Quilting Secrets Blog Hop (+ prizes)

Happy Almost 2013!

What an exciting morning!  Tonya is back at her Facebook shop Ozark Fabric and Fun Stuff, Bonnie released another clue to Easy Street where we start putting pieces together, and there is a new blog hop at Mrs. Pickles Garden.

Check out the fun tip and techniques and be eligible to win a few prizes for the next 6 days!  Be sure to visit each blog on it's day.

Good Luck!

The Last 2012 Stash Report (week 52)

Here it is, the last stash report for this year.  I will be so glad to start with zeroes next week (unless my box from Tonya arrives before then)!  I had high hopes for 2012 being the UFO busting year.  Alas, fate had other plans.  My grandma's passing really took the wind out of my creative sails and settling her affairs took loads of time.

Now I am starting to focus my attention on just getting some tops done that have been sitting around for years. My resolution for 2013 is to empty my projects boxes of old projects, so I can fill them with new ones, of course.  I may have to do some panto "quilting by checkbook" because these UFOs are really draining my chi. I feel behind on everything that I do some days.

To help me bust my stash and use up some fabric, my mom bought me more fabric for Christmas.  LOL - she bought me 15 yards of white muslin!

I started to take a pic of it all washed and piled, not folded yet, on my sewing cabinet but when I snapped it, it seemed quite dull.  

The muslin will help me use up the red & white charms from a swap, polka dot charms from a swap, and possibly tons of scrappy strips and charms.

One thing that I do not stash is neutral background fabric.  There is about 10 yards of my grandma's unbleached muslin that I have used in several projects.  It's so handy to have around.  But, I had no white fabric.

Now I am off to the races, what projects shall I start next?  Oh - see, there I go!  Gotta get a couple tops together first, then I can start a new project.


We traveled before Christmas to Dallas for DH's family get together.  Well, as DH went to get a part for the truck one morning, I went along with him and noticed sign for Plano.  Well, that's where the Fabric Fanatics shop is, the one that carries only batiks!  So, we stopped and I only bought 3 cuts (half yd each).  I could have done some real checkbook damage in that store, let me tell you!!  There were lovely batiks all at less than $10/yd, bolts and bolts of sale fabric at $7.75/yd - batik heaven!

Today is our 18th wedding anniversary and DH did a good thing.  He bought me this:

It's the TrueCut rotary blade sharpener.  And, it works!  I know that because he sharpened about 10 old blades for me yesterday evening (yes, he gave it to me early).  I put it on my amazon wish list after Bonnie Hunter gave it a good review.  It sharpened those Harbor Freight blades but they are thicker than the blades we get from Fiskars and Olfa.  Now, I can just scrap those and take the loss.

My mom got me this one for Christmas.

It's the manual blade sharpener.  Neither DH or I could get it to work.  Guess there's too much of an "idiot" factor involved.  I think you have to find the way to hold the blade just right for 10 rep's on each side of the blade, more if the blade is really dull.  Luckily, she can return it.

My in-laws got me a new book:

I ask for one quilt book each year and you know, I think I've made one quilt.  It's not that I don't want to make quilts from these books.  My queue of projects is just so long! I may have to take a break on the books, too.

Oh yes, my last finish of 2012:

I completed this before we left for Dallas.  I started it in November 2011 and I truly have no idea what I was thinking.  Look how deep it is!  It's the same pattern, based on the Mill House Inn tote bag, as my spring bag.  I added a zipper and 3 big pockets. I know I wanted it to be big enough to hold gloves and hats and ear muffs.  I just don't remember it being this big!


To the numbers:
Used this week: 1
Used year to date: 32.025
Added this week (purchased/won): 1.5
Added this week (inherited/gifted): 15
Added year to date (purchased/won): 71.131
Added year to date (inherited/gifted): 84
Added year to date total: 155.131
Net used for 2012: -123.106

Please click over to Patchwork Times and see other stash reports.

Have a Happy New Year! 

Easy Street update - finally!

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

With preparing to celebrate DS's birthday, preparing to be out of town, then being out of town before Christmas and getting back home to get ready for my mom and stepdad - well, not much has happened here sewing-wise.

Yesterday I set up the 6 ft table and started cutting for Easy Street clue #4 (more fgu's - uggh) and clue #5.  I didn't sew a stitch, but I'm ready to!  I like this getting projects cut out and then I can just sit and sew, sew, sew.

