Charm Packs

as you might have guessed sunny I **love** them - I get to see all the fabrics in a line and can make a pretty quilt from them too (just finished the top one I started last year all I have to do now is wait till I have $$ for batting)

about half my magazine designs are made with charms too :-)

There isn't much I want to do with a 5 inch square. Even fat quarter bundles don't tempt me much. The biggest deterrent is that someone else gets to pick which fabrics go into the bundle so I usually only like one print out of five in any bundle set. That 1 out of 5 ratio is just not good enough to get me to part with my money.

Debra in VA See my quilts at

I love them.

I don't find them a rip off price wise though.

You can cut 56 five inch squares from one yard of fabric.

The Sanctuary charm pack has 25 squares...a bit under 1/2 a yard. At my LQS it sells for $7.98 and a yard of fabric is $10 so while it's a little higher in price it's not outrageously high. Also, I don't have to do the cutting and I get every fabric in the collection. The shop doesn't always order them all and even if they do I have to buy at least

1/4 yard which is a whole lot more fabric.

marcella

I like them, but when you add postage they are a bit expensive over here. But if you want to make a scrappy quilt it is often cheaper to buy charms than to buy lots of yardage and chop up only a little of it (yes, it all goes in the stash - but it is an up-front cost for that quilt). Most of my new quilters don't have a big stash to choose from to make a scrappy quilt, and they like that they can buy pieces of "matching" fabrics to play with.

I buy charm packs 20 or 30 at a time, and when a box of them arrives in the mail every one rushes to pick through them all and choose something for themselves lol.

I am working on a monster scrappy quilt ATM made from about

25 charm packs from 8 or 9 different fabric lines. I just busted them open and sorted them arbitrarily into lights and darks and started sewing. would probably never have got around to cutting all those pieces from my enormous stash. I HATE cutting into the width of the fabric for a small piece! Silly, isn't it?

: Quick question: What do you think of Charm Packs (those pre-cut : packages of 5" squares with one coming from each piece of a specific : collection)?

I LOVE them! When I can afford them of course. I am the kind of person that HATES patterns and hates to follow the rules. I like to just grab a bunch of squares and start laying them out and sewing them together. (ok they don't need to be squares, they can be any scrap available to me)

I tend to buy bolt ends and oddball pieces too just because I am a bit too much of a free thinker to follow a pattern and do a quilt "the right way".

~KK in BC~ who will take any scraps, charms, etc. that are homeless or unloved.

think the "Nickel Quilts" books would be a great source of patterns for charm packets. The pieces are cut from 5" squares.KJ

Hi Sunny - add me to the list of "I like" charm packs - I went into my lqs last Thurs to pick up a roll of Invisigrip and I walked out with 4 charm packs as well. The actual bolts are not available instore yet but it is so nice to have the early bird bits to play with.

jennellh (change the mail to news)

Howdy!

Those 6 1/2" squares we get in the Baseball Swap are wonderful for variety, and just the right size for dozens...hundreds of quilts. I go thru' them (and the 5" charms and the 4" charms and 3 1/2" charms...) and pull out the perfect coordinates for many scrappy quilt tops. Wouldn't usually buy much purple (or pink) but found enough in the charms/squares to make this Princess I Spy:

variety in charm packs exposes me to fabric I haven't seen,some I wouldn't choose on my own. ;-) Rip-off? Absolutely not! Do you have any idea how long it takes to cut charm packs? To cut them accurately? Having pre-cut squares (charms) on hand, in the stash, is a wonderful time saver. Throw them in a scrap basket (Hi, Roberta) and pull them out at random for an unplanned scrappy quilt.

Ooo...time to go upstairs and run my hands thru' the charm collections.

R/Sandy

Geez - after all the wonderful things you all are saying about charm paks - I'm thinking about going on line to find some! And I certainly don't need any more fabric! I will certainly be looking at them with new eyes. I always love to hear everyones opinions!

Thanks

I looooooove charm packs. I have 2 small boxes of 5" squares, and 6 small boxes of 2" squares. I took one box of the 2" squares, put them in a paper bag, and shook it up. I started pulling them out, and sewing them together. When I had a long bunch of them sewn together, I took one box of 5" squares, and did the same thing. Then I laid both groups out on the floor, and designed a table runner. I had no idea what I was going to do with all these squares that were very patchwork, but it did make a cute tablerunner. I also use them for mini quilts.

Sherry Starr

That's a really sweet quilt Sandy! KJ

"Sunny" wrote in news:1171560552.183233.185850 @j27g2000cwj.googlegroups.com:

I love them... I'm totally kid in candy store with them as well. It took me a while to figure out how to use them. At first I just used them for hug blocks. Now I'm all out & keep searching around for them, but never quite get to the buy moment.... I would love to do another charm swap.Hum... what happened to all those swaps?

"Sherry Starr" wrote in news:hcidnRg5dc-XtUjYnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

I cut all my left over scraps into 2.5in peices before throwing away anything smaller.

That is so pretty, Sandy!

Howdy!

Thank you, thankyouverymuch! ;-D

Charm Quilts article:

R/Sandy

I absolutely love charm packs. They are addictive. I am working on some patterns using charms, both the packs and general scrappy charms. Need to get to feeling better and get the work done on some of these.

Pati, > Quick question: What do you think of Charm Packs (those pre-cut

Hi back atcha, Sandy! I love all scraps, charm packs no exception. Probably wouldn't go out looking to buy them, because the Black Hole Basket is full enough, but it's thrilling to get Entire Squares! 5 whole inches! That's a Huge piece, compared to most of the Basket. Roberta in D, Queen of the Scrap Heap

"Sandy Ellison" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:C1FA6764.13539% snipped-for-privacy@sbcglobal.net...

I have been reading this thread and have not heard any patterns mentioned. Sherri K. Falls has a pattern company called This & That. She has several mini patterns out that use these squares. I have no connection to this company but I bought a couple of her bag patterns and a couple packs of charms at our quilt show last fall. Wish Upon A Quilt has one of her patterns.

can't see that she has a website, but her phone number is (952) 657-2231. It's on her patterns, so I assume it's o.k. to give out.

Betty in WI