Review: eQuilter Scrap Pack

Ok, let me preface by saying I don't get any kind of compensation for any reviews I do.  If I did, I'd say so.  I do scrap pack reviews because I like doing them.

Now then, time for a new review.

Lord knows I don't need any more fabric but when eQuilter had their latest free shipping deal I was weak and had to treat myself (because I'm a spoiled brat).  So I grabbed up one of their three pound scrap packs.  The price was decent at $35.95 for three pounds (approximately 10 yards).  Unlike my last review, I didn't measure every piece in this one.  But I feel confident I wasn't ripped off at all.

I've bought from eQuilter before (a few times) so I was confident the fabric would all be top quality.  I've even bought one of their food themed Booty Packs before (they do scrap packs by theme as well as the mystery 3 pound packs, the themed packs have smaller cuts but are really nice).

The cuts in the 3 lb pack were all very large.  All were width of fabric and the smallest was around 6 inches or so (again, I didn't measure) and the largest was just under a yard.  There were also a few panels.

Of course, I have pics!

Seven different prints in this pic (the one on the very right is a print, it just blends in to the background a bit--it's a large print in stone colors).  I really like all of these.  The bottom piece is books and the really white piece has bikes and a street scene.

Eight prints in this pic.  Again, I like them all.  The music themed one is a bit sparkly (which I always like) and the black/silver has the thick decal like printing on it (I'm sure there's a term for that, but I'm too lazy to figure it out right now).  The pink ballerinas are so cute they give me pains (and just beg to be fussy cut for little doll sized pillows).

One print there and two panels.  I LOVE the print.  A big ole piece of Moda is always welcome in my stash (and I have a weak place in my heart for olive shades of green).  The beach theme fabric is a set of 5 (or maybe 6?) panels.  It appears they're all fully intact, which is really nice.  Then there was a whole sheet of Flats fabric.  Flats are this line of fabric paper dolls.  This panel is all clothes, no dolls.  It also includes the instructions for making the clothes (you have to sew on some velcro and such).  I'm going to bet someone crafty could use the clothes to make their own felt doll if they didn't want to buy the doll panel.

In fact, I'm going to give someone crafty a chance to find out how creative they are when I give that Flats panel away in this month's giveaway (it's better to pass it along then to let it languish in my stash).

Overall I'm very pleased with this purchase.  I got the fun of getting mystery fabrics that were all high first run quality.  I haven't seen any marks or stains on any pieces and only one appeared "damaged" (it has a little hunk cut out of it along the selvage that just barely dips into the fabric--I'm sure that's how it ended up in the scrap and why it's a large piece).  All the fabrics are quilting weight cotton and all are nice sizes.

I would have no problem buying one of these again or recommending it to someone who likes scrap packs.  BUT, I'd say wait and get a free shipping deal (my deal was spend $40 and get free shipping, and I find that to be a fair deal--I easily found one stand alone fabric to make up the difference to get to the free shipping minimum).

eQuilter also has a great clearance section and they have all kinds of sales different times.  I've never had any issues with any of my purchases from them and have bought from them (I think) about four times now.

Now, I have two other posts to make so hold on to your butts, I'm spamming the blog today.

Progress Report: Little Portraits

Yes, I worked the green even more.  It looks extra washed out in this pic but in person it looks more like the true color (a chartreuse).  I like the shade in the before shot, but it's too bright and too cartoony looking.  So I'm almost there with the green.  Once I get the green just about set, I need to work the red the same way.  Then just make the background pop (based on the new body shades) and then add the fine details like the tiny fibers you can see on the surface of the whole doll.

I'm finally feeling like I'll see an end to this final Little Portrait.

Next week we have a live model so I probably won't work this painting at all, which is kind of good because I need to start thinking up a new idea but I'm kind of "meh" about the whole thing right now.

Buying Ban (or fabric fast)

Inspired by Jess at The Elven Garden, I'm joining in on her Fabriholics Anonymous goal to not buy any new fabric for 6 months (beginning January 1).

BUT. . .I have to make a few amendments to her list of exceptions (to make them better fit my needs).

