2014 Stash Report Week 3

Yards in: 3.0
Yards out: 1.0
Cumulative yards in: 3.5
Cumulative yards out: 3.8
Net gain/loss: 0.3 USED

Spending this week: $2.50
Spending this year: $2.50

Still in the red, if barely!

The yardage in? I had to drive to the post office yesterday to pick up a certified letter, so I rewarded myself for getting it done by stopping at the little thrift store. This tiny church thrift store in a tiny town has by far the best chance of having any crafting supplies, way better than the bigger ones in the greater Metro area. Anyway - two bags of scraps, about 3 yards worth:

 

 I could've bought more - but I didn't have much cash on me. If the bag of buttons is still there next week, it'll be a sign.

Usage this week was a new cover for my table-top ironing board. The cover was getting a bit worn, and was even ripped in a couple of places. And the padding was really, really sad.

First step was to draw a pattern on some plain fabric (using some from the thrift store!).

I then went into the "deep stash" that I've been carting around for years. I found a piece of but-ugly navy material of uncertain fiber content and some mattress ticking that it's almost certain I inherited from my Memaw. Leftover batting for more padding.

I layered the plain beige with the navy and batting and did some minimal quilting. I cut the ticking a couple of inches larger all around.

 

I sewed a casing and put in half-inch elastic. It's been a while since I had to feed something through a casing - my hands hurt like heck doing that!

And, voila - a newly covered ironing board.

I spent much of the rest of the day working on one of my older UFOs - I don't remember when I acquired it; my best guess is sometime in the mid-80s. I finished the top a month or so ago, and today I sandwiched, pinned, taped, and started quilting.

I should finish quilting it tomorrow, and bind it by next week, yay!.
And now for gratuitous pet photos:

Ralph is obviously feeling much better, and back to annoying Cookie:

Cotton hangs out on the bed when it's cold:

2014 Stash Report Week 2

Yards in: 0.5
Yards out: 2.8
Cumulative yards in: 0.5
Cumulative yards out: 2.8
Net gain/loss: 2.3 USED

Spending this week: $0
Spending this year: $0

The usage this week is from Toffee's quilt; the half yard in is from winning at the guild raffle this week. I REALLY need to find my thread for quilting the Irish chain quilt. Also, I hope to get the flannel quilt based and quilted next weekend - I want to just do straight lines, so it should go fast.

Toffee quilt done!

Ralph found the pinned quilt on the table a nice place to rest.

I started quilting a little before noon, and was done before 4.

You can see from the close-up there are some loooong stitches - my machine doesn't much like seams, and there a lot - plus the extra thickness of two layers of batting and a heavy backing.

I machine-stitched the binding, so that went a LOT faster. The backing is an old piece from the stash, likely inherited from my grandmother. It's heavier than quilting cotton, maybe denim weight or light canvas. It had grommets from where it used to be a curtain.

Anyway, it's DONE. 51.5 x 37.5 = about 2.8 yards stash busted. YAY!. I think he approves.

Saturday sewingI

I got a lot done, considering I spent 3 hours in the bathroom with Ralph the cat, waiting for him to pee.

I've been threatening to make a quilt for the dog (to put on the floor for him to lie on, since he's not allowed on the furniture) for a while. Finally, I did it. I pulled a bunch of scraps from the stash, mostly reds, browns, and blues, with a few others thrown in, sewed them up randomly, until they were the size of my backing-to-be.

Chunks to start:

wound up this big:

I got it pinned tonight and will hopefully get it quilted tomorrow.

And Ralph finally peed, maybe 5 minutes before I'dve had to haul him back to the vet for a professional check!

2014 Stash Report Week 1

Yards in: 0
Yards out: 0
Cumulative yards in: 0
Cumulative yards out: 0
Net gain/loss: 0

That was easy :)

I did start a floor quilt for our dog today, so should have a bit of usage pretty soon. I'm also pretty close to the top of the list (top 40 at least) in the Stashbusters UFO challenge, so will need to get busy with a UFO finish.

How big to be a "project"?

One of my goals is to complete at least 14 projects this year.

Yesterday, as part of my Creativity Every Day, I made a catnip birdie for Ralph the cat:

He's not big - but he's done. But I would feel kind of guilty counting this as a Project.

Today, I drew a cardinal. Definitely not a project.

Final stash results for 2013

Two FQ went to join the UFO challenge on Stashbusters, and about half a yard was used in a scarf for my lovely SIL for Christmas.

I end the year in the red, yay!

Yards in since week 49: 0
Yards out since week 49: 1
Cumulative yards in: 25.3
Cumulative yards out: 48.7
Net gain/loss: 23.4 USED

UFO accounting and dream quilts!

