Thursday, January 14, 2010

Fabric Find

Do you see those pretty little faces? I could not believe my eyes. I knew the minute i saw it what it was.... Heather Ross Matroyshka in lilac...and did not hesitate to buy all that the joanns had. So fellow fabric lovers...hurry and see if there is any of this at your local joanns. hurry!!! I already have my sister on the lookout for more where she lives.
Can you believe it, right along with all the other fat quarters and for the same price too!! that had to be the best part, making this my find of the year(so far). It was only 1.29 a fat quarter! i know....run!!!
As soon as i got it home i was hit with inspiration and motivation...why does that happen only at the beginning of a project not at an ending too? But here is my dilemma. I am loving this pile of fabrics. The colors are not my usual choice but i love them, so i just want to go with it and start making but this is Heather Ross i am talking about cutting up, and the rest is from my stash, likely bought at Joann's or Walmart( i know, but i can not always afford the designer, you know?)
A friend of mine once told me not to mix fabrics. By this she meant don't use the really good stuff with the cheap stuff or you might be sorry. However, if i wait to have enough other fabrics up to Heather Ross standards to go with this matroyshka fabric i may never get to making it.
HELP!! What do i do? What would you do?
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29 comments:

Lise said...

What a find! I think you should just do it. It's like "don't use the good china, because it might break." But then that beautiful stuff is just stored and unused. Use it and enjoy it! The original quilts were made with ratty old clothes of all types of fabrics--and they're gorgeous.

Rebecca said...

as long as the fabric feels like good quality and is 100% cotton, I'd go with it. You can get nice quality quilting fabric anywhere, it's the cheaper thin stuff that you need to avoid.

Anna said...

cute! great find! I found some alexander henry starling at my local hancock fabrics, pretty excited about it being 40% off. Those are so fun, wish I had a joanns closer to where I live...

Kimberly said...

I say use it! I agree that I wouldn't use it with the reall thin stuff because that is more likely to wear out fast. But if it's just the everyday stuff you'd buy at JoAnn's, I say go for it! I understand the theory behind sticking with the nicer stuff, but I am not on a Heather-Ross-fabric kind of budget. I have a tiny bit of the "good" stuff too and I could never afford to make a whole quilt out of it. I add a bit for punch and the whole project turns out nicer because of it.
Also check out the FQ bundles. I have found some Denyse Schmidt and Michael Miller mixed in there before. A steal of a price with a 40% coupon!

Erin @ Why Not Sew? Quilts said...

I'd would go for it too! I have found some nice quality fabric at Joann's and Wal-Mart and some thinner not as high quality fabric at the LQS. So it's all what you like. I am a fabric mixer. If I like it, I'll use it. I'm sure your quilt will look great!

Suzanne said...

Ohh...it looks so pretty! I say go for it too! If one feels like it's way less quality I wouldn't worry about it.
Have fun!

Sunshine said...

I don't actually think that expensive designer fabrics are necessarily better than non-designer stuff. I sometimes buy designer fabrics if I like the pattern, but to spend the horrendous amounts of $$$ just to get matching solids or at least less-busy fabrics to not drown out the main theme fabric would be insane. I've found that some regular lines of fabric actually do much better in the wash, e.g. Andover fabrics don't fray at all, and I don't consider them designer fabrics because I regularly get them for < 7$/m (Can ;).

So I agree with Rebekkah - if they feel good, mix the fabrics together!

Angela Nash said...

If they have good weight to them, use them! I would take out any that seem thin or even have a bit of pilling going on already. That's what I've seen bad fabric do - thin holes and pills.

I'll have to head over to Joanns and search their rolled FQs!

Mary said...

I haven't a clue--but wanted to say "great find"! Can't wait to see what you do.

Kimberly Tripp said...

I love the ones you picked out! I don't think we have a joann's here, but I'm about to check. Being a novice in the fabric department, I can't really add much to what's already been said. Plus, you're a smart girl, and I'm sure you're not about to go mixing some poor quality stuff with your pretties... thanks for the walking foot tip, if we have a joanns I'll be getting one. I haven't yet.

Pokey said...

What a lucky find, those little dollies are adorable.
I sew what I like. I do not have the money to buy only this year's design finds. I can't even imagine to be exclusive to one line throughout a quilt. All my 'fancy' jelly rolls were bought at seasonal mark downs!
I judge fabrics by color, then quality always the quality wins first, but the design or color is what draws me.
I would have to do a lot less sewing if I stayed exclusive. Let's enjoy what we do!

Dolly said...

I'm a scrapper, and I know nothing about names, so when I buy, I buy by picking it up and seeing if it's the kind of fabric that I'm used to using, ........meaning weight, thread count, fiber content. Once it's washed and dried, it all works. If it needed special care in cleaning or something, that would matter, but names do not.

And, yes, the pearls I'm wearing today are fake !

In Awe of Applique said...

No fair!!! I don't even think that my local Joann's knows who Heather Ross is! What a lucky find!

Mountain Home Quilts said...

WOWSA!!! We don't have a JoAnns within 100 miles but my mom does so I'm sending her to look for me!! GREAT FIND!

Emily said...

I've heard that this print is at Jo-anns, but of course, I've never seen it! I think you can mix and match without any problems...I definitely have!

Calico Road said...

Cute fabric! Great choice of coordinating fabric too. I think you should just cut it up like you would any other fabric. I too have fabric that I'm afraid to ruin, but I've decided that I won't let it scare me anymore, I'm just going to do it! (with my eyes squeezed shut) Can't wait to see what you make.

Shontelle said...

Well done on snagging the fabric bargain of the year!

hashbrowns said...

just thinking of you...

Anonymous said...
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Brown Family Blog said...

LOVE that first fabric. If I make it to our JoAnn's I will look for it.

Lynda said...

I love the fabric....purples are my favorite color (today). I mix fabrics all the time. I'm not making quilts for 100 years from now....I'm making quilts because I LOVE making quilts and giving them away for use right now.

allyn said...

that is quite a dilema. i have no advice, but i will be running to joann's tomorrow morning!

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

I clicked here to be sure to give you a conflicting opinion, but by golly, everybody is telling you the same thing I would have told you. Whew! What a relief! I mix and match all the time. I think it is nice to have a nice LQS fabric for the focus, and have the quiet background be a Joann's fabric. The only time I buy QS stuff is when I can't find what I am looking for at Joann's, or if it is an emergency, when the distance to the store is a factor.

Twinfibers said...

I'd go ahead and use it! How different can it be anyway?! I suppose it does much better being used than sitting in a closet or cupboard anyway! :)

Evelyn said...

I've heard of people finding that fabric at Joanns, but thought it was a myth. I look every time I go (okay, which is not all that often!), and never find it. Lucky you! And you know how I feel about the subject of mixing fabrics - I say just use the loot. ;-)

Dresden Quilter said...

I would say use them together. If you are inspired than go ahead and have fun. Congratulations on your great find!

Me? A Mom? said...

Lucky, lucky you! That's one of my favorite Heather Ross prints. I LOVE JoAnn finds like this.

kirsten said...

i can NOT believe you found that at joann's!!! i am a huge heather ross fan. here's a suggestion - maybe get some kona cotton solids to put it with? really good quality, but about half the price since they're solids. I think that might work out well.

(man, I'm so jealous!!!)

Diane said...

Oh my goodness! I noticed in the fat quarters the other day a couple nicer fabrics but I did not pay enough attention... I was planning to go back today for kona so I will have to keep an eye out!

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