Category Archives: Stash Busting

I have the sewing blahs

Times like this I desperately need a goal, so for March’s One Monthly Goal I’m going to get at least one half of Mister’s Nappy Quilt blocks sewn together.  He selected Primitive Gathering’s Trotting Along pattern out over a year ago, and this past weekend pulled fabric from my stash and turned the background choices over to me.  He also wants a 4×5 block setting instead of the whole quilt.  

I did get started on the first block.  LOL

I have some things coming up in March that will lessen the amount of time I normally have available to sew (on top of my blah). I feel like there has been so much pulling at my brain, that I cannot settle in my sewing room!  I did cut some more manly napping quilt blocks this past Tuesday, but I just cannot sit to set them sewn.  Blah!

The construction and repair has been completed, finally, on our home.  The carpet people were here yesterday and I now have a master bedroom full of brand new padding and carpet, and the family room is back in one piece as well (some padding had to be replaced, and the carpet re-stretched).  Other than 2 black smudges of something on my brand new painted bedroom wall, everything is back the way it was before, only better.  I took the opportunity of everything being in upheaval, and Mister being there, to deep clean all around the furniture, and the baseboards in the bedroom and bath (since things were moved in there to make room to “store” the bed while the carpet was being done.  That “spring cleaning” chore is done, and I should feel liberated, but instead, I’m still blah.

March’s Rainbow Scrap Challenge color is red, so I’ll be working on 15 neutral- and 15 black-cornered red lozenges.

March’s Goals:

RSC17 – 30 Red Lozenges
OMG – 10 completed blocks on Trotting Along
Farmer’s Wife – 5 blocks
Charity – 3 hours, last Saturday.

My February OMG!

This has been a great month for me. I have settled back into the routine that affords me piece of mind. My housework isn’t suffering, the laundry’s always caught up, I’m cooking more often, I’m getting a lot of time in my sewing room (although it still needs a major sort out), I’m reading more, and Mister and I are back to spending evenings together (when he doesn’t have last minute homework) visiting, or watching our favorite shows (while I stitch). We finally have an appointment for the pad and carpet to be repaired downstairs, and replaced upstairs. My stitching friends will get a laugh when they hear that the bedroom carpet will be Platinum colored.

As to the sort out in my sewing room, I finally dug through the huge box of scraps given to me by one of my friends.  So many beautiful pieces of fabric, and so many 1/2-yard pieces as well.  I still have the bag to go through, but the bits have been pulled for the scrap basket I use for Wild and Goosey, and the rest has been folded neatly until I get some cutting time for charity quilts.

Speaking of charity quilts.  Today is the last Saturday of the month, and this is the day that I have dedicated to working on charity quilts.  One Saturday a month, for at least 3 hours.  For the first quilt, I’ll be making 10″ paper pieced string blocks starting with a neutral in the middle.  It took me longer than expected to go through the above mentioned box, so I’m not getting to sew 3 hours today, and will carry that over to tomorrow.

Here’s where I stand this month:

February goals

Baby Quilt – 1) finish step one; 2) cut background for step two
Lozenges – Make a minimum of 20 lozenges with February RSC17 colors (10 black/10 neutral corners)
Farmers Wife – Make a minimum of 4 blocks

Baby Quilt – This item was for my One Monthly Goal link-up.  I am beyond thrilled to say, that not only did I finish Step 2, I finished the quilt top! The longarmer has been contacted, and the backing should be pieced by tomorrow evening.

Lozenges – This item was for my Rainbow Scrappy Challenge.  February’s color was Teal.  I made a total of 29.

Farmers Wife – not only did I catch up, but I’m ahead of the game.  It has helped me satisfy my love of paper piecing. As I have gone through the scraps hunting for the perfect piece of fabric, I have been sorting them into colors (and ironing some of the worse off pieces) as part of my sewing room sort out.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So much accomplished!

