Rain, rain, go away

Usually our Spring weather around here is pretty mild, but this week we got in a very brrr Winter storm from Alaska. It is cold! And dreary!

Just in time for the doom and gloom, I happened to receive a package of bright, cheery fabrics from this a-mazing sewing shop I just discovered, Hawthorne Threads. This place, I tell you. They have just about the lowest regular prices I've found on designer quilting cottons, wonderful selection and searching ability, AND you can order cuts in increments less than a yard! (Nope, they are not paying me for this shill!) Believe me when I say these requirements are a tall order. Most of the quilt shops I've found don't meet my high standards, so I don't normally use them as a resource. I either go with a big box store (Joannns or Wal-Mart) or one of my co-ops. And since it's pretty hard to step into a fabric store with my 2 year-old these days, I tend to stick to the co-op for the most part, since I can do it from my computer.

In addition to all that wonderful value and easy-to-use-ness of Hawthorne, I placed an order on Monday, and received it on Wednesday. Hello, super fast! This was like a heavenly miracle to me. I am used to a 2-5 month disconnect between when I order my fabric from a co-op and when I finally get to touch it. Yes, I get my fabric much more cheaply that way, but, sheesh. Talk about fabric patience. And I loooooooooooooooooove fabric, so it can be very hard to wait.

So anyway, the reason I decided to break down and order from a regular online store was that, a) I have been drooling over this new line, Glam Garden, by Josephine Kimberling and b) lately I just cannot get the twirly, patchwork Analise dress pattern out of my head. I really want to use it to make a special 1st day of school dress for DD. Unfortunately, the patchwork view calls for small amounts of 7 different fabrics, and that doesn't really fit my co-op paradigm. So I searched, perused, and eventually decided to order from Hawthorne before the Glam Garden fabrics sell out. I am so glad, because who wouldn't want to get this at 2pm on a gray Wednesday?:

Okay, okay, so that's not all Glam Garden in the picture. I also found what I think might be, in all seriousness, the most awesome whimsical owl fabric, ever. What might this fabric become?? It's a secret!!

Disclaimer, the fabrics on the edges of the picture are actually not from the Hawthorne Threads order. It was just my luck that one of my co-ops happened to send a small package yesterday as well. The package also included a charm pack of Summer in the City by Urban Chiks. Charm packs are wonderful and affordable way to sample different quilting lines. They are usually around $5 from my co-op, so decided to try my hand at making DD a patchwork twirl skirt. This pack contains 40-ish 5" x 5" squares:

These next two prints are from Lila Tueller's Santorini line. I was surprised at how large-scale these turned out to be. One of the perils of choosing fabric from pictures, I suppose. I had intended them for a tiered Gracie dress for DD, but now that I have them in my hands, I'm not sure. I really love the sort stained glass look, and that combined with the roses just really reminds me of Beauty and the Beast. I think I may incorporate one of the roses in a Summer Belle sundress I'm making for DD. We'll see.

Continuing the princess sundress theme, I plan to make DD a Cinderella inspired dress out of these two fabrics. The blue one is one I actually already had. It is a gorgeous tone-on-tone quilting cotton from Jennifer Paginelli (can't remember what line). I have been not so patiently awaiting my 1 yard order of sparkly white Fairy Frost by Michael Miller so I could put these two fabrics together. You can't see very well in this picture, but the Fairy Frost fabric has sparkly silver glitter swirls all over it. The FF fabrics come in many, many colors, and I'm told that some very talented quilting ladies make these gorgeous stained-glass looking quilts with them. I'd love to see one in person--this fabric is just so pretty.

That's all for now! Next up, some SEWING. (I gave up on DS's jacket and have moved on to lots of fluffy, girly dresses for DD. My favorite thing to sew, besides knits!)