Winner???? It's the Cat's Meow!!

0h, YES!!
It's time for Sunday's Stash additions with Molli 'Champers' Sparkles!

Today's Stash is brought to you by Cats.
No reason, other than it seemed like a Theme, and, you know, helped in organizing the veritable mountain of stash acquisitions that have been mysteriously arriving on the doorstep... 
(Didn't I join SewMyStash2015??!)

That's right I did! Apparently I'm goin' with the philosophy that if you don't have enough stash, you're not going to get enough done!! 

Last week, I hostessed a giveaway to anyone who could tell me what these two fabulous felines were, what they were for, or what they were doing... 

But, you have to wait to find out who won that giveaway, while I tell you about THIS lovely lovely fabric!! Ha!

 CatNap by Lizzy House!! Oh my! 

OH My My My!!

 Purrfectly Happy in green,

 Purrfectly Happy in Off White and Grey,

 Kitty Dreams on Dark Blue,

Kitty Dreams! killin' me!!

 Cat's Cradle in Citron,

Mice on Bikes, my all time favorite, in Greenish/Grey 

 Pearl Bracelets in Dove Grey and Citron, Chasing Butterflies in soft Blue and Two others for which I have no names...

Hawthorne Threads has Catnap in stock in Raspberry and Clementine, right now...

Me-ow!!!!

Another great lineup by Lizzy House!

I purchased this bundle from Massdrop... It was 25% off, included postage to AK, and arrived within 3 days of fulfillment of the Drop. Since that time, I have also purchased an Oliso Pro iron from them, which arrived in about two weeks, and a Quilter's Dream Wool bundle, which took an entire month to arrive, including 10 days here in Anchorage after UPS dropped it off to the post office to deliver!! 

So, how do I feel about Massdrop? Well, if I can find a better deal through an independent Mom and Pop store, I will always go with them, first. Head's up, online shops! Here are a few things that Massdrop has that I don't seem to find elsewhere:

• I get shipping to Alaska at the same price as everyone else, and it is usually here within 3 days. THREE!!! Do you hear that Hancock's and Fabric.com???!!! I am talking to you!

• The items I purchase are not available within Alaska, at my local quilt store, or Joanns. The Oliso Pro is available at Joanns, but everyone who has purchased one there has returned it immediately... our local stores tend to get the merchandise that isn't moving, elsewhere, or which may be a return that is already broken. Shame on them! The one I purchased, is on, on my ironing board, all day, everyday, and is just jamming on like a champ. I could not be happier with it. I have had it for two months. Now, since I break most irons in three months, I will give you periodic updates on its health!

• I find items/fabric on Massdrop that I did not know existed. It is so interesting to see what people out there in the universe, are interested in, and to see new things that I have not experienced before, including fabric lines and notions. I do not know why people need so many fancy key caps, though... check it out!

• The items that you receive are not seconds, repairs or rejects. They are identical to what you would normally be purchasing. This includes the fabric, which is cut very well, and comes in bundles just like you would normally see. 

Now, what do I NOT like about Massdrop??

• WELL, there was that time that UPS dropped my batting off at the post office, and they delivered it 10 DAYS LATER!! What the heck?!! I could have gone and picked it up myself, but the post office wouldn't let me as it was in their care for delivery as per their contract with UPS. I NEEDED that batting. (ok, I didn't NEED the batting, but knowing it was there chewed a hole in me!) Would I now, knowing that this could happen again, purchase from Massdrop?... I would not do so again if I had any sort of deadline that I wanted to meet. 

• http://www.sewmamasew.com/2015/01/why-suppliers-and-consumers-should-support-shops-with-strong-sustainable-business-models/, a very well written essay about why Massdrop is not a good option if you care about Mom and Pop businesses... Basically, the Mom and Pop store has to pay middlemen, which Massdrop does not... When online or brick and mortar stores buy from middlemen, they are supporting those people, as well as the manufacturers. So, long story short, you have to decide how strong your feelings are about buying locally and supporting small businesses. Is your priority to purchase at the lowest price possible, or is it to support small businesses, or somewhere in the middle. No judgement here... I'm not in too much of a bind, because I purchase most of my fabric through these small businesses. 

Let us know how YOU feel about Massdrop! What have your experiences been? Like 'em or hate 'em??

And NOOOWWW, 

At LOONNGGG Last,

The ANSWER that you've been waiting for...!

Yes! That's right!! Jewels for the Loo!! 

Cat decorations were particularly appropriate because our cats are toilet trained, and think that any toilet with the seat up, is fair game...

Which leads to the dog spending many happy hours playing 'Bob for Tootsy Rolls' in the toilet when noone is home ;) 

OK, so gross, but MY friends know what makes my heart go tick tock!!! 

