Enchanted Bobbin's fabric finds

I am addicted, in some kind of primal, fundamental way, to bargain hunting -- to searching, researching, weighing options.  This has always been the case, it impacts every part of my life, and I am comfortable with it!

But I do have an issue with fabric bargains: I find them very, very, very tempting, but I find more than I can possibly purchase, and I have been purchasing more than I can sew. Clearly this cannot go on.

I am on a zillion mailing lists, so the temptations for fabric bargains are right there, in my inbox, all the time.  I get a little thrill from finding great fabric at great prices, and more than half of my surfing time results in abandoned virtual shopping carts.  If you have seen my fabric stash (it is substantial) then you can comprehend the implications -- the vastness of the fabric bargains I resist!

In an effort to buy less -- I really DO NOT NEED any more fabric!!! -- but still satisfy my appetite for a bargain, I am going to use "fabric find" posts as an outlet. 

Okay, so here it goes, for my sake as well as yours: there are some steals right now at Hancock's of Paducah.

The first major temptation for me were the Sarah Jane prints for Michael Miller at $4.98 a yard -- they have the florals, the pink hopscotch print, the family tree panel, rocket launch.  I love these, and haven't seen them discounted like this anywhere else. Wow!  And it seems that H of P will now let you order just a 1/2 yard of web sale fabrics (they used to have a 1 yard minimum for each sale print).

The other amazing bargain (think quilt backs) are the select Taza prints by Dena Designs currently at just $3.98 a yard (not all Taza is priced this low, so look carefully!).  There is also a Dream On cheater print at 3.98 a yard.  You can imagine the willpower I had to conjure to resist all this.

I know you deserve to feel the thrill of your own pursuit, so I'll just nudge you in the right direction: search H of P for Tula Pink's Parisville or Prince Charming, or Bonnie & Camille's Swoon.  You can thank me later!!

Bargain found, bargain reported, good deed done, temptation averted!

If you pursue any of these fabric finds, please do let me know.  I would be absolutely delighted to know that someone has benefited from my scrounging surfing -- I really would!

ETA, p.s. [for my fellow Canadians:] 
Although Hancock's of Paducah's shipping charges to Canada have suddenly, mysteriously doubled (they now seem to charge $15 flat rate for shipping by Canada Post, rather than $7 as in my own two purchases from H of P), they are still exceptionally well-priced: whether my [abandoned] shopping cart had 7 or 20 yards in it, the shipping cost appeared to be the same.  Also worth noting: the purchases I have made in the past from H of P each took a full month to arrive, but had no duty charges attached. Of course, none of this is a guarantee, but personally I consider Hancock's of Paducah a Canuck-friendly fabric shopping choice. Bonne chance!

All roads lead to Julian!

We know a little boy who loves cars so much he takes his Hot Wheels to bed with him. 

Tomorrow is Julian's 3rd birthday and here racing in, just under the wire, is his completed birthday quilt. Vroom-vroom!

One of my photo assistants (my son) is feeling under the weather, so after a couple of shots I had to seek an alternative location.  I spread this new quilt out on my own bed.  Ramone seems to feel it needs some blocking.

The feature fabric is "Plaidsportation" by Michael Miller, and I mixed in some additional car-themed MM prints appropriately named "Hon-Honk" and "Toot-Toot."  I used most of a Connecting Threads micro-dot basics jelly roll and then drew on solids from my stash for the narrow borders, the two "streets" that run the length of the quilt, and the sashing.

Although I keep making resolutions about widening my quilting repertoire, I was (once again) working with a relatively limited time frame, so the quilting is a combination of straight-line and very broad meandering.  I may not have challenged myself in this regard, but it was quick and the result is a very soft and flexible quilt.  I particularly like the back, as simple as it is!

I have the perfect gift bag, and now all I have to do is deliver it. 

Many thanks to my bloggy friends for their advice about the side borders.  I had the perfect amount of the various car fabrics to add simple borders (purely by luck!), and with the clock ticking it did indeed prove best to keep it simple.

