IN WHICH I RETURN, BEARING GIFTS

Namely, lots of cheap fabric. I kind of gave up on the blog there for a while, but I promise that I'm back in full force from now on. I have a new job that will keep me a little busier than I was before, but I'm slowly working on some updates around the apartment and I have a huge list of partially finished future posts. 

I found myself on fabricguru.com last week, a site that I've browsed in the past. It's not the most organized or well-designed site, but there are a lot of hidden (cheap!) gems if, like me, you have some patience procrastination skills. Many of their fabrics are particularly inexpensive because they're sold as pre-cut pieces. This time I found lots of fantastic fabrics, many of which I hadn't seen before. Here are my favorites, some of which are under $5/yd!

by rows, top to bottom:

Robert Allen Cat's Cradle, $4.95/yd

P. Kaufmann drapery fabric, $8.98 for 1.2 yds

Kravet Greek Maze, $36.98 for 5.2 yds

Kravet tapestry fabric, $17.98 for 2.1 yds

Mill Creek Greek Key drapery fabric, $23.98 for 4 yds

Bonzai Damask upholstery fabric, $14.99 for 3.2 yds

Duralee upholstery fabric, $17.98 for 1.8 yds

Cabo upholstery fabric, $40.98 for 5.8 yds

Richloom Chainlink, $22.95/yd

Wyatt Damask upholstery fabric, $23.95/yd

Thibaut Courtyard, $31.98 for 1.6 yds

Barrow Yuma, $28.95/yd

by rows, top to bottom:

Richloom Emily in charcoal, $21.95/yd

Richloom Emily in grapevine, $21.95/yd

Richloom Lucy in eden, $11.95/yd

Richloom Lucy in chocolate, $4.98 for 1 yd

Richloom Mirth in lark, $!5.95/yd

Richloom Mirth in bouquet, $15.95/yd

Richloom Campione, $5.95/yd

Richloom Mirth in licorice, $15.95/yd

P. Kaufmann Jacobean, $13.98 for 2 yds

Richloom Invigorate, $4.95/yd

Richloom Katherine, $21.95/yd

Robert Allen Scenic Flora, $16.95/yd

I can picture that last one working as a poor man's version of the most amazing bench in existence:

by rows, top to bottom:

Richloom Modesto, $79.98 for 20 yds

Robert Allen Khanjali in glacier, $15.95/yd

Robert Allen Khandar in cinnabar, $12.95/yd

Robert Allen Khandar in indigo, $12.95/yd

Robert Allen Khanjali in peacock, $15.95/yd

Robert Allen Khandar in jewel, $12.95/yd

Ikat tapestry fabric, $182.98 for 18.2 yds

Richloom Cornwall Suzani in garden, $17.95/yd

Richloom Calder Suzani in linen, $85.98 for 14.1 yds

Richloom Calder Suzani in licorice, $17.95/yd

by rows, top to bottom:

Richloom Giraffe, $23.95/yd

Richloom Ridges, $24.98 for 6.2 yds

Robert Allen Timberland, $29.98 for 3 yds

Mill Creek drapery fabric, $11.99 for 4 yds

Osborne & Little Theorem, $26.98 for 1.8 yds

Kravet Fretwork, $39.98 for 5 yds 

There's been some talk around the blogosphere lately about what is passé, whether we should care, and whether that sort of judgment can really be valid when 99.9% of the world has never seen/heard of said motif/pattern/style/concept. As far as I know, my audience on this blog thus far consists of my lovely, loyal friends who are not weird design obsessives like me. So most of you have probably never heard of Kelly Wearstler's Imperial Trellis, and therefore don't know that it's been declared over by all the cool design people.

I still like it, okay? So I was a little excited when I came across this in my fabricguru.com travels:

Richloom Cleopatra, $17.95/yd

– albeit a little disappointed that they seem to only carry it in poop color. A few minutes of googling later, behold – pretty colors! It certainly can't be used to the same effect as the real thing (it seems to be much smaller-scale and it's chenille) but I think the aqua & green colorway could look absolutely adorable on a cute chair!

here, here, and here

Do you love any of these fabrics as much as I do? What would you use them for?