Spring is Here! -- ?? (Stash Report Week 8)

from last spring

Dare we say it?  Spring has sprung?  We've had a couple days in the low 60s and I found three hyacinths poking out of the ground.

hydrangea from last year

Rather than sew yesterday afternoon, I spent some zen moments trimming the viburnum, knock-out rose, and oakleaf hydrangea.  The poor viburnum got caught in the last frost of last spring and lost a few large branches, the hydrangea was just a tad too large for it's spot, and the poor ol' rosebush needed a spring thinning.  I almost escaped without a scratch - almost, 'til the very end!

I've been rather productive this week, but not enough to change the numbers very much.  Easy Street is done - labeled and bound - WooHoo!!  With the mud from our thaw, I've not been able to get a good picture.

I forgot to show you the one Celtic Solstice 54-40 block from last weekend.  I couldn't wait once I had enough 4 patches complete.  This block is so much fun! It takes on 3 dimensional qualities when you view it from a distance.

What makes me hum along this week is finalizing what to do with the twelve BOM blocks that I finished last week.  I decided to use six 13.5" hourglass blocks to set the the top on point.

Good thing I bought a 15" ruler this week at Joann's.

What has me humming is that the fabric for those six blocks and for the side and corner setting triangles came from my stash!  Two of the greens were among those that arrived last weekend from Hillbilly Quilt Shop.

While the yellow check on the sides isn't very dark, I'm trying to use what I have and may have enough of a gold/marigold to use as a narrow inner border to help bring out the yellows in the blocks, which aren't shown here, a bit more. Today I will lay them all out and try to get the colors distributed evenly.

While taking a little break I sat down with the TV table and tools and finished squaring these little HSTs from my friends scraps.  Just a few more to press, at 1.5" the seams are pressed open, and they will be ready for their own little project, a pillow top perhaps.



Used this week: 0.67
Used YTD: 3.42
Added this week: 0 
Gifted this week: 0
Added YTD: 9.42
Net used YTD: -5.5

Please also check out some more stash reports at Judy's Patchwork Times.

Stash Report Week 7

Oopsie Daisy

Hope you all had a Happy Valentine's Day!  DS went to a "party, " aka parent's survival night, at his gym so DH and I enjoyed a beef spedini entree and salad from our local grocery's take away counter.

As I got to feeling a bit better from cold #2 that hit last weekend, more sewing happened this week in an effort to finish up old, small projects.  I even got in a blog post about them before DS came home early from school on Friday (the district's way of wishing all parents a Happy V Day!).

Yesterday was the last day of the BOM at the LQS and it was our quilty friends sew day.  It was cold and a bit icy and one of us went down before sewing a stitch - and broke her wrist. Poor Carol!  The rest of us stitched and visited and waited to hear from Carol after she went to the urgent care center.  She's a cheerful soul and returned for her things in good spirits.

I didn't feel very productive yesterday but I did get the last 3 blocks finished from the BOM.  Now, I have no plans to ever sew another curved seam!  Every block was made up of 16 of these units set together in different patterns.

Now to figure out how to set these blocks.  I didn't purchase the kit from the LQS, just too much white for my taste.  However, the kit set the blocks on point, which would yield a bigger quilt since these blocks are about 13.5." Decisions, decisions...

Then, since it was our last BOM day, we got 20% all fabric and I picked up two batiks for the Tonga Nature BOM that we plan to tackle later this year. There's one more yard to the stash.







When I returned home, I had a bulging padded envelope on the table from Hillbilly Tonya. It held all my goodies from Hillbilly Handiworks from the past two months.  In total: 2 one yard cuts, 4 half yard cuts, and 16 FQs. Back in the red for me!

Some cuts are from the Hillbilly facebook group and her great year-end clearance FQ sale and others are from the website, where I also picked 3 new Ahhhs for paper piecing.  The shop is so great about shipping - no shipments until your package is full, unless you request it.

Pretty sewing novelties in half and FQ cuts.  Another sewing machine cover might be in order.

Soft color fat quarters that were on sale.

All the rest - for either swaps, trades, or small projects like wallets and notebook covers.

The binding and hanging sleeve is attached to Easy Street!  Need to miter the corners, get the label ready, and get it all stitched down to call it a finish.

I might have to use some of this new fabric to make a few drawstring bags.  We are required to have our quilts/projects for the quilt show in bags with our name, address, phone number, and entry # on the outside.  However, I don't think either Easy Street or the two 18" pillows I'm putting in the show will fit into my standby pillowcases.  That means more stash shopping for me to help get these numbers in the black again!

