The Sewpocalypse Cometh

Lots of stitching-related updates. First of all, I'm going to be part of MassArt's Holiday Sale for the first time this year. It runs from December 2nd-8th, and the great thing about it is that students and alumni are welcome to submit designs. I submitted 5 of my newer holiday designs and got all of them in, which means I'm going to be sewing my butt off for the next few weeks. 

The technical sewing term for this is "an assload of felt"

I am in the process of measuring and cutting all the necessary pieces to double my inventory. All I can say is, thank God for Netflix.

Lots to do, but organization is key.

Secondly, I am planning my first quilt. I got the idea while buying fabric at Ikea, where I picked up half a yard of this lovely design by Edholm and Ullenius:

I'm a big fan of printed patterns. I cope with this weakness by clipping and pasting pictures of pretty throw pillows and chevron rugs in a notebook like an insane person. However, the idea of collecting different fabrics for a big patchwork quilt has released the dams and I went a little bit overboard yesterday.

Since there isn't any public transport access to a JoAnne's fabrics, I went to a couple of independently-owned stores around Boston. First I went to WinMil Fabrics in Chinatown, which I've been to multiple times, yet it always eludes me when I'm looking for it. It's like Narnia. They have a lot of fabric but not a lot of fun, modern prints. I want this quilt to be anything but MeMe-ish.

Next I went to SewFisticated in Somerville, which I'd never been to. They had a lot of cool patterns at reasonable prices (considering most patterns I like on online stores are $8-$14/yard) but unfortunately their minimum cutting size was 1 yard, rather than halves. It was very hard deciding between a few different patterns, but in the end I got some cool patterns.

You would think that after buying 15 different patterns, that would be enough. You would move on and put your money towards responsible things, like groceries and electric bills. But no. The moment I got home I hopped online and continued to browse through different stores' inventory for cute but hopefully cheap patterns to fit my green scheme. I didn't have enough polka dots, or stripes, and it's really the simple patterns that tie it all together. Right? These feeble justifications kept me going for an hour or two, and I finally bought some half-yards at Connecting Threads. I really recommend this site because they have a large selection, and the fabric I bought was on sale, so the most expensive item in my order was $2.98. Normally the fabrics go for $6/yard.

Here are some of the fabrics that I ordered. 

First, designed by Jenni Calo:

Candy Cane Stripe (Peridot)

Fruit Basket (Sprout)

Macarons (Mint)

Majestic Mums (Emerald)

Plush Cushions (Gray)

Maple Skies (Avocado)

Designed by Jody Houghton:

Pin Dots (Peridot)

Designed by Lizzie House:

Hello Pilgrim (Brown)

Designed by Connecting Threads:

Awning (Apple)

City Block (Sprout)

I'd say I have more than enough variety of fabric to create 300 4x4" patchwork squares. I'm eager to begin but I have 36 little felt cakes to put together first.