Stash Hoarding, Day 1: Arcadia

Last week, I promised to do a series of posts on my top five fabric collections to hoard. All of these are out-of-print, and I seem to be unable to resist them when I find a good deal online! What is even worse is that I seem to only be able to use them if I have "back-up" fabric!

The first collection to showcase is Arcadia by Sanae for Moda Fabrics. This one is special to me because it became my "test quilt" when I decided to start selling quilts on Etsy three years ago. I had just been to a very unsuccessful craft fair and realized that these events were just too unpredictable to be worthwhile, especially for trying to sell higher priced items such as quilts. As it happened, I had a new nephew who needed a crib quilt, and a layer cake of Arcadia on hand to play with. I designed a pattern to make the best use of a layer cake, which became the prototype for the Hip to Be Square quilts I started selling in my shop. Although it took about a month to make a sale, business has grown steadily since then!

I just love the colors and designs in this collection. Actually, I'm not really a huge fan of any other Sanae fabric line -- this one is just particularly appealing to me. Since the first quilt was given to my nephew, I didn't make one for my store until I came across another Arcadia layer cake later that year. It sold fairly quickly, and prompted a request from another customer for a custom order. I couldn't find any other layer cakes to remake the original, but I did find a few honey buns (1 1/2 " strip rolls) and made this version:

Since I couldn't find enough fabric for a backing, I had to improvise by using a coordinating Sandy Gervais print, but I included a few extra Arcadia blocks on the back to tie it all together. I love the way the back turned out! I think it really suits the modern look of the collection.

This was also the quilt that prompted the hoarding of the collection! Since then, I have collected other pieces, including a couple of charm packs, a layer cake, honey buns, and even a fat quarter bundle! I have plenty of fabric to make several other quilts -- I just seem to fear running out! I do plan to make another Hip to Be Square quilt in the near future, and I have a pattern in mind for the honey buns as well. I really do try not to overpay for these finds, however -- I think that's why I have to snatch them up, and why it is so difficult to subsequently cut into them!

 

Tune in tomorrow for my next blog entry about stash hoarding!