Used this week: 2 
Used YTD: 2.75
Added this week: 8.5 (edited once a piece assumed to be 1 yd was found to be .5 yd)
Gifted this week: 0
Added YTD: 9.42
Net used YTD: -6.17

Please also check out some more stash reports at Judy's Patchwork Times.

Friday Finish (whoop whoop)

The cold weather, and my cold, has really helped in the UFO department.  Here is an oldie.

Oopsie Daisy

I purchased the Moda kit at Market years ago.  In looking through my lists of projects, I started it in the fall of '12. Why do I do this?  Why do I not finish these things.  It wasn't difficult, a little different with the prairie points, but not hard at all.  Sew, now it is done!

Then I decided to use this little tutorial at Kirins Notebook to make a reversible notebook cover for a generic spiral bound notebook.  I just don't use composition books b/c I like to pull out pages from time to time.

It was fun digging through my bins to find some fabric.  Pink is not my color but I liked these floral and stripe fabrics I got years ago in a scrap bag at my LQS. And, I didn't have to cut those pretty roses.

Cutting was easy, added light weight interfacing to each piece, but it was the construction.  First the pockets to hold the covers were too long.  Then I could not line them up properly.  It was just a day that nothing was going right in the sewing corner.  You've had those, right?  Finally, I got them all done and the first cover still is a bit snug for the spiral bound notebook but it fits fine for the one composition book that I own.

Check out some more fun projects at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

It's bacckk (stash report week 6)

Yep, the cold, the sinusitis, the "bug," whatever you call it is back.

Been doing lots of this and have the Aleve and Afrin out once again.  Ugghh.

Before it really hit me yesterday, I did at least accomplish a few tasks this week.  My sewing corner is picked up a bit, cut binding for Easy Street and its hanging sleeve, and finished three small projects.

6" squares

These little paper pieced sunflowers, a kit from The Designers Workshop, had been in my drawer since my very first trip to Paducah, which must have been 2010 or 2011.  I pulled them out last year and worked on them a little at our sew days. I really do like these small projects.

Finally, tired of moving the "tops" around, I decided to finish them up.  They are on my UFO list, even though they each measure only 6 inches square.

measures 16x20

Here's "A Little 30s," a mini all bound, labeled, and ready for the quilt show next month.  No hanging sleeve, it can be pinned.  When it comes home I'll stitch little rings on the back to hang from nails.

Not a lot of yardage but three projects checked of the ol' UFO list.  Now, to get Easy Street finished up.

a pileated woodpecker (wikipedia)

Our cold temps are back, with snow, and the birds are camped out in our back yard.  I have four feeders and emptied the second 50 lb bag of sunflower seeds for the season.  Guess they are cold, too!

I do enjoy sitting with a cuppa and watching them flit around and see who visits us.  Until land was cleared for yet another subdivision, we had lots of woodpeckers and nuthatches, i.e. tree climbers, but not so many anymore. A pileated woodpecker once visited a suet feeder hanging on the front porch, but that when DS was just a baby. They are shy birds and I felt lucky to catch a glimpse.

To the numbers.  Hey! in the black, barely - not much happening here if we go only by the numbers but I feel I've accomplished a lot this week.

Used this week: 0.75
Used YTD: 0.75
Added this week: 0
Gifted this week: 0
Added YTD: 0.42
Net used YTD: 0.35

Please also check out some more stash reports at Judy's Patchwork Times.

Whoop Whoop Friday - A Surprise Post!

It's rare that I blog during the week, but I am feeling so much better than I did just a few days ago.  Tuesday night's guild meeting was a long one, for sure!

I'm also taking the chance now because it may not come up again soon.  Y'all are familiar with the pattern, I was the first to get the cold, DH came home early yesterday with it and he has a lasik procedure scheduled for today, too - double the fun!, and I've been trying to make sure DS doesn't get it.  Yep - it could be a long weekend!

Yesterday I left the Aleve behind and did the dishes and got part of dinner ready, to be warmed up later, after DS left for school and then I sewed and pressed on Clue #3 of Celtic Solstice.

Having the trianlges all cut into pairs per Bonnie's instructions makes the stitching a cinch!  Taking 100 of the HST squares and turning them into 25 pinwheels was also a cinch!  WooHoo!!

