Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along

I've seen so many fellow bloggers who have joined the Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along, I'm getting really tempted to jump in! I don't have any jelly rolls hanging around and I can't justify buying one right now, but I practically have a room full of fabric that I can cut into 2 1/2" strips. I've been enjoying the pictures on people's blogs - the blocks are fairly simple, but very contemporary and striking! It would definitely count as stash busting. Oh, what to do... If you want to see what it's all about, hop over here for the info!

Stash Busting 2010 - Week 16

I finally made a zig zag quilt!! I had a great fat quarter bundle from the Hopscotch line made by Red Rooster. I didn't know what I was going to do with them when I got them about a year ago, but they worked perfectly in this quilt. It turned out bigger than I expected and I could only get a good picture of it when I hung it for the class preview last week. A draft blew over the lower left-hand corner that I only noticed the next day. It really is square down there in real life! The picture is a little dark, but the white is nice and bright and crisp in person. I am teaching the "no triangle" technique for making this design in class this session. I'm very happy with it. I didn't get a really good count on the yardage used because I have a lot left over, but I'm going to count this as 5 yards that is finally GONE from my stash. I only had to buy the border fabrics, but I did add those to the stash count already.

Next is Friendship Star Twist. I was playing around with colors and I decided the stars looked a bit like flowers and if I colored those red with gold centers, and made the corners green, I would get that flower effect. For some reason, it just didn't occur to me that this would end up looking like a Christmas quilt. Oh well, I didn't have one of those, so now I do! Christmas in Spring! This is not a very large quilt, so I think it will end up mostly as decoration during the holidays. All but the outer border came from stash, which was already added into the count, so I'm figuring a good three yards here.

The third project is a table runner that is actually finished (the other two are tops only), but there is just a small run of binding that is still not sewn down, so I'll take a picture of that one later. That one came completely from the stash. Not sure on yardage here, either -- I'll say 1 1/2 yards out (including the backing and binding).

It's so nice to have some "finishes" to report. I also gave away some fabric as a birthday gift, which amounted to about 1 1/4 yards.

Class officially starts tonight. We'll be zigging and zagging and having a good time, too! If I'm lucky, I'll be able to squeeze in a Dear Jane block tonight. We'll see...

Fabric added this week: 0.00 yards

Fabric used this week: 9.25 yards

Fabric added this year: 8.50 yards

Fabric used this year: 15.00 yards

Total stash busted this year: 6.50 yards

Check out this giveaway

ETA: This giveaway is closed now

Isn't this little quilt adorable? If you go over to Jaybird Quilts you can leave a comment for an entry to win this kit from the Fat Quarter Shop. There are other ways to get entered, too. Check it out!

Stash Manicure

I thought I'd share a blog I just found called "Stash Manicure". It just started up this month, and the posts are made by a variety of different people -- all lending ideas for reducing our fabric stash. Can't go wrong with that! I'll be checking back often to see what new ideas they have for me!

Happy Easter 2010

Easter Greetings to all. We're off to my sister's house for dinner with the family. Stash Report to follow (possibly tomorrow).

April Quilting Month II

Sew, Mama, Sew! is having their second (annual?) quilting month all during April. They will have information, ideas and tutorials every day this month. And, of course, Prizes! Here's a schedule of events. They are starting off with the basics, which I always find informative even though I've been quilting for more years than I can remember. I am always interested to see if other people have different ways of doing things than me. Hop over there often to see what's going on. There will be lots of inspiring quilts to see!

Stash Busting 2010 - Week 13

I'm a little late, but finally back to the stash report! Really, I waited yesterday because I am so close to a couple of finishes, I thought I might have something to report, but no luck. The day got late and I didn't finish anything.

Last Monday I finished another Dear Jane block shown above. I have another one half way finished, so I'm rolling right along with those at the moment. The bits of time I have during class are great for this project. I don't want anyone to see the class projects before they are ready, so I can't work on those there.

In the weeks that I didn't post a stash report, I bought 2 yards of white for one of the class projects, then yesterday I bought 2 yards for borders also for class projects. For the most part I just have borders left, so I'm really close to calling all that fabric busted!! In the mean time, I've fallen the "wrong way" in the stash report. Not for long, though!!

Fabric added this week: 4.00 yards
Fabric used this week: 0.00 yards

Fabric added this year: 8.50 yards
Fabric used this year: 5.75 yards

Total stash busted this year: -2.75 yards

Things of Inspiration and Interest 03/23/10

In my travels around the blogosphere, I have found some really interesting things. There are a lot of people doing great things out there! Unfortunately, I usually cannot find my way back to these websites after I leave them. In an effort to keep track of these things and to share them with you, I'm going to just make a quick post and link to them as I find them.

First up, a blog project by Lisa Congdon called "A Collection a Day, 2010", where she posts a picture of a collection of items every day in 2010. The collections are as fascinating to me as is the fact that she does this daily. As in Every. Single. Day.

I can't link to a picture, so you'll have to hop over there to check it out!

National Quilting Day 2010

I'm back! I couldn't let National Quilting Day go by without posting! I've been a little out of sorts since posting last. I got that nasty head cold that seems to be going around lately. After I got over that I went through a couple of weeks of just generally not feeling well -- very tired and low energy to the point of not being able to get much done other than work. I feel like I'm finally out of that funk and coming back to life. Right now I'm scrambling to get my projects ready for the next session of my quilting class which starts next month. I have one quilt that just needs borders, a table runner top that needs quilting and finishing, and another twin sized top that I'm a little farther behind on. I have all of the smaller units made and I need to assemble the blocks and then put those together. Yikes!

