Round Robin

Gossamer wings for my turn on the round robin.

This was a round robin project cycling through our group. As you get to the end of the project, or the bigger rounds, it can sometimes be exhausting on multiple levels. Most of the great ideas are played out, your design must work with not just one, but all the previous concepts and influences, fabric supply is getting low, and to do anything worthwhile can sometimes be time consuming, not to mention the manipulation of all that fabric being managed at the machine.



It can still be just as fun if you take a large idea and just apply it as a small section. This quilt focused on the fairies in the base fabric in the center. It also had alot of attention and focus moving on to the middle. I did not want to distract from all that work, but rather compliment it in a subtle way, but still make a mark.



The minute I saw this quilt, gossamer wings were in my head, picking out delicate sheers, imagining sparkly edges, and wondering about the choices of shape. For those of us who are into process, it can become quite intimidating to fulfil the idea.

I have more fabric than I can ever use, and yet what I wanted was at the store. I felt and peered through every sheer in the wedding section of fabrics at Joann's, unraveled metal threads for content, and when I got home - played freely with shapes. No these were not the original shapes, but they worked great in the end. Only two sets were used, offsetting the corners. I chose not to use fusing, in order to maintain the sheer quality and complete the ethereal look with a light silver metallic zig-zag on the edges. I skipped creating a "body" only to focus on the wings and imagination as to the source.



I wanted to keep it when I finished, but pleased to pass it on, knowing the owner would appreciate everyones contributions and I had accomplished something new for myself.

While these little tree rodents have broken in and created havoc in my studio by knocking things off of shelves and creating more of a mess than I left, I can still find them charming as they play games with me and the camera. This squirrel played "peek a boo" for quite a time and through many shots.

This is our year of squirrels. Every year there is an abundant of some nature and a decline of another and this year it is the squirrel, lizzard, and wasp that have multiplied, while the tarrantula and gecko have been less available.

Folding Fabric

While this is most pleasing to me, it was not always so-neat folded stacks. In fact most every time I searched for a fabric, I reached in, pulled out, and the whole group fell to the floor. The most I accomplished was similiar colors to each shelf.

I actually became inspired after stacking fabric for my daughter in law. While my fabrics were color coded, she desired sorting by textile type. So for her, I seperated cottons from silks from brocades, from tapestry, etc. In the end, I saw the possibilities, but I still liked my color coding, especially considering the quantity.

But sorting still did not resolve the organizational issues of not being able to see what I had, or at least what I knew that I had.

After researching various ideas and methods and then evaluating my own, I came up with this plan: Measure width of shelf. Determine how many folded pieces can fit across. I had to consider some pieces small, and some very large. I also had to consider the quality of the fabric. I determined that my 6" wide template ruler was perfect in width, leaving me a few inches to spare for bulk.

At this point, I had room for four stacks at 6" wide. I also realized that exactly half of my template was perfect for depth of the fold to fit on the shelf.

This was the best part, using my 6 x 24 inch template to fold the fabric. I prefolded each piece into approx 1/2 yard increments (fudging where needed) and then removed the template. Once done, then folded in half at 12".

I had four stacks on each color coded shelf. Stack one and two for cottons and blends (heavy yardage in stack one, light in stack two), stack three for satins, silks, sheers, etc. and stack four for brocades, upholstry, etc.

I will also share that it was a bit frustrating at first, the fudging part. Not all fabrics will lend to easy folding, or they are odd increments. Feel free to use markings on your table or masking tape to locate the ideal size. Doing this makes for a quick layout before folding around the template. This has been very time consuming no doubt, but for large quantities very helpful. I also have to consider how much time I have wasted redoing fabric spills, money wasted buying a fabric match I could not located, or the much frustration in it all. Once you get a few pieces down, you can do it without thinking. And mostly, the satisfaction of seeing every single piece at a glance is too valuable.

While most of my fabrics are color coded, whites on one shelf, then pinks on the next, then reds (following the color wheel), not all my fabrics are organized as such. I have additional shelves for fabrics grouped for projects and a few shelves that are thematic like western, juvenile, etc. and of course the ever enduring vintage pieces. I still follow this same folding method for organization.