UFOs:
1. Blue and yellow quilt
2. Black/white/red quilt
3. Frances' flowers
4. Flannel quilt
5. Birds-in-the-air
6. Colonial ladies
7. Blue cathedral window
8. Green cathedral window
9. FSQ challenge quilt
10. Wild fall wallhanging
11. Swastikas -> some other pattern using flying geese

Quilt wish list:
1. Red/white dove in the window
2. Blue/white lone star
3. Kittens fabric - hexagon log cabin?
4. Blue/brown/cream string quilt
5. Felix quilt
6. Jude quilt
7. Simon quilt
8. Violet quilt

New year, new goals

Last year's goals are here. Very similar goals are copied below :)

My word for the year is NOW. My biggest issue is procrastination, and if I can just go ahead and DO what needs to be done instead of thinking, "Oh, I'll get to that later" then things will run much more efficiently.

N:  Nudge - one of the theories of behavioral economics is that a nudge is a very effective way to change behavior
O:  Organize - welll, duh.
W: Willpower - I'll be working on improving mine. In all areas.

My goals are:
1. finish 14 projects. (I actually finished at least 15 things last year!!)
2. Spend 14 minutes a day sewing OR in stash management.
3. 2014 in 2014: Sometime around the time things got crazy last year, I stopped keeping track, but I'm pretty sure that although I didn't reach my 2013 things goal, much more left than in previous years. This year, I'm shooting for 2014.
4. Keep track of what I'm doing by starting blogging again - I feel much more productive when I have a record of what I've done.
5. participating in the weekly stash report will help me manage my stash. I'm also setting a $10 per week budget (that I feel no compulsion to spend) but I want to make sure that I'm not spending more than I think I am. The $10 includes EVERYTHING, not just fabric -thread, storage stuff, equipment, gadgets.

2013 Stash Report Week 49

Some finishes!

A Christmas wallhanging, 27 x 29. 1 yard busted!


Two ten-minute tablerunners, total width 21 inches (so 43 inches of yardage used). 1.2 yards busted!
 Ginkgo runner:


Angel runner:


Yards in since week 42: 12
Yards out since week 42: 5.2 (includes baby quilt)
Cumulative yards in: 25.3
Cumulative yards out: 47.7
Net gain/loss: 22.4 USED

How many quilts?

This was the question asked on Stashbusters, one of the Yahoo groups I'm in (and mostly lurk on) How many quilts do you finish in a year?

My answer ties in to an idea percolating for a while about an artist's manifesto ~ this would be my quilting manifesto.

Whether or not you choose to count up "how many" depends to some degree on what your intent is in quilting. Do you want to crank out as many quilts as possible? To compete with yourself? Then it makes sense to add up your numbers. I have a tendency to start projects and not finish them, so I've set a goal to finish one project a month (and that can be new or a UFO) and I keep track of that. I'm in the UFO challenge to whittle down my list of UFOs. And keeping track of yardage in and out prevents me from mindlessly buying more fabric "just because."

Honestly, I quilt because I enjoy the process. I like digging through the bins for material. I like thinking about my design. I like rotary cutting for piecing and fiddly cutting for applique. I like sitting at my machine, listening to it hum as I feed the pieces through. I like ironing (and yes, I know I should press, but it still works when I iron!) and nesting seams to make the pieces into blocks. I like arranging the blocks into a whole. I like deciding on a border (or no border).

I'm not so fond of sandwiching, but it's a necessary evil :) 

I love FMQ, except when my tension goes all wonky and I have to pull out all the eyelashes on the back :( I absolutely adore sewing on the binding, because I'm almost done and I can admire what I've accomplished.

So, no, I don't have any idea how many quilts I finish in a year. It depends on how the mojo goes that year. And I usually don't have any idea how long it took me to make a quilt, either. Because it just doesn't matter to me.

Baby quilt done!

Finished size 35 x 49.

A simple 4-patch using some mother goose (the yellow) and teal squares, set with pink.

 
Pieced backing with a fun animal print.


Stash busted: 3 yards!

2013 Stash Report Week 42

I somehow got off a week in the numbering from missing some weeks, but should be back on track now.

We FINALLY got to go back to work on Thursday, but I got a lot done before then (and after then, as well).

I finished my daughter's BFF's graduation quilt:


6.7 yards OUT!

I also made a grim reaper robe for Halloween for the Small Man. I bought 2 yards of costume satin for the body, but found some polyester gabardine for the sleeves and hood in the stash. Probably 0.5 yards used of the gabardine, and 1.7 yards of the satin.

The Karate Kid wanted a Russian fur hat (Ushanka). I used this link as a starting point: http://biothief.deviantart.com/art/Ushanka-Pattern-173086293

I made a prototype of a nice wool blend herringbone lined with cream fleece with a circular crown, but he thought it was "too square." The next model (not yet finished) is a velvety black, with triangular darts and then an x-shaped seam in the crown. That one passed muster. The final version (for the costume) is a soft brown fake fur, lined with a brown Kona cotton. It just needs a red star and some gold braid to make it more Russian-looking. Estimates for the two hats that were finished are about 0.6 yards each.

Yards in this week: 2
Yards out this week: 10.1
Cumulative yards in: 13.3
Cumulative yards out: 42.5
Net gain/loss: 29.2 USED

Quilty furlough activities

First, another machine to clean. This is a Singer 15-91 that is simply awesome for free motion quilting. But it had been neglected for a while.