One final note: my 1st blogiversary is right around the corner -- less than a week away! I think a little giveway is order, don't you?  Perhaps it's time for you to raid my stash? 

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend -- and a good "family day" if you happen to live where this newly-minted holiday is celebrated.

(mostly) wordless Wednesday

It's here, oh lucky me! Oh lucky day!  Oh (future) lucky quilt! Thank you Fat Quarter Shop!! Thank you Katy, for the Swoon-along and giveaway!!

nearing the finish line

My car-themed quilt for our little friend Julian's upcoming birthday is almost fully pieced.

 

This is one project that I am going to carry straight through to the finish line without any distraction, simply because I have a deadline.  Julian's parents have been tremendously generous to us, and very appreciative of the little quilt I made last spring for Julian's baby sister Imogen (below).

I'm excited to be able to make something special for Julian's 3rd birthday.

To fit Julian's twin-sized (big boy) bed, I need to add about 8" in width, about 4" to each side. The question before me now is what to do with those 4"?

I have enough "Plaidsportation" yardage left to do this -- that's the car print with the black background featured in the centre of each log-cabin block, and in 4" squares between log-cabins.  But I'm not 100% sold on the notion of long dark strips at each side of this quilt top, although it seems fortuitous that I have just enough of my feature fabric to complete this task.  And I have completely depleted my stash of light gray, used to make my two "streets," so that isn't an option.

As always, I would welcome suggestions from you, my wise and talented readers!  Plaidsportation?  Strips of solid colour? Or maybe my favourite option for the side strips,  at least from a design perspective (but also the most labour-intensive option): something pieced? (!)

sneak peek Sunday

VROOM-VROOM!!

This project -- a birthday present-in-progress, with the car theme selected in consultation with the b-day boy's parents -- has already transformed beyond what I'm showing here, but just for now here is a little sneak peek....

My sewing project load has officially entered OVERDRIVE / CAUTION / EXTREME CONDITIONS zone!

Let's take stock for a moment, shall we?  I have FOUR projects completely pieced, and now awaiting basting and quilting --

* the Bee (A Little Bit) Japanese quilt-top

* Frida's "big softie" / Folksy Flannels quilt-top

* Jackson's green quilt-top

* Northern Star / Made in Cherry QAL quilt-top

And I now have 5 piecing projects on the go:

* King Bear Paw

* Swoon

* Vroom-vroom

* Farmer's Wife QAL

* Mystery Quilt

Yikes!

Has anyone else ever scattered their creative energies among so many projects at once?  I used to take a sewing project from start to finish...now I console myself by looking forward to several finishes, soon (I hope).  It will be a relief!

not a baby anymore

Last night Miss Frida slept on her own -- without coming to get me, without getting out of bed at all -- from 8:30 until 4:30 a.m.!!!  If you have never had a little one with sleep "challenges" you might not think that this is cause for celebration, but believe me when I say, that in context, this is a MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT!  I wasn't awoken until 4:30 a.m. -- hallelujah! 

When she did wake up, Frida crawled into bed with us and "cuddled" for a while, waking up happily at 7:30 a.m.  Good girl!  And then my sweet husband took her downstairs for some Backyardigans-viewing and let me sleep until 9:30 a.m.!!!!  I feel so much better today -- a total turnaround from yesterday, when I was miserable with a cold, now just a sniffle.

Frida isn't a baby anymore, although it seems like yesterday that she looked like this:

or this:

She's a big girl now, 3 years old!

I have told her that she can have a nightgown -- made by mama, just like her big sister's -- when she learns how to sleep on her own, in her bed, at night. Honestly, I will settle for 8:30 - 4:30.

So if -- let's say when -- you see a post about nightgown sewing, you can take it as a good sign! 

more paws

My immune system finally admitted defeat...I have a cold (The Cold), and am not in very chatty mood today.  Nevertheless, I made a few more "bear paws" (for Bear Pa) and wanted to share them -- lined up on the yardage of brown Painter's Canvas to try to get a sense of the larger design.  Just 26 more to go!

Now it's time to hibernate.