Stash Report - September 4, 2016

These last two weeks have seemed to fly by.  Since my last report showed an embarrassing mess in my sewing room, I spent time cleaning it up!  In addition to happily getting my cutting table back, I also put away the fabric I had pulled out to test for various projects and leftovers I hadn't folded and labeled.  All done now!

While working on those items, I also pulled out all of the projects I have for members of my immediate family.  They are all in a basket now, and I am embarrassed at how many there are.  They include things like replacing shirt buttons for Hubby, the messenger bag for my oldest son, and the playroom tuffet and blackout curtains for the younger son.

So as I was thinking about my priorities for September, I decided I needed to focus on getting the things done for my family.  I've been worrying about the red numbers at the bottom of this report, and  getting these small projects done would help in both showing them I love them and clearing out my sewing space.  I still want to quilt a finished quilt top, and it works out because this month's UFO at 52quilts.com is my Scrappy Mountain Majesties.  Maybe I can get it done, along with some of the other projects for my family.

First though, I need to finish Bricks in the Barnyard.  I have finished all of the blocks, and now I am working on the French Braid border.  It helped to spend more than 15 minutes each of the 7 days this week, which brings my total days this year to 133 days.  (Kate over at Life in Pieces is reporting her % now, and I won't do that...it will be a failing grade!)

So nothing in or out this week, which leaves my numbers unchanged.

              This Week     This Year
Used:            0.00           25.25
Added:           0.00          (73.50)
Net:              0.00           (48.25)

Check out how others are smashing their stashes at Patchwork Times.

Have a blessed week,
Joy :)

Stash Report - August 21, 2016

This week, there has been no change in my numbers.  That does not mean there has not been anything under my needle or time spent in the sewing room though.  This week, I got back to Bricks in the Barnyard by Bonnie Hunter.  I managed to sew 30 blocks together, which meets this month's 350 Block Challenge number at PrairieMoon Quilts.

I only stopped, because I ran out of one of the pieces I needed to make blocks.  I turned around to cut some more, and....uuunhhhh!

Maybe I need to find my cutting table under there somewhere.  But since it's out, maybe I should go ahead and find fabric to use as the background for my next Buttercream Summer block and trace it for some hand embroidery.  I looked for fabric for a while, and made an even bigger mess.   Not having found the piece I was looking for, I put the fabric away.  Then I neatly started putting various parts of the BOM back in it's designated container.  Voila!  There was the exact piece I was looking for.  I thought, "I should move the stack off my light table and trace the pattern.  What time is it?  2:13AM!!!  How did that happen!?!"

Did I mention I started at 8:45PM, and was only going to sew 15 minutes and go to bed early?  I was trying to follow Kate's good example over at Life in Pieces.  Needless to say, that late night/early morning time in my room counted for 2 of the 5 days I spent in my room this past week.  That brings my total days in the sewing room to 122 for the year.

I haven't managed to trace my pattern yet, but I am trying to focus the rest of the day on cutting the rest of the pieces I need for Bricks in the Barnyard, as well as fixing this...

Oops!  In addition to the 7 bricks I need to finish what is already cut, I also need to cut the rest of the pieces to make 22 more blocks.  I followed the directions when I cut the first time, and made 95 blocks.  I've now decided to make it a little bigger.  If I can get the pieces cut today, then I can slip into the sewing room for a few minutes each morning before taking my son to school and finish the blocks.  I'll also need to resume my 10 minutes a day picking up my sewing room, which will make some much needed progress in cleaning it up.

Still, no actual quilting has taken place this week.  I'm seeing my hopes of quilting my 5 finished tops this month quickly fading...At least I know what my goals for September will be!

See how others are doing managing their stash at Patchwork Times.  I think they are all doing better than me!

                               This Week             This Year
Used:                              0.00                   25.25
Purchased:                        0.00                   73.50
Net:                                 0.00                   48.25

Blessings,
Joy :)

Stash Report - August 14, 2016

Note to Self:  Do not go on a vacation that ends 2 days before school starts!

Unpacking from my beach vacation and starting back to school has been a complete whirlwind.  In fact, I think I just washed the last of the beach towels because I have been so busy.  But now, the kids are back in the school, the calendar is up to date, and the house is clean.  I still have a few reorganizing projects to do, but the important ones (like the kids closets and pantry) are done.

