A Little Fabric Shopping

Sewing from stash is kind of like cooking from the pantry. Eventually you need to buy groceries to make whatever's left in the pantry work into an actual meal. 

My LQS opened recently with limited hours and limited number of shoppers. After so many weeks of lockdown, I needed to get out. So I planned to go there, and also meet up with a friend in the parking lot to hand off some stuff. While we were talking in the parking lot (socially distant, with masks) another mutual friend arrived, so we had a very nice visit for awhile. Then shopping. 

The store was all spruced up and there was a selection of sale merchandise, but nothing in the sale section called out to me. What I went for was a black on white print that reads very pale.  I found one, and a couple of other low volume stash boosters as well. 

What I also hoped to find was a design seed for a boy baby quilt. I make lots of baby quilts for Operation Shower, mostly using fabric from my stash, but sometimes a themed fabric or a particular color combination is needed to spark an idea. I have more than enough girly fabrics, but I try to make boy or gender neutral baby quilts as well. 

I couldn't resist this cute tiny bird print. Each little bird is only about an inch big.  The brilliant red-orange and the B+W had to come home with me, too. 

I didn't go hog wild at the fabric shop. I browsed, considered, chose, and I'm satisfied that what I came home with will support other fabrics in my stash to create something new. 

Then a blogger offered a coupon code for a discount at an online fabric seller, and I succombed to the lure of wide backings. I'm not fond of cobbling together backings; I'd rather use a whole piece if possible or at least minimize the number of seams. So I shopped and my order came. 

Some backings from known brands are good quality fabrics that can be used in piecing the front of a quilt, too. The splatter print is a remnant that I can use to piece the front of a baby quilt and then use the rest for the back. The same with the large geometric print. The text print and the grey Grunge are generic and I got sufficient yardage to back throw size quilts. 

My stash report will take a hit this month, but that's okay. Since the Paducah quilt show was cancelled, I didn't do my usual annual stash enhancement, so I'm still down for the year.  My little refresh here isn't going to hurt me, and now I have some new fabrics to pet and play with.

Since these photos were taken, they've all been prewashed and ironed. Now, what to make first???

Link Up: Quilt Fabrication