Our WINNER is....

noone

Boo! Hiss!!! 
Do you hate me?

Next time I will make it easier, and you will get a pressie! I promise!

I will save the comments from the first post, and all of those lovely folks will automatically be entered an extra time into my next giveaway. Fair? Fair!

Can't wait to see what additions you've made to your stash, lately!

XX!

Lori

Linking up with,

Sunday Stash Quirky Edition and a GIVEAWAY!

It's that time again!! 
Yes, it's Sunday Stash over at the Sparklicious Molli Sparkles!!

Today is another of those days where you think it's gonna be one kind of day, and it ends up being an entirely different day, altogether!!

I thought that today was going to be a day with a wee wander, a cuddle with the Hubs (gotta throw him a bone, sometimes!), and the occasional piece of cherry pie, 

But NO!

Today was a day drenched in sunshine, and the presence in my life of fabulously fun and thoughtful friends who deemed it necessary to interrupt my Sunday plans, in order to gift me these...

But WHAT, pray tell, could they possibly be???



The first person who guesses correctly, gets a Fat Quarter of their choosing from my stash! After all, I'm all about the acquisition!! 
Keep checking back for hints in the comments, and enter as many times as you like! You'll never get it ;0

Come back next Sunday, for the truly astonishing answer!!

Oh yeah, and I also got these...

From France!!

They didn't turn out quite as I had expected, due to my high school French, no doubt, but you can bet your bottom, I'm going to be attaching them to everything and anything from now on! 

Don't stand still too long, is all I can say! ;)

Just ask the cat.

XX!

What did you get this week?? 

I simply MUST know!

Lori

Click the button in the sidebar to see what everyone else has gotten to enrich their stash. And don't forget to enter my contest! 

Fabric Clubs - A Boom or a Bust??

Welcome to Sunday Stash over at the Splendiferous Molli Sparkles!!

This week I wanted to talk a little bit about Fabric Clubs, and whether or not they are the thing for you.

So, what makes a fabric club worth joining? In general, fabric clubs send out fabrics of their choosing, once a month, for a predetermined subscription fee. Most can be cancelled at any time, and many offer a discount over the retail price found in the online store through which you are obtaining your stash additions. I have experience with fabric clubs through Karen Lewis Textiles, Westwood Acres Fabrics and Marmalade Fabrics. 

I have to tell ya, it is super wonderful, addicting, fabulous, addicting, time saving, oh yes, and addicting, to have fabric show up at your door as if elves had read your thoughts and left it there. What is more appealing than coming home at the end of a long day, to happy mail filled with gorgeousness that you never knew existed, and which is curated by queen bees with an enviable eye for color??! 

Oh My GOODNESS! See what I mean??!

I chose to participate in Karen Lewis' (@karenlewistextiles) half panels club because she hand prints her own designs onto Kona cottons, and selects colors that really appeal to me. Now that I have been online shopping for awhile, ahem, I have seen the light and will be changing my subscription to a larger size as soon as it is available. Karen has clubs in 5" Charms, above, (Deelish!), Half Panel bundles, and Full Panel bundles. Click the link to check them out, if you like.

It is my opinion that if you can find an artist who is printing their own fabrics, and who is working their tail off to ensure quality and customer service, you should patronize them. I chose Karen because of her designs, her color selection, and her personality. I just adore her! Now, I'm not gonna lie, buying fabric from the UK if you're in America, is not for the faint of heart. But like I said, I am actually going to change around my subscription because I have discovered that it is more valuable to me as a stash addition than other fabric lines that I could buy, Stateside. I will be doing an entire post on Karen's work, but with MUCH better pictures. For now, here is a sample from her website. 

Right??!!!

Next up is WestWood Acres Fabric. Now, I love me a mom and pop store, and this one just takes the cake. Amanda (@acraftyfox_amanda) and her husband run their shop from their home. I have yet to be disappointed with their product, their price or their customer service. And I have bought A LOT (Alot alot!) of fabric from them!! Their newsletter occasionally has an additional percentage off of fabric in their store, but be warned... once you turn that corner, you won't be able to go back!! 

I was a member of Amanda's Low Volume Club (Inside Voices club! Lol! 10 Fqs), 

and her Liberty Club (FQ, F8, F16th). 

Ohhhhh Yessssss!

Both were excellent. I am no longer a member because I have a limited budget (I know, gasp!) and I wanted to try out some other clubs featuring other styles of fabric not available here in AK.  Thanks to these clubs, my stash is now very nicely filled with fat quarters of perfect low volume fabrics, and fat eights of liberty lawns. No! You can't have any! 