Quilt under the needle:


Cotton had to help quilt:


I had a large-scale black and white print (what on EARTH was I thinking ?!?) that worked really well for binding:


Binding and backing:


Ralph had to help bind:


Finished quilt, busted stash! 68 x 73 starry quilt for my Lovely Daughter's BFF. Total yardage busted is 6.7 yards by my calculation. That'll cancel out the 2.5 yards of the black floral I bought to finish the top and then some. A little blurry :(


I also started working on an OLD UFO. My grandmother and I found these flannel blocks in a thrift store at some point. She passed away in 1988, so I've had them a while.

You can see how very wonky they are - hand-sewed strips of flannel:


I'm trimming the unsewn sides to "square", and then sewing the hand-sewn sides with generous seam allowances:


Final blocks will be trimmed to squares once they're completely surrounded by flannel - blue and beige.


I also bought tickets for the Van Gogh exhibit at the Phillips tomorrow ~ we'll take the Lovely Daughter and head off on the Metro once both boys are off to school.

2013 Stash Report Week 40

Yards in this week: 0
Yards out this week: 0.5
Cumulative yards in: 11.3
Cumulative yards out: 32.4
Net gain/loss: 21.1 USED

The half yard is an estimate - I used up some awful simpering baby print flannel to make a buffing wheel for TMOTH.

The starry quilt is on the machine - quilting in progress; at least half way done. Looking to have a BIG number in the used column next week.

My furlough week, so far

After shut-down on Tuesday morning, I started working on a double Irish chain quilt. I really just needed something almost completely mindless.

I had a bunch of 2.5 inch pink squares in a bag'o'squares I'd bought at the white elephant sale at a local quilt show a couple of years ago. I found a big piece of floral that was bundled with some flannel as a backing, but I decided that backing wouldn't go with that quilt all that well. So it became the major part of the top. The Lovely Daughter told me I should use teal/turquoise with the pink and cream, so I pulled a chunk out of the stash.

Blocks:


Entire top:
 

Close-up of the border:



Again, all from stash. A pink that's a little darker than most of the ones in the top, and a butterfly print that's a little more green but still has some blue tones in it, and works with the rest of the top. I have a darker tan/brown batik that I think will give me enough for the binding.

Today I need to clean and oil my machine for the sit-and-sew tomorrow, and make sure I'm taking all that I need for a day of sewing - this time with friends!

Linking to Nina's Off-the-Wall Friday even though this is about as NON-art-quilty as it gets :) Hoping it will help get my mojo back.

2013 Stash Report Week 39

Lots of catching up to do!

I finished the house blocks quilt (~2 yards) and a pillow for TMOTH's birthday (~1 yard).

Here's the pillow:


I bought a scrap bag at G Street's September Quilt Club (which was an awesome trunk show; ~1.3 yards) and also brought home some bits and pieces from the Betheda Quilter's show on Friday - they're all small pieces, maybe 2 yards in all. And 2.5 yards to work on The Lovely Daughter's best friend's quilt.

Yards in this month: 5.8
Yards out this month: 3.0
Cumulative yards in: 11.3
Cumulative yards out: 31.9
Net gain/loss: 20.6 USED

I have some hopes for bigger finishes soon. There's the Christmas panel for a small wallhanging that's being hand-quilted, and I'm taking lots of stuff to a quilting day out next Saturday, including this:


It's a VERY long-term UFO. My Memaw and I found it on a thrifting trip. The plaid blocks are hand-sewn, flannel. and VERY wonky. I have blue and camel flannel to border the blocks in to hopefully de-wonk them.

 

Old Stitchery Books

One of my used bookstore weaknesses:


The modern stuff with photos is pretty, but not nearly as useful as these older books with drawings and clearly written instructions.

Saturday morning

It's been a looong trying summer, full of ups and downs.

The first trip to Florida was in early July. First was the karate tournament in Ft. Lauderdale:


The team as a whole did well. My small man wound up with a second-place medal in sparring in his age/weight group! (There were two kids in the bracket, but to be fair, he fought well even though he lost.) The Karate Kid didn't place, but part of it is that he's gained just enough weight to be in the higher-weight bracket, so a lot of the kids have a bit more weight on him.


Then back up the state a little bit for my brother's wedding.
The family:


A rare photo of the Karate Kid, smiling and in a tux, no less:


The Small Man:


My Lovely Daughter, being obnoxious (she's in front of my brother):


Little Brother and his bride-to-be taking photos before the wedding:


Little Brother and new bride dancing at the reception:


It was an absolutely beautiful wedding. We get to spend one cloudy day at the beach, and back we traipse to Maryland.





Early August, Little Brother calls me that they've taken Mom to the ER, probably dehydration. Next day, I fly to Florida in time to spend an hour with her before she passes away. Raging sepsis, organ shutdown, and she's gone.

A favorite photo of Mom from our scanned photos for the funeral:


The family drove down for the funeral, and I drove back with them. In less than a week, I drive BACK to Florida with the Lovely Daughter to move her into her college dorm.

I packed up all of Mom's clothes in the back of the van and am sorting through them. I brought back a bunch of Mom's t-shirts and will likely make a quilt or quilts out of them.