Pre Cut Fabrics

Hi All,
Well, I don't know about you, but I am completely in love with the pre-cut fabrics from Moda. When I first fell in love with sewing and quilting about five years ago (wow, has it already been five years?) I would just drool over the fat quarter packs because it meant I could get just a little bit of every fabric in a line. Unfortunately, I usually found it to be cost prohibitive, because $100 for fabric seemed like a lot (hasn't that changed!) Then, when they introduced the charm packs it was like a sign from above! Now I could get a piece of every fabric and only have to pay around $8 or $10! But what to do with those little collections? I've found a few projects to do with them, but I still have several untouched charm packs in my fabric stash. Well, I think you can guess where this is going, imagine my surprise when Jelly Rolls were introduced! I guess I am just a sucker for pre-cut fabrics. I mean, it seems to have really reduced the amount of time I have to spend cutting so I can spend more time quilting! The funny part is I have yet to really dig in and make anything from the Jelly Rolls or the Honey Buns. And I noticed that Moda has something new coming out soon called Petit Fours, which I believe are little tiny squares of each fabric, probably about 2-1/2" I am sure I'll love those too, even though I usually prefer to strip piece squares. That's why I haven't fallen in love with the Turnovers. I just can't imagine trying to sew all those triangles, I really just prefer to "cheat" by using two squares, draw a line down the middle and sew 1/4" on either side. I suppose that works if you're making half square triangles but if you want to do something like a snowball quilt, getting yourself a Layer Cake and a set of Turnovers would probably be easier. Recently I mentioned to a shop owner that although I love the Honey Buns and have been buying them like crazy, I still don't really know what to do with them. She suggested buying a charm pack and Honey Bun in the same line and using the strips to frame out the sqares. That sounded like a pretty good idea to me. So of course I bought the fabrics, but have yet to try the pattern! So, what do you think about pre-cuts? I mean, I'm giving away a charm pack so of course I have seen that over 150 people really like the idea of charm packs, but are you as smitten with them as I am? Please leave me a comment (this is still market research you know) if you are as in love with them as I am. We hope to have some new items to put in the shop soon. I've noticed that 25 people have responded to the poll on the sidebar. While that's great, I would love to have 50 or 60 responses to get a better feel for what I should offer on the Crafty Girls Workshop. Thank you to everyone who has commented to enter the drawing by the way. I feel like I'm making so many new friends!

Happy Stitches to You,
Anna
The Techy-Crafty Girl

P.S. Have you visited the Moda Bake Shop? It has tons of great "recipes" a.k.a. patterns and instructions for making cute things with all their pre-cut fabrics!

Market Research

I know times are tough. Believe me, I know, people are getting laid off work left and right and I am just thankful to have my full time job, even if it's not the most exciting thing in the world. I am so thrilled by the surge in follwers to this blog! (Of course, that could be due to the extra entry in the drawing...) I am happy to see that there are so many quilters out there that share my passion for fabric and quilting. I've been curious to read the comments each day and thank you for the positive feedback on the items in my shop. Here is the thing, unfortunately, even with a huge interest in the give away, people in general are not really buying much at the moment. I thought this blog might be a good way to peek into your minds a little and figure out what it is you would want to buy if you could. I want the Crafty Girls Workshop to offer items of interest to you. If this means selling items we've made, great, if it means cutting kits and assembling groups of fabrics that are appealing, I can do that too. Please take a few seconds to respond to the poll on the right hand sidebar of my blog. If you would like to offer more of a reason why you chose the answer you did, feel free to leave a comment on this post or e-mail me at anna@craftygirlsworkshop.com I've seen a lot of new patterns that I would love to get my hands on and offer to you all as part of a pre-cut kit or just as a pattern. But before I go and purchase 10 of each pattern, I'd like to know there is some sort of interest. Thank you all for your time. The poll will be open until Saturday at 12 am at which time it will turn into a pumpkin, haha.

Happy Stitches,
Anna
Techno-Crafty Girl

New Items Listed

Yes, we took a week off but there are now three new items listed on our shop! We have a new adorable tote bag made with the popular blue bird fabric designed by Tina Givens for Free Spirit Fabrics. (Click on any of the links below the pictures to go directly to that listing.)

