My Favorite Fabric Shops Online

Hello again. Nothing to report on the sewing front today. All those quilts in progress are still in progress. I hope I can call at least 3 of them quilt tops this weekend!

Due to yet another virus, I have not been motivated to do much, so those pics for the giveaway? Still not done. Tomorrow should be a good day for that. Between coughing fits. But enough about me!

I thought I would share some more on the shops I love to look at and occasionally buy from. Quilt fabric shops. Oh, I would buy from them every time I stop by, if I were a rich girl, but usually I am just Windows Shopping and drooling and sighing. You know what I mean, right?

First up is Hawthorne Threads. (Right now they have a $5 flat shipping rate!!!) Not only do Charlie and Lindsay have a fabric bundle giveaway every week, they have a nice newsletter and an awesome blog, and most importantly they stock the coolest, cutest, most adorable and awesome fabrics! Just take a peek at the selections! Their site is wonderful and very easy to use. I have not found a quilt shop site as useful as this one, EVER. You can easily look at individual designer lines, childrens fabrics, home dec, new arrivals and coming soon fabrics, themes, Japanese imports, and the stuff that is on sale. There are patterns and kits too. And that is not all. You can see other colorways and coordinating colors on the same page as the fabric you are looking at. They make it too easy! They restock all the time.If they are out of stock on what you want, input your email address and they will let you know when it is back in stock. And the shipping? So fast, your head will spin! The perk I really like here is that if you've made something with a fabric they carry you can post a pic to share with others. To me, this is very helpful. I can see the scale of the print and get ideas for projects. Purses, totes, kids clothing, etc. And I can share what I've made to help others get ideas too. The guitar jacket and the giraffe print pants on Tyler are all from Hawthorne Threads. Tyler likes them so much he had to wear them at the same time! ha! Here is a link to their blog as well. You will be lost there for hours, so get a yourself cup of tea and enjoy!

Next up is my recommendation of the Fat Quarter Shop. They also have a blog you'll really enjoy, the Jolly Jabber. I love to read interviews with fabric designers! Book reviews are there too, and tons of lovely pictures of projects and fabric lines. The Fat Quarter Shop is where you want to go for all the current big lines of fabrics, like Fig Tree Quilts. And who doesn't love Fig Tree Fabrics? Do you like to do Block of the Month clubs and Quilt clubs? They have tons of them! This shop is where you want to go for the latest, most popular lines of fabrics, and they sell out quickly! Their shipping is also quick.

Last up is a place you can go to find deep discounts and fabrics that are hard to find other places because they were released many months ago. Thousands of Bolts  is just that. Their prices average $5 a yard or less, with quilt back wide widths that are also very low priced. Their site is a little tedious to look around at compared to some, but I like that I can shop by color, and that there are holiday themed sections. Shopping at Thousands of Bolts is more like being in a shop in person, because you have to look around a bit, but you will definitely leave with bargains. About half of the fabrics in this quilt were from stash, and the rest came from Thousands of Bolts after one trip around their black, red and white fabric sections. I was thrilled with the cost and the shipping. You will be too.

Just to be clear, I am not getting any kind of reimbursement or other compensation for telling you about these shops. I am sharing out of the goodness of my heart and love of fabrics.

Don't forget to turn your clocks back this weekend!

Spring Sewing

Here's what I've been up to. Have you seen this Beach Bum Hoodie, as featured on Sew, Mama, Sew's blog? I bought the pattern and made it in Groovy Guitar print fabric from Michael Miller. If you make this, just keep in mind, they are not kidding when they say the hood is enormous. You might want to scale it down and make the neck opening bigger. That is my plan for the next time I make it, and there will be a next time!

It is lined with a stripe I bought a year or two ago from Connecting Threads, and the colors are spot-on perfect together!All the fabrics were bought from Hawthorne Threads. I love their selection of cool kids prints and all the latest cool fabrics, and you won't believe how fast your order will arrive!

Notice the Laurie Wisbrun giraffe print (Giraffes in Earth) pants? This is the outfit he picked out, because Nana made them recently, and he tells all his friends at the preschool "my nana made it for me!"

Just so you know, I am not getting paid to endorse these shops or items. I just love the quality of the fabrics, the good advice and ideas from the blog, and the shops listed. Connecting Threads fabrics are all made in the USA, did you know that? Very rare, sadly, to get any fabric made in America anymore.

I've also been in the mood to make pillowcases. They are so easy! I used the basic Million Pillowcase Challenge pattern and two one yard pieces from my stash, and VOILA! in half an hour, there were two coordinating cases for Tyler's bed!

That is a Joann's print of tropical fish, paired with a Jane Sassaman starburst orange and yellow print (the name escapes me.) I swear I'll be making pillowcases for my bed and for gifts a lot more often.

Other projects I have completed or are near finished: The Ginger Belle top is done. The Postage Stamp Quilt Along top is done (I added a border) and the Hokey Pokey rows are finished and ready to become the gigantic California King top. I'll be lugging that stack to the longarm quilter this weekend, along with the jelly roll twin size top I made last year - my own pattern. Hopefully I will have some pics to share by the end of April! And a tutorial maybe.

