Fabric Purchases and an Art Update

As I normally do when I take a trip to Maine, I made a stop at Mardens, a hodge-podge type store with a fabulous fabric selection! You'll be seeing these fabrics pop up soon in my shop, but in the mean time I thought I'd give you a peek at what I picked up!

Shopping for fabric is pretty much the best past time..too bad it requires a bank account to match the addiction, ha! I spend lots of time - I mean lots {right Grampie??} - picking out selections I know I will use and love. I usually take my Grammie with me, because I need her expert opinion, and my sister to help hold the dozens of bolts of fabric that I'm trying to match. :) I kid you not.

It was my Grammie's idea to pick up this fun one-way print. I'm excited to use this and see how I like it! that purple floral in the middle is pretty much one of my favourites, too.

I love bright and colorful. These are going to be beautiful together!

I also picked up some discount Christmas prints {perks of going after the holidays, right?} so this is a major tease...look for these in about 11 months! Trust me, I am having a hard time not using them right now. Christmas in January, anyone?

The last thing I picked up was a small piece of this fun print:

What a fun ruler print! I love the different colors too. I knew just how I wanted to use this, and that is where the "art update" part of this post comes in!

I used this fabric to update one of the hoops in my hoop art. You last saw them when I added a small shelf for thread, and they were still looking purdy! I decided to switch one up with this fabric that felt "seamstressy."

I just popped the old fabric out of the hoop and used it to cut a square of cloth big enough for the embroidery hoop: 

I put the new cloth in and pulled it nice and tight, making sure the fabric was in the hoop straight. Once I trim that excess fabric down, there is no changing anything, so I use this step to make sure it looks perfect. I would go crazy if I got it on the wall and the fabric was in the hoop crooked!!

Then I just trimmed off the extra as close as I could to the back of the hoop. This is how I did it the first time, and it has hung on the wall nicely ever since.

Final result:

I love this fabric, and how well the colors tie in with the other hoops that are already there!

The whole wall makes for a very fun, "crafty" feel, don't you think?

Oh, and don't mind those papers on the wall...I still have a plan for that space, just have to get the supplies to make it happen!

I love that using embroidery hoops for decorating in this way is so simple, quick, and inexpensive to switch things up!

I'd love to hear which of the fabrics above are calling your name - and what you'd do with them if they were yours! Anyone else decorate with fabric or embroidery hoops?