Blue Bird Tote Bag

That blue ric rac just adds the perfect touch to this bag!

Vintage Apron

Next is a fabulous apron made with the cutest Snippets line from American Jane for Moda. It is a modern day approach to a vintage style with ric rac embellishments and a blue and white checkered lining.

Country Apron

And last but not least (this is my favorite) an upcycled denim apron. Regina (the master seamstress) took a denim skirt that was headed for the trash and added some cute country charm by putting a pieced row of squares along the bottom with some vintage looking lace trim! There is a pocket on the front which is handy for keeping track of your timer and it is lined for extra protection from spills.

These are all FEATURED items in our shop this week. If you purchase any of our featured items, we will send you a special surprise with your order. Also, if you are purchasing this as a gift for someone special and would like a card made to go with it, just let me know and I'll include one at no extra charge!

Thank you and happy shopping!

The Crafty Girls

Anna and Regina

Quilt Market in Pittsburgh

Well, apparently it's Spring Quilt market time, which is almost as exciting as fall quilt market time! The Crafty Girls do not get to attend-yet, but we hope to someday! If you would like to keep up with all the EXCITING goings on behind the quilty scenes, hop over to the Jolly Jabber blog. That is the blog for The Fat Quarter Shop and Kimberly Jolly always does an amazing job of taking pictures during the market. I've also just gotten into this Twitter thing, and if you sign up for an account and start following the different designers and shop owners, you'll be allowed access to some of the chatter going on about stuff at the market. Apparently this microblogging thing is sort of like being a fly on the wall or a tap on the phone, as long as they send messages that way. You are limited to about 150 characters (so limiting in my perspective) but it keeps it short and exciting! So stop by Jolly Jabber, she's having a give away from the not yet available fabrics that they we allowed to grab at the amazing night called Sample Spree!

All Sewn Up Launch Party

I am sew excited to join in the fun of Sarah Fielke's new adventure! If you don't already know, she is one half of the creative team behind Material Obession and Material Obession Two (almost out for sale!) Her blog is full of inspiration and now she's embarking on a new adventure, she says it best:

The website will have just about everything you can think of that you would want online as a sewer. There are forums, online advice from industry experts,conversion charts, colour wheels, free patterns and class listings.

There will be interviews with all your favourite designers, quilters, pattern makers and authors. There will be tutorials with me and with other sewers from here and overseas, podcasts and coverage from shows and articles about all manner of exciting things.

In honor of the SEWN Launch Party, I am hosting a GIVEAWAY! Yippee!! Hmm, what should it be this time? How about another charm pack, plus a yard of fabric and a pattern? I think that sounds pretty good, That will be just enough to make an adorable table runner just in time for Christmas. And even better, since I know people have different tastes, I'll give you a choice either:

Figgy Pudding by Basic Grey for Moda (my favorite so far) or

Glace by 3 Sisters for Moda (a very close second.)

And remember, I'll add a yard of coordinating fabric and the pattern for a cute table runner. Now I think that's a giveaway that can't be beat!

This giveaway has a pretty loooong time for entering, since the "rules" on Sarah's blog say we will announce the winner on Monday, June 8 (about the time that the SEWN website is set to launch.) Here are some ways you can enter my drawing:

1. Become a follower of this blog.

2. Visit Crafty Girls Workshop and see the cute aprons, pillows, pillowcase kits, and baby items we have for sale (and hopefully buy something but no purchase is necessary.)

3. Comment on this blog to tell me your favorite charm pack (of the two above) and something about yourself.

4. Post about this giveaway on YOUR blog, and add the link in the comment for this blog.

5. If someone visits your blog and comes to this blog and enters and tells me they came here from your blog, I'll give you an extra entry!

Whew, that's a lot to keep track of. Hopefully it will make it extra fun though!

Oh, and I'm not the only one participating in the giveaway madness. Sarah has a ton of links on her blog to all the other people who are helping celebrate her new adventure. So go over there and visit her blog (after you've entered here) to see what else you can enter to win!

Happy Stitches to You,

The Crafty Girls

NOTE: PLEASE PLEASE give me your e-mail address in your comment as well, since I will need to notify the winner by e-mail. Thank you!