Thanks for your well-wishes on our big move! I’ll be chiming in next week with another Expat Chronicles. For now, let’s get back to the Quilty stuff!

Since we committed to our plan to move to Europe, I’ve been a bit more liberal with my fabric purchases. I’m usually a pretty conservative shopper, but it sounds like the price of quilting cottons in Europe is seriously steep. Friends from those shores have emphasize, “Bring all your fabric!” No hesitation there. I definitely will! In fact, I’ve been doing a little stocking up for good measure.

These lovelies are a recent acquisition from Quilt Sandwich Fabrics. I bought my standard half yard cuts, as well as a few yard cuts in the more versatile basics.

Those Amy Sinibaldi stripes mix well with just about any style patchwork and are ideal bindings too. I’m also enamored of the Cotton & Steel Add it Up basic. It’s such a small-scale print, which can be really handy in more intricate projects. I added the Meriwether Mini Floral to my cart on a whim, and it’s turned out to be one of my favorites. I think I may design a project around that someday.

Besides those soft basics, I brought home a few punchier fabrics. This bright tulip print is by Erin McMorris. It catches my eye every time, so why keep resisting, right? I like how this little grouping plays together. The other fabrics are Hoffman Me + You, Kimberly Kight Head over Heals and Gingeber Stitched Stripe.

My fabric stash has a nice variety of versatile fabrics. However, since I don’t buy large cuts of fabric without a particular project in mind, I don’t have a bunch of anything to use as a consistent background fabric. One low volume that I’ve been drawn to again and again is Firefly Whisper from Art Gallery’s Hello Bear collection. I’m going to stash a 4 yard cut for “someday”. I’m sure I’ll be glad I did!

What am I missing? I already have a good selection of solids and a few quilt backs put away. Do you have any tips for fabric shopping prior to a big move?

How do you store your works in progress? Mine live on these shelves, along with some tool baskets and supplies. I find that keeping my works in progress out helps me stay in touch with their reality. A few of them have been on hold for long enough. It’s time to return to them and finish them up!

Hmm… it also looks like I need to follow some of my own QuilterSpace advice and put some things away. There are fabrics here that don't need to be sequestered from my fabric stash.

What about you? How do you store your works in progress? Does your storage approach work for you or do things get forgotten all too easily? Is everything out all the time, sending you in a million different directions all at once? I’d love to know.

I’m finishing up my writing process for QuilterSpace, an online course coming this March. This is the organization and beautification hand-holding you’ve been waiting for. We’re going to give your sewing space a complete overall, step by step.

More soon!