For stitching, I have made progress on Death by Cross Stitch, and finished a 2nd round on An Expression of Gratitude.  I spent more time than anticipated on Death because it was just too easy to keep going while getting stuff around the house sorted after the water break, dealing with the contractors, and the repair to the walls.  But, I’m back to my rotation, and will probably move on to Houses of Hawk Run Hollow by tomorrow evening.

I am linking up to Elm Street Quilts and soscrappy.

 

 

Getting February Quilting Organized

It’s time for me to set up my February quilting goals.  I’m so proud of the progress I made in January.

Baby Quilt – I keep distracting myself from getting this finished.  It’s not hard, I just got myself pulled into the world of paper piecing Wild & Goosey blocks.  LOL  They are my quilting crack.  I almost finished step one on the baby quilt, however, so I need to get that finished and the back ground fabric cut.  This will be my One Monthly Goal for February.

En Provence and Midnight Flight –  both still in time out until I finish Baby Quilt. I am using fabric from these in my Lozenges and Wild & Goosey blocks, so they are still thought about almost every time I sit in front of the machine.

Wild & Goosey – oh man.  Do I love these little critters. So far I have worked on them every day that I have been able to sit and sew. It’s fun to dig through my little snippets, but it is messy!

Farmers Wife – I am behind on my block of the week.  I need to pull these out instead and put Wild & Goosey away.  I am also paper piecing these so maybe that will satisfy my need to “quilt by number.”

Lozenges – still my Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2017 project.  February is sea green and defined as “Anything between blue and green will work.  From teal, to aqua to turquoise.” This is going to be fun!  I am also trying to incorporate more neutral and black scraps into this month as well.

So for February:

Baby Quilt – 1) finish step one; 2) cut background for step two
Lozenges – Make a minimum of 20 lozenges with February RSC17 colors (10 black/10 neutral corners)
Farmers Wife – Make a minimum of 4 blocks

One down, eleven to go!

Wow, January 31, already!  Just when I think I have a handle on things, the month is gone.  It’s been a pretty good month, tho not perfect.

This is a long, month long, post.  😀

My January 4 post had me setting my goals and getting ready for my Bonnie Hunter Midnight Flight class.  The goals will be at the end.

My theory on taking a class is that if I can come away with learning one new thing then it is money well spent.  I got more than my money’s worth on that day.

I have not taken very many classes, but this is the second one I have had with her. She is consistent in the way she teaches and she has the patience of a saint.

I was having trouble with my leg that day, so my focus was off a bit, but I did manage to finish a quadrant of the block. Seeing the trouble several people had keeping their geese flying the same direction in a block, I have decided to piece just quadrants, then work on the blocks. While I have made sew and flip units before, I focused on perfecting them this class.

Since I live over an hour away from where the class was held, and the evening lecture/trunk show was being held (4 hours later), I contacted my friend Andee a couple of days ahead and threw myself on her mercy to allow me to hang out with her between the two. I ended up getting to go out to dinner, and to an antique mall, with her and Bonnie. The antique mall was another wonderful learning experience. I love reading Bonnie’s posts about what she finds antiquing in her travels and getting to see that first hand was an experience I am not likely to forget for a very long time. She posted about it here, and I died laughing when I first read the post. She also posted about our class, here, with many more photos, and a quick photo video.

I did come away with 2 little things from the mall. A vintage travel iron (for my new collection) and a small quilt that is embroidered with “Wounded Knee.” I have been trying to research the quilt. When I first picked it up, it was with the idea that it would make a perfect “Harley” quilt. The price was right too. Bonnie thought that it was a “Made in China” quilt, and we talked about why (learning here!) and I decided it was worth the price. We looked at a few other things, then Bonnie wanted to look at the quilt again, and that’s when Andee discovered the embroidery. I’m happy I found it, but Harley didn’t get it. I discovered a small hole in it after I bought it, and knew if Harley had it she’s pick it to death. It’s now on the back of a chair in my living room.  It holds great value for me, not because of when, or by whom, it was made, but the memory of when I purchased it.

