I'm still trying to limit my purchases but when I did those pink blocks I realized there were colors I was lacking in my stash. So I decided to join PInk Castles Stash Stack Club.
It's pretty straight forward. Every month you get blenders in a certain color family. July was pink (perfect!). You can buy in at different stack sizes (full or half) and fabric cuts (FQ, half yard, full yard). I opted for the fat quarter half stack.
So every month I get 6 fat quarters for $19.95 (that includes U.S. shipping). So that makes each FQ $3.32 each which is just about the going price for quilt shop quality fabrics. I've noticed fat quarters are a tiny bit more expensive than a straight 1/4 yard and I'm ok with that to get the shape that better works for me.
Now I have to have a true confession time here. I was kind of wondering if these stash builders clubs would just be a way for the company to unload some of their sale/clearance stock. I didn't totally believe that, but I wondered how much of the fabric might be from the clearance bins. So, being the cynic that I am, I expected to get at least a piece or two of sale items.
I am here to state I was WRONG. There was (as far as I can tell from just comparing what I got to Pink Castle's website) NO clearance items in my stack. And, there were items in it that weren't on the website, leading me to believe fabrics are purchased just to make these bundles, which I appreciate.
So, here's what I received in my half stack.
I love the range of pink shades offered. Of course, my pic doesn't do the fabric justice (it was overcast outside when I got this pic). The bottom two fabrics are as light as they appear, but the third from the bottom one (with the squiggles) is more on the peachy side of pink. The next two (geometric and numbers) are more what I call "classic" pinks. The scallops are an antique type pink (the dots have an antique shade to them, not white or beige). (I LOVE the number fabric, it's my favorite of the bunch, followed closely by the polka dots)
Now, those descriptions are just the way my eyes see these pinks. Your mileage may vary.
Overall, I'm VERY PLEASED with my purchase. Yes, it's a smidge more expensive to buy fat quarters this way (versus bargain shopping) but this way I know I'll get 6 excellent quality blenders to help round out my stash. And with it being the half stack, I'm not going to end up with a TON of fabric. Just enough (to get my shopping fix, yeah, I can't lie I like getting a treat every month--I'm a spoiled brat).
Now that I've signed up for the club, I plan to keep it for one full year. I've also decided I'll use my monthly purchase as motivation to organize my stash by color. Last night (after this arrived and I fawned over it) I went through a scrap bucket I keep at my sewing machine and pulled all my larger pink scraps. (I have two buckets, one is for itty bitty scraps--I won't be organizing it, that's too tedious). Now I just need to go up to my craft room and pull any and all pink fabrics. I already have plastic bins but I got too lazy and never did the actual organizing. This way, I'll only have to organize once a month.
I plan to organize by the color wheel for the club and just plain old ROYGBIV. It will depend on if I have a ton of one color and not much of another and all that. But for now, I'll organize by the Pink Castle wheel then shift things around as necessary.
Right now I'm organized by size. I have a drawer of FQs, a drawer of "smaller than half yard, but not officially FQ" size, and then "1/2 yard or bigger". Then I have a tote for charm sizes and other pre-cut sizes (strip rolls, etc). I also keep my holiday fabrics and cat fabrics separate and any fabrics I bought for a specific project (so my Happy Drawing fabrics are all together and my Frog and Toad fabrics are together, along with some yardage I got to make a skirt). I think I'll go through my 5 inch charms and pull them by color but for manufacturer pre-cut sets I'll keep them together and not sorted by color. I'm not color sorting my 2.5 charms and I'll still keep my "special project" fabrics together (not color sorted). I'll also have a separate stack for non-quilting cottons (flannels, fur, etc).
Slowly but surely I'll get it all organized and cull some things I really don't want or won't ever use. So I just might have some giveaways coming up!
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