It's bird weather (stash report week 46)

The winter bird feeders are out and the birds are all over our back yard.  We had one cold, rainy day last week that even brought bluebirds (our state bird) to our backyard.  We have a wooded ravine behind our house so we don't usually get bluebirds as they prefer open spaces.  The red berries on the Nandina seemed to be their reason for paying us a visit.

See that Cardinal in the background
 waiting his turn?

With all this temperate weather, my allergies are ever present.  A constant, dull headache greets me each morning - uggh.  Each morning except Friday morning, when we woke to temps below 30 and frost on the ground.  I felt great!! I love winter!!

Today we are back in the 60s.  So, after a dose of Advil, I headed out to clean out pots, fill the compost bins, and and arrange things in the shed for the winter.  Cleaning the plants led me to cleaning the basement so I would have a place to put the plants for the next 4-5 months.

We are also cleaning the basement for the delivery of a small chest freezer.  Never thought I would be excited about a chest freezer.  We're expecting 5 adults and 2 kids for a few days before Christmas and I hope to do some cooking ahead of their arrival.  Need to make room and the unfinished portion of the basement really needed a general cleaning, reorganization, and vacuuming with the shop vac.

So, no sewing or quilting today.

However, quilty friend Charla hosted us for a sew day at her house yesterday because she is an "opening-weekend-of-deer-season" widow.  I think we all ate way too much but had a great time!

Here's the archives quilt with the binding on.  Love the back with the Etchings map, handwriting, and architectural drawings!!

I got my Civil War blocks done for this month's guild meeting.

It's called Lincoln's Platform, but I call it a churn dash variation.  Hopefully next month's block will be as easy - love 9 patches!

At retreat last month, I got my "Be Merry" Christmas BOM blocks done and laid out in sections.  Last night I got 5 of the 7 sections together.

Oops - there's a little more work to do on the church.  The blue applique needs to be stitched down.

On the hexie front, I made two this week but they are for the Inchy Hexagon Flower swap and I don't want to ruin the surprise.

I've been basting lots of polka dot petals so maybe next week I will have one or two to show.

DH brought home some more Boulevard boxes so I can use the last of the black polka dot that I bought last week!

Next - to make some muslin linings so I can use them to store sewing projects.


And - I did not add anything to my stash this week!  I didn't use up anything either, but that's ok!



Used this Week: 0
Used year to Date: 65.42
Added this Week: 0
Added Year to Date: 115.57
Net Used for 2011:   -50.15
Check out more Stash Reports at Patchwork Times

Retreat Recap (stash report week 42)

Better late than never, right?  I love retreats but they always wear me out.  I don't sleep well in a strange bed and after two nights, it usually shows.  As I mentioned in my last post - I forgot my camera!

If the camera had been around I would have taken pictures of our meals - yummy!  First, I should tell you where we were.  We went to the St. Louis Star Inn owned by designer Toby Lischko.  It is a great house with quilts everywhere. Her studio is big, but no too big, and has lots of windows.

Toby cooked all the meals - she obviously does not own one of these aprons that hangs in my kitchen.

With several of our meals there were FQs under our napkins! Quilty friend Joyce gave me a couple of hers, too!  I found a new book that Joyce might like....

Toby was also doing some de-stashing.  I picked up some Valdani thread, an orphan block, a few strips of fabric, larger pieces of Civil War fabrics, and some scraps of Christmas fabric that I used in the setting kit of my Be Merry BOM, which is now ready to be put together [yeah, in between all this quilting that's on my list ;-)].

If you missed my last post, here's the top that I cut Friday evening and completed on Saturday.  It's a retirement gift for my former boss, who is an archivist, and an aging hippie. It's based on the Spinning coins tutorial at Quilt Story.  As soon as I saw it I knew it would work with a gray background, which is the color that my boss painted every room in his first house.

I had no real plans to do anything special with the backing until I saw Etchings by 3 Sisters for Moda.  As soon as I saw these 3 prints, I knew I had to use them on this quilt.  He will probably use the back more than the front - I would, it's an archivist thing - LOL!

Monday morning, after retreat, Lesley of Sew Happy Me emailed that I was the winner of her latest giveaway sponsored by the Fat Quarter Shop!  A gift certificate to the FQS and 2 of her adorable patterns: a lovely stitched pillow and a wine waiter.  You know how I love little projects! How is that for timing?!

Lesley is currently doing a Christmas stitch along - the blocks are adorable.  She leaves them up for a week - here is block 4.

Sew, 1 yard each of the 3 "must have" prints arrived Friday from the FQS - I ordered them on Wednesday afternoon (how is that for service?). I like the whole line so I threw in a couple half yard cuts for me,  Just love the reds and couldn't leave the paisley behind.

The architectural drawings look just like the turn of the century drawings that I worked with in my other life - that my former boss hired me to care for.  The Paris map is amazing, too.  The detail is fantastic and legible, just like going to the archives.  Now all I have to do is get it together and quilt it by next month.

Quilty friend Charla brought me some polka dot fabrics to use in my hexies.  This time, however, I restrained myself.  I only cut a few strips and a charm from each fabric.  Aren't they pretty?  I may have to sew one up this week.

