric in a nice flesh tone that I thought would work for dolls. Turns out, it's one of the nicest woven fabrics I've used.

Now, I'm almost out of my stash. At least I had the foresight to cut a bit of the selvedge off with the name of the manufacturer on it. It didn't take long to track it down, and then to find an online store that carried it. Unfortunately, the selvedge didn't have the name of the color on it.

The fabric is by Timeless Treasures Fabrics, Inc., and is part of their "Complexion Collection." The pattern number is km-c7966, and the color I've been using is "Cameo" (I think), though I see it comes in several shades that would be nice for dolls. I just bought six yards from this store (no affiliation, just one of the first links on Google when I did a search): http://www.hingeleyroadquilting.com/search.aspx?find=complexion+collection

June 26: I just got an email from doll-friend Susan Saint-Leaves. She told me the above link no longer has the cameo colored fabric pictured here, which actually appears a little darker than my stuffed dolls. I think the dolls may appear lighter partially due to the white stuffing used, or maybe I bought a different color at the Fabric Depot. I'll compare when my new order arrives - I got their last 4 7/8 yards. I'd really like to get my hands on samples of all the colors.