Way back on August 1st, I woke up early and made my "To-Do" lists.  One of those lists was my stitching goals for the month.  The kids were going to be in school, so I would have more time to sew.  Very ambitiously, I made a list of 18 stitching goals.  (Insert laughing here!). How much have I gotten done so far?  4 blocks!  I did spend a little time straightening my sewing space, but not much.  Total days spent in the sewing room this month...1!  (I haven't joined Kate at Life in Pieces in reporting days spent in the sewing room before, but it is now at 117 for the year.)

Fortunately, not having time to sew, also means not having time to shop.  So my numbers remain unchanged.  Many of the monthly goals involve quilting some tops, so I'm looking forward to having some finishes in the next few weeks now that life has settled back down.

                                This Week             This Year
Used:                              0.00                   25.25
Purchased:                        0.00                   73.50
Net:                                 0.00                   48.25

Until next time, enjoy your stitching and see how others are managing their stashes at Patchwork Times.

Blessings,
Joy :)

Stash Report - July 31, 2016

This week, there has been no sewing...not even any stitching. Sometimes, you just have to spend a little time here....

For the last week, my little family and I have been in the Outer Banks of North Carolina with my extended family. Along the way, we visited the Wright Brother's Memorial, 

searched for Wild Horses, 

and climbed to the top of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. 

My Mom, sister, and I made time to stop by the local quilt store. I'm not really doing the Row by Row, but I wanted their row as a vacation souvenier. 

I also picked up these precuts, to use in the quilt. 

And what would a beach shop be with out some sandy prints?  These sand castles and footprints made their way into my bag, all 6 yards. Backing maybe?

I also bought some notions I had been unable to find in Nashville. 

That puts my report a little further in the red, but some finishes are the goal for August!

                                This Week             This Year
Used:                              0.00                   25.25
Purchased:                     6.00                   73.50
Net:                                 6.00                   48.25

It's been a great week, but sadly we are headed home now. Back in reality, school starts this week, and we shall see what the new year brings. 

See other tales of stash management at Patchwork Times. 

Blessings,

Joy :)

Stash Report - July 24, 2016

It's not a UFO!!  I managed to both start and finish a quilt top in the same month!  The quilt top Boxy Stars by Bonnie Hunter is finished.  It was a fun project, and is an extra long twin.

I have also worked diligently on the other Bonnie Hunter top I started earlier in the month, Bricks in the Barnyard.  I am about half finished with the blocks, and have used the French braid border as my Leaders and Enders.  I hope to finish it the first week of August.

Next month, I will focus on free-motion quilting and try to get all of the quilts in my que quilted.  So for now, no change to my report.

                                 This Week             This Year
Used:                              0.00                   25.25
Purchased:                      0.00                    67.50
Net:                                 0.00                   42.25

Have a great week!
Joy :)

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times.

Stash Report - July 17, 2016

Have you ever been getting ready for a retreat or special sewing time and thought, "I'm going to get so much done!  I better take extra!"?  That is exactly what I did last week.  My plan was to sew every day in the hotel room while my boys were at Space Day Camp.  My goal was to finish the two class quilts I started with Bonnie Hunter at the beginning of the month.  But surely I could get more finished, so I also packed Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Floating Hexagons, my Christmas table runner, and a Scrap Bag for good measure.  It would be terrible to have to go "buy" a "new" project while on vacation, right?

Hahahahahaa!  Silly girl!  What was I thinking?  I did sew every day (and night) in the hotel room.  I did get quite a bit accomplished, but taking just the two class quilts would have been plenty.  While in the hotel, there were still "chores" to be done.  We had a nice room with a kitchenette, and I had planned crockpot meals.  I took most of the spices, but I still had to shop for the meat and veggies while I was there.  I still had a load of laundry to do, and I had to pick up the room each morning after my little tornadoes were done getting dressed.  (Yes, they are able to do this themselves, but time in the morning was a factor.)  There were also two trips to Unclaimed Baggage that needed to happen...that was half a day times two, and well worth it!  (I may never check another bag on an airline again!)

