My 2.5" strip bin 'runneth over', so after Mereth talked about piecing a back out of strips the other day, I thought I could make a back for the table runner I made recently, and it may help clear out some of my strippage.
What a motley collection of fabrics! There is an obvious reproduction fabric or two in there, which of course I love, and the toile - another fabric I'm partial to ... but the rest of them? I can't even imagine why I'd have purchased some of them.The blue fabric which is on the left there is a fabric from my first ever quilt ... which I made back in 1992! I'm always thinking I've used the last of it, and then some more pops up again! Good grief!!In a moment I'll pin the runner ready for quilting, and then after dinner tonite, I'm going to make some more 'candle mats' for Christmas gifts. You know, teacher gifts and the like. This year is my most disorganised ever - I haven't even purchased or made one gift yet, and that is just not like me! I need to get busy!
Yay team! I put together the other two Back Home Again quilt blocks I already had cut out, so I've completed a total of seven so far. I'll have to wait until Tuesday afternoon to make any more, as I've loaned by Easy Angle and Companion Angle to a friend. No problem - I'm sure I have plenty to keep me amused until then. The blocks are so cute, and I can't wait to put the whole top together.
I had planned to make my Buck a Blocks, but while toying with my USA purchases, I found the above pattern. It's by Atkinson Designs, and I remember the very moment I purchased it - I thought it'd be perfect for a fabric I've been so reluctant to cut into. A while back someone had a challenge to use a fabric you just couldn't cut up - and I'd enthusiastically thought of my Lady Liberty fabric. When push came to shove, I just couldn't make that rotary cutter move.
Yesterday was the day, and here is the result of my efforts. I had enough of the fabric to make three runners, so I'll be making up a couple of gifts also. I'm not sure yet how I'll quilt it up, but I'm sure it'll speak to me when I'm ready. I plan to use Mereth's idea of piecing together strips for the back. It's a win-win, using that special fabric, and scrap busting too!
I have been just hanging to get into my scrap boxes lately, so yesterday I spent the whole day putting together matchstick units from Bonnie's Bricks and Stepping Stones scrap project.
It was really fun to get into the 3.5" strips, and while I didn't make a huge dent, I could actually see a small reduction in the scrap box. What I did manage is this: I have NO black fabric left in my stash at all. NONE!
So, yesterday I completed all the matchstick units, and sewed a few together, but then I just knew I had to get back to deadlines and work on other things. I have a needleturn applique project I must finish super fast, and still a number of tops to be quilted among other things. Let's see how much I can get done.
I got so much piecing done today *cough*. Well, actually, I didn't, but this evening I've managed to add the outside star points to the blocks I made the other day.
And speaking of the other day - where did the last four days go??
But back to today ... this morning I finished quilting on a customers quilt - and then this afternoon got busy doing chores. My house has gotten really neglected while I've been so busy. Tonight I would like to begin quilting on another quilt - I'll see if I have the energy in reserve ...
It has been a great weekend, starting with yesterday morning. A fun treat for Cheryl and I was to spend some time at the Magill Quilters 'Biggest Morning Tea'. It was so nice, and a very worthy cause, with proceeds going to Breast Cancer Research. When we got back to the shop, I was able to see the new AP&Q magazine had arrived, and it has one of my quilts in it. My 'Galaxy of Scraps' quilt that I made a little while back. I think there will be another of mine in the next issue too!
When I got home I started quilting some more, and almost finished the project, and found that I hadn't been supplied with quite enough thread. I had 20 minutes before the stores were due to close - not enough time to get to Quiltaholics, but enough to get to Spotlight. Amy and I dashed over, and with only 15 minutes got the thread I needed, and managed to pick up the fabrics you see there in the picture. Talk about power shopping! The blues will be wonderful for the Star Happy quilt, and the paisley - well, just because.
Well, that's it from me - I'll try not to leave it so long between posts next time - I promise!