Quilt Tops Done and Blog Clothing Weeks

Have you heard about Kids Clothes Week? I have been making pajama pants for Tyler, as I stated on an earlier post. I have added Teeny Tiny Zoo pj pants in chocolate and some clown fish fabric pj pants to his wardrobe, but of course they are in the wash and not photographed so I can't show you them, can I? There is the set I made a few weeks back with Heather Ross' seahorse fabric and a plain white tshirt. Hopefully you read that post and visited Hawthorne Threads shop for some great fabrics! I also made a pair from an aliens in outer space print on black, shown here.

I have been a busy girl, but a bit behind for sharing on Spring Top Week, which ended 2 weeks ago. Nevertheless, I was inspired to take one of my skirt fabrics and make a cute top. Cool and colorful and easy. I am glad I read the pattern reviews first because they helped a lot (the back is too wide, so make it narrower by at least 1 size or your bra straps will be showing!) New Look 6891 is the one I used for it, but mine is shorter than their version. I will be looking up pattern reviews from now on when I sew clothing.

Many miles have been put on my 2 machines lately. I finished up several UFOs, made a very cute Whirly Wheels Baby quilt (from Moda Bakeshop) that will be a QOV  and it is made with Moda's Cherish Nature. Jelly roll plus a little yardage and you can make this in one day! I have quite a stack for the long arm quilter.

I don't do the quilting myself. I would need a class, which isn't possible here. It would be great to someday have the confidence and talent to make it from start to finish, but for now I leave my quilts in the hands of practiced and talented long-armers I know.

This is my version of "Orange Crush," the Quiltville.com mystery quilt of about 2 years ago. Bonnie's version has an elaborate border, which I am not going to do. I think I may add a simple solid border to this and call it a day. I used so many bright scraps here that I am naming mine "Key West Crush." I put it in a box when I had all the rows together because I just wasn't sure I liked it at all. Now I love it. It has been properly aged.

Last but not least is my expanded version of "Off the Grid" from Quilt Dad and the Moda Bakeshop. I added a 4th row to his version so it will cover more at Christmas when it adorns the sofa. Also, I omitted the rows of honeybun strips between the blocks. It took 2 packs of Glace charm squares and a Glace honeybun to make it. Really easy.

I should get all of the above quilt tops (plus one more I am not showing yet) back from the quilter by the end of Summer. I want to beat the holiday quilting rush.

Pajama pants

Ten days since my last post. I have been busy and never have time to take pics to go along with my posts. Or, I should say that I very rarely get to be on the computer at home. Anyway, I've been making applique tshirts, pajama pants, quilt blocks for the Off the Grid Nine Patch and pillowcases.

I recently shopped at Hawthorne Threads and got some very cute miniature prints: Heather Ross' sea horse print in orange and Michael Miller's Teeny Tiny Zoo.  I had to make pajama pants for Tyler. He loves the fish print ones I wear and I thought I would see what tiny prints were available to make him his own.  He loves sea horses. He thinks they sound just like regular horses, so he winnies when he points to them! Ha!  He's not too awake yet in this picture, but I assure you he loves the pants and coordinating tshirt. That is supposed to be a seahorse on his shirt. Hard to tell, I know. I am getting the hang of this iron on applique stuff.

I didn't know this until now, but when you buy from Hawthorne Threads and make something, you can go back to the fabric page and post a pic of what you made - including a link to your shop! So I am hopefully driving business to my Etsy shop when people look at the pic. Guess I'll have to make some of these outfits for sale there! Using my own pants pattern, of course. Not Simplicity's.

However, for this I used a Simplicity 3650 costume pattern. Super easy. Each pair took less than half an hour from cutting to putting the elastic in. And that Heather Ross fabric feels like silk! So soft.

I hope you are enjoying the great Spring weather, like we are. It is unusually mild and not humid here for the end of April. The weather seems to be a month behind. Maybe that means a nice Summer too?

Updates on the weather and some blog giveaways

Well, it snowed for about 5 minutes Friday afternoon! Big fat flakes that melted before they even got to the ground, and I could not get a decent picture of the event, but hey, it did snow in Florida! If I hadn't been working, I could have driven north of Pensacola to the northern border and seen this ---->   My friend's granddaughter having a blast with her daddy.


Blog giveaways you might want to check out:

http://u-handbag.typepad.com/uhandblog/2010/01/name-the-bag-win-the-bag.html#comment-6a00d8341c574653ef0120a8a11a8e970b  If they like the name you give the bag kit, you win that very awesome purse! Made with Laura Gunn's Lantern Bloom and a Moda dot fabric. Who wouldn't want that?

Also, if you create or have an account with Hawthorne Threads http://www.hawthornethreads.com they are giving away a too cute stack of Chirp fat quarters in one of three colorways. The details are here: http://www.hawthornethreads.com/giveaway   Aren't they just perfect for a baby shower gift quilt?

I hope you are having a wonderful Monday. Stay warm and keep sewing!