When I wasn't on those adventures, I was in the room sewing.  This was my little setup.  It was compact and efficient.  I really liked the layout, and I made notes in my Quilting Journal about what I liked and didn't like about the setup.  Eventually, I will redo my home sewing room, and these notes will be helpful.

I started by working on Boxy Stars.  Maybe I should have started with Bricks in the Barnyard, because I think I had all of those pieces cut out already.  That was not the case for Boxy Stars.  So I spent time cutting and marking those pieces before I could sew them.  I did manage to get all of the blocks done for the quilt while in the hotel.

When I arrived home yesterday, I also completed adding the sashing to the blocks and assembling them into rows.  Today, I need to complete the cornerstone/sashing rows and add borders.

As I look ahead to the next few weeks, I'll be traveling again.  I won't take my machine, so this week I need to prepare one of my embroidery projects to travel with me.  I only need one, because I am quite sure I will not be able to finish an entire block while I am gone.  Once I have that prepared, I will work on Bricks in the Barnyard.  My goal is to keep this from becoming a UFO, and focus on piecing the rest of July.  In August, the plan is to work on my free-motion by quilting the tops that are waiting.  There are four so far.

So no finishes to help my numbers, but no fabric shopping either.  I have made significant progress on completing this top, so hopefully I am getting closer to moving my numbers in the other direction.

                                 This Week             This Year
Used:                              0.00                   25.25
Purchased:                       0.00                    67.50
Net:                                 0.00                   42.25

See how others are managing their stash this week at Patchwork Times.

Have a great week,
Joy :)

Stash Report - July 10, 2016

It's been a great week.  One of my Quilting Cousins came to visit with her grandson.  They played together well, while she and I talked and enjoyed time together.

And guests mean...cleaning the sewing room.  This was far less traumatic than normal.  The prior week I needed to get into the Closet of Doom to find batting.  To get to the closet, I had to move the cutting table.  To move the cutting table, I had to put everything else away. So this week, all I really had to do was straighten up around my machine, move the class bags from last week to under the cutting table, and vacuum.

Before and after they left, I have been working on Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.  I have now sewn and pressed all of the half-square triangles (HST) for the Churn Dash Blocks and started piecing the Nine-Patches as Leaders and Enders.  At one point during the week, I had sewn 15 chains of 11 HSTs, and had them laying on the ironing board.  My husband went in early one morning to iron a shirt, and came in to wake me up.  He said he was not going to try to move them, because he was sure he would make a mess.  I laughed at him, got up, moved them, and ironed his shirt for him.

On Saturday, we had a project day at guild.  I looked through my email, but didn't have cutting directions.  So I arrived with just a stack of Christmas fabrics.  I still managed to finish the tablerunner top, but I haven't yet quilted it.  (I have to go back into the Closet of Doom to find batting.) So I am close to another finish.

Today, I am going to finish packing for a trip.  Hubby will be staying here while I take the boys to Huntsville, AL for Space Camp.  I'll be staying in a hotel for the week, so I am taking my machine to quilt while the boys are at the camp.  To help with my quandary from last week, I decided to take my Featherweight with me, instead of my bigger machine.  That means piecing this week, instead of quilting.  My goal will be to finish the tops from last week's workshops with Bonnie Hunter, which are Boxy Stars and Bricks in the Barnyard.  Those pieces are already packed, and mostly cut.  I'm also going to pack up Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, in case I need extra to work on.  And if I have time to clear a path and get into the Closet of Doom, I'll take the batting and backing for the guild tablerunner.  I think I have all the right colors of thread, and it's very linear design could be quilted on my Featherweight.

No fabric was added this week, and I am excited that the fabrics for the tablerunner were all in my stash.  I actually picked out fabrics from my stash to make another one too.  No finishes this week either, but I'm getting close to having several.

                                 This Week             This Year
Used:                              0.00                   25.25
Purchased:                       0.00                    67.50
Net:                                 0.00                   42.25

Check out other Stash Smashers at Patchwork Times.

Have a Blessed Week,
Joy :)

Stash Report - July 3, 2016

It's July!!  I love July!  To me, it is just summer!  Kicking off with celebrating the birth of our country and red, white, and blue, leading into a vacation of some sort, and filled with hot days spent in the pool!