There are 145 - 3.5" red squares in that bag above all cut from my grandma's scraps.  Since there was a dress with a gored skirt to cut into as well as some odd-shaped scraps, out came the GO! Baby.  I used a piece of newspaper next to the mat and the squares cut so much better than they did the last time I used this die.  The 3.5" die is the only one I have that didn't cut well right out of the package.

The St. Louis news is reporting that Fontella Bass ("Rescue Me") passed away last night.  About 10 years ago we got to see Ms. Bass perform in a small nightclub here in St. Louis when she joined one of my favorite blue artists on stage - what a treat that was!!

Hope you enjoy this jolly tune!  Check out more Easy Street participants' progress at Bonnie's blog.

Stash Report Week 50

Our family went to the Circus Flora show at the Symphony last night!

Okay - one envelope of fabric that I orderd over the past two weeks arrived.

"An envelope?," you say.  "That doesnt' sound so bad."

Well, there were 7 yards of fabric crammed into that bubbly, padded, priority mail envelope!


Here it is, some navy on white, red, teal, and two black on whites for Easy Street.  The red was really a "just because" purchase and may make into the quilt.  The teal will probably be cut this afternoon and some of the black and white has already been chopped into little triangles.

My new "dealer" (aka source) for this fabric is Tonya from Hillbilly Handiworks.  Earlier this year she started a fabric auction group on Facebook and then made contact with some fabric reps and started selling on Facebook.  The group is called Ozark Fabric and Other Fun Stuff.

If you do Facebook, search for it!  This isn't a fabric store.  She gets what she gets.  She cannot get you the newest Moda line for $7/yd.  Usually she gets one bolt of fabric, sometime less, and possibly several bolts from the same line.  Then, Tonya posts a photo album stating price per yard and how much is available.  Then you leave a comment on each photo saying how many yards you want.  It is first come first served; when a bolt is sold, it's sold. You cannot buy less than a yard and there are rules regarding invoicing for fabric and for shipping.  That's another thing - Tonya ships priority mail in envelopes, medium boxes and large boxes and she knows how to pack in the fabric.  All the rules are explained in documents under the "Files" tab.

I have a confession to make.  I watched lots of fabric being posted before I actually purchased any, being on a "diet" and all.  It is fun to watch what fabrics she gets next.

The fabric that arrived this week is from known companies: In the Beginning, Blank, Quilting Treasures, and Red Rooster.  There are still 5 yards of Robert Kaufmann flannel (@ only $5.50/yd) waiting in a medium box to ship whenever it gets full.  I don't think I paid more than $5.50/yd for anything and several are much less.  If you do lots of sewing for kids or charities, Tonya gets lot of flannel and kids novelties prints.

But that's not all....

My guild had our Christmas party this week.  We played Bingo and each person brought one dozen cookies.  Well, there was a table full of prizes and so many cookies that I lost track of how many boxes were given away as door prizes.  I think only 3 people did not win a Bingo prize, so they got boxes of cookies.  My prize was a Craftsy gift certificate for a free class!  And an EZ 45 degree ruler.  Ladies at my table won gift certificates for services from other members like binding and quilting.


Our president handed out gifts to the officers and she gave us each one yard of this pretty New York fabric from the City Quilter.  Notice that it's B&W!  I'm going to cut off one repeat and save it for the backing and cut the rest for Easy Street.











Speaking of Easy Street,  I've not worked on clue #4 yet.  I've been trying to finish this bag that I started back in November.  No, not last month - November 2011!  With all the craziness, it has been since April that I made a bag and I had to figure what I was doing with this one.  There will be added pockets and a zipper.



Oh yes, I also made 4 of these Little Wallets (Valori Wells pattern) from scraps.  There are 9 pieces to cut but, truly, this is the easiest wallet I've ever made.  Now to sew the snaps on and they are complete.  Each one might use the equivalent of a FQ.

And, I mailed some of these scraps as a surprise to a blogging quilty friend.  I didn't check to see just how much was going out but I know there were 2 FQs so there was at least 1.5 yards in the envelope.

I've cut enough 3.5" squares for a lap quilt and used some scraps for the Little Wallets.  There are still a few pieces in my bins to cut up for the scrap system or for more little wallets, but I am done with these "modern" fabrics.