But first, the rules as she set them for herself:

FABRIC FAST RULES:

1) No fabric purchases for 6 months beginning January 1, 2014.   

2) At 6 months reevaluate status and decide whether to keep going for full year.  Evaluation July 1, 2014.

3) Create a UFO list and complete them!

4) Exceptions

• Backing: purchasing a backing to finish a quilt top is permissible.  However, attempting to use fabric in your possession for a backing is preferable.
• Books and Magazine purchases are allowed as they are not fabric.  Notions acceptable too.
• Swap Mama Fabric: if hosting a swap you are permitted to by fabric to execute swap duties, but you may not join a swap simply for the sake of being able to buy fabric!
• Quilts for Publication: if you are making a quilt for a publication and need certain fabric to execute it correctly then that is a major exception - who can blame you?

I just need to amend the "exceptions" a tiny bit.

MY Exceptions:

--Backing:  still ok to buy but better not to if you can help it.

--Notions acceptable.  Includes beads and bobbles used for making toys/dolls (and stuffing).  (I don't buy books/mags much so that's not really applicable to me).

--Felt:  I don't stash a lot of felt, so if I need some to do a project that is an acceptable purchase.

EDITED:

I edited this post on 12/18 to reflect my new exceptions (which are much smaller).

I'm now linking this up and actively participating since my exceptions are more in line with the original exemptions.

I'm really going to focus on finishing up UFOs and destashing.  I really need to tidy up my craft room and I know there is at least one decent pile of fabric I can part with (meaning just take right to the thrift shop--it's stuff folks gave to me "because you sew" so it's nothing fancy).

This challenge ties in nicely with my FY14 Charity Sewing Challenge, too.  

Quilt Blocks

The last thing I finished up (sort of) this weekend.

It started out as pre-working for a swap but. . .

I don't think I made these quite right and I just couldn't get them "crazy" enough.

The swap was for crazy quilt blocks made with foundation piecing.  I got the technique down but the sizing may not be quite right.  The block on the left is definitely too small.  The finished block was supposed to be 12.5 inches.  But I cut my foundation fabric to 12.5 so once I got all the piecing done the block was too small.

Ok, no problem.  That could just be a practice block.  I didn't embellish it at all and cut out new foundation fabric (about an inch larger) for the next block.

That's the second stab at the block.  The size was right but as I was embellishing it I realized. . .I'm not good at crazy embellishment.  I added some ribbon here and there and some random embroidery but I didn't really want to add all kinds of buttons and stuff.  Because I had used wild fabrics I didn't feel like hiding them under a bunch of junk.

Then it sunk in that maybe I wasn't ready to participate in a crazy quilt block swap.  So I dropped the swap before it assigned partners (the host was taking forever to assign, which was kind of a red flag, too--best to just cut my losses on that swap).

Not that these blocks are "losses".  I love how they turned out.  I love this technique for using up scraps.  On a smaller scale, you really could use up some scraps.  These larger ones tend to make a bit more scrap than I like.  That's always been my beef with paper piecing (which this pretty much is just without the paper--I found the paper aspect of paper piecing super annoying).  But if these blocks were smaller they would be practical for scrap busting.

See that chipmunk there in the center?  Yeah, I was all about that fabric this weekend.

OH, and while I was pawing through my scraps I found two fun pieces to use for some polaroid blocks.  Now those I'm really enjoying.

For a swap: Autumn Dotee

I finished this over the weekend, too.

A dotee for the Autumn dotee swap.

This one was super simple but I like how it turned out.  The top of the tree is fabric with batting inside and lightly quilted (around the edges and up the limbs).  The tree is felt with a felt face.  The hanger is just wine colored embroidery floss.  The tail is large seed beads and three feather/leave looking beads (they're not quite "fall" colored but I liked the look so I'm not complaining too hard).

The back of the tree.  I just had to use this chipmunk fabric.  I was kind of obsessed with it this weekend.

Just mailed this cutie off to the Netherlands.  I hope it will be well received.

For a swap: TM Patches YELLOW

I got a lot of projects wrapped up this weekend so I could mail them out this morning.

Among them was:

TM style patches for the rainbow series.  These are the yellow ones.

Close ups?  Ok.