So to kick it off, I pulled out my Quilting Cousins Patriotic Tablerunner.  I taught this as a class last year with my Quilting Cousins.  Unfortunately, their were many miscuts of fabric, and I gave a couple of cousins some of my demo pieces.  It left me without enough of a couple of the fabrics to make mine, until I found some more at a shop in January.  So this past week, I pulled it out and put it together...Just in time for the 4th!

I also spent many hours at my cutting table this week.  I started by working on Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Charlotte Angotti.  At the beginning of the week, it looked like this:

All the pieces are now cut, and the sewing has begun.  Today, it looks like this:

Towards the end of the week, this happened!

I got to take 2 classes with Bonnie Hunter from Quiltville.com.  On Friday, it was all about Boxy Stars, which is a free pattern on her website.  I managed to get this far during the workshop:

On Saturday, we raised the roof with Bricks in the Barnyard from Scraps & Shirttails II.  I sat at the "Fun" table, so we weren't really the "Productive" table.  This (and a couple of border pieces) was all I got sewn together during the workshop:

Now, I'm in a quandary.  The Quiltville classes were so much fun and I am excited about them, but they are packed away from bringing them home.  The pieces I cut this week for Girls Just Wanna Have Fun are sitting out in my sewing room.  Next week, I'll be traveling with time to sew in my hotel room.  Do I leave the Quiltville quilts packed up and take them with me, or do I pack up the other and take it with me?  On the other hand, I also still need to make my older son a messenger bag, finish two projects for my Mother-In-Love's birthday on the 15th, and figure out if a different top thread will fix my free-motion quilting problem!  I don't know the answer yet, but first things first...finish the binding on the patriotic table runner!

I'm so glad to have a finish this week, and no fabric purchases.  (I did however, purchase several books and pens from Bonnie.)

                                 This Week             This Year
Used:                               2.50                   25.25
Purchased:                       0.00                    67.50
Net:                                 2.50                   42.25

See more Stash Busting progress at Patchwork Times.

Blessings,
Joy  :)

Stash Report - June 26, 2016

Where has the month gone?  I am certainly enjoying these summer days with my kiddos, but it is moving on by!  They left yesterday to spend a few days with their grandparents, so I am trying to get caught up.  Since my last post, I've had some drastic stash movement, but not in a positive way.

I agreed to make my oldest son a new bag to carry at church.  Since he will be entering the youth group in a few months, he and I decided he needed a "cooler" bag.  I did a little surfing, and came up with a messenger style bag.  I used the Connor Messenger Bag pattern from punkinpatterns.com as my inspiration.  Since he is a little bigger than the pattern writer's son, I needed to make some adjustments.  My son also asked for some things that were not in the original design, like a zipper, pen loops, and snaps.  For the outside of the bag, I am using some old uniform pants I had.  I wore holes in several pairs, and I was saving them to use as backing for a denim quilt I want to make one day.  Since it is a heavier fabric than regular cotton, it should hold up and wear nicely.  He also wanted it lined, so we went shopping and he picked out the celestial star fabric.  We didn't know which color carabiners we would be able to find, so we bought a yard of each of the three colors they had.

We found carabiners in red and green, and he chose the red.  Since I wasn't sure about the modifications I wanted to make for the bag, I used the green to make a mock up that we will give to his little brother.  It turned out ok, but I definitely learned some things that will come in handy for making the finished bag for my older son.

I'll be working on the older son's bag later this week.  Tonight, I would like to finish a purse for a friend who has a birthday this week.

At the end of the week, I will be taking 2 classes with Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville.com  I'm excited about the class, but I wonder if I am the only person who has to buy fabric to take her class?  She's known mostly for her use of scraps, but I don't seem to have many.  I guess that means I am a judicious cutter, I don't sew enough, or a little of both. I'm still excited about taking her classes.

The first is one of her free patterns called Boxy Stars.   My husband claimed this quilt, and asked me to make it in blues/blue-greens.  I plan to use the white with blue rings as the background, and the blue/greens as pieces.  I bought extra of the blue with gray, so I could use it for a border and binding.   I'll also be increasing the size of this quilt, so he can use it on the couch.  I'll need to get some of the pieces cut before the class on Friday.

