gypsy steps

 i had a mid-week sewing fest last night. the mr took some of the older children to a sporting event so i had the evening pretty much free at home. d2 made a simple dinner for all of us (once she realized mom was in the sewing zone and might not come out to make dinner for a while) and the 3 littles hung out with me in the sewing room. i did take an hour break to help d4 create something tiny and quilty, which i'll share later. otherwise, i plodded along with my gw blocks. i was supposed to be making march's blocks, but after the first courthouse step block, i just kept going with those.

 this is an 8" courthouse step block. it turned out a lot cooler-toned than the other blocks i've made so far. i purposefully chose the outer border to include the blue for a tie in with the cool colors as well as the warm colored flowers to help tie it to the rest of the quilt. i almost got the fussy cut center right, but somehow was about 1/8" off. it's not too bad, though, so it works for me.

 this fussy cut center is also a little bit lower than i would have liked, but i cut it from a scrap, so it is as it is. i still love it! the yellow modern solids ii does not have as much color play as the teal i used on the pinwheel, but i do like it with the other fabrics.

i am becoming a solids convert! well, sort of like i am a denyse schmidt convert: i am learning how to use bits and pieces to compliment and enhance my designs. in fact, while deciding on my color palette and pull for the triangle along quilt, i realized i absolutely love solid triangle quilts! so i've ordered more of these modern solids ii and a few other almost-solids for that quilt. i'm actually pretty excited to work with more solids! (as might be indicated by the unusally high number of exclamation points in this paragraph.)

 as i was working on the courthouse step blocks, i kept trying to find a use for my goat sample piece sent to me by cia. however, it was a little too big for any of those blocks. so i hunted through the pattern book for a block that could utilize this piece. i found a courthouse step sq-in-sq block that would work. i still had to cut off a bit of one of his feet, but it was the best i could do. my 13 yr old quilting critic son had to point out the missing foot to me. i explained to him that if i had moved it over to the left a little, the goat would not have enough "room to breathe" with his nose right up against the seam. the mr chimed in with, "yes, goats need to be able to breathe." s1 followed right up with, "well, he can get enough oxygen from all these flowers around him. he could still breathe."

fussy cutting that goat at an angle was no small task. a 4.5" square ruler would have made it a whole lot easier, but i dont' have one of those. i kept thinking i was going to mess it up and then i'd be out a goat. yeah, it's just fabric, as they say, but i only had one bit of this and there was no room for error. fortunately my late night brain functioned for me. however, i did cut the squares for the outer triangles wrong and had mull over what went wrong for a bit before realizing it was a 1/4" too large on one side. oh, so that's why my triangles weren't symmetrical! fortunately, i was able to salvage them. too big is a lot better than too small in most cases. the gypsy goat still needs an outer border - green, i think - but it's looking pretty. that heather bailey dandy stripe from "nicey jane" is awesome! as i cut it last night, i was sorely tempted to go order a few more yards of it. (didn't - for the record. yet.)

i hit on one more scathingly brilliant idea for working on gw last night: i'm now cutting strips as i go. the pattern calls for 60 wof strips, 20 at 2" wide and 40 at 4" wide. that's a lot of strip cutting and i wasn't looking forward to doing that all at once on 60 different fabrics.

so far, i've only been using small pieces of each fabric so when i go to cut, i've been lazy. i've just pressed a corner of the fabric and cut out what i need without squaring it off first. it seemed like too much trouble to square a whole piece when all i needed was a few inches.

however, last night as i thought about all those strips i'll eventually need, i decided to go ahead and press and square every time i need a piece of new fabric, and also cut a strip out while i'm at it. genius, i tell you! (maybe i read that somewhere else and it just surfaced as my own idea last night?) now i have a growing pile of strips to set aside for later. two birds with one stone, and all that. i was thinking i should use each fabric in a block and then somewhere else as a strip, too, so this is going to make keeping track of all that much easier. thank you, quilting muse, for the inspiration!

