TGFR (Thank goodness for remnants)

I have been wanting to get some decorative throw pillows for my couch to kind of add some color to my drab family room. The walls are white, the carpet(the only carpet in this hardwood floored house) is kind of an off white/beige. We have a red brick fireplace with a white mantle and some brown wooden bookshelves. Our couch is kind of a tan leather, and other than that it is very neutral, beige and boring. I tried to make it spiffy by artistically arranging the bookshelves and adding a few knicknacks...but they were browns. So really I felt colorless. I am not planning on painting down there at least for 6 more months, so I just needed something to spice it up.

Well I went to all my favorite stores and looked at throw pillows. Hand to God , some of them wanted more than 25$ PER PILLOW(Pottery Barn)(Pier One)(World market). HECK NO! I am NOT going to buy a 32 dollar pillow that my kids will slobber on, the dog will lay on or try and bury in the backyard and that wont last a long time before needing to be replaced. I even tried the cheapo stores, and even THEY wanted $14 PER PILLOW. Plus their pillows just werent what I had in mind. Have you ever had that? You have something in mind and just cant express it when someone asks what you are looking for. You cant describe it, but you will know it when you see it. Well I wasnt seeing it. I even looked on etsy and came close, but just wasnt right.

So at last resort I went to the fabric store. They have a very large selection of home decorator fabrics that happened to be on sale for 9.99 a yard. I figured I only needed 1/2 yard of each, and there were 3 pillows for less than 1/2 the price of ONE pricey PB pillow.

But as I was looking around I didnt really see anything that caught my eye. So the farther back I went through the store, the more slim the pickings became. Then I saw the remnants tables.

All the remnants of the decorator fabrics. Not only were they 6$ a yard, they were an additional 30% off! PLUS I happened to have a special coupon, for an additional 20% off!!

so I looked through the tables and stumbled across these:

I took them up to the cutting table and measured out how much was left of each one. Most of them were 54" wide and averaged between 1 and 2 yards. So for 3.36 PER YARD I got 14 to 19 dollar a yard fabric. They were exactly what I was looking for. It was as if my mind was opened up and the table provided. Now I was thinking about just using stuffing, but lo and behold the Gods were smiling down on me that day and the pillowforms were on sale too. 3$ each. So I grabbed 3. (2 of them are 16x16 and the other is 12 x 16. I wanted a little variety.)I went home, called my mom and drafted her help (I was dealing with prints and stripes. It was really a disaster of epic proportions waiting to happen had I tried to attempt this on my own)

90 minutes later, VOILA!

(ignore the 12 year old leather couch that is in desperate need to conditioning and cleaning).

I have material left over, so I think I may go back and buy more pillow forms and make some more. I am in LOVE with these pillows. Now I feel like my room as a little color, I didnt break my budget PLUS I ended up with extra fabric to use towards more, or something else. (especially the toile print. I have a TON left over. Any ideas??

Life is good.

I WILL be crafty this week!

So I have a joyful find at the fabric store this week. This little beauty to the left. A crisp white cotton with beautiful turquoise blooms and brown stems and leaves. Very cool, yet almost retro looking, My gandmother had fabric kind of like this back in the 70's. She had a pillow made of something fairly similar as I recall.

I was at my local fabric store, taking advantage of the 50% off quilting fabrics when I stumpled across this sweet little guy sitting in the remnants pile. How no one had bought him in the past 6 months is beyond me. There is a full yard and a half + of this remnant. So his original starting price was $10.99. Then he was reduced to $7.99. Then slashed again some time later to $4.99.

Yesterday, when I snatched him from his life of lonliness, he was reduced to a pitiful 1.29.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? $1.29 for this gorgeous piece of fabric?? I picked him up, dusted him off, gave him a hug and a squeeze, and named him "Old Blue".

He is now sitting in my pile of fabrics, happy and content with his millions of brothers and sisters, all contemplating when exactly they will be used to their full potential, instead of sitting around in their bins screaming "pick me! pick me!" everytime I walk by..

I have decided to use Old Blue first. This week my goal is to make Old Blue into something useful and beautiful-A simple totebag. A large sac base with two sturdy handles. Something I can take to the market, take to church, the beach or the pool. I am very much looking forward to carrying Old Blue around with me wherever I go. He makes me happy. His blooms never wilt, and he is always glad to see me.

So my goal: I WILL be crafty this week. I WILL use Old Blue for something useful so I have less mouths to feed in my fabric drawer. Too bad I cant claim Child Tax credits for all my babies!