These are my latest favourite fabrics. I love them so much that not only do I refuse to put them away, but I actually carried the pile around the house with me the other day. Just in case.
The top print is Amy Butler's Midwest Modern, in my favourite colourway. I bought some of the greener prints the other day and have to admit that they only got a small "hunh" out of me. They're not horrible, but they also don't make my heart quicken the way this one does.
The second one down is part of Sandi's Ginger Blossom fabric collection and I have big plans for it.
The third is a Michael Miller print called Pod Vine. This one's the surprise in the pile because when I first saw it I wasn't that impressed. But I'm in the middle of making an outfit for Lily out of it and now I love it. It looks particularly nice with natural linen.
The bottom fabric is the Micheal Miller Organic Terry Cloth in natural. Now this one may not look like much, but I'm telling you, it's the softest, sweetest terry cloth that I've come across. And I shall be buying more (sorry Grainne!).
This little pile also got carted around for a day or two. I'm sad enough to admit that it was mixed in with the top pile and every now and again I would thumb through the stack and get a little jolt when I saw these beautiful, vibrant prints. And yes, I am truly that pathetic when it comes to fabric. I just love it so.
The first pile are predominantly for household projects, like cushions, but this second pile is mainly for dressmaking projects for the girls.
The top fabric is another print from Sandi, except this time it's flannel. And it's such wonderful flannel that as soon as it arrived and I got to feel how soft it is, I went straight back online and ordered another 3 yards. Just in case. And now I'm wondering if maybe I should have ordered more.
I'm going to be using it to make some pj's for both the girls and to make a blanket for Lily, amongst other things. Actually Jim looked pretty interested when I mentioned using it to make pj's and I have to admit that I am too (matching pj's for the whole family? Too much? Really?).
Sandi's prints are scoring high points with me at the moment, especially the Vintage Dots range. And have you seen that she has a new collection debuting right now? Farmer's Market looks like it's going to do just as well as Ginger Blossom and I have to say that I'm pretty excited to see it in person (when it hit's the online stores that is). At the moment I'm torn between the Summer and the Fall colourways, but it all looks good.
The other two prints are part of the Swell collection by the Urban Chicks for Moda. And they're just lovely, bright basics that I'll use for dresses and pants for both the girls.
I often get asked how I chose the fabrics that I use/buy and I've been thinking about it for awhile. In part it's just down to personal taste. There are some quilters/crafters out there that I have to admit make me shudder when I see their fabric choices and I have no doubt that there are plenty more people out there that shudder when they see mine. But it really does just come down to what floats your boat.
The other major thing for me is that I suffer no guilt whatsoever about the amount of fabric that I own (this is only a small part!).
I'm not one of those people that thinks that I need to diminish my stash in any way. I don't feel the pressure to use it all up before I die, the way some people do. In fact it's quite the opposite for me. Because I don't see it as a stash, I see it as a collection.
Fabric and print has always played a huge part in defining design era's and I see my collection as something organic that I want to pass on eventually. As sad as it sounds, I see it almost as a reference library. And when I buy fabric I think about how well it will age stylistically. About how out dated it will look in ten years time and about whether or not it goes some way to defining my personal tastes right now.
I also think about how wonderful it will be in twenty years time to have original prints from this era, instead of reproductions. I sorely wish that I had kept hold of far more fabrics from my youth and don't want to make that mistake again.
So when I use a print up, if possible I try and replace it. Because I hate for my collection to be missing a piece. And I'm just a little obsessed (you think?) with never running out of the prints that I love.
This is also why I simply don't struggle with keeping all of my fabrics folded neatly, all of the time. I can't stand for it to get messed up in the same way that people that love books hate to see corners turned over. There's just no excuse for a messy fabric collection (although I am dreadful for not washing fabrics before I use them).
So there you have it. I'm actually a crazy, megalomaniac who thinks that it's my job to preserve the mainstream fabric prints of this generation.
