REVIEW: Craftsy Mystery Fat Quarter Box

Time for another review.

I broke down and bought the 50 mystery fat quarter box from Craftsy.  WITH shipping each fq was still only $1 each.  I figured, despite seeing mixed reviews (leaning more toward folks being disappointed than thrilled) I could risk it for that price.  At least the fabric should be decent quality, not those thin and crappy inexpensive ones you get at Joann's.

It shipped pretty fast, too.  It took less than one week.

That's exactly how it looked when I opened it.  I was happy already.  There was a lot of color and it looked like a great variety.

(note:  they do tell you duplicates are possible and one of the very negative reviews I found showed a lot of duplicates, triplicates, and even quadruples of the same fabric)

I dove right in and got to sorting.

First up, the stripes/novelties/dots/florals.

No duplicates in that category.

I did get three Downton Abbey cuts but they are different.  I can't say that I care at all about Downton Abbey but I might use it to test out a pattern I found (or gift it out).

I absolutely LOVE the two butterfly prints, especially the rainbow one.

Next up, blenders:

There were a lot from the same line but different shades.  That's fine with me.  Nice variety of colors including the earthy tones.

That wasn't all of them. . .

Four more (different, despite the bad pic).

This also shows the ONLY duplicate I received.  The pic doesn't do it justice.  It's a floral print that's kind of uninspiring but still nice.

Next up, batiks:

For the record, I'm not a huge fan of batiks but I do like having a bit.  I also like the super bright batiks so I was very pleased with this bunch.

My beef with batiks is the feel of it.  It's kind of crispy and I'm not a huge fan of that.  But I do like the look of batiks, especially the bright orange and that green there.  And I really do like white batiks despite how they feel.

Next up, SPARKLE:

I'm a huge sucker for fabrics with sparkle in them.  They make me so happy and getting this much sparkly variety in the box made me extra happy.  There are no duplicates here even though a few of the shades are close to one another.

And last but not least, the LONE dud.

*sad trombone*

This is a piece of flannel.

Now I don't hate flannel but I was miffed to see it because I had made a point to contact Craftsy customer service before buying to ask if the box would contain any "flannel, minky, or knits".  I was told they don't really sell those types of fabrics so it was not likely.  But there it was in all its fuzzy glory.

I'm not mad or anything and it's only ONE fat quarter so I can probably find a use for it.  In fact, given the color it might be cute on a stuffed toy.  But given that I had actually tried to keep it from coming I was disappointed to see it.

So, time for a grade.

Grade:  A-

I'm only throwing the minus in there because of the flannel.  And that's only because (as I just mentioned) I asked about it ahead of time so was really not expecting to get any.  BUT, it was only one piece so it's not a big deal at all.

I would probably buy a mystery pack again if I wanted to beef up my stash.  Right now, though, I don't need that much fabric all at once.  This definitely would be a GREAT stash builder for someone just starting out.

I had no problems with working with Craftsy, either.  Customer service got back to me about my question (before buying) in 24 hours and it took less that 7 business days for the order to arrive at my house (I'm too lazy to look up exactly how long it took, but I was really not expecting to get it before Christmas, which was fine with me).

This was my first experience with Crafty (buying--I have downloaded free patterns from them) and I'm very pleased.

I'm also happy to add a positive review to those already out there.  I wish Craftsy had a review option on their products, I'd gladly give feedback.

Now, it's time to get sewing.  I have a butt load of new fabric to play with!