stashing

 time for confessions - shopping confessions. really, i'm not exactly sure why i think i need more fabric. i've enough to keep me busy for a year or ten. don't we all? (please say yes.) i've been trying to fabric diet and feel like i have . . . until i consider the evidence. i like laura's system of only keeping one tub of fabric and not buying anymore until she has used what she has so there's space in the tub. i think it keeps the sewing very fresh and relevant. but somehow i just can't stick to that. fabrics i like come out way faster than i can sew. they're appearing at light speed and i sew like the tortoise.

most of this was a purposeful purchase. i did need some more boy prints since i've got 3 new nephews here or on the way and there is a serious dearth of boy friendly fabric in my stash. so that's what got me out. and i did find some great boy prints (just quarter yards). but there was also some new amy butler and joel dewberry i didn't have. in precuts - irresistible. that joel floral was also irresistible in a bit of yardage even though the colors are not my usual thing at all.

i spied some more of that fabulous adorn it blue dot (bottom left corner), which i've used a lot lately, so i stocked up on a few more yards. lots of boy quilts, remember?

and i got a few basics for sashing or backgrounds: the white eyelet (since i liked the one for "paris daydreams" so much), more text print (can't get enough of these lately), and some crosshatch because it looked so fabulous on laura's "x plus" quilt (not the same print, but similar and i'm trusting her good design taste here).

*** speaking of "little and lots" laura, which i just did twice, i was looking up links on her blog when i read the most fabulous, real post: "it's okay to be little." it's a must read. here. and laura, i started this post and mentioned you twice before i read that, just so you know!

the stash above came from the store, ETC. i was also getting the new pink fabrics for my epp and the lady behind me at the cutting counter liked my selections so much that she asked for some of each, too. that was flattering! she thanked me for picking out fabrics for her.

 bedsides the store visit, i made another visit to my favorite on-line shop: cia's palette. she has such groovy selections, her packing is impeccable, and her customer service is top notch. just look at how beautifully the fabric fits in the shipping box! she also encloses a few samples with the order. this time it was some sweet gracie prints.

i was visiting cia because i wanted some more of that darling umbrella girls print i used in my cousin's baby's quilt. sadly, the colorway i used before was all gone. however, there was some left in pink and brown. while i was there, i picked up a few other tempting bits, too.

 cia has always impressed me with her packaging: the folding is perfect, she wraps the stack neatly with a paper sleeve and cute sticker (coordinated with my fabric, no less), and protects it all with a well-fitted plastic envelope. i regularly order from a larger company that has great prices and a vast selection. their orders, although fulfilled promptly, are rather sloppy in comparison. some of the cuts i've received looked hacked on the edges rather than cut. the fabric is folded any old way and tossed in the box willy-nilly. the job gets done, but opening cia's packages are a completely different experience. it's like getting a beautifully wrapped gift rather than a slap-dash order.

her attention to customer service detail is no less. i've received phone calls from her in the past just to clarify points on the order. this time, there was a problem with my credit card (oops!). she emailed me and patiently waited the whole order til i got back with her after the weekend. we fixed the problem and she mailed the order right out. it arrived within days. once again, i was most impressed.

aside from the umbrella girls, i ordered a few other prints i'd gotten from her before and wanted more of, as well as some old favorites she still has in stock. now that i'm sure i've ordered what i want, i can let you know she still has "hope valley," if you care!

i restocked on some amy butlers, gracie prints, milk dots from "whimsical," and those beautiful "it's a hoot" leaf prints. i'm not sure how she still has some of these out-of-print classics on hand, but she does!

i don't even sort these fabric into my stash. i have a cia pile on my shelf because they sit together so nicely. i know what's there if i need to look for something.

for the record, this is not a sponsored post. not a bit! i just really love cia and am putting the word out there because my experience with her has been so good. give her a visit some time when you need fresh, well-selected fabrics.

online fabric

i'm fairly certain my postal carrier hates me. but right now i feel like giving him or her a huge squeeze. packages in the mail are so nice, don't you agree? and a box of fabric contains endless possibilities.

like many newer homes, we have to get our mail from a neighborhood communal box, much like apartment complexes have always had. no more walking out my front door to my own box. even better was a really old house we used to live in that had a mail slot in the front door. i didn't even have to get dressed to fetch the mail, it simply fell on my living room floor. nowadays the postal service is more frugal and efficient. i have to keep track of a key, get dressed to a reasonable level, and walk four houses down and around a corner if i want mail, most of which is government-subsidized junk mail. more paper for the bird's cage.