We knew the evening before there was a glitch with Bonnie setting up her inventory for sale at the lecture so we improvised and set up in the parking lot of an elementary school next door. It was a lot of fun, where it could have been a moment for complaining.

I volunteered to be a quilt holder during the lecture. I do have some photos of her “live” quilts from her books, and they are all so lovely. I threatened to swipe the Wild & Goosey, from Addicted to Scraps, and Pineapple Crazy, from String Fling. I love foundation paper piecing!

But the quilt above, is one of the favorites that she shared. There is no pattern, and it is the first time I have ever seen it. It demonstrates what you can create if you use her Scrap Users System. I am such a visual person, and seeing this made me so happy.

It was a long, exhausting, fun and memory-filled day.

One week later, I went on my annual girlfriend reunion trip to Vegas.  Drove up by myself, since everyone else was flying for one reason or another.  It was so dreary!  I remember thinking that if I didn’t see snow on the mountains before the weekend was over, I would be so surprised.  We are such party animals.  We rent a 5-bedroom house (same one the past 3 years – and reserved for 2018). We eat at the same restaurant Thursday night (maybe next year somewhere new? as I am not happy with them right now), then swing by a grocery store.  Friday we do our shopping (needlework store, quilt store, this year added in Vera Bradley outlet for some of the ladies) and go out for lunch and dinner.  Saturday we never left the house.  The grocery store run takes care of all of our breakfasts, snacks, and lunch for Saturday.  Some order in for dinner Saturday (I had leftovers from grocery).  There is a lot of stitching, crying, laughing, staying up too late, getting up too early, and I sort of wipe my slate clean and use that weekend as my new year start.

(Sure enough, when we came out of the needlework shop on Friday I looked over and the mountain tops were dusted, and it looked like more was on the way.)

I had a shopping list, and a budget.  I wanted fabric for the Nora Corbett Couriers (that I’ve started collecting).  They didn’t have what I wanted in the count I was looking for, but at least I know what to order.  Shop models on PTP Storm.

I did come away with these 2 Ink Circles designs that I decided to stitch in these variegated silks, instead of the called-for fibers.

I always have a plan for the quilt store.  It is a wonderful shop and I could go crazy in there.  Last year I purchased neutrals with white backgrounds.  Most of them have already been used in Midnight Flight, En Provence, and Wild & Goosey.  This year I wanted black on white and white on black for a future quilt.  The large piece of thimble fabric will also go into a project envelope.

I also fell in love with this portion of the shop’s BOM.  The woman at the cash register said her mother was teaching the class and gave me permission to photograph this portion.  She said the pattern was found as a freebie on Craftsy but I have been unable to find it.  I love that scissor.  It’s paper pieced, and I would love to have a smaller version hanging in my sewing room.

My Canadian friend Kathy drove back to AZ with me on Sunday for her flight back to Canada on Monday (out of Phoenix).  On the drive back she found out her aunt had passed away and her sister has lost her job.  I was informed by Mister that a Pex line in the master bedroom has sprung a leak and the water had been turned off.  Groan.

Super happy we have a pool, since we were hauling water in to flush our toilets. Little House on the Prairie I am not.  🙂  Monday, we called the plumbers and they cut a hole in the bedroom wall, and replaced the line.  Then we called the insurance, and they immediately sent someone out to  cut bigger holes and set up the blowers and dehumidifiers to dry us out.  The following 3-4 days had all types of people in and out accessing, and poor HarleyQuinn has not been happy over the stranger danger.

Since one of us has had to be here for people dropping off construction supplies, checking the blowers, carpet dude, etc., and with Mister in school 2 days a week, I moved all of my appointments to a few weeks out, and only left the house when Mister has been home. The advantages to my rarely leaving the house for the past 2 weeks is I have gotten a ton of sewing and stitching done!

In the stitching department I finished another round of Mirabilia’s Garden Verses, and have been making fairly good progress on Death by Cross Stitch (which is what I worked on in Vegas, if I stitched).