Speaking of hexies.  Here's one I did this week.  I completed two more for the Inchy Hexagon Swap and they are currently en route to Australia.  I'll show you those after they reach their destination.

I finally started on my last two blocks for the Clover & Violet QAL.  At retreat I put the final strips on the blocks to make them 17.5" squares.

I did get in some quilting but I didn't get anything finished.  Now for the hard part - figuring all these additional numbers and seeing my "added" column increase some more.  It's not over....but that's for next week.

Used this Week: 0
Used year to Date: 49.42
Added this Week: 4 + 2 = 6
Added Year to Date: 106.82
Net Used for 2011:   -57.4

Head over the Judy's at Patchwork Times for more stash numbers.
Have a great week!!!

A sewing weekend! (stash report week 41)

Howdy!

I got in tons of sewing this weekend!  That is why I am so late with my weekly post/stash report.  During the week I will try to get some nice sunny day pix of my accomplishments.  There was one little finish, which for me means a completely done project.

Fatigue is taking over so I have few stash additions to show you.  I saw my quilty friend, Joyce, and she had more fabric to give away - 5 and 2/3 yards!

The pretty cuts on the left range from 1/4 yd to 1/2 yd.  The pretty snow scene is 2.5 yds that I plan to use as backing for my Be Merry BOM.

Here's a Moda Marbles jelly roll, just the colors that DH likes!  The packets are silk pieces that I'm thinking would be great for pillows.

Some left over blocks that are just too cute - maybe another pillow.


Here's my little finishes:

Two more Sweet Treat Bags to finish up the honey bun that I opened before Mother's Day.  I finished two and have had these two lying around waiting to be finished so that I can count the yardage as "out."

Maybe with healthier days ahead, and bit more coffee in the evenings, I can finish some projects. Especially since the "in" column just breached 100 yards - unbelievable!


Used this Week: 1.67
Used year to Date: 49.42
Added this Week: 5.67
Added Year to Date: 100.82
Net Used for 2011:   -51.4

Head over the Judy's at Patchwork Times for more stash numbers.
Have a great week!!!

Whewwie, it's hot! (stash report week 23)

It's HOT, HOT, HOT!

Hope ya'll have had a good week.  We altered DS's pre-school schedule a bit this week.  He still goes 3 mornings a week but what difference it makes when those 3 mornings are Tues-Thur rather than Wed-Fri.  I'm sure it was mostly in my head but I just felt so far behind before I even started with no free time in my week til Wed morning.

A couple weeks ago DS asked me to teach him to sew.  I bought some tapestry needles, burlap, a hoop, and a whole bag of embroidery floss all on sale at Hancock's.  He likes it.  He isn't stitching even stitches but he understands to put the needle in the same side it came out, to pull the thread all the way through, and to leave some thread for a knot.  He wants to "make" things so we made a pincushion for his needles.

A pattern arrived this week that I won from Primitive Quilts and Projects blog. Isn't it cute?  I've never worked with wool but would like to try.  Hhhmm, maybe my mom can get me some wool to felt (she loves to shop Goodwill).


I have been busy cutting charm squares for two swaps.  The first you saw last week.  Karen at Sew Many Ways is hosting a red & white swap so here are 125 squares and the selvages. This swap is closed already.

Sewing in the Wendy City is hosting a polka dot charm swap and there are probably some spaces left if you are interested!  I bought 4 half yard cuts, 2 of which are batiks (on the left), for a total of 80 charms.

Most of my sewing this week has been a little free motion embroidery to finish off my "Be Merry" block of the month.  I hadn't worked on these in ages.  All they need is the finishing touches to the applique blocks and then the very simple setting kit (8.5" squares and four patches).

Here's what the embroidery can do for a rather dull looking little piece of fabric.

Wish I had a "before" shot of the red bow - it made a huge difference as the red was a solid.

I did one more hexie this week.  I really like the 3/4" size, which this one is, because it appliques nicely on a leftover charm square.

I signed up for the Inchy Hexie Swap.  Sew, I bought the 1" paper pieces and showed you the one I made last week.  Here's the size difference:

No finishes but I did start quilting another quilt for DS this afternoon.  If I can get to it tomorrow, I may have a finish for next week. I don't count yardage until the project is completely finished, a little extra incentive to get them quilted and bound.

This week's numbers:
Used this Week: 0
Used year to Date:  33.25 (33 1/4)
Added this Week: 2
Added Year to Date:  59.215
Net Used for 2011:   -25.965

Head over to Judy's blog for more stash busting reports.


Here's a little quote from Stray Stitches that I need to keep handy - and to share:
 A bargain ain't a bargain unless it's something you need.
~Sidney Carroll

Stash report - week 8: lots o' blocks!

Springtime has hit..................for a while anyway.

Reflecting pool at Missouri Botanical Garden from mobot.org

 We had especially lovely days Wednesday through Friday which means that I didn't sew much.  My son went to preschool 4 mornings instead of 3 to make up for the bad weather. On his day off we went to the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Not a real tree, but his favorite spot in the climatron rain forest.

