So much for the plan of only buying what's needed to finish the current project. In my defense, you all know I work with these colors a lot. More than likely they will be used within in the next few months on the huge stack of UFO's I shared in a previous post.
How could I pass up $3 a yard? This receipt is for 11.806 yards of fabric and 2 water soluble pencils. Review for the pencils later in this post. 11.806 what an odd number. They charge for every inch, no rounding down at this store.
I know your wondering where in the world is fabric $3 a yard and is it worth a darn?
Hobby Lobby
Did you know every other week most of the fabric is 40% off? Like clockwork for the last 2 years. And they always have a section of clearance fabric. Now since the company is going to change hands this may change.
These little cuties were in the clearance section. I've been eyeing them for a long time but I just kept telling myself, I know where it is if I need it. But if it's in the clearance section that tells me it's going away and not coming back. Better grab it while I can and at these prices how could I not!
Kim, the fabric department gal, even gave me this small piece of scrap for free...LOL! She's such a sweetie, always happy. Yesterday as I walked up to the cutting counter she says "Hey Aries! I knew you'd be in this week for the 40% off!". She calls me Aries because the topic of astrology came up in one of my many recent visits. She must be big on signs, I can't remember her sign but she remembers mine. Not sure that's a good thing when you're and Aries.😕😁 All that matters is I'm memorable and we enjoy our visits.
Anyway, back to the fabric. Is it great fabric, no. Is it better than Joann's? I don't know. Is it better than Walmart fabric? Again, I don't know. It's fabric, it passes my test of how does it feel. All of these non quilt shop places have some okay fabrics and some not so okay fabric. Obviously this one is better than some of the fabrics in Hobby Lobby. No matter what the print or what store, if the fabric feels like a tight weaved gauze, I won't purchase. If it feels stiff or heavily painted, I won't purchase. Even in quilt shops there's fabrics with a heavy metallic, shimmer or glaze on top of the dye. These types of stiff fabrics have given me issues in the past.
Now here's what I do know about non quilt shop quality fabric, especially Hobby Lobby fabrics. Bleeding is more than likely going to happen. These will be pinked and prewashed before going into my stash. They also tend to shrink a bit more than name brand.
Brother Sister Design Studio is on the selvage. A google search for the company and the thread count of their fabrics brought up no useful results. The only thing found is they are basically a Hobby Lobby company.
Alrighty lets get back to the reason for shopping at Hobby Lobby. A water soluble white marking pencil. It's not something needed very often since I rarely work with dark fabric. Many brands of white fabric pencils and markers have been used over the years and they have failed by staining or embedding in the fibers. When I saw these at Hobby Lobby I thought, why not give them a try. If they too fail, I'm only out $2.99.
Any new pen or pencil is tested before using them on projects due to the many failures. Trusting the company or other quilters is not an option anymore. So don't trust me either! If you decide to try anything suggested here, TEST IT OUT ON YOUR FABRICS FIRST. Why? Maybe its because different fabrics have different chemicals? You may use a different starch? Your water may have something it that causes them not to work? I really don't know why products work for some and not for others.
It works! A little spritz of water and....See! All gone. I've quilted 4 quilts marked with these and not one white mark was visible after washing.
Now there is one thing I didn't like about this pencil and all other pencils that need to be sharpened. The "lead" breaks inside the pencil. It would also break if applying too much pressure when marking the quilt. After figuring out the problem was applying too much pressure, there was no more "lead" breaks. Of course it could have been the $1 pencil sharpener causing some of the issues. Pretty sure they don't use the best blades in those.
Hope you found this useful and...
Until next time....
I hope you find time to stitch up something sweet!
Those are lovely fabrics and I definitely think of you when I see them. I hit the 70% off Christmas fabrics sale yesterday at JoAnn's. I supposedly saved $61! That's my kind of shopping! Happy stitching!
ReplyDeleteWhat pretty fabrics and such a great deal! I am still new-ish to quilting (18 months or so, but have been sewing for 50+ years) but have been buying quilt fabrics for years, so I should not add anything to my stash either, but I frequently violate that, lol. I see lots of opinions on using HL, Walmart, etc fabrics - but our grandmothers and great grandmothers made gorgeous quilts that last for years by using worn out scraps of clothing and feed sacks. So my personal opinion is for everyone to use what they like and can afford :-)
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add - thanks for the review on the pencil, I'd like to try that out. I have a chalkoneer (sp?) that does pretty well on dark fabric, but every so often it doesn't come out as good as I'd like.
DeleteI never use a pencil sharpener because it as you have discovered breaks the lead. I do like we did in my childhood use a knife not a pen knife these days but a Stanley or a craft knife. That way you don't expose as much lead at a time so it withstands more pressure too.
ReplyDelete