As of January 14, 2017

I got started on my Great-niece’s baby quilt and only need to make 8 more of these huge 4-patches (made from 5″ squares) and then on to the next step. I’m using a left over layer-cake, some charm squares, and pulled some fat quarters.

I also made it to the Rusty Barn Show in Phoenix and added some nice, needful things.

Olfa frosted rulers to replace my Omnigrid. I cannot see anymore when using the Omnigrid because of the yellow. The 24″ will be cut down to 18″ since Olfa does not make that size.

A couple of bags of scraps. Will go into my Wild & Goosey or String blocks. The zippers are for zippy pouches.

More white on black and black on white for future quilt. The colored fabrics will be zippy pouches.

One of the vendors had some Accuquilt dies for 40% off and the tumblers were on my wishlist. The iron caddy model was so tiny, and it will be for the travel iron I bought at a Christmas sale.

I also accomplished my One Monthly Goal of making purple Lozenges for Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2017. I made more than 40. So I am linking up to both of them with this post.


And, I worked on Wild & Goosey units. I get distracted by them and consider them my quilter’s crack. LOL I also printed off enough papers to make 270 blocks. I might have gotten a little carried away, but I want to make up some in different colorways for a table runner or two.  I do need to pack them all away, however, and get back to the baby quilt.

If anyone is reading, I apologize for the length, and I thank you for sticking it out.  I am thinking this blogging only once a month may not work out, if each month is going to be this full. I really had no idea it was going to be this long when I started, but it seemed the perfect thing to work on while the contractor is here working on the house.

The above photos that are of me were either made on my phone by someone else, or borrowed with permission from Andee.

One monthly goal

I do not even remember where I ran across the One Monthly Goal being held by Elm Street Quilts. I just knew that it would play perfectly with my wanting to also participate in Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2017 on the Soscrappy blog. I had wanted to participate in RSC before, but I could not get myself organized and just let it go. This is the year though, and I am ready to go.

I have decided to make a Lozenges quilt using Bonnie Hunter’s 2014 Leaders and Enders Challenge. Yeah, I know I already have a Leaders and Enders project going, but I want to use up my scraps.  If this quilt is not finished at the end of 2017, I will not be upset, and can carry on with it into the next year, if RSC happens again (or go on my own).

The color for January is Purple.  I laughed when I saw that.  I am not a purple person.  I’m currently trying to finish a purple and grey quilt for my niece.  En Provence is loaded with purples.  I have purples! I have cut and pieced all that I am going to need from the ones shown in this photo for En Provence.  I have several in my cabinet too.  I have purples.

So, my One Monthly Goal is to make 15-30 3.5” X 6.5” purple lozenges out of the leftovers of En Provence.

As soon as I finish this, I am headed to bed.  I have spent today getting the upper left block, sashing, and first border done on En Provence because I want to be able to share it in my Midnight Flight class tomorrow.

I also cleaned the bobbin casing and feed dogs of my machine (poor little Jenny has been working her hienie off!); put in a new needle; changed the blade in my cutter; recovered my portable ironing “board;” cleaned my iron; refilled my small Best Press bottles; and made sure I have everything else packed for class (I almost forgot to pack the book!). I am always so paranoid  that I will not have enough fabric, and even though she provides very detailed info on how much to bring to class, I think I may have cut enough for the whole quilt!  LOL  I wanted to bring extra so I could maybe swap some neutrals and blacks with other class members, if they are interested.  I am also providing a main course for tomorrow’s potluck, so I checked – for the umpteenth time – to make sure I had everything ready to go into the crockpot before I left tomorrow.

Mister has been a great help to me today.  Every time I turned around he was asking me if I needed anything.  While I am so exhausted right now, he came downstairs and poured me a glass of sparkling wine, because he knows I am so excited to see Bonnie Hunter again, and I am tired, and it will be hard for me to go to sleep 😀

So, I am linking up with Elm Street Quilts today.

Did I say I am excited?!?