 Nothing was really growing yet, although the witch hazels were blooming and the daffodils were just peaking through the ground.  The novelty of being outdoors was enough to keep a 4 year old entertained.  We walked all the way around and played with puppets in the education center and read Dr. Seuss-style books about seeds and butterflies and fed fish food to the ducks and geese (still too cold for the koi to come up for food).

On the sewing side, things were rather unproductive.  I quilted some but not enough to finish a project. Still trying to figure out how I want to quilt a border.  Last night was "sew down" at my LQS and I got 5 blocks finished. 

These Hard Candy blocks are for my guild's charity committee.  Members can always donate finished quilts but we can also pick up blocks, or tops ready to be pieced, at meetings and bring them back.  An easy way to contribute.

This 12.5" Underground Railroad is also for the guild, for the Civil War BOM block exchange.

My biggest accomplishment last night was completing the  last block for the "Be Merry" Christmas BOM.  This star is 15.5" unfinished.  Now to the finishing kit, my favorite finishing kit ever, comprised of 8.5" plain blocks and double four patches!  Gotta love an easy finish.

One morning I pieced the first of five sections of my Turkish Delight BOM and took it my LQS Marti & Me club for show and tell.  I will be using Marti's Machine Quilting in Sections book to complete this one. This is my first BOM, did it right after I learned to machine piece, particularly strip piecing. 

That tag in the upper left notes which section this is so I don't get them mixed up later.

 The big story on this quilt is that the setting kit was comprised of 68 10.5" log cabin blocks!  That is a daunting number and it took me about at least 6 months just to start cutting and sewing them.  Took me another year to get them done - not b/c they're hard - b/c it's so monotonous!  One of these days I'll devote a post to all my log cabins.

Here's my Civil War fabric order that came in.  Boy! do I love getting fabric in the mail.  There are 6 half yard cuts of Jo Morton and Judie Rothermel.  I ordered from Stitch-n-Frame's winter clearance and even with shipping I got a great prices for 3 total yards.

Sew....here are the numbers:
Used this Week:    0
Used year to Date: 8.125 (7 1/8)
Added this Week:  3
Added Year to Date:  21.5
Net Used for 2011:   -13.375



How did I add 21.5 yds to my stash in less than 2 months?! Aye, aye, aye!!

Head on over to Patchwork Times to see everyone else's stash busting progress.

Some"Be Merry" blocks done.....crazy week!

The snow has fallen here once again.  I love snow, but this time it is getting in the way of my quilt shop time - no Marti & Me Club last night and none this morning as the roads are still not cleared and it is c-o-l-d.  The silver lining is that after traveling for the first 3 days of the week, DH is home and snowbound, which means I get a break from being the only adult in the house and I get to sew - WooHoo!

I'm still working on that post-holiday slump.  That in combination with my consulting business, has kept me from getting as much done as I would like.

an example of records in storage

In my former life, before Dear Son, I was head of the archives department at a historical society.  For the past few years I've taken on some consulting jobs, no more than about 20 hours a week.  Well, I was all ready to sign an agreement for the next one only to find that the city I was going to to work with requires $1M coverage in each general commercial liability, professional liability, and business auto (since they are 2 hrs away).  Whew - had never heard of this stuff before, so since the New Year this month has been a learning experience.  It took a while to find out that such insurance is standard with municipalities.  However, since this requirement was not in the request for proposal that they sent me, I did not figure this expense into my bid, therefore, I am looking at about a 19% reduction in my profits.  Until I spoke with the insurance agent who told me that I could cancel policy when the job was done and get a refund, the cost was going to be 39% of my profits!  Since it was nor in the RFP, I was under no obligation to take the job.  Decisions, decisions - so, I've been a bit distracted to say the least.

Enough of that...sorry to bore you with some of my real life stuff.  On to more fun things!  The best solution for not being in the mood to sew is to hang out with other sewers!  From 6pm til midnight one Saturday a  month, my LQS is open for "sew down" - bring anything you like to work on, that isn't too large I've found b/c space is limited if there are several of us, and a snack to share, no charge.

I managed to select the fabric and get most of the cutting done for all but the last block of the "Be Merry" BOM blocks (some are here and here, too) so I just had to stitch.  That's a good thing b/c a rotary cutter in my hand after 7PM is an iffy thing on the safety scale - I am a morning person.

Next weekend - yes, one week from today, is quilt retreat!  Can't wait!  I love being able to concentrate on projects and getting something done but what excites me most -- NO HOUSEWORK!  No cooking, no cleaning, and no laundry!!

More "Be Merry"

Here are a few more blocks to the Christmas BOM, Be Merry.

The rectangular blocks are supposed to be gifts but I've not fused the bows onto them yet.  Thanks to Leona (this post), I had several fabrics to choose from when putting these little guys together.  I mean little - each block is 7.5".


Calling Be Merry a BOM is a bit of a misnomer.  The first month we made one block - the church block, about 15x18.  Since then, we have made from 3 to 6 blocks per month.  While the blocks may be small, it's the cutting that takes time.  For the gift blocks we cut ribbon strips that were 1" wide by 3.5" to 5" long.   At least it uses up scraps - gotta love that!