The second class will be Bricks in the Barnyard from her book Scraps & Shirttails II.  I'll be using the gray strip roll as my light pieces, the black strip roll as my dark pieces, and the yellow/green as my accent pieces.  Each of these strip rolls have 50 2.5" strips, which is equal to about 3 1/2 yards of fabric each.  I'll be making this quilt larger than is in the book, and I'll have to cut them down this week too.  I have some other blacks/grays I may toss in the bag in case I need them.

My numbers are taking a nosedive, since I purchased so much fabric for these 2 classes.  I have the one messenger bag finish to offset a little, but it would really help if I could get my last quilt top quilted and bound.  My free-motion machine and I have had a disagreement about the top, and so far the machine is winning.  It is looping really badly on the back, regardless of where I set the tension.  It seems to be piecing just fine.  I am going to try buying a different thread for the top, before I throw in the towel and take it to the repair man.

So my number are:

                                   This Week             This Year

Used                                     1.0                   22.75

Added                                  25.25                  67.5

Net Used / Added                     24.25                  44.75

Check out how others are managing their stashes and what they have been up to at Patchwork Times.

Have a Blessed week,

Joy :)

Stash Report - May 22, 2016

This week, I have mostly been busy helping a friend move.  Actually, that friend is a local quilt shop owner, and she was moving her personal studio.  She isn't "set up" in the new space, but at least all of her belongings are in the new space.  I'll be helping her over the next few months to get everything in place.  Along the way, she found a couple of things to give to me.

First is a Koala chair.  It is an older model that she used as a shop demo many years ago when she sold Koala furniture.  It doesn't have all of the bells and whistles of more modern chairs, but it should be more comfortable than the straight chair I use now.

She also gave me a large cutting mat, that is 35 x 71.  It should fit the top of my cutting table, but I don't currently have all of the leaves up on it, so I didn't take a picture of it.

And finally, she gave me what remained on a bolt of fabric.  It is 5 yards of space fabric, which happens to be the theme I picked for this summer with the boys.  I'll be making pillowcase bags, and other bags for them out of it to use on our many adventures this summer.

On the actual sewing front, I did finish the top of the Chained Nine Patch by Cathy Bush I was working on.  I've selected the coral color at the top for my backing and binding, and I'm proud to say I had it in my stash.

I don't have pictures of my actual stash, because it is buried behind my cutting table.  However, I did want to share how I label and fold my fabric.  I start by measuring all of the fabric that comes in.  Any piece that is 1/2 yard or more, gets wrapped around my 6" x 24" ruler, and then folded in half.  I then stick a label on it with the yardage and width.  This way, I don't have to unfold it to figure out how much I have, and whether or not it will work for the current project.

I have been doing this for many years now, so it isn't a burden on me.  When I first started, I spent most of a New Year's night wrapping and labeling fabric.  When I finished, it was amazing how much space it saved by being uniform.  I've managed to fill up that extra space now.

I went the wrong direction this week, but it was worth it!

                                   This Week             This Year

Used                                      .0                   21.75

Added                                  5.00                  42.25

Net Used / Added                     5.00                  20.50

The rest of the day will be to baste and quilt the Chained Nine Patch.  Maybe I'll have a finish today, or at least later this week!  I'll also wash the space fabric, so I can use it later this week if I get the time.

Linking up with Patchwork Times for more updates from StashSmashers!

Tata for now,
Joy :)

Stash Report - May 15, 2016

You know those times in life when you just seem to live in "Crisis Mode"?  That is an accurate description of me for the last month.  I knew I would be traveling, but then to insert things like a surprise visit from my parents, my son's broken arm, a quick move by a friend of quilt shop proportions, and all of the end of year school activities, it has just been a busy month.

Hubby at the Fort in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Little One, who looks a little too happy to have a cast.

The Big One, who earned his first medal at Solo & Ensemble.

Why did I share all of that?  Because I haven't been in the sewing room much this month.  Actually, I had to clean it up when I found out Mom and Dad were on their way, because my sewing room is also my guest room.  I had to take everything off the "Design Bed", so they had a place to sleep!  Along the way, I did manage to finish a couple of my Ca$h and Carry bags by Atkinson Designs.  This will replace one I lost a few years ago when my purse was stolen.

Ca$h and Carry by Atkinson Designs

I also managed to complete a Farm Girl Vintage block by Lori Holt.  This one is called Baking Day.  This was fun, and I plan to do more...as time permits.  These will just be individual blocks for now.  