Yesterday I felt like piecing on something different, and I'd had an idea for a placemat I thought I'd like to try. I put one together last night, and I've put together the little four patches for the second one. It's kinda cute I'm thinking, and I'm thrilled to be using the William Morris print I purchased while I was in Paducah in 2006. I still have a lot of fabric in my stash from that trip!So, reporting on my stash for the past week:No fabric purchases at all. Good going considering that Quiltaholics has a big sale on this week. I haven't been by, so let's see if I'm that strong when I actually go there.In fabric use: I cut up four fat quarters for use in the mats. Not all was used in the mats, the excess was put into my strip containers, so they will be used up in other scrap projects. Two of the background fabrics actually came out of the strip containers. Also, I worked out that I used 1.3 metres of fabric in parts four and five of the mystery quilt. So, by those calculations, I've used around 2.3 metres of fabric this week. Not a huge amount, but still used just the same.I don't think I'll get huge amounts of stitching done today - I need to go grocery shopping, and I have a customer quilt to finish quilting on. I'm about two thirds done. It's warming up again, so lots more indoor activities are on the agenda. Hope you're having a great day! x o x
A big thank you to Hanne, for sharing this button on her blog for us to wear with pride.
My personal stash reduction challenge is not so much to reduce my yardage - because in all honesty, I don't have vast amounts of fabric. But more to use up my scraps, and pieces that don't qualify as fat quarters or yardage. Those are hardest for me to store, so I wanna use them up, and get them into quilts.
Purchases for the last couple of weeks: There were those three metres of fabric that I showed you recently. Not guilty purchases - the fat quarters are needed for Bonnie's mystery quilt. I'm starting to run low on the three colours I'm using. And the jet plane fabric - well, Cameron loves it, and I'll have to make it up into something for him.
Fabric use: I've been digging into my 1.5" strips, for the 'mosaic candle holder mats' which were Christmas gifts. Not vast amounts of stash used, but I guess with all four gifts, maybe half a metre used - when you include the 8" piece for backing, the binding, and there was also the use of scraps of batt. Nice :-) I've had to cut many many more 1.5" strips for the mystery quilt, so I have no clue how much I've used there - I even threw some Thimbleberries fabrics in the mix - something I don't normally do. I usually keep those scraps separate.
Overall for the year I'm thrilled with my stash progress. I've got 90% of the fabric organised to within an inch of it's life. I have new closets for it, and my yardage is all folded neatly, and so are most of my fat quarters. I have added to my container collection, and the 'Scrap Users System' is working a treat for me. Bring on 2008 and more scrappy quilts!
Meet Grace - the newest 'fur person' addition to our family. She's Holly's niece - so she was family before she even joined us. I've been calling her Gracie, it sounds so cute. She's so tiny, I think she may even be smaller than Holly was when she came to us. (Ohhh, and I must mention - that is Holly's toy lizard on the floor ... not scary wildlife in the house *s*)When we visited on Saturday to bring one of the kitties home, it was really hard to decide which one would come home with us - I decided on Grace because she was the smallest and shyest one and not the one with the prettiest markings. I knew all the others would find good homes because they were all cute and perky, Gracie seemed so shy, so my heart went to her. She's a darling little thing, and we're having fun welcoming her to our home.In Stash Report news:No purchases at all this week. Good going too, as Hancocks of Paducah have free shipping going right now, including international orders. That took some strength to not take advantage of.I haven't done as much piecing of my own as I'd like this past week - I've made up part one of Bonnie's mystery project, and I made up three of my total of four Royal Cross blocks. I've started piecing the nine patch units for the mystery too. I guess maybe I've used 1-2 yards of stash? Not sure, it's hard to tell.Wool stash (does this count?) I finished one 'car sock', and I've started another. Hard to knit right now given that we're in Summer, but found time is found time, and I'm happy to use it. No purchases on the yarn front either.Well, that's it from me - happy stashing everyone!
The other day, Kathie from Threadlines showed off a gorgeous quilt she made in her early days of quilting, and she talked about how badly some of the fabric had faded. I too have a tale of faded fabric, and sadly, the fabric in question is in one of my all time favourite quilts.
I still have a piece of the original fabric, and I've pinned it next the the block in question on my Dear Jane quilt. I was just gazing over my quilt this one day, and my eye rested on this block, and I was thinking that I didn't remember the fabric being quite like that. Imagine how surprised I was when I found the original fabric and compared them. Now, this quilt isn't really that old - I finished it in 2000. It hangs on the wall in our dining room, and it doesn't get that much light, it's not a room we use that much, and all the other fabrics are really just as they should be. It's just this particular fabric. And you know what, it's not an el'cheapo fabric either, it's one of those museum collections. Oh well, it doesn't diminish my love for the quilt in any way, if anything it just adds to the charm.And now on to the spiderwebs ... Last year while I was in Paducah, I was determined to find the Marti Michell stand. I really wanted to get a set of Double Wedding Ring templates, and I hadn't seen any I liked here in Australia. Imagine my surprise when I found it was actually her at the booth. I gushed 'Ohhh, I've come all the way from Australia to meet you'. She was so sweet and kind and did all sorts of demonstrations just for me, and I ended up spending a small fortune, as you do. Well, one of the things I bought was the Kaleido-Rule. Yesterday I took it out, and thought I'd have a play with it. You know ... you just can't rush these things ...
