coaster #9: keys coaster

today a very simple coaster using some great new key fabric.

can't forget that what i'm making also has a function. will it work?

nash could barely stand the final moments of the coaster's testing phase.

hey, nash! not to worry! we have another working coaster!

coaster #7: scrappy flower 2

well it was on my mind since yesterday to make another scrappy flower coaster using better colors/fabric. and--unlike yesterday's blue--i outlined the parts with black thread. big improvement. i really really like making these...i might not be able to stop myself.

and i know what you're saying: "yesterday's coaster wasn't so good looking but, sue, it WORKED! 

ok. lets GO THERE!

i have about five fruit punch gatorades left over from when i saw the intestinal guy. he thought i wasn't absorbing fluids so well. i know, why bring that up here? 

you're right. i just wanted to explain why i have gatorade.

it works!

coaster #6: scrappy flower

i can see where my color/fabric selection could have been better--the green leaves are lost against the green background-- but it was so much fun making coaster #6 and i'm excited to make more like this. i found them at the jolly bee. she  started off using a tutorial over at chasing cottons. but jolly bee made them wonderfully scrappy and outlined everything in black thread (where i used blue) as she saw in a book called "Scandinavian Stitches".

i agree with you, jolly bee. these are the happiest coasters ever.

but, you didn't mention--do they work??

this sunkist beverage...very tasty.

ok! they are happy and....they work!

What I Got for $33.02 Today at Jo-Ann...

According to the sales slip, I checked out at 10:55 am. Though I did take a nap today, I'd like to say that in the last 7 hours of just owning--not even LOOKING again at this abundance--I've gotten my money's worth! Fabric. Faaaaaa-bric.
(Did the last one sound a little zombie-ish in your head when you read it?
It should have.
Faaaaaa-bric.)

I'm thinking now it's no wonder I collapsed in bed after this.  Such a terrific haul.  I was way more tired than I  usually am after shopping.
Even for....faaaa-bric.
I like having a blog because when the fabric is gone, it can live on here. Like a fabric museum, or even memorial.





I'm never one for buying anything other than quilter's cotton, but at the half off remnants bin there was this wonderful piece of, let me look--"Rainbow Anti-Pill Fleece" (Anti? I feel a bit renegade myself.). It was 40% off (regular special for your highest priced item) the 50% off of $12.99 for the yard. Lets just say, cheap.

These days I like to make monsters mostly using yellow and green fabric. I was disappointed to not find any yellow fabric that suited  me (with some tone on tone design going on). But I did find these wonderful green fabrics:





Close-ups because these are really cool. The design of the one on top is eyelet! I just love eyelet. As far as the wonders of fabric go, I'd say eyelet is a calm-me-down fabric. So here it is, without the holes.  CLEVER! 
"Garden Party Eyelet" at the regular price: $9.99 a yard.

I love the swirls hidden in this green fabric AKA "Libby Bead Scroll"--$2.10 for a half yard:






On the goofier side I could not resist these two fabrics. A half yard each or I couldn't leave the store. They are "Fruit Spots Multi" for $2.10 the half and
"Tools on Red" for $4.19 the half (I hope this all adds up in the end. Let me know.)

You can't leave a fabric store without something animal-related. This is
"Multi Cats on Cream" which I got for $2.10 for the half.
SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT MORE:

Finally (I bet YOU'RE ready for a nap now. Right?). Four FQs that, at $1.49 each, are called "Assorted Light Fat Q" no matter which ones you buy. At one time, long ago, they had a fancy name, too. Not that "Multi Cats on Cream" is the best name ever.

These will also work great for monster-making. Subdued enough so that the face and other features I add will totally show off, but enough of a little something going on to make it interesting on its own.

This blog is in no way affiliated with Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores except that, really, they should be mailing me shares by now.

Susan
the sloppy sewer

At the end of every hurricane that's downgraded to a tropical storm...

there can be a rainbow--depending on your stash of fabrics.

Honestly, I don't so much sew as I buy fabric. If you buy enough fabric--and I'm not sure what the exact amount is--you are a sewer. Lots of people haven't sewn for years, but they bought fabric like yesterday. Why? Because they're sewers who need fabric even though they aren't sewing.

You bring the bolts up to the counter for cutting. A yard of this, a yard of that. Oh, OK, I'll take the rest of the bolt. Snip, snip. Fold and fold, pay.
Sewing!

So buying fabric is sewing AND looking at fabric is, I think, sewing, too! If you keep buying enough fabric, it takes longer and longer to look at what you've got. That's called sewing time! Having a sewing machine is nice and, visually, it does ground one in as being a sewer. But necessary? Debatable.


Having lots of fabric means never having to confine your thinking to, "I can use one of those five red fabrics that I have to make that fox." It's going knee deep into the bin of red fabrics and finding mystery yardage -- fabric that you absolutely do not remember buying. Sort of like drunk dialing. Maybe. I don't know.

In a recent craftster.org swap we made wrist cuffs. One of my partners loved rainbows so I patched together pieces of fabric, in ROY G BIV order (or, at top, VIB G YOR order). I had so much to choose from, I got tipsy. The quantity of fabric alone was to blame, but I was also thinking maybe I should air out some of the bottom fabrics more often. In any event.

Having lots of fabric means you get to see a rainbow whenever you want to. During Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene, I absolutely found it comforting, just by itself, to spend time with mine.

Fabric on the Cheap

I got about a yard of this fabric at a garage sale this summer for a dollar. For the right person, on the right project, it could also be good for appliques. I just kind of like that line look and for the price, I could not walk away.

The Joann's nearest me had a huge selection of remnants this week because they were having inventory taken. I got just under half a yard of this peacock feather cotton print for $1.04. I think it's super. 

This yard came from the same garage sale as the first fabric. Though I wouldn't say celestial is a theme I go for usually, it all works together pretty well and, again, for $1.00 it's a welcome addition to the stash.




It was a pretty good summer for me, fabric-wise.
How about you?
Susan
The Sloppy Sewer