Baking Day from Farm Girl Vintage by Lori Holt

In the last month, I not only celebrated Mother's Day, but also my birthday.  All of my boy's were very sweet, and in addition to flowers, both cut and potted, I also received...

A pneumatic staple gun for tuffet making, and an air compressor to go with it.

A 17-inch rotating mat.

When I was finally able to work in my sewing room for an extended period of time, I was working on April's UFO.  I wasn't too far from completion, so I chose to keep going on it, rather than move to this month's UFO.  I now have all of my blocks made for Chained Nine Patch by Cathy Bush.  I will hopefully finish stitching the rows together later today, and have a completed top.  I haven't selected my backing or binding yet, but I'm hoping it can all come from my stash.  I think I have a piece of batting that will fit inside as well.

Chained Nine Patch by Cathy Bush

Chained Nine Patch by Cathy Bush

Yesterday at guild, we also worked on Floating Hexagons by Missouri Star Quilt Company.  To prepare, I purchased 2 yards of the background, and 2 charm packs.

Paradiso by Kate Spain for Moda

When I got home and started cutting, I realized the requirements for the background were incorrect.  Since I had purchased the end of the bolt, I selected a different background to finish the pieces I needed, and also purchased the cornerstone (the paint swipes) and the border (the multi floral print) fabrics.  I don't normally select most of the quilt from the same line, but since I was using the charm packs, this just seemed appropriate.

Paradiso yardage by Kate Spain for Moda

I managed to get a few blocks complete during guild.  I'll return to this project once I finish my UFO for the month.

Floating Hexagons in progress

With all of that said, I definitely went the wrong direction this week.  Hopefully by next week, I will have a finish to reverse part of it.

                                 This Week            This Year

Used                                    .25                  21.75

Added                                  8.50                  37.25

Net Used / Added                     8.25                  15.50

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times.  Have a magnificent week!

Stash Report - April 3, 2016

I hope everyone had a nice Easter last week.  I was busy preparing the meal, so I missed my post.  Just as well...I really didn't have anything to report.  I haven't really been in the sewing room much the last couple of weeks.  It seems life has happened when I wasn't paying attention.  Hopefully, with the ushering in of Spring, I will be able to return to my room regularly.

Last week, I took my machine in for service.  I couldn't just leave the shop without looking around, especially since it was a shop I hadn't been in before.  I found this great tone on tone neutral.  I like it because it doesn't have flowers on it.  It makes it more versatile for me when my boys want something made from it.  I bought a yard.

I also bought some quilt basting spray for a minkee project I am noodling in my head, and several little scissors sets.  The one with hearts has a clip that clips to your clothes, so I don't lose them while I am watching TV.  The other two have pigs on them, and are gifts for my Mom and Sister.  They help each year on the Swine Livestock Show during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.  (If they say something to me about them, we'll know if they read my blog.)

It is only the first few days of April, and I have already managed to complete a couple of my goals.  First, I was able to complete the stitching down of my hexagons on my Buttercream Summer block.  That will complete this block, and now I am ready to prepare the 7th of 8 blocks for embroidering.  I won't get to count anything out of stash this week for it, but I am one step closer to completing the quilt.

Second, I was able to finish the pillowcase bags for my boys.  I did not pick the fabrics out...they did. Unlike me, they don't enjoy shopping for fabric, so I'm sure they picked the first thing they saw without flowers.  These are really cute bags, and I am thinking about making some more with Star Wars fabric.  My plan is to use these when we travel to put the kids blankets, pillow pets, and stuffed animals in.  Last time we traveled, one of my boys dropped their blanket in a puddle as we were going into the hotel.  This will hopefully prevent that, and make it easier to carry.  I think they would also be great for a sleepover or a laundry bag at camp.  If you would like the pattern, you can find it on allpeoplequilt.com.  Total used for these two pillowcase bags is 2 3/4 yards.

                                      This Week          This Year
Used                                      2.75               21.5
Added                                    1.00               28.75
Net Used / Added                 1.75                  7.25

This certainly has things moving in the right direction, but I have more to do. I am linking up to Patchwork Times, and you can see how others are using these stash.

Blessings,
Joy