The lovely Jessica from A Little Gray is with us today. We saw her amazing ability to make children's clothes that are unexpected, fabulous and fun during season 4 of Project Run and Play. She continues to have fun sewing for children with Kristin from Skirt as Top in their Film Petit series. And if you are looking for quilt inspiration check out her collection.
Thanks for being with us Jessica...
Thanks for being with us Jessica...
Hey, I'm Jessica from A Little Gray, and I'm so grateful that Maryanne and Caroline are having me today! You see, I know they would probably never rat me out for this, but I was supposed to have this post up on September 2nd. Yup, I totally committed the ultimate blogger sin and flaked my guest post. No good reason, nobody's house was burning down, I just forgot. I felt so bad, but Maryanne sent me the nicest email ever (seriously, I don't know if I would have been that nice if it were me!) and said I could get it to them whenever if I still wanted to. Well, yeah! Anyway, that's the end of my story about how I'm kind of flakey and these are the sweetest most understanding girls in any hemisphere.
So my sewing best friend? Of course, it's hard to narrow down. If you don't read my blog regularly, you should know that I love to sew pretty much everything. I make lots of clothes for my kids and lots of quilts and any other project in between. Lately my sewing has been all about my fabric stash. My Ikea bookshelf provides all the inspiration I need these days and I'm happy to oblige my stacks that are calling out to be used.
I was hesitant to do a post all about my stash because I feel like it's a very personal thing for some reason. Like showing you my underwear drawer or something. Some bloggers show stash pictures all the time and some of them are very extensive. Mine is relatively tame and humble for a quilter, nothing that will get your heart pounding. But I still feel a little guilty about having it sometimes. I've bought all this fabric from various places over this past year, and most of it at some kind of discount. But I want to be fair to my stash- I want it all to get used to it's full potential, so I don't like it to get much bigger than this.
But the guilt feeling is very short lived when I realize how flexible my stash lets me be. Late night is when I'm most creative and do the most sewing. So it makes sense for me to have these shelves available to me for bee blocks, last minute guild swap items, quilts started on a whim, little girl outfits, and anything else I want to make justcuziwanna.
The first photos were all my quilting cottons, 1/4 and 1/2 yards arranged by color. As you can see, I have a thing for blues and neutrals so they get their own large stacks. Behind them, tucked out of sight are a bunch of solids, some precuts, and some Japanese imports from a swap that I've been hoarding. (Oh, and somewhere there's a ziploc with my Liberty of London winnings from PR&P. I try not to let those see the light of day too much.)
The above photo has the shelf with my larger cuts for clothing, bags, or quilt backs. As you can see, these aren't as numerous and varied, but I do tend to buy fabric specific to a clothing project at the time when I'm making it. Harder to stash for clothing projects, I think. Below this though, there are a couple messy shelves full of our old clothing that was deemed worthy enough for up cycle.
This shelf is my favorite to stare at because these stacks are fabrics I've already put together for future quilts. Right now, there are three in waiting, all for specific people and purposes. But I also have three in progress and I'm not going to let myself start on one of these until at least one of those is finished. So in that way, this shelf serves as a great motivator to finish things I start. It also reminds me why I don't really need to buy that fat quarter bundle of that super gorgeous line that just arrived at the modern fabric store I work in. I can usually be rational enough to realize that by the time I get through all these quilts that are on deck, there will be plenty of other new lines coming out that I will love just as much. See? Money saver. Kind of.
And then there are the scraps. As you can see, I have a really high-tech system of organizing them in this giant Joann's shopping bag. Classy. I go to my scrap bag all the time to find just the perfect piece for whatever I'm working on. I don't keep the teeny tiny things, but if it's over 3 inches, it's going to get used somehow.
Like I said, stashes are very personal things. Everyone's is going to be just as unique to them as the things they make. But if you are new to sewing and the whole idea of stashing is a bit foreign to you, I would give it some thought. Figure out what kind of projects you like to make the most, and start buying accordingly. Buy in a variety of colors, styles, and yardage amounts, just a little at a time. Of course, how big you let it get is a personal matter as well, but once it's there, use it up and take advantage of it. And yes, it's ok to let yourself just sit and stare at it sometimes. Best friends are all about quality time.
Thanks again Jessica - you have made me think...
Friendship is never simple in the real world - there are complexities even in the most valued of our relationships. And for most of us, I think it is the same with our stash. It can bring us so much fun but it can also feel like a responsibility to manage. Finding a balance so that is useful and productive but not overwhelming and a source of guilt can sometimes be tricky. And for all of us that balance is going to be different.
I hope your stash is balanced and bringing you joy!
Friendship is never simple in the real world - there are complexities even in the most valued of our relationships. And for most of us, I think it is the same with our stash. It can bring us so much fun but it can also feel like a responsibility to manage. Finding a balance so that is useful and productive but not overwhelming and a source of guilt can sometimes be tricky. And for all of us that balance is going to be different.
I hope your stash is balanced and bringing you joy!
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