Thursday, May 28, 2009

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!

12 comments:

  1. I did answer the pole, but I am not exclusive to any of the answers. I have bought kits with everything pre-cut (twice) layer cakes, jelly rolls, fat quarter bundles and lots of charm packs. It seems that if I buy one of the pre-cuts and start making something, I will go back and buy coordinating yardage. Hope this helps.

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  2. I may be the only quilter on the planet that has not bought a line of pre-cut fabrics. I still like to put together my own combination of colors and prints. But I may in the minority.

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  3. I love the pre-cuts, too! Not sure what to do with them either - so I would want a cute pattern to go with them. Especially the honey buns. I have yet to see a good, fairly modern idea for the turnonvers.

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  4. Probably fat quarters are my favourite but due the cost to dear so now I buy charm packs there is so much you can do with them

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  5. Yes, i am enamored with them, too! I have yet to do anything with them, but I do love them. i just picked up Chez Moi Swanky Charm Pack and I am ebaying for a matching layer cake or honeybun right now!

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  6. I think I love the *idea* of pre-cuts, but I don't seem to use them as much as I thought I would. I love buying 1/2 metres because I have more to play with, but then I like to have a little bit of every fabric in a range. Have I confused you yet? I've confused myself. ;-)

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  7. I too am a sucker for the pre cut - I have 3 jelly rolls, one twice the charm apck, one charm pack and one layer cake ready to be made into something.

    Gail

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  8. I love the idea of charm packs. I have bought a charm pack, but I havent used it yet. I havent forked out the money for a Jelly Roll yet. I need to find some inspiration first before I get one!! Giving one away is a great idea, giving away fabric with a pattern is brilliant!! Keep up the good work.

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  9. I just got my first pre-cuts. It was for a totebag pattern that calls for 1 charm pack and 1 yard of fabric. Well I had to get 2 sets and really like them. I'm with you on the turnover thing. I'd rather do the squares and not worry about sewing biases.

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  10. I haven't used charm packs because money is a little tight & I've been buying fabrics on sale or repurpasing old clothes. I would love to try them though because I'm not a big fan of cutting! I also love the Moda website...really great projects there. Thanks for hosting.
    Lisa

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  11. I admit I am a terrible cutter and anything that lets me avoid that is worthwhile ,charms rolls the more the merrier .

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  12. Yes, I love pre cuts too, maybe because cutting is the part I like the least. And I'm a fan of Moda Bake shop - great tutorials!
    Thanks for the giveaway!
    ap_lemos at yahoo dot com

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