"Flashy" chick.  I just love peeps/chicks and this was just a weird thing I did.  French knot for the eye and embroidered lines around it.  Once I got the embroidery on it all the sudden I thought "flashy" so I added that, too.  It was only after that I realized it was a "flashy chick" patch.  I thinks it's silly and fun.  I'd like something odd ball like this so I'm hoping my swap partner feels the same way.

Banana and patch on patch.  I needed to use that banana even if it was totally random like this.  Then I made a patch on a patch.  I'm trying to be more fancy and creative with my patches.  I tend to be very restrained so I need to stretch my creative legs a bit.  French knots on the flowers but not a lot more to talk about except the patch on a patch.

This was the one I did last and it's definitely more "flashy".  The patch itself is very basic, just some added beads and some embroidery.  Then I added beads on every stitch around the edge.  I like how almost obnoxious it turned out.  Ice cream should have bling.  Ice cream is fabulous.

The backs.  The celery is the back for the ice cream.  I like to put veggie with treats, kind of like a balanced diet thing.  Same with the candies.  They're opposite the banana.

I'm very pleased with this set of patches.  I'm really liking this series, too.  It's fun to dig through my stash looking for the designated color.  Blue and green are up next.  I tend to lean toward cool colors, so I should have tons to work with.

Dio de los Muertos Shrine

It's Dios de los Muertos.  Time to celebrate and remember our deceased loved ones.

That's the shrine I made for my deceased cats, Cringer, Monte, and Cecil.

I used battery powered candles so I could let them "burn" all day while I wasn't home.  I do have tea lights as well, which I may use tonight while I'm home to supervise.  I also wasn't sure if my new cats would be out and about in our house yet (we're doing some remodeling so our cats are sequestered in our bedroom) so I didn't want fire around their crazy selves.

Let's take a tour of the shrine (complete with bad photos!).

There's a familiar face.  It's skellie cat!  He's proud to be a part of the shrine (and glad the candles near him are battery powered).

A paper mache skull I painted.  Even thought it's a shrine for cats I still wanted some classic Day of the Dead stuff.

One of the urns containing my cats' ashes.  A cat nip toy (the sailor print item) and a flower.  The traditional flowers are marigolds but this time of year I couldn't hunt any down (and didn't have any growing in my yard) so I went with a mum.  I really like this mum and plan to plant it in my yard when I take down the shrine (or next season if it's too cold to plant it).  The little doll/statue next to the mum is a very cool doll I got in a swap and it just felt like it belonged with this shrine.  The same with the little fabric patch.  I love the Frieda Kahlo skeleton on that patch and it's a nod to creativity (which pets always inspire in me).

Close up of the boys' urn.  This urn contains the ashes of my two male cats, Monte and Cecil.  They were fond of each other in life, so we chose to put them together in one urn.  We also made sure to get a sturdy metal urn in case they fought with each other.  They would have destroyed a ceramic urn.

I don't have any good printed images of my cats, so I didn't include any photos in the shrine.

Monte and Cecil.

Monte was a neurotic cat who loved to lick off his own hair and loved to eat.  He had a great Siamese meow and crazy fu man chu whiskers.  He loved to snuggle under blankets and purr (we called him he cat-iator).

Cecil was also nutty in his own way.  He was the largest cat I have every had but had the tiniest meow (except when he was being bathed, then he made this crazy Chewbaca noise that cracked us up).  He didn't like much in the way of "people food" but he did like Iron City beer (we only gave him a drop now and again).

The urn for our female cat, Cringer.  She never was very fond of the boys so it was a no-brainer that she would get her own urn.  A very elegant one at that.  This is a stoneware type urn.  Not ceramic.  I'm too paranoid I'd break a ceramic urn.  Cringer's urn also gets its own cat nip toy featuring a female skeleton selling flowers.

Cringer.  She loved to give the stink eye.  She had a crabby streak but was also super loving and nutty.  Being the oldest of the clan (and first) she was never much of a fan of the male cats.  She was a sweet little low-rider tortie with a thumb print sized spot on her head that made me call her Dinty Moore.

While these three are gone, they will NEVER be forgotten.