P.S. When I went to link up I saw she is also making En Provence, so that is probably how I found the blog! Go figure!  LOL

WIP Challenge 2016-2017

I did something that has caused me to dig through this:

I know if I start digging through here I will soon have 50 WIPs.

My BFF mentioned a few days ago that she was going to participate in a WIP Challenge, where you finished 12 or so WIPs.  I didn’t fully understand how it would work since it was starting October 1, plus I have some huge WIPs and know I can’t stitch 12 of them in a year (on top of the sewing I want to get done) so I sort of filed it away in the back of my mind.

I was watching her latest flosstube and she brought it up again so I went hunting for more information and became intrigued.  I think it’s completely doable!  The gist is you stitch 10-15 WIPs by the end of December 2017.  The boss lady of the challenge states that as long as they have 1 stitch in them come October 1, 2016, they’re WIPs.

I wanted to divide my 10 items by older WIPs and newer WIPs, so my list looks like this right now:

  1. Scarlet Letter – Gratitude
  2. Mirabilia – Fairy Moon
  3. Examplar Dames – And They Sinned
  4. Carriage House Samplings – Houses of Hawk Run Hollow
  5. Goode Huswife – Book of Spells
  6. Blue Ribbon Designs – Expressions of Gratitude
  7. Plum Street – Hurt Not the Earth
  8. Scarlett House – Coverlet Candle Mat
  9. LHN – Needleworker
  10. Mill Hill – Log Cabin

Houses of Hawk Run Hollow and And They Sinned are my two largest WIPs.  I had already decided to go back to rotating through 4-5 projects at a time, and now I’m trying to decide if I want to go back to stitching in 10 hour increments on a design and then switching out or stitch for a week on something and switch out on Monday.  Either way I intend to focus on Houses or ATS.  So my weekly rotation may look like this:

  • Oct 1-2 Book of Spells
  • Oct 3-9 HOHRH
  • Oct 10-16 Needleworker
  • Oct 17-23 Expressions of Gratitude
  • Oct 24-30 Book of Spells
  • Oct 31-Nov 6 HOHRH
  • Nov 7-13 Coverlet Candle Mat
  • Nov 14-20 Gratitude
  • Nov 21-27 Fair Moon
  • Nov 28-Dec 4 And They Sinned
  • Dec 5-11 HOHRH
  • and so on until HOHRH is finished, then move ATS into that spot

Now that I have it written out this may be the better way to go.  If I decide to do the time version it’ll be something like

10 hours HOHRH
10 hours Book of Spells
10 hours Needleworker
10 hours Expressions of Gratitude
10 hours HOHRH
10 hours Coverlet Mandle Mat
etc…..

We’ve been paired off with another member of the group and required to send monthly post cards as a way to encourage and get to know each other.  I’m also excited about this as I’ve been sort of considering writing to someone once a month as a way to communicate.

Now I just need to figure in some quilting/sewing time and pull a couple of large WIPs and small WIPs and do my own quilting/sewing challenge during that time too.

And, I need to get this all down in my journal by September 30.

 

Dear Diary

I’m sorry to have been neglecting you.  It’s all this boy’s fault.  I have had an amazing summer hanging out by the pool with a cold beer, going to the movies, out to swanky restaurants, socializing with all the new friends I’ve made, but now he’s gone back to school and I have time to catch up with you and get all my summer secrets down.

Back to my regularly scheduled schedule!  Yay!

Over the past several weeks I have been spending a shit-ton of time in my Lady Lounge, Woman Cave, Sewing Room, whatever the heck everyone’s calling it these days.  Lately I have felt like calling it Dungeon.

Since I moved here almost five years ago, during the summer I normally sew until the air conditioner kicks on then I head downstairs to spend the rest of my day sitting on my rear end stitching and reading.  This summer, nope!  We really have had time out of the house, but the time in has been spent on daily chores, stitching, and reading.  I can’t remember the last time I unpacked my sewing machine.

Because….