I did put together a Dear Jane block in class last week, and I'm really happy with it (see picture above). It is C3, and I foundation pieced it. It is a pretty straightforward block that I could have pieced the traditional way, but I like the accuracy of the foundation piecing, so I did it that way. I have another DJ block that is partially made, so maybe I'll be showing that one soon!

It's getting late and we're going out for burgers later (at my favorite burger joint) so I better get some sewing done before National Quilting Day is over!!

Stash Busting 2010 - Week 6

I've been doing very little sewing lately. I don't know if it's the weather or the tiring work days or what. I awoke early this morning to sun in my eyes. At first I was mad because I knew I would not be able to get back to sleep with such bright light. Then with a jolt I thought, hey the sun's in my eyes - yay! It was a wonderfully sunny morning. I'll take it!

I've been trying to work out the projects I want to teach in my next quilting class session, which is coming right up. I bought the above pack of fat quarters last year on a whim -- I liked the bright colors which I seem to have so little of in my stash. They are washed but not pressed in the picture. I think I've decided on a project for them and for class all at the same time. Now I have a bunch of figuring to do to see if it will work with fat quarters.

I did buy some more solid white fabric that is earmarked for this project, but if I can't get it to work out, it will go into my stash. So here's my report for this week:

Fabric added this week: 2.00 yards
Fabric used this week: 0.00 yards

Fabric added this year: 4.50 yards
Fabric used this year: 5.75 yards

Total stash busted this year: 1.25 yards

Stash Busting 2010 - Week 5

The sun finally returned!! It has been raining non-stop here and it's really put me into a funk. Although we are in a drought (I can't really remember a time when "they" didn't say were weren't in a drought) I really don't care for the rain. I especially dislike driving in it. But finally this weekend we had sunny days both days. Our cat, Bear, couldn't get enough. He really enjoyed rolling around on the floor in the sun rays. Above you can see him in the sun, trying to fit into a box that is way to small for him. He's like me trying to fit into clothes that are just too small for me now!

Not much sewing going on still. I did get a Dear Jane block done today, though. It's B2. They are so small I don't think I can really count any measurable amount of fabric out of the stash. Maybe after the next one I make I'll count the combined amount out. I enjoyed making this block -- a little piecing and a little applique. I am really bummed that I got some ink on the back of the block, though. I printed the circle out on my ink jet printer, forgetting that the ink runs if it gets wet. I used starch in the seam allowance and a little bit bled into the seam line. You can't really see it in the picture, but it's there in person. After much deliberation, I decided to leave it.

Fabric added this week: 0.00 yards
Fabric used this week: 0.00 yards

Fabric added this year: 2.50 yards
Fabric used this year: 5.75 yards

Total stash busted this year: 3.25 yards

Stash Busting 2010 - Week 4

Today we went to the Kint Tut exhibit at the De Young Museum in San Francisco. It was pretty fun except that it was very crowded. Difficult to see the actual items, but very interesting if you waited for the people to clear. Then, as an added bonus, they happened to be having a showing of Amish quilts in another part of the museum.

That, of course, was the icing on the cake! It was a somewhat small exhibit, but definitely worth seeing since we were there anyway. I was surprised at how fancy some of the quilts were -- I'm used to seeing Amish quilts that are more plainly pieced. All in all, a very good day!

My quilting class starts tomorrow night, January 25, 2010, at 6:00 at the Veterans Building in Redwood City. I didn't get any sewing done this week, but I did do plenty of pattern-writing and printing. I should be all set for the start of class tomorrow. I can't wait to actually get to do some sewing of my own! So I have a pretty empty stash report again this week!

Fabric added this week: 0.00 yards

Fabric used this week: 0.00 yards

Fabric added this year: 2.50 yards

Fabric used this year: 5.75 yards

Total stash used this year: 3.25 yards

Stash Busting 2010 - Week 3

Not much sewing done this week. I should have been doing lots of different things, but I decided to make a Dear Jane block instead. I like it a lot! It's been a while since I made one and I'm really glad I took the time to make it. I also made a block for the Block Lottery for my class. I'm going to say that I used 1/4 yard between the two blocks.

Fabric added this week: 0.00 yards
Fabric used this week: 0.25 yards

Fabric added this year: 2.50 yards
Fabric used this year: 5.75 yards

Total stash used this year: 3.25 yards

Stash Busting 2010 - Week 2

The winter session of the quilting class starts soon. The preview is tomorrow night, Monday, January 11, 2010 at 6:00 pm at the Redwood City Veterans Building. Anyone local and interested should stop by, see the new projects and pick up the supply lists. The nine-patch quilt along that I had been working on is finally complete except for the binding. It was quite a challenge to take a picture of a quilt that large. I tried putting it on my bed, but as you can see above, that posed its own problem. I keep forgetting who really runs this house! Anyhow, you can see it in person tomorrow night at the preview (without the cat).

As for stash-busting, I have nothing to report this week. I pieced the back of a small wall hanging, but I'll count that out when I put the layers together, which should be in the next week. So no fabric in or out this week. I'm holding steady!

Fabric added this week: 0 yards

Fabric used this week: 0 yards

Fabric added this year: 2.50 yards

Fabric used this year: 5.50 yards

Total stash used in 2010: 3.00 yards

Occasional Quote

I wasn't sure how to title this post -- I didn't want to say "daily" quote, because I certainly am not that disciplined. At this point, I don't even want to commit to a monthly quote! I could try to do that, but in the end I know I would end up in a pinch at the end of the month and would post any old thing, and I want them to mean more to me than that. So for now, I'll just say that when I see a quote I really like, I'll post it here.

While blog-hopping, I saw this one that really spoke to me. I even looked it up to verify its accuracy.

He who works with his hands is a laborer.

He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.

He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.

St. Francis Of Assisi