Wrapped in Fabric and it is May Day!

My system of wrapping the majority of my eBay orders in protective fabric for mailing is starting to pay off. One entire tub of fabric has been emptied. I still have an entire bolt of hunting-themed fabric that will experience cuttage probably later this year. 

I also mail men's orders in men fabric and women's orders in women fabric. How does one determine that? Well, the usual pre-identity raising ways such as blue = boy, pink = girl, floral, flouncy - girl; stripey, polka-dottey - boy. There are some gender neutral fabrics like scrolls, sconces, and paisleys. It is all very scientific and based on my own made-up order of things. 

Moving on to a bit about quilting, as I have moved through the different stages, my tastes and what I like to do with quilting have changed. 

QUILTING STAGES

Stage 1:    Buying, organizing, sorting, color coordinating fabric (everyone likes this stage). 

Stage 2:    Planning the blocks and quilt layout (major fun too). 

    This is Stage 2 of the National Parks quilt. The Grand Canyon cheater panel and the entire backing where the work is already done. I just have to decide how big I want to make it with the neato border fabric collection. I am tending toward king-sized. 

Stage 3:    Cutting the fabric. One of my least favorite stages but a necessary one.

Stage 4:    Patchwork piecing, bordering, sashing, completing the quilt top/pieced backing. 

Stage 5:    This is where I send it to a longarm quilter for the quilted design. 

Stage 6:    Binding the quilt. I enjoy this part of the process because I like to hand sew. 

I am moving away from matching scrappy pieces of fabric to buying color-coordinated collections. The thrifted fabric was a great way to learn the craft but you end up with scads of mis-matched fabrics that will never marry well. 

Segueing to Fun Find of the Week. Local thrift deeply discounted CDs as 3 for $1. This 1966 recording is the earliest CD I have found in the wild. It will be my first listen of the day.

Reseller update: I have removed all of the clothing listings, I had less than 10 items in that category up for sale. Next month, I will start de-listing the lower value CDs. One I sold for $1, just to move it out of inventory. 

Finally, it is May Day today. As a child, I would pick flowers and then leave them in paper baskets hanging on neighbor's front doors. Here are this spring's flowers from my garden.