I have not been able to settle in since I painted and reorganized!!!  I feel like I have stuff spread out all over the place.  I have tons of shelves and boxes and buckets, so I have plenty of storage space, but I evidently haven’t been using it wisely because I feel like things are lost, forgotten, and hard to put my hands on.

I had all these plans to start selling excess cross stitch over the summer – that I sorted out when I pulled everything for painting – that I know I’ll never get around to stitching because I’ve either lost interest in the item, it’s no longer something I like, the designer pissed me off, etc.  I am my own LNS.  Here’s proof positive of how much I don’t need.  Boxes, boxes, and piles of stuff to be sold.  Trust me when I tell you that is just a drop in the bucket.  😀

2016-09-12

This past weekend I had dinner out with my partner in crime, Annette, and we talked about stash diving because there was something we knew we had but couldn’t find it.  I have started bullet journaling and wanted to add in my WIPs and get back to some type of rotation, and I was sharing with her that I was procrastinating listing them because I couldn’t decide whether to just start writing them down, or to go through each one and sort them by either how old they are, or how close they were to being finished.

When we started talking about retiring I knew I would have no where near the funds I would want to kit up certain things with all the lovely silks there are out there so I gradually began doing that.  I have 2 large fold-back-top Rubbermaid containers that contained some of my WIPs and some of my kitted items (either by myself, or purchased that way).

I finally bit the bullet and started digging through them today.  Here’s what I found in the WIP department

  1. Peacock Tapestry – Teresa Wentzler
  2. Letting Go (Lusk) – HAED
  3. Ann Holewll Sampler – The Examplarery
  4. Quaker RR
  5. Dimples Bugs RR
  6. French Alphabet Sampler (I forgot I put it in there!)
  7. Castle Sampler – Teresa Wentzler
  8. The Fortunate Traveler – Teresa Wentzler
  9. Earthdancer – Butternut Road
  10. Tapestry Cat – Teresa Wentzler
  11. Sleeping Beauty – Mirabilia
  12. Patchwork Pieces – Nutmeg Needle
  13. Asian Garden – Odds n Ins
  14. Lady of the Flag – Mirabilia
  15. Tsunami Sampler – Stickideen von der Wiehenburg
  16. Christmas Elegance – Mirabilia
  17. Peace – The Silver Lining
  18. Christmas Wreath – Teresa Wentzler
  19. Topiary – Teresa Wentzler
  20. Garden Trellis Box – Linda Driskell from Just Cross Stitch magazine.

In one box!  I know there are more because I have a beautiful chest downstairs that my friend Kathy gave me and I’ve started storing some WIPs in there.  In fact, now that I think about it, all of the above 20 may also fit in there!  Oh, and then there’s the ottoman I prop my feet on while stitching…you can store stuff in there and I know I have at least one WIP in there, ’cause I was just looking at it the other day.  Geesh.  Oh wait!  Don’t forget my stitching bag that probably has 2-3 in there, too.

And here’s what was in the kitted box:

  1. Autumn Queen – Mirabilia
  2. Random Thoughts – Drawn Thread
  3. An Expression of Gratitude – Blue Ribbon Designs (which I pulled out)*
  4. Victorian Pearls – Sew to be Seen
  5. Victorian Pearls 2 – Sew to be Seen
  6. A Christmas Sampler – Midsummer Nights
  7. The Book of Spells – The Goode Huswife (which I pulled out)*
  8. The Spot Sampler – Margaret Bendig
  9. Shakespeare’s Garden – LaBroderie
  10. Queens Rule – Enchanting Lair
  11. Castle Ridge – Teresa Wentzler (bought overdyed fabric to exchange)
  12. Damask Rose Scissor Keep – Textile Heritage (gift)
  13. Above the Clouds – Teresa Wentzler (bought overdyed fabric to exchange)
  14. Mermaid of the Pearls – Mirabilia (special overdyed fabric)
  15. Toccata Three – Drawn Thread
  16. Cattleya Orchids – Terrance Nolan
  17. A Token of Friendship – Merry Cox (an OOP which I could probably sell to pay off my house)
  18. This is the Day – La-D-Da
  19. My Son – Indigo Rose (should have pulled this one and may go back and do it)*
  20. The Dreamer – Mirabilia
  21. Quaker Diamonds – Rosewood Manor
  22. Toccata Two – Drawn Thread
  23. Toccata One – Drawn Thread
  24. Quaker Samplings  – With My Needle
  25. My First Sewing Box and Scissor Fob – Stitching Parlor (which uses a Whitman’s Chocolate Tin I’ve tried to throw away a hundred times)
  26. Souvenir Sampler – Drawn Thread
  27. Village of Hawk Run Hollow – Carriage House Samplings
  28. The Song They Sang – Carriage House Samplings (I even bought the frame for this one!!!)
  29. A Parrot, A Leopard, A Lion – Scarlet Letter
  30. Norwich Marianne Wren
  31. James Wilson
  32. Voice of the  Shepherd – Told in a Garden
  33. Teeny Hardanger – Sweetheart Tree
  34. Brilliant Plumage – Teresa Wentzler

