Getting ahead

Well Christmas is over for another year.  Only 358 days to go until next time!  One of the things I have learnt since having my little shop on Etsy is that you must always be thinking ahead to the next occasion or season.   

So, February 14^th – Valentine’s Day.  I shan’t be making anything special for this but fortunately I do have a lot of heart shaped, felt brooches so I have been busy today retagging them all and changing the titles to read Valentines Brooch.

I thought you might like to see a few.

 

 

 

 

 

I also have a few key rings.

 

Plus some heart shaped hanging decorations.

 

Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day or do you feel it is an overly hyped up occasion designed to make money for the big corporations?  I usually make OH a card.  He will buy me a card and I usually get flowers too. We don’t usually go out but he will cook a special meal at home. 

You can find my Valentines brooches and other bits and pieces in the shop here: FABRILUSHUS.

Happy New Year!

I am sitting here enjoying the last few hours of 2013. It is just myself,OH and the dog. Robbie Williams is on the TV so I have a smile on my face. 

2013 was another wonderful year. I've been so blessed. I wonder what this New Year will have in store? Whatever comes along I will share it with you all here on the blogs.

I hope as we pass the midnight hour and enter the New Year that 2014 will be a good year. I wish you love health and happiness and as always I wish you ENOUGH.

A lesson in fabric pre-cuts.

Yesterday I did a blog about Fat Quarters which are very popular amongst quilters and other sewists.   However they are just the tip of the iceberg as there are many speciality pre-cuts out there.  Most top manufacturers offer specialty cut items in conjunction with their collections.  These pre-cuts shorten your cutting time and give you an affordable way to purchase an entire collection of fabric without breaking the bank.

Pre-cut items are fabrics cut into specific sizes and typically packaged by collection. There are many different sizes but they are based on the most common cuts used by quilters. The most well-known and perhaps the most useful pre-cuts are charm squares, layer cakes and jelly rolls so we shall look at them first.  

Please note that some fabric manufacturers use different names for the same pre-cuts. The popular names tend to be the ones used by Moda fabrics.

Charms or Charm Squares.   These are 5 inch squares usually in a pack of 40 coordinating fabrics.  Total average yardage approx. 1 1/8 yards.  NB. Riley Blake calls their 5 inch squares “Stackers”.

Layer Cakes.  These are 10 inch squares, usually in a pack of 40 coordinating fabrics.  Total average yardage approx. 2 ¾ yards.

Jelly Rolls. * These are 2 1/2" pre-cut strips, cut the width of the fabric (WOF), from selvage to selvage. So generally 21/2 x 44 inches. Jelly Rolls are sold in sets of 40 strips from a coordinating fabric line; total yardage yield is approximately 2 3/4+ yards.

The above are the most popular pre-cuts but there are many more and as I said you may find that different manufactures use different names.

Here are some more.

Dessert Rolls or Fat Rolls. These are 5" wide pre-cut strips x width of fabric from selvage to selvage.  These rolls are fabric strips from a coordinating line of fabric, typically 40 strips of 20 different fabrics; total yardage yield is approximately 5 1/2+ yards.

Honey Buns or Sweet Rolls. These are 1 1/2" pre-cut strips cut the width of the fabric from selvage to selvage.  These are 40 strips from a coordinating fabric line; total yardage yield is approximately 1 3/4 yards.

Candy Squares or Mini Charms. These are 2.5" x 2.5" squares they usually come in packs of 40.

Turnovers.  These are 6" pre-cut triangles of 40 fabrics from a coordinating line; total yardage yield is approximately 1 yard.

Spoonfuls. These are by Moda and are 8-1/2" squares.

Bali Bitty Bundles. These are by Hoffman - eight fat-eights (9" x 22")

Honeycomb Hexagons.  These are new by Moda fabrics. They are collections of 40, 6" hexagons. Each Honeycomb hexagon measures 6" from point to opposite point, with a horizontal measurement of 5 1/4". Moda Fabrics are the industry leader when it comes to inventing new pre-cuts.

*Other names for Jelly Rolls include: Bali Pops by Hoffman Fabrics, Rolie Polies by Riley Blake, Roll Ups by Robert Kaufman Fabrics and Stone Strips by Northcott Fabrics.

As you can see there are a whole host of wonderful pre-cuts out there just waiting for your next project. There are also many, many books and tutorials on how to use them all but that is another blog!

Before you dive in and get started, I have a last note about pre-cuts……. DON’T PRE-WASH!

The following information comes from The Fat Quarter Shop:-

“If you prefer to prewash your fabrics before cutting and sewing, learn to resist the temptation to wash or even rinse your pre-cut fabric strips. Washing could cause the fabric to fray, ravel, or shrink, resulting in pieces that are no longer an accurate size”.

For my Merikan friends The Fat Quarter Shop is a great source of all pre-cuts.  UK friends can find good suppliers in my Fantastic Suppliers list over on the left-hand side of the blog.

Please feel free to leave links to your projects in the comments. 

Jilly @ Fabrilushus

Fat quarters and other cuts

The United Kingdom supposedly underwent metrification many years ago.  I believe it was around 1965 when it all began and it was voluntary back then.  Some 15 years later, around 1980 we were forced to follow European directives that would apparently see off the old Imperial system for good.  Of course we all know that only happened in part.

