Bolts!

  My plan was to just pick up some interfacing and white muslin.  When I returned home I sent Sir Old Man a text that I knew I was in trouble because I bought bolts!  He knew what I meant and replied that was OK, I was just playing catch up!  I am so blessed that he is understanding about my fabric habit.  And I get those coupons that I just hate to waste......



   While I did purchase a bolt of muslin, I also picked up a bolt of light weight interfacing.  It seems that Pellon is no longer producing the 2" gridded interfacing that I extol and use.  Yikes!  I searched the internet sources and found 2 other products at $6/yard!  Yikes, yikes!!   The fabric in the photo purchased with coupons was less than that a yard.   Instead I purchased the plain light weight fusible interfacing--99 cents/yard/ 49 cents with coupon!--- that I will use by simply marking some grid lines myself.
   I updated the Watercolor Tutorial page with the information and suggest using the 1" gold line gridded product instead.....if you don't want to fuss with marking a few lines to use as a guide/reference point.
  Back to the bolts.....this is from an old post and explains my mini-bolt system.

Tip for storing fabric:

  My large collection of floral fabrics are usually folded and stored in bins on  shelves in my stash closet.  Mainly those fabric cuts are small and less than a yard.  But what about the larger yardage cuts for borders and backings especially?   

Mini-bolts!

  About 4 years ago, I began using the mini-bolts for storage.  When I first  began this, I was using a thin plastic insert.  Later I switched  to using  foam core board.  The foam core  can be purchased at the Dollar Store in the 2 foot by 3 foot size usually.  I cut the size-- that works best for me-- 11" to 12" high by 8" wide.    It's easy to cut with a craft knife.  I often end up with smaller sections of the boards and they work great for shorter cuts--- those under a yard. 

  Today, I am even more frugal.....I use old  yard campaign signs or yard signs of any kind that I find....like house for sale, or other advertising.  They get knocked down or the wires rust out.  I collect them, wash them up, and cut  to the size I like.    I'm saving the land fill (if they would ever make it there) and keeping my dollars for fabric and thread.  

 Fabric is folded just like it comes off the bolt.  Then one more fold---bringing the folded side over to match the selvedge edge.  Roll it up and pin the end.  

     The mini-bolts make it easy to see what I have to work with.  I am  known to be pretty messy and scattered, so this really helps me neater.   And what fun to shop your own fabric store in your stash closet.

Happy stitching!