Absolutely nothing but threads :)
I've been busy with my next Scrap Squad quilt.
I knew I couldn't cut it up to sew in the pieced quilt top, but why couldn't I put it in the backing as a whole piece??
Answer: because then it would be gone, and not in my fabric collection any more.
In my brief moments of sanity I know that this is just ridiculous. But I also know that you fabric collectors out there in blog land understand this dilemma. Coin collectors don't spend their collection, and stamp collectors don't use their prize stamps (do people even have those hobbies anymore?!?)
Sometimes it's hard to actually use your favourite fabrics.
But really the fabric is not "gone".
It is in a quilt.
Duh.
I guess it's another "let it go" lesson that I wrote about yesterday. So I got over myself, and sewed it into the backing.
And on to the quilting...
How many bobbins do you wind when you start machine quilting a big quilt on a domestic sewing machine? I wound 5 bobbins to start this time for a 70"+ quilt.
If you want to see some real design wall posts, hop over to Patchwork Times and see what quilters are creating on their design walls this week.
I hate using up the last bits of my favourite fabrics too. We need to joint fabric hoarders anonymous!
ReplyDeleteYou're cute! I guess I do have a few fabrics that I have never been able to cut into, now that I think about it. Like you, I should revisit them and use them.
ReplyDeleteI too have fabrics I have 'collected' that I should actually start using..... heck, then I can see them every day in the quilt instead of on the shelf! Thanks for the aha moment. Now.... to actually finish a few UFO's and complete things so I can start cutting into those fabrics. Looking forward to this scrap squad quilt - love the colors. I don't tend to do lots of machine quilting on my quilts so just do one bobbin and then grumble when I run out of it =)
ReplyDelete& this is why I have so many quilts!
ReplyDeleteBut really the fabric is not "gone".
It is in a quilt.
I also have hoarded fabric, fabric that I don't want to use in case a better pattern comes along. Which is why I make scrappy quilts, so that small pieces of those precious fabrics can live in a multitude of quilts! Which goes back to - that's why I have so many quilts.
Doesn't everyone with a stash have some fabrics they just don't want to cut up? Mine include florals and orientals.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes stamp collecting is still alive and well. My husband has re-entered the hobby after a 25 year break and now there are piles of stamps being sorted all over my house. Oh well, it gives me justification to keep buying more fabric.
I have some Jo Morton toiles that I am loath to use for the same reasons. I keep thinking I will find a special pattern "worthy" of using those fabrics--lol!
ReplyDeleteDo you even have any scraps you can put in a mini (not that the fabric design would show well in a mini)?
ReplyDeleteLuscious looking colors of thread. Looking forward to seeing the finished project!
Years ago...I was at a quilt shop on the island of Kauai and talking to the gal cutting my fabric. She was one of the shop's owners. Through our conversation it came out that she wasn't a quilter but a collector of quilt fabrics. Truly...she did not quilt but did buy quilt fabrics with no expectation of ever cutting them up into pieces!
ReplyDeleteI hardly ever wind bobbins ahead of time, I usually do it as I go. How lazy is that?!
ReplyDeleteCollecting fabrics is a good comparison to coin or stamp collecting. Our prized possessions meant to be petted and admired and not used. We all have them!
YEA! Threads on the wall means it became a flimsy. You can enjoy that fabric on the back of your Scrap Squad Quilt! I have a few of those too. They come out to play sometimes, but I do Hoard them still.
ReplyDeleteI love that fabric!
ReplyDeletelol! "It isn't gone.... it's in a quilt"! lol! :-) Thank you for that! Now I probably won't be so hesitant to use some prized pieces from my stash!
ReplyDeleteI haven't machine quilted any larger quilts... so I can't help with a bobbin winding number...
I relate totally. I've been thinking the same thought just this week about a favorite piece. I had never thought about the difference between other types of collections and actually "using" parts of the collection. And the fabric doesn't actually disappear, it's just given a better purpose.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to use up those favorite pieces. I'm trying to let go of more so I can buy more favorites.
ReplyDelete