I am booking through them at a very respectable clip, so I'm sure I will become a member again. In the meantime, I'm pretty sure they're naming their unborn child after me due to the sheer volume of purchases I make. Hey, any way I can support a child's education is good with me! ;)

Now, Marmalade Fabrics has been one of the best purchasing decisions I have ever made. And I'm no newbie to the Halls of Commerce! 

I am a member of their Around the Color Wheel monthly bundles. I like it so much, they are on perpetual auto-pay. Each month, I receive a FQ bundle of 12 FQs. My bundle is half solids and half prints. I love it because not only do I receive the entire new range of Kona cotton solid colors without having to hunt them down, but I also get coordinating prints from the latest hot trends and designers. And these are not your joe schmoe matchings. They are brilliant! I just made an entire quilt with 25 different solids in it, and all of the ones I chose were from my Marmalade Fabrics club! Man, they should hire me!! Lol! 

Another thing that they do is label each solid FQ with the name. So handy!! Then when you've gone to the stash and hunted up the perfect color for the background of your next masterpiece, you just look right there and the name is ready for ya. Brilliant, I tell you, brilliant. I have a Kona color card, and it is surely handy, but with the name right there on the fabric, I don't have any of those low light guessings to do. Know what I mean?

This year, I will up my subscription to half yards, as I find that a FQ is not enough fabric for my needs. I like to make a coordinating pillow or other doodad to go with my quilts, and my scraps look like squirrels chewed them by the time they get picked up off of the floor, put in a pile, spilled over onto the floor again, and finally put under the cutting table for later sorting into storage. I know you know what I'm talking about. 

So, now that you know WAY too much about my spending habits, what are the downsides to participating in a monthly fabric club?
Shipping is sometimes additional. That may break your budget, as every little bit counts. 
You may find that you forget that you have fabric coming, and buy more, and then have too much. 
But who am I kidding?!
Check carefully to be sure that you can cancel at any time if your needs change and you no longer wish to participate. 
Every now and again, your taste does not match with the person's who is choosing the bundles. Shops should have representative pictures of bundles from the past, like you see above for Westwood Acres, but if they don't, email the shop and ask what the names are for the upcoming fabrics in their bundles. They should tell you and hopefully also send along a pic. If they don't know, choose another club. 
Sometimes having a fabric club come to your door, blunts the thrill of the chase of finding fabulous deals. If this could be the case for you, set aside a specific amount of money to spend only on fabric detection. The rest can go for chocolate. 

Check out Anita and Cynthia's fabric club suggestions in the comments. Excellent! What are your experiences or opinions about fabric clubs?? Weigh in below!! 

XX!

Lori

It's a Doe! A Stash! A Girl-y Stash!

It's time for another Stash Sunday over at the home of the Glitterati, the place where all things wonder-filled go to hang, Molli Sparkles!!

This week, I single handedly kept small businesses afloat. What can I say? I'm patriotic like that.

I have two new additions to the stash to show ya:

First we have the unbelievably sweet and timeless bliss of Lecien's Flower Suger. 

I purchased my bundle of candy goodness over at Sew Me a Song. The service was fast, the price was incredibly reasonable, and my order came sealed in a waterproof bag; a big plus here in Alaska. 

Here is a pic of a half yard bundle she has online, as we speak. I dare you to get there before I do ;)

Squee! I know, right??!

Next up is Doe.

I mean, really. What can I say? I am speechless in wonder at what Carolyn Friedlander does. Every last thing.

 So VERY VERY good!

Here is the whole line. At least as far as I know. Please wipe the drool from your screen, 

 You're gonna want to see this...

Here are what I would classify as her Golden Yellows. Darker and richer than those in the Architextures or Botanics lines. They complement and add to these lines in rich and thoughtful ways. Every color except the green is represented. Each new colorway extends the idea, and creates a depth that makes this line in combination with Architextures and Botanics, a true phenomenon. 

I have placed them together on their own shelf, and I have to time myself when I walk by, so that I don't get sucked in and spend the entire day contemplating the amazing marvels to be made from them.

The white is a snow white on white, something that we don't have enough modern prints in, and 

I can easily see how the other neutrals could be used in almost anything. I found it interesting that she chose to do a simple grid. I bet we'll be seeing that in traditional and modern makes around the world!

And for a spectacular finale, we have the teals and blues. And of course, that fabulous splash of orange!!

Be still my heart!!!

I purchased my Doe fat quarter bundle from Fabric Spot, in Canada. The shipping to the US was expensive, but worth every penny. I have not found it for sale in the US, yet.

What did you add to your stash, this week?? 

Inquiring minds need to know!

XX!

Lori

Ps, I am not an affiliate of any of these sellers. I just like fabric. Alot. A very lot. Lol!