I admit I am not a snow person. Despite being born in Buffalo, NY, I am a Seattle girl, perfectly content with a Grey Christmas, preferring feeling safe on the roads to looking like a Christmas card. But down came the white blanket, and I found myself with a week of unexpected time at home.
Luckily, I am a craftygrrrl, and thus am never bored! I found myself grateful for my fabric heaps, my notions supplies, and my heaping yarn baskets. In the last week, I finished a UFO quilt, a quilted wall hanging, a purse, a cute girlie doll, a knit hat, a scrappy dinosaur stuffie, a beaded necklace, three felted bowls and a felted bunny, two catnip-stuffed cat-toys, two aprons, a pair of lined drapes (also a UFO), and recovered a dining room chair (watch for a blog post showing how you can, too – so easy!) All of this would have been impossible had I not had so many supplies at home. I ran short of a few things – I needed snaps for the purse, hooks for the draperies, and stuffing for the toys – but 
a quick adventure to Northgate PacFab fixed those gaps.
So this got me to thinking – you know how they have everyone pack emergency kits when they predict a storm? I think perhaps we, the crafty of the world, need to remember to pack ourselves emergency craft supplies – perhaps stocked with the materials we use most, or a project all ready to go, with every item needed for completion in one neat box, ready to raid should we find ourselves snowed in.
Most sewers will need spools of thread in their favorite colors at the ready, sharp scissors, and a rotary cutter ready with replacement blades. Don’t forget to ALWAYS, snowed in or not, have replacement sewing machine needles at the ready. You need to change your needle regularly when you sew, and there’s nothing more annoying than having to put aside a project because you have broken or dulled your last needle. At Pacific Fabrics, we encourage stocking up on needles with our Klasse needle program – when you buy two packs, you get a third pack free, so there’s no reason not to keep a generous back-stock.
Quilters usually have stashed fabrics that they adore, and this is the perfect time to raid them, but they’re usually missing basics like batting, as it is often purchased for specific projects, so they might consider keeping an extra roll in their stash to save a trip out in unpleasant weather. I’ve been trying out the new Bamboo battings – they’re wonderfully soft, even, and eco-friendly. A fun fat-quarter friendly pattern and a library of free-motion quilting patterns, plus an iron-away powder-filled Pounce, which every quilter should have, and their survival kit is complete. Or if they are not stash builders, a spectacular kit might be the perfect thing – all the fabric measured and ready, pre-coordinated for sure success. I like doing fusible appliqué, so I would have Steam-a-Seam in my emergency kit.
Fashion sewers could need larger yardage amounts at the ready, and a library of patterns to mix them with, but they should also have some extra supplies of interfacings and fasteners. Hem tape, often required in patterns, is a great thing to add to your stash. Now is also the time to enjoy your collection of buttons – and if you don’t have one, it’s time to get one started.
Beaders, like quilters, often have a rainbow of beads ready to go, but a long time in the house can quickly use up beading wire, crimp beads, and other basic findings. It might be fun to also pack a spectacular pendant or two into your emergency beading kit - a stunning centerpiece can be the inspiration for an amazing project.
Yarnies will need their library of needles and notions at the ready, and some generous amounts of yarn– at least a few skeins that are the same, so they can get a whole project finished. I would add a beautiful book or two, with inspiring patterns and stitches at the ready. Or try a book that focuses on blocks or stitch patterns, and enjoy using up yarn odds and ends while expanding your repertoire and have a colorful, creative afghan stitched up from your experiments, when you re-emerge from your snowy home.
Finally, if the power goes out, you will be happy to have a handwork project at the ready – needle-feltingand embroideryare very engrossing, and can be performed unplugged.
I’m so happy with all of my awesome projects – and I’m grateful to my stash for all of the beautiful surprises it held – digging deep, I found fabrics I’d kept for years and completely forgotten. My stash kept me from going stir-crazy, and I’ve never appreciated it more.
PS – If you’d like to make a felted bowl like mine, I wrote up the pattern for you! It’s quick, easy, and only requires one skein of a wonderful wool/soy yarn. I am so hooked on this yarn, I think I’ve bought every variegated color we carry!
~ Anna-Beth