These little HSTs got all squared up to 2" and pressed this week.  I used my June Tailor cutting board/ironing pad and just did them on my lap, being very careful with the iron, of course!

Quilty friend Elise has ben telling us for ages how she enjoys and sewing at the same time by getting audiobooks.  I finally read our county library instructions and set up my tablet to use Overdrive (free app) to borrow ebooks and eaudiobooks.  I listened to His Majesty's Hope yesterday while I was busy - I was sad to have to turn it off with about 10 chapters to go, so I will definitely be doing that again.  Thanks Elise!



Please check out some more Whoop Whoops over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Have a great Friday!

It's Been a Bonnie Week (stash report week 4)

"Bonnie" as in good and "Bonnie" as in Bonnie Hunter!

First, I picked up Easy Street from quilter Kathy Monday afternoon - how cool is that swirly panto? (I really must learn how to get better pics.)

 Please don't ask what pattern it is as Kathy doesn't use pantos, she just freehands it all!

Quilt show entires are due Tuesday.  I'm trying to decide if I want to enter it or not.





Then, after being out for MLK Day on Monday, the kiddos got another snow day on Tuesday - uggh.  However, rather than let 4 boys have the run of the basement, unsupervised, for an afternoon, I sat at the ol' featherweight and stitched up Clue #2 for Celtic Solstice.

Frankly, I didn't think it was ever going to end!  I mean, I stitched on it all day Saturday and then most of the afternoon on Tuesday to get 100 units.  Of course, each 3.5" unit has 6 pieces with seams that had to be pressed.

Sunday after posting my numbers, DH's jeans made onto the cutting board.  Uggh - there were three pairs to narrow in the legs and shorten.  It wasn't so bad, but it was 2.5 hours that I could've spent on something a little more fun!

That's it.  I haven't sewn a stitch since Tuesday. With a small consulting gig, snow days, and trying to get back to a regular workout that was derailed by the holidays, it's been tough to reclaim a schedule.  Then there's that pesky housework and cooking that must be done - uggh!

With the 30-40 degree change in our weather that came along Friday, I am feeling a tad under the weather.  Thank goodness for Afrin!  It's probably allergies, it's red cedar season, but the cold weather seems to keep all this allergy business at bay, so I'm kind of looking forward to the colder weather that's coming back to us sometime tonight! I need to get busy on Clue #3.

My numbers are unchanged from last week's report.  As soon as I feel like wrestling with trimming Easy Street, I will get it bound and get back in the black.

Used this week: 0
Used YTD: 0
Added this week: 0
Gifted this week: 0
Added YTD: 0.42
Net used YTD: -0.42

Please also check out some more stash reports at Judy's Patchwork Times.

Some Stitching' (Stash Report Week 3)

Alrighty!!

My vow not to buy fabric lasted about one week!

While getting my charms ready for the Charming Stars pattern, I discovered that my stack needed a few more squares.  So, I clicked over to Connecting Threads and picked up a little 24 count charm pack.

Yesterday was our group's sew day.  I worked through the week to get the starpoint squares ready so that I could mindlessly put the 9 patches together.

However, I was so busy gabbing and eating birthday cake - we had a surprise party for Elise - that I only worked on Clue 2 of Celtic Solstice.  Didn't sew one red & white 9 patch all day.

Then there's Clue 2 of Celtic Solstice.  They're not pretty but I got loads of little pieces stitched together, but there's still more stitching to do - uggh!

It was so nice to have our sew day.  As soon as DH went back to work last week and I was home with DS and his friends, all sewing ceased!  We hadn't sewn together since November and it was nice to stitch and catch up and laugh.  It's so much different than stitching in my basement corner with Netflix or Pandora playing.

Cheri flew in for the birthday party and we had such fun.  She was stitching away on a loaner featherweight and gave me all these waste triangles from her project.

Well, they were already together in pairs ready to chain piece, so I ran them under the needle.  There are 50 trimmed to 1.5" so far and these four are pressed.  I have no idea how many there are; done enough counting for Clue #2.  I'm thinking they would make a cute pillow top.

Also got a call yesterday from Long Armer Cathy - my Easy Street is done.  I'll go pick it up tomorrow - can't wait to see it!  Entry forms for our guild's biennial quilt show are due by Tuesday evening and I'll have to decide whether to put it in or not.

Used this week: 0
Used YTD: 0
Added this week: 0.42
Gifted this week: 0
Added YTD: 0
Net used YTD: -0.42

Please also check out some more stash reports at Judy's Patchwork Times.