Since there hasn't been as much sewing going on here in recent months, I've had no reason to buy a lot of fabric or other quilting goodies but I did snag a few things that I'm excited about.

I attended MQX East again this year (I love that the show is only 3 hours from me) and although I was only there for a couple of days it was enough to see all the pretty quilts and to take some great lecture classes.  One of those classes was Margaret Solomon Gunn's Dense and Dainty and I was so impressed with what I learned that I decided to purchase 2 of her books.

Last weekend we went on a little getaway to Mystic, CT. Hubs and I had been there many years BK (before kids) and we visited the aquarium with Jammer when he was 2 but it was definitely time to go back.  Friday afternoon we spent exploring the Mystic Aquarium together.

I finally bought some new fabric to add to my stash. Other than some yardage for a backing and binding for a quilt that will be a gift this month, this was my very first fabric purchase so far this year.

Of course it is no surprise to my regular readers that I bought the 2 most recent Kate Spain lines.

I didn't want to miss out on getting some Canyon before it was gone and the Aria is just getting into stores. I was lucky enough to find both on sale for 25% off plus free shipping.  Win, win!

I have no idea what I'm going to do with them yet but they sure are pretty to look at.

My sister Tina and I are planning on attending the Quiltfest of NJ this weekend and MQX East is just a month away so there will definitely be some more new stash additions coming. 

What fabric goodies have you bought for yourself lately?

My poor wallet has taken a little beating lately.

I discovered some of the destashing groups on Facebook.

Dangerous I tell ya, very dangerous places to visit.

 

Next I saw these eerie gems.  My longtime readers know that Halloween prints are one of my addictions.  The purple spiders is a full 2 yard cut and the other 2 are FQ, all mine now for $10.

Then someone had the audacity to list these 3 Kate Spain Daydreams prints for $5 a yard. I quickly said "Yes please" to all.

 One more destashing group purchase arrived in the mail the same day as the above 2. This is 2 yards of 108" wide fabric that will be used for charity quilt backings. I'll be able to get 2 backings out of this and it only cost me $16. You can bet that I'll be shopping the destashing sites more in the future for backing fabrics at fantastic prices.

 On Saturday morning I made a short trip to a local guild's quilt show. (Pictures of the quilts to come soon). There were a small number of vendors there. At the first booth, my eye quickly saw the Pink Thomas Knauer Pear Tree piece and upon a little more looking, I grabbed up the blue/purple Kate Spain Terrain and the green Honey Honey too.  Those are all 1 yard cuts and were a whopping $8 each.

 At the other booth that I visited I spotted more Kate Spain for $8 per yard so these pieces from her Sunnyside line became mine plus the 1/2 yard Honey Honey piece above in the lower right corner.

The last booth had even more 1 yard cuts of Kate's fabrics but I resisted, though it was really HARD. So all told I became the new owner to 15 yards of fabric all on the same day.  But they aren't stash additions.  You will be seeing them used in future projects.  Really! 

One of my biggest goals for last year was to limit my new fabric purchases and only buy what I really, really loved.  I started my plan of resisting fabric that I only Like and instead only buy those that I really Love in 2013 and I'm happy that I've been able to continue that plan again this past year. While lots of people do weekly or monthly stash reports, I don't but I wanted to see how I did for the entire year so I pulled out my receipts (Yes I keep them all, I am an accountant after all) and I made a list....of course.

Here is what I purchased during 2014 that was purely new stash additions.  This does not include any fabric that I bought to complete a specific project such as sashing or border yardage, quilt backings or the basic staples such as white solid yardage.  I consider my stash as those fabrics that I have no set plans for yet.

In looking back, I found that I bought absolutely nothing until March so these were the 1st purchases of the new year.  I got a trio of Color Me Happy by V and Co charm packs and a layer cake of High Street by Lily Ashbury.

In April I went to MQX East (which was fabulous btw) and wanted to bring back something for the kidlets.  Well a quilt show isn't a place where you find many things for kids so I got them these half yard cuts. They may end up being perfect for the backings of their Primary Bee quilts.

In May I had a blast meeting up with my friend Liz at the A World of Quilts show in Somers, NY and I was really good and only bought this Fancy Folded Star grouping, tutorial from Moda Bake Shop. I'll be making my set into a small wall hanging instead of a pot holder or hot plate.

So that is it for the 1st half of the year.  Not bad, not bad at all.  The 2nd half of the year brought more new fabrics into the house starting with these beauties.  In July my friend Alana and I finally checked out a new fabric store nearby and these just had to come home with me.  There are 1 yard cuts of Picadilly Lane by Brenda Pinnick for Henry Glass and a quad of half yard cuts of Stonehenge Starry Night by Northcott.

