Monday, September 25, 2006

Plan of Action

I purchased this at IKEA last week.

I think it's awesome. And pretty cheap too. Each component is sold separately and each of those wire baskets only cost $3.50.

What I am going to do with it? These plastic drawers are full of fabric. Ug. What a mess and so uninspiring.


This is the pile of fabrics that have been auditioned or used recently. I never bother to shove them back into the above drawers.


Things I love about the new drawers:
You can see through them on all sides so you can clearly consider the all the options.
They easily slide in and out of the rack for close perusal.
I think I'll be able to fit almost all of my stash in them.
Sleek lines.
Good height and surface on which to pile other crap.

As an aside...
Frieda sent me a very nice email to my brand new website email address. She gently suggested I should use more hand dyed fabric when fusing. So, I'm sure she (and others) will notice that the above pile is a big mess of commerical prints. I still love them. I love hand dyed stuff too. I think it's worth careful consideration of what materials to use and when. Sometimes -- for me at least -- I like a print.

And while we're on the subject of fusing commerical cottons... Have you seen this?! (It's called Tickled Pink by quilt artist Susan Carlson.) That's how to use some prints, baby! And by the way she doesn't technically "fuse." She actually uses GLUE. The horror!

7 comments:

Deb R said...

I love commercial prints. I know they sometimes don't fuse as firmly as hand-dyes, but I think they're worth the extra trouble sometimes when you want the textured look they give.

kathy said...

I went through my stash of commercial fabrics the other day and threw out a lot I knew I'd never use (actually gave them to my mother in law to make american doll clothes with), but there are some I just can't part with even though I'm using more hand dyed and hand painted fabrics in my work. When they speak to you , you just gotta listen!

Shelina said...

I like the wire baskets. Looks like they will be sturdy. The hardest part for me is actually putting away the fabric. Making myself put them away at the end of each project helps, but they do tend to pile up.

Melody Johnson said...

Wow! I can't believe the prices on Susan Carlson's work. Outrageous. Overpriced. Eeeoouuww. Of course they are great looking but too much moolah, imho.

Now for those basket drawers. Take care to turn the fabric often, as dust accumulates, especially in the bottom drawer. But that may only be in my neighborhood. We live in a town built on anthills and gravel pits.

The thing about hand dyed vs. prints is that the print fabrics edges usually show the white that it printed on, the color doesn't go all the way through.

Some people finish the edge show so this doesn't show. But then that alters the look of the cut edge...

Anonymous said...

Just eyeing things here, but you may have to consider buying at least 2 more of those wire basket shelves in order to store that stash, from this point of view, that is.

Terry Grant said...

Oh yes, you know I love the prints--don't let anyone tell you you must not use them! They snap, they crackle, they are counterpoint to the moosh of hand dyes.

And Susan Carlson--sigh--I want to BE Susan Carlson.

Gerrie said...

My fish quilts are Susan's method and it is the best way to work with prints, but you have to do lots of stitching.

I do love the hand-dyes for fusing.