Wednesday is DS's 6th birthday!  He is so big and such fun at this age, well, most of the time, lol.  We leave later this week for a family holiday get together.  DH is home for the rest of the year, using vacation days that he would lose otherwise. I'm counting on a little help with packing and last minute buying.

How are your holiday plans/preparations progressing?


To the numbers:
Used this week: 2.5 (used and gifted)
Used year to date: 31.025
Added this week (purchased/won): 7
Added this week (inherited/gifted): 1
Added year to date (purchased/won): 69.631
Added year to date (inherited/gifted): 69
Added year to date total: 138.631
Net used for 2012: -107.606

Please click over to Patchwork Times and see other stash reports.

Have a great week! 

Easy Street update clue #3

This weekend we had nothing planned.  And, since we don't have to host a big family get together (last year was our year), I declared Saturday a no-cooking day.  While DH and DS were playing some iPhone app game, I quietly slipped downstairs and sewed most of the day.



Actually, it was kind of a cutting and sewing weekend.  I cut all the green squares and teal hst's for clue #3.  There are many white hst's but who knows how many b/c I need over 300 and I don't count pieces over 100!  When I run out, I'll cut some more.



The teal hst's came from an unfinished dress that was in my grandma's scrap bag.  There's a finished red dress from grandma's scrap bag that will go into Easy Street.  I'll show you when we get to that step in the mystery.

Check out more Easy Street-ers at Bonnie's linky party.

Stash Report Week 49

Good news...........no additions to the stash!

Physically, there were no additions.  However, I have ordered fabric.  There were some great deals including some fly fishing flannel for backing on the T-square quilt.  I'll share those cuts when they arrive.

On the UFO front, things are going well.  The last bit of cutting for the pieced sashing in the Marti Michel BOM is now done.




These pieces are for 20 square-in-a-square cornerstones.  "Template" is almost a dirty word these days, but these are helpful.  I cut four layers at a time so it really didn't take long to get 80 of those small triangles.  For me, the cost is the issue.  If memory serves, each Perfect Patchwork Template set costs between $14 and $25.  While the system is great and Marti gives such good directions and tips with all her products, it's not exactly budget-friendly and is just more "stuff" to keep track of in my already very crowded sewing space.

Then, I cut 64 two inch green squares, a few more B&W triangles, and a few teal triangles for the third clue of Easy Street.



Here's what the teal looks like before I cut it.  It's from my grandma's scrap bags.  There's more teal coming, along with some black on whites.



I did get a few of clue 3's units completed.  Bonnie calls them shaded four patches.  Each unit measures 3.5" unfinished.

So, what's been keeping you busy this week?


To the numbers:
Used this week: 0
Used year to date: 28.525
Added this week (purchased/won): 0
Added this week (inherited/gifted): 0
Added year to date (purchased/won): 62.631
Added year to date (inherited/gifted): 68
Added year to date total: 130.631
Net used for 2012: -102.106

Please click over to Patchwork Times and see other stash reports.

Have a great week! 

Easy Street Update (clue 2)

This is the first time I've joined in on the Bonnie Hunter mystery fun.  I've watched the last two years.  This time of year is so crazy that it's hard to find time to really keep up.

And, I only thought I had a lot of fabric!  I mean, there are not 3-4 yards of 4 different colors hanging out in my stash.  Whew - that makes me feel better.

So, I've purchased a few black on white cuts as I seem to gravitate to white on blacks (not yet delivered).  I managed to find 2 yards of taupe for the constant and 2 yards of greens (Bonnie's purple).  With using some of Grandma's fabric, there is surely 3 yards of red in this house (Bonnies' apple green).  Teal, however, is not a color that I collect.  I like blue, not teal.  Grandma had a good chunk of teal and I have some leftovers from other projects.

Since I know this is destined to become my leader/ender project for 2013, I am no hurry to cut everything and have it lying around.  Actually, I'm out of project boxes!



Also - the weather was crazy fabulous this weekend.  I walked the dog yesterday while dressed in a T-shirt and shorts!  That's nuts for the midwest in December!!

We got our tree up and lights out, too.  So, I'm fine with getting 3 little FGU's (learned at retreat that this is shorthand for "flying geese units") complete for clue #2.  There are about 24 four patches but only these two have been pressed for the photo.

Check out more Easy Street progress at Bonnie's link up party.

Have a great day!