So, I evidently have a thing for Teresa Wentzler.

*I will be very unhappy in Heaven if I die and don’t at least start The Book of Spells and An Expression of Gratitude.  Guess they’re getting added to my WIPs list next month.

Now, lest LNSs around the world freak out, all of the above does not mean I won’t be buying more as evidenced by the deliveries my mailman has made since my last post.  I give you Exhibit C:

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A new small portable stitching lamp, and needle organizer (can you say Teresa Wentzler?).

2016-09-03-09-14-20

28ct Brash Jubilee for Ann Pegg 1877.  Yep, I found some.  I emailed the dyer asking advice for a replacement and she told me she had 2 FQs left.  Miss Annette snapped up the other one.  Partner. In. Crime.  I tell ya.

2016-09-03-09-17-18

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Pattern, fibers, stretcher bars, and canvas for this lovely.  I have had my eye on it for a bit and found out it was discontinued so I snapped it up.

2016-08-23-18-36-30

I also purchased these cones of DMC from Joanns.com for Death by Cross Stitch by Long Dog Samplers.  I’m leaning toward the copper on the right.  I need to check my fabric stash and do a floss toss.  I’m very tempted by the beautiful turquoise in the back but I’m afraid it’ll burn my eyeballs out stitching on a sampler this large.  I do have a backup plan for it though 😀  If I don’t have a good piece of fabric in my stash for the copper I may use the red and order some 40ct white.  Not to be worried about now though as I cannot start it until next month at the earliest because I am going out of town next week.

I am stalking my postman for Brooke’s Books Wizard of Oz.

So see, shopping when I shouldn’t be, or don’t need to be.

And I have quilt stuff coming in too.

But! This post has gotten so long and my phone is currently charging so I can’t show you what the top of my guest bed looks like.  It’s covered with fabric, patterns, etc., from the quilt side of my room AND fabric, fibers, and fabric from the cross-stitch side of my room while I go through the buckets and baskets mentioned above trying to reorganize and sort into a better working order for me.  I’m slowing myself down because I have to look at it, and touch it, and remember when I bought it, before sorting it into a pile to place it better in my room.  I’m dreading getting to two particular stitching containers because I have lots of already kitted small things that need to be added to that list up there and put into that Rubbermaid container (which is full!).  I know I won’t get it put away any time soon as I still have some excavating to do, so I’ll share a photo next time I post.

I forgot to show you some stitching!

Since my last post I have finished my Sugar Skull by Mill Hill

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And my version of Be Thankful by Country Cottage Needleworks

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and block 7 of Houses of Hawk Run Hollow by Carriage House Samplings (currently working on block 8)

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Now I’m off to write my WIPs in my Journal and do some stitching.  Maybe tomorrow I’ll dig the rest out of their hidey holes.