And here's the result - three spiderwebs. I think I remember seeing something like it on Norma's page a while back?. I made the one in the background at the top as a practice first, using up scrap 2"strips. You can see it's all random and a bit messy. The two in the front were made after I got the hang of it, and I used up some of my Sarah Johnson prints. Gosh I must have had them ten years now? Scary. This afternoon, we're heading to my parents for a BBQ, I'll finish the binding on them and give them to Mum as a gift. I'll even give her the practice one - I'm sure she'll find a use for it.
I'm off to play in the sewing room, there will be binding abounding!
Can you believe it? It's March already! I know February is a short month, but seriously, it felt like it was a week long!
I missed one of my goals, I just couldn't cut into that special fabric for the February Stash Challenge. I'm still determined to do it, but I think I need to find that special pattern that inspires me. My wonderful friend Linda sent me a picture of the pattern that went with the fabric, but I'm not sure that I have enough of the fabric to do it justice.Last night I was asked to attend my old quilt group. They had organised a special presentation for me. Last year one of the group leaders had contacted me, she'd found a tree skirt at the quilt store which she thought would be great to work on at their quilt camp, and she was so pleased to find it was one of my patterns. She asked if she could buy the pattern to use, and I told her they could use it no problem, they were my group, I wouldn't charge them at all. So last night I was invited along to view all the tree skirts they made. It was super fun, and lovely to see all the old faces, and the new faces too. At some stage I may go back to the group, I stopped going when I had Cameron, it was so much harder to go out in the evenings, and I joined a daytime group instead.
And to that end, I'm off to quilt group today, and I needed some hand work to take with me, so last night after my visit, I started work on the next scrap project I have in mind, and you can see a picture of my progress. I'm just going to cut out the shapes today. We never seem to get too much done, we always chatter too much.Also, a big thank you to everyone for your wonderful comments on my Zig Zag quilt. I'm so pleased with it, and I would like to say a huge thank you to Bonnie for the inspiration on her website. I love all her scrap quilts, and I admire her for her dedication to using up her stash. Thank you Bonnie!
Thank you to everyone for your lovely welcome into the Stash Quilts ring. I have already met the loveliest people, and look forward to getting to know you better. Also, thank you to Judy for making it happen so quickly!
Today I thought I'd share a quilt which is definitely from the 'Stash' category, and it's from two people's stash!
My wonderful friend Linda from San Jose and I often work on projects together, and this is my version of our Sister's Choice quilt that we made together. We each made a series of blocks, and sent each other half of the ones we made over time. At the end we each had made 100 blocks, and I had 50 that she made, and 50 that I made, and she had the same. My quilt has finished at 100" square, so I decided for something different I would not add borders, so this picture is on my dining room floor just prior to basting. I had to move all the furniture out. If you look really carefully, you can see the corner of my Dear Jane quilt hanging on the wall in the background!
This quilt of course is from Bonnie's website, and the only difference from the one Bonnie made is that we made the star points blue rather than green. All the fabrics were from our scraps/small stash. I think we started in 2004 (it could have even been 2003), and I finished quilting mine last year. I set my blocks so that each alternate block is mine, and then Linda's. All our individual blocks end up in diagonal rows. It's the only way that I can definitely tell who's block is who's. We have such similar tastes in fabric that it's often impossible to tell any other way!
Linda's quilt was on her bed when I visited in April/May (so she tells me) and I kept forgetting to go into her room and have a look at it! I could just kick myself! So, I will have to wait now until next time I visit to see Linda's quilt in person.
What a motley collection of fabrics! There is an obvious reproduction fabric or two in there, which of course I love, and the toile - another fabric I'm partial to ... but the rest of them? I can't even imagine why I'd have purchased some of them.
