It's official, my sewing area is in order!
What better way to celebrate then making a mess of it again?
Confession time.
Over the last couple of years I have slowly stopped purchasing most pre-cuts. Although it's a practical way to purchase a whole fabric line, it's also limiting.
Reflecting back my favorite quilts are those where I have pushed my color combination limits and not one of them came from a pre-cut. So, for me they aren't working in my stash. Now other people can rock a pre-cut like no-body's business, just not me.
That leaves the question, what to do with the 5 jelly rolls, 4 layer cakes, and 15 charm packs still in my stash. My only solution so far is to use them up! I have been cruising through books, patterns, and online to see what would work with the cuts I have on hand.
Let's start the de-stash with a junior layer cake of The Simple Life by A Little Sweetness for Riley Blake. This was Tasha's first line of fabric and I fell in love. The pre-cut came with 21 squares, so I limited the pattern to 20 blocks in a 4 by 5 arrangement.
After much debate, I went with Framed by Silk Road Life. It definitely helps that the sample quilts used are Hello Luscious, an all time favorite, and PB & J. It was simple to cut (also fussy cut) and worked well with the colors in this line. Some of my favorite fussy cuts are pictured below :)
Right now I am resisting the urge to "stack and wack" all the layer cakes in my stash ...
If you are looking for some good pre-cut patterns I enjoyed this U CREATE post linking to many A+ blogger's tutorials.
These blocks are adorable! I haven't been buying pre-cuts either unless it is for a specific project (or I am using them for a Moda Bake Shop project.)
ReplyDeleteI find working with precuts difficult as well but have been challenging myself to make some pattern designs for them. I love the fussy cutti and think this will turn into a very sweet quilt!
ReplyDeleteHahahaha -- your precut-buying behavior is so much worse than mine! (So. Much. Worse!)I have two precut-friendly books. Give a holler if you want to take a peek at them as you chip away at your stash.
ReplyDeleteI recently finished piecing a top that used two identical precuts packs. Well, they were almost identical. One pack was 1/8th of a inch or so longer and wider than the other, which I didn't notice until I was matching seams. There was a lot of easing in going on. Blah.
This project is looking great! Keep us apprised of your precut-busting progress!
I have some of the fabric pictured closest to your rotary cutter, and I love it. I bought it for hexie fussy cuts. This is the first time I have seen the rest of the range and I can see why you love it.
ReplyDeleteI have no jelly rolls or layer cakes, but I do have about half a dozen charm packs that need using up.
I have too many precuts too and I tend not to use them (or use them as a starting point and add in a bunch of other prints from my stash). Your blocks are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteYou know, I think that I am right there with you. I have various precuts but I don't seem to ever do anything with them. I have to resist the urge to buy them and force myself to use the ones I already have. Thanks for the link to the precut link. Saw a few that I like on that site.
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