August found me in the Lancaster area for our annual China Travel Group Reunion and I was able to stop into Old Country Store where these Bobbins and Bits fabrics by Pat Sloan just screamed to me and the price was too fantastic to pass up. I'm really looking forward to a repeat visit to that store. While there I also got a duo of 2 yard cuts of White on White fabrics, which aren't the easiest to find around here, but they were impossible to photograph well enough so that you could see the prints

In September I caved and got a little more Ghastlies to add to my collection.  Since I heard that this was the final year this series would be available, I didn't want to miss out on adding a few of the newer prints to my stash but I was really restrained and only got half yard cuts of each. As you would expect, if Alexander Henry surprises us all and comes out with some new additions to the fun line, I'll just have to get some of those too.

I had also come across an awesome sale on this Simply Color so I bought 2 yard cuts in each of these prints. They will be used for a backing for my Color quilt, so technically these aren't "no specific purpose" fabrics.

My sister Tina and I attended the Q.U.I.L.T. Schenectady show in October and again I was very restrained and only brought home the Halloween panel and spider web yardage.  While nearby we also visited the new location of Quilt Bug where I found many Halloween prints on sale that I hadn't seen before so of course I had to get a few half yard cuts for my collection.

Craft Town fabrics was having a great sale too in October so I shamelessly bought the Sewing Box by Gina Martin jelly roll and charms, The Simply Style by V and Co charms (to add to the Simply Color and Color Me Happy charms that I already had) and the Daydreams by Kate Spain fat eighth bundle.

And lastly, though these really aren't stash fabrics to me since I am designing projects to use these in, during July I bought these Solstice by Kate Spain mini charms, the Moonlight Manor mini charms and the Eerie by Basic Grey charm pack, along with a pair of Social Club by Eric and Julie Comstock that I've already used.

So there you have it.  These are all of the stash fabrics that I bought during the previous 12 months.  I wasn't as restrained as I could have been but at the same time, I didn't go as hog wild as I could have either.  For this new year, I'm going to keep on the same path and only buy new fabrics that I simply can't stop thinking about.  I've learned that I don't need a huge pile of big cuts to satisfy my need to have a specific line.  A small amount in the form of a few charms or other cuts that I actually turn into something suits me just fine.

So what are your fabric buying plans for this new year?

Update: The Primary Bee is full!

Have you heard?

Have your kid(s)heard?

There is a new quilting bee just for them.

The Primary Bee

Simple basic blocks, only 1 per month, no paper piecing or applique, no mailing out fabric for bee mates to use, they work from your stash, they pick the colors, and in the end they will have a quilt that they made themselves (with a little grown up help of course).

All of the details can be found here. There are still spots available. Hurry....you won't want to miss out.

  I have to say that today this makes me happy.
This most certainly does not!
I know that it is only a light dusting but it is a preamble to what is to come and those that have been visiting here for a while know that I do not like winter one bit.

Yes the snow is pretty but when you have fingers and feet that are perpetually frozen, at times to the point that they hurt and it is really hard to work, winter doesn't thrill you much. My faulty internal thermostat ie. my thyroid is to blame.

Anywho last week all of my LQSs were running their annual Shop Hop Customer Appreciation Sale where you could fill your bag from any of the past hops for 20% off. On Friday after I picked the kidlets up from school, we headed over to see what goodies we could find.

I let them look around and pick out 3 FQ to use for their Primary Bee blocks. Jammer chose the Royal Blue stars, the cool Red batik and the Daffodil Yellow solid.

Sunshine's picks were no surprise. She found the pretty Pink floral, the Purple dot and the swirly Pink tone on tone. The colors are a bit off in both photos but that is what I get for taking the pictures before the sun even came up.

I was pretty restrained in my purchases. Honestly though there were some fabrics that I liked, there weren't a ton that called out my name loudly. I did find this awesome Asian print by Studio E and I got half yards of each colorway. I was seriously tempted by other prints in the line but I did resist. I have a large stash of Asian fabrics already.

This stack of Valentine's prints caught my eye and I got a half yard of each also. It is Sending My Love by Marie Cole for Henry Glass. I don't have plans for it yet but I'm looking for ideas.

Lastly I picked up a yard of each of these Swirly Girls Designs for Michael Miller. They are from the delightful line. The main print on the top kept calling to me until I picked up the bolt and carried it to the cutting table.

Of course, once I got home my mind churned with what to do with these new procurements. Looking at the Sending My Love prints led me to think of my Always & Forever charm pack. I pulled that out, flipped through my pattern binders and came up with a plan.

It goes without saying that I wanted to start putting that plan into action immediately but other pressing events took precedence. Soon though, very soon.