our box is usually stuffed to it's gills by the time we check it every few weeks. there's often a notice saying they're going to return all our mail to the post office for holding if we don't empty it. our primary mail key has been missing for a few weeks, so even though i was expecting mail at the end of last week, i couldn't get to it. on saturday, i grubbed up five sets of unidentified keys that might possibly be the spares and tried to "open sesame" with no luck, standing in the rain the whole time. my treasures remained locked inside my box all because i couldn't locate the key.

monday morning, the mr. gave it a good hunt down since he needed his business mail (he works from home) and found the spares. joy! i threw on the first clothes i could touch and flew to the mailbox. it did not disappoint. not only was there one package box key hiding in my over-full inbox, but there were two! i'd filled up both spare boxes designed for packages, probably for a couple days. that's why i'm pretty sure my mail carrier hates me.

somehow i managed to get all three packages plus the mail balanced between my arms and chin (barely) and waddle home down my street. i'm sure i was a sight to see. the pants i'd grabbed were low rise and the shirt was an old one from the "let's show our belly a bit" era a few years back. (so glad that has passed.) it was an uncomfortable stagger home, but the fruits of my labor were well worth it.

first, from cia's palette:

a few yards of this and that, beautifully packaged, as always. i've ordered from her a few times. my yardage is always nicely folded and wrapped with the pretty vintage sewing label sticker sealing the deal. cia also includes a small cut or two of something new you didn't order (the floral piece on top.) i like that. i've talked to her on the phone before because she's called me with a question about an order. she's very courteous and pleasant. i like her fabric selection because it is rather different than what my local store carries, in many instances. i find her site easy to manage, although occasionally i have a hard time getting back to my cart if i'm not on the right page. overall, she's a pleasure to work with.

in packages no. 2 and 3 from the quilted castle:

two new quilt patterns and a whole mess of fabric. i raided their clearance section and "end of bolt" deals. i find that when a fabric line has been out for a while, stores that like to move stuff through will begin marking items down. i picked up some things that coordinate with fabric i already have for a fraction of the original price.

i've ordered from castle a handful of times and always get great service. the very first online order i did was through them. i was very nervous after it came because a whole fat quarter package was missing. but i emailed them and they completely believed me, gave me the option of shipping it, refunding my card, or a store credit. wonderful customer service. i like the way their site is arranged. you can shop by company, designer, collection, or even types of precuts.

after a save up a bit again, my next order will likely be to purl soho, the trendy shop in nyc. they've got some nice things i can't find here or on other sites. they come highly recommended in several books, so i'm anxious to give them a try. too bad their site is so slow, though. and the search feature has given me trouble. still, i've got my eye on some items.

i'm no expert, but my opinion on online shopping is that it's great for items you've seen before and know what they will be. often colors and/or pattern sizes are hard to judge accurately on the computer screen. i've gotten items before that were much brighter or differently colored than i'd anticipated. knowing exactly what you're getting will really help make for a good experience.

it's also a great way to pick up sale items. sometimes i take a chance on the sale items i might not have seen if the price is good. it's a tiny bit risky, but fun. what's popular in your local area may not be moving elsewhere and you can get some surprise bargains.

if you have your heart set on an item you must have, you'll probably find it online somewhere. etsy has tons of fabric offerings, even some small custom collections not found anywhere else. but if you go hunting for a specific hard to find item, be prepared to pay a premium and some hefty shipping. it's just not worth the shipping sometimes to get a yard or two.

i save up money to do bulk orders because many shops will throw in free shipping if you spend a certain dollar amount, ranging anywhere from $35 to over $200. i don't bother with the shops that don't ship for free. i haven't been that desperate yet. i see no reason why they can't do it if you're going to spend a nice chunk of change with them.

i'm looking for some sandi henderson i couldn't find anywhere else, so maybe i'll have some new sites to review in the near future.

anyone have a favorite site they'd recommend?