So are you a metric girl or is your brain still hard wired to the old ways?  I confess to being an Imperial girl. I still weigh in pounds and ounces and I measure in feet and inches. It’s nothing to do with metric but for the record I’m also a Fahrenheit girl for temperature.  I simply cannot get my head around centigrade.

Sometimes I think my Imperial brain puts me at a disadvantage but there is one area where it helps……. Sewing and quilting. Have you noticed how many suppliers still sell fabric by the yard?  OK, I know department stores the like of John Lewis sell in meters but the smaller independent fabric retailers work in yards.  Bolts of fabric are still generally measured in inches wide.  As an example a common width is 44 inches.  36 inches and 60 inches are also common.

Nearly all quilting patterns will quote the fabric requirements in yardage. Of course sometimes you may not need a full yard so fabric is sold by the half and the quarter.  Many shops will sell you as little as 6 inches if that is all you need.  

As a quilter one of the most common requirements is for a fat quarter or FQ.  It took me ages to actually figure out what this is.  If you are a quilter you will no doubt have a stash of fat quarters but do you know what they actually are?  If you aren’t a quilter you probably have no idea what I am talking about!

Fat quarters are pre-cut pieces of cotton fabric. They are taken from one yard of fabric, cut in half lengthwise, and then in half width-wise. The dimensions are approximately 18" x 22" (46cm x 56cm).
A normal quarter yard cut from a bolt would measure 44" x 9" (112cm x 23cm). This is usually known as a long quarter or occasionally a thin or skinny quarter.

A Fat eighth is half of a FQ but can be cut vertically or horizontally giving different dimensions.  Some places also sell pre-cuts known as sweet sixteens, which you have guessed it…… they are half of a fat eighth and again will come in 2 different sizes depending on the direction of the cut. 

This YouTube video gives a good explanation of the various cuts.

Fat quarters are extremely popular with patchworkers and quilters as they can be used in so many ways.  If you are using 5 inch squares in your design then a FQ will yield 12 whereas a standard quarter yard will usually only give 8.

Fat quarters are often pre-cut and sold with coordinating fabric, so they’re easy to pick up and add to your stash.  Be warned they are addictive!  Most quilters will have quite a collection and quite often purchase bundles with no idea in mind what they might use them for!  I am guilty of this!  

So do you have a stash of FQ’s? What are your plans for them?  If you have ideas that you would like to share about using all those FQ’s then please get in touch and we can arrange a guest post.  It is always nice to see what other people do. 

Jilly @ Fabrilushus

Fabrilushus Mega Sale.

Good morning.  Hope everyone is fit and well and that you all had a great Christmas.  Did you get lots of pennies to spend?  If you did then I invite you to check out the Fabrilushus MEGA JANUARY SALE. Nearly 100 items have 50 % off.  Just use the code JANSALE at the checkout.

Jilly.

Happy Christmas

Well the last post has gone so that is it for my Fabrilushus shop for this Christmas.  I will be making some changes in 2014.  I am going to concentrate more on my best selling items. I also have some new lines. 

From 27th of December there will be a 50% off sale on many items so please do drop by if you have Christmas pennies to spend. http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Fabrilushus

All that is left to say is, I wish you all the very best Christmas and many blessings for 2014.

All I want for Christmas

Is my two front teeth, my two front teeth. Remember that song? I don't remember the days when I was missing those teeth but my little granddaughter has recently lost her first baby tooth so I expect it won't be too long before she is sporting that cute, gappy look.

Those days seem so long ago now. What I do recall is that our expectations back then were much more simple than seems to be the case today.  So I have two questions for you in the lead up to Christmas.

What would have been top of your gift list when you were about 7 and what is topping your gift list this year?

When I was 7 I was desperate for a tiny tears doll.  I was a lucky girl as I did get one.  I still have her today and my little granddaughters play with her.  I think I will try and photograph her and do a blog over on my personal blog, "Don't Worry Be Happy".

So what do I covert this year? Well if money was no object then I would be asking Santa for this.

It is a Janome Memory Craft 15000 and I think it may just do the washing up too.  Isn't she gorgeous?  She is a sewing and embroidery machine also perfect for large quilting projects due to her size. She works with an iPad so you can even do your own designs.  I am in love.

Sadly I know my Santa does not have the kind of money that this machine will cost. I will have to content myself with dreaming.  I haven't even dared to look at the price of her but I am guessing at around the £4000 mark.

I do have a good Santa though and I think he may just be bringing me a new camera. A much more powerful camera so that I can improve my skills...hopefully. It is something that I want to do next year, learn more about photography.  I'll let you know next week if I am a lucky girl.

I hope you all get what you are wishing for. Don't forget to try and do something for those who won't be as lucky as us.  Oh and don't forget to answer my questions.

NB. I have managed to find out the price of the machine and I underestimated!  It costs £6495,!!!!  That is roughly $10,609. Where on earth do they get a price like that ? Don't think I could justify that kind of money even if I was super rich and actually had lots of money.  Crazy!