Fabric Crushes

You could lock me up in a fabric shop and I wouldn't sleep, but stay up all night looking through and planning things to do with the fabric. I just love looking at and touching it. One of the very first posts on this blog was Fabric: The. Best. Thing. Ever. Seriously though. I get super excited when I find a new place to peruse. This happened just recently, and I bought a few new pieces, and also took some pictures of prints I wanted to buy, but instead will just have to share. (The stuff I brought should show up in a few projects soon enough!)

I really really love this color scheme. Plus, I'm super drawn to anything map and travel related.

How bout this one? The colors and the characters are just perfect.

Okay, so I have to share something I actually bought. I can't wait to turn it into something for Christmas!

What do you get far too excited over? Stamps? Paper? Fabric, too? :)

Spoonflower Anyone?

No idea what I'm talking about? I didn't either until a few hours ago thanks to a friend's shared link on Facebook. It is a website that offers custom fabrics printed in full color without a minimum purchase requirement. Those last three words are huge. You can make your own print to be on a fabric and not have to order a hundred yards! You can order a yard, or even just a fat quarter or a swatch!

You can upload your own image or shop and purchase from other users (similar to Etsy). If you upload a print and someone orders a cut of your design, you get a commission (10%). Oh how I loved looking around at all the different fabrics, like these baking ingredients, or various types of mustaches, and found these nuns to be quite funny and cute. And one more, the black and white zoo animals are fantastic!

They also offer a themed contest each week to submit a design. The winner receives $100 Spoondollar credit to use on the site in addition to being featured as the Fabric of the Week. And they have a blog!

Spoonflower is only a couple years old and I love start-ups. It's the entrepreneur in me I guess. I love stories behind businesses and how start-ups find success based on how well they are at meeting a perceived need. This [older] interview with one of the founders gives a bit of insight on Spoonflower's story.

I'm not sure if I missed the boat completely on this, but I haven't seen anyone mention this. Maybe because it's pricey (starting at $18.00/yard), but boy, it sure is cool. (Huh. I just read on the website that they have been featured in "New York Times, Associated Press, Vogue, Martha Stewart Weddings, Make, CRAFT, ApartmentTherapy, Photojojo, and many other terrific publications and blogs." I must have been sleeping.)

Someday, I might just have my own custom fabric printed. How awesome would that be?

St. Patty's Specimen Art

I'm not sure how current I ever am on trends in DIY/homemade/etc. but for a while I saw subway art all over the blogs. I think it's really cute, but I've never made it myself. Eventually, I might. We'll see. Again, not sure if this is a trend I missed, or a newer one, but check this specimen art out!

Copyright Bev from Flamingo Toes

How perfect with St. Patty's Day just around the corner!

One of my favorite things about looking around blogland is all of the themed projects for holidays. I was looking at one of my favorite blogs, Flamingo Toes, and today she posted a suuuuper cute project/tutorial on how to make the St. Patrick's Day themed speciman art pictured above. She was inspired by this Halloween speciman art from the uber popular and one of my most favorite blogs, Tatertots & Jello. I love seeing a project posted online and using it as inspiration with your own twist for another project!

As if you need any more reasons to check it out, here's why I especially love this Lucky Clover Specimen Art made with fabric:

1. She was inspired by a post months earlier and actually remembered to use it to make it her own!

2. Right away, she mentioned being a "Silhouette free zone" here. That made me laugh and I can completely relate because I don't have one, which sometimes bums me out when I see what cute things people make with them.

3. She used fabric instead of paper! And as we all know from this post, I love fabric.

4. It reminds me of my grandpa who had actual specimens framed, the most memorable being beautifully colored and preserved butterflies! 

Copyright Bev from Flamingo Toes.

And now, as I come to wrap up this post...I'm wondering, is it St. Patty's or St. Paddy's? The tt's seemed right to me and then I realized I've seen it with dd's....Patrick has a t in it. Does that matter?

Fabric: The. Best. Thing. Ever.

Maybe an overstatement. Probably not. I have not been sewing for long, but I loooooooove fabric. One of my favorite things is going to fabric stores and browsing the rows of bolts.

I will also admit, I have far too big of a stash for the number of projects I've completed. I have a hard time resisting adorable fabric, especially on sale. It is for this reason, I am recognizing this habit and not going to buy any more fabric until I deplete my stash a bit. I will keep you posted on my progress as well as any symptoms withdrawals I have.

Since I love fabric so much, I also love to show it off. Recently, I took a trip to SewPo for my first time. I love small fabric boutiques, but also shop on a budget (don't we all?) so I really didn't intend to buy anything....until the owner pointed out her 20% discounted 'Designer of the Week' fabric, which happened to be a local Portland girl named Erin McMorris and her Wildwood collection for Free Spirit. So as a sucker for local shopping (local fabric shop with local artist!), I caved and bought 8 fat quarters.

There are only 7 different ones pictured because I bought two of the second print from the left. Anyway, I thought I would make a lap quilt or something, until finding this fabric at Fabric Depot in the 50% off clearance section!!!

Not only did they have a bolt of one of my favorites (top right hand corner), but a couple new prints to complement what I already had.

Now to find the perfect quilt pattern to create a summer-y masterpiece!