Sunday Stash Report

This has been a major “incoming” week for me.  My birthday was a couple of weeks ago and, in a roundabout way, Mister bought me fabric. 😉  One of my online sites had several reproduction fabrics deep discounted and I took advantage by ordering several 1/2-yard and a couple of 1-yard cuts. Unfortunately, all that I ordered was not available, but I’ve very happy with what I did receive.  I love stripes for borders and the blue and tan swirl will be perfect for backing a miniature quilt.

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I also added 1/2-yard of red for the gift I’m working on; a couple of FQs and an EOB piece for a small quilt monthly challenge piece in greens and golds; and 2 grab bag bundles for the signature blocks I’m making.

Fabric added this week: 11.83
Fabric used this week:   .75
Fabric added this month: 12.75
Fabric used this month: 1.0
Fabric added this year (April – present): 80.75
Fabric used this year (April – present): 9.81

No report next Sunday as I’ll be flying back from Tennessee after spending a long weekend with some stitching friends.

Sunday Stash Report

We spent the latter part of the afternoon yesterday taping off and painting the downstairs powder room.  I was a dripping mess by the time we finished.  Two people, in a very small space, with a 6″ A/C vent, that’s on the west side of a home in Arizona where it has been 114 degrees at 5 p.m.  Dripping!  But it’s going to be exactly as I visioned it when the second coat goes on.  Maybe Monday morning.

We also had our first “monsoon” rain and wind sweep through here yesterday evening.  Wonderful light show when we went to bed, and the sound of the rain on the tile roof is lovely.

We’re headed to a Diamondbacks game this afternoon, which I’m really looking forward to, but it means I probably won’t get any sewing time today.  I hope that ends up not being true because I did end up writing Deb Tucker about my problem and she wrote me back.  I now know what size blocks to start with!  Woohoo!

Fabric added this week: 1.375
Fabric used this week: .25
Fabric added this month: 1.375
Fabric used this month: .25
Fabric added this year (April – present): 80.75
Fabric used this year (April – present): 9.81

Sunday’s Stash Report

Bit by bit the little things are getting accomplished in my studio and I’m so happy to be at the sewing machine again!  I have one major “stuff dumping ground” I need to tackle but that’s going to need a trip to the Container Store this coming week. I also still need some shelving put up and some drawer dividers, but it’s getting there.

Since I finally have all my fabric in one place I can really start using my stash. I may just approximate what I have by eyeballing it some time this week.

But for this week….

Stash in:

This past week was my Jo Morton Little Women Club meeting and while I always buy fabric when I’m there, I have been trying to use some of the fabric I already have in my stash for the monthly projects.  But this month I knew immediately upon seeing the project that I would be buying new-to-me fabrics for it.  While the sampler colorway was predominately 3 colors, the quilt was scrappy.  I’ve decided to use the same 3 fabrics only in this one so I had to shop.  I did get lucky to buy end of bolts for a couple so saved a bit of money.

DSC01589The black fabric is the background, borders, binding, and backing.  The red and cream fabrics will be pinwheels centers in a cross-hatch.  This adds 2.875 yards.

I also snagged a much coveted FQ bundle of Jo’s new Prairie Rose fabrics.  These were sold in limited quantity to shop owners who attended the last market, otherwise, the fabric is only supposed to be available in the Prairie Rose BOM starting in November.  I’ll confess right here and now that I’ve signed up for it but only because my JMLW Club will be over then. Another 4 yards.

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I have also been sorting fabrics for a scrappy patriotic tablerunner and found a great fabric for background.  It was also end of bolt and adds 1.25 yards.

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I also purchased the binding fabric I’ll need for the present I previewed in the previous post.  .63 yards

In the midst of organizing last week I forgot to do a report so I’m also adding in my contest fabrics from Andover.  That will add 11.25 for the charms and 3.50 for the FQs for a total of 14.75 yards.

Stash out:

Gift fabric: 4.5 yards.

Fabric added this week:  23.5
Fabric used this week: 4.5
Fabric added this month: 27.25
Fabric used this month: 4.5
Fabric added this year (April – present): 71.375
Fabric used this year (April – present): 4.5

You think I have a problem?

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