Use, Stash, Repeat with Bountiful Fabrics Blog Tour

I‘m delighted to be back for another blog tour for Sharon Holland’s Fabric designs. This time I’ve managed to create some striking and extremely practical projects with the  Bountiful Fabric Collection designed by Sharon Holland for Art Gallery Fabrics.

My dear friend Alexis, creator of the My Sweet Sunshine Studio Blog, and I shared a photo shoot last year for Sharon’s Coastline Blog Tour and had so much fun.  Now we are back sharing a day together for these Bountiful projects! She and I met in my fabric shop, Needle in a Fabric Stash, just over two years ago and instantly began a friendship filled with drooling over the latest and greatest Art Gallery Fabrics and sharing (usually via on-going text because we are both crazy busy) details and progress about current sewing projects.

This time around I’ve created the Use, Stash, Repeat pattern for reusable bags using Sharon’s amazing Bountiful prints. Click here to see the full collection. 

Cities all over America have adopted a plastic bag ban. When Temecula passed the law last year, I was eager and ready to support it by creating the Use, Stash, Repeat bag pattern. I took pride in making every effort to stay in-line with a no waste theme by creating dimensions for the bag so you end up wasting almost zero fabric.  The Bountiful designs and this reusable bag go great together.  Each bag uses a trio of Bountiful Fabrics.

Scenic  Blue Sky, Prairie Maze and Vine Umbra

Arborescent Seasons, Gather Rustic and Haymow Early 

Perennial Optimism , Prairie Crimson and Plain Weave Thatch

More fun to admire than decorated Easter Eggs, these bags conveniently roll up and easily fit into pretty pocket style pouches sewn into the bags. The pouches fit perfectly in your glove compartment or purse so you can always be prepared when you are running errands on the go. With one handle exposed, you can hang them on your shoulder until you’ve finished shopping! And, of course, I couldn’t pass up a chance to create some handmade buttons with scraps from Bountiful Fabrics as well as previous Sharon Holland Fabric Designs.

When I was planning out the photo shoot for these projects I thought it would be fun to hit three of my favorite Temecula shops to show off these great bags made from a selection of my favorite Bountiful Prints.

Old Town Spice and Tea Merchant was first on my list. I picked up some of my favorite spices to prepare a gourmet Easter Brunch for the Stone Family. It was fun to fill up the bag made with the Arborescent Seasons print with spices such as masala chocolate chai for tea and fine herbs for eggs benedict. Once filled, I realized that this bag and the specialty spices inside would also make a great gift for the chef in your life!

Farmer’s markets are always fun places to pick up herbs, flowers and fresh produce. These bags are perfect for a stroll through Farmer’s Market, but truth be told, the asparagus in the photo came from the fields of UC Riverside and is a special variety developed by husband Neil in his research work. We are very blessed to have the best of the best asparagus every Spring and wow does it look amazing in the bag made with the Perennial Optimism print.

And I’m sure Alexis would agree that our favorite local spot to bring a Bountiful bag and fill it to the brim is Needle in a Fabric Stash! Just look at all these beautiful Bountiful fabrics in the bag with Scenic Blue Sky utilized as the main print.  

Now’s a good time to head on over to Alexis’ blog. She showcases the Bountiful Fabrics in a stunning dress that pairs lovely with these bags.

For even more inspiration be sure to check out yesterday’s maker, Mathew Boudreaux’s blog to see what he created for the tour. Links for all the makers participating in the Bountiful Blog Tour can be found on Sharon’s website. 

Blithe Fabrics Blog Tour

Welcome to Needle in Fabric Stash’s Blog. We are a boutique style modern fabric store in Temecula, Calif. and if there’s one thing that inspires us to create beautiful, one-of-a-kind projects, it’s the alluring details of Art Gallery Fabrics. Since being invited to participate in Katarina’s Roccella’s Blithe Fabrics Blog Tour, I have been excited to share with you the way these prints so effortlessly bring this unique shirt design to life and give you the chance to add this piece to your own Art Gallery Fabrics wardrobe!

Every minimalist needs a couple of great feature pieces in her wardrobe to accent her jeans, favorite pair of boots and small collection of tees. When Blithe Fabrics by Katarina Roccella arrived in our shop, Eternal Nature Grey in Linen immediately pulled at my heartstrings and I could already imagine the way it would illuminate a stand out piece that would soon freshen up my wardrobe. I was delighted! Some of the best memories I’ve had with sewing garments over the years include finding unique prints on different substrates. This print is a catch. I already had the West Water Tunic Pattern by Samantha May Lamb and knew it was a perfect combo for the layered look I was going for.  

What also made this project special is that this is the first available Art Gallery linen cotton print. It washes well, has a nice drape and surprisingly it does not wrinkle very much for a cotton linen. The West Water Tunic Pattern, available in our Temecula shop and online, is very easy to follow and sews up quickly. The handmade fussy cut covered button gave the top a finished look that a store bought button just couldn’t achieve. It seems to go along with the simple yet sophisticated look of this tunic.

When I browse high-end boutique shops I love to look at the finishing touches inside garments. As they say, the devil is in the details. So, when vintage print cottons are used for linings in shirts and jeans, this small, but mighty element can make you feel like a million bucks on the inside and out. Using the Joy Wreaths Plum cotton print out of the Blithe collection did just that. This print created a beautiful lining, capturing that chic designer look just like that .

The Blithe bundles and prints are selling quickly at Needle in a Fabric Stash and the enduring prints lend themselves to a slew of  sewing and quilting projects. Although this time I chose to feature a garment for the blog tour, over the holidays my daughter, Hannah, designed sophisticated pillowcases with three of the prints from the Blithe Collection. We were also inspired in the shop to curate a woodland style fat quarter bundle   combining Blithe with some of Katarina’s other fantastic collections.

Needle in a Fabric Stash’s curated Blithe bundle

Pillowcases using the Blithe collection

Now it’s time for you to create with Blithe Fabrics! If you are still searching for ideas head on over to Katarina’s Blog to get inspired and stay updated daily on the Blithe Blog Tour. Tomorrow Cassie and Alexis will show off some amazing patterns using Blithe knits. Be sure to check out their blogs Lily Shine Boutique and My Sweet Sunshine. 

 

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