Looking Ahead

Maybe it' a bit too early to being thinking about July's activities, but because I have decisions to make and need to have a plan in place, I am looking ahead.

For Sharon and me, July is Roman Holiday Month! We both have remnants and some new (to us) jelly rolls in our Roman Holiday stashes, and we want to use this beautiful fabric! Through text messages, I know that she, too, is looking ahead and trying to establish a plan so that when July arrives we can go-go-go.

One type of quilt I've never made is a basket quilt, so I think that I would like to pair my Roman Holiday fabric with a basket pattern. This idea has fairly consumed me the past few days, and I have browsed through dozens of books, magazines and internet sites for inspiration.

Many fabric shops, fabric companies and pattern designers offer free patterns, which I have also perused. Moda's blog has a lengthy selection of freebies, and Picnic at Daybreak is one that I particularly like.

I spilled out the content of my Roman Holiday stash and added in the new charm packs and the jelly roll. This picture indicates that most of my quilt will be red, which I wouldn't mind in the least. The collection contains a good bit of brown and green and yellow and blue, believe it or not. I have a bit of yellow yardage which you see in the picture, but I only have the other colors in the precut forms. This definitely limits my options, so I must be deliberate in choosing a basket pattern.

While my brain works this all out, I have been stitching on Lake Effect, watching Cleveland Indians baseball and enjoying a lot of down time. Life is good here!

I've joined Confessions of a Fabric Addict and her weekly party Can I Get a Whoop Whoop!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Sell Your Stash!?!

If anyone ever told me that I would one day sell my stash, I would think he or she had lost all sensibility. Don't worry, I am NOT selling my stash, but a dear friend is.

I know. It makes one shudder to think of it.

For whatever reason - and I am sure she has a few - Terry has measured out her stash and is offering it for sale to those of us in the Frankfort group and close friends in other circles. I will leave you to drool over the goodies.

After sewing together on Friday, Jan, Sharon O. and I went over to Terry's to have a sneak peek. We helped Terry out a bit by carrying all the fabric you see in these pictures from her upstairs sewing room to her downstairs dining room. Whew! It was a job, and I don't see how she would have done it by herself.

Yes, I did make some purchases. I don't believe I have taken a picture yet of what I bought, but it was mostly neutrals in darker tan and beige colors.

I have been absent from blogland for a few days; too busy running around and teaching, I reckon. I hope this coming week slows down a bit.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Retail Therapy

While in Amish Country on Tuesday, Sharon, Dee and I visited Mrs. Miller's Dry Goods in Charm. I have shared this wonderful quilt shop here in earlier posts, as it has long been a favorite. It has been so long since I made random purchases, so this was quite a treat I allowed myself. *wink*

Since I seem to be teetering on that slippery slope towards the insanity known as English Paper Piecing, I picked up these two essentials--3/4" hexagon templates and glue pen refills.

Fat quarters. The blue and yellow will likely end up on a pillow for our screened porch; the red and teal set might see life as a zipper bag like the one shown here; and the brown, gray and black set seemed to be suited for EPP.

Four of these items are 1-yard cuts; I think I can never have enough neutrals in the stash, and that gray dottie one may end up going in the tub with a project I've had simmering that will use grays and yellows.  The larger piece is a 3-yard cut of white-on-white, and I have been finding myself using these more often of late, so that falls into the stash enhancement category, too.

I continue to try to use from the stash, but every now and then a gal has to shop! I think I maintained restraint and at the same time, got some real useful additions for upcoming projects.

After Charm, we drove over to Berlin where we shopped two more stores, but I was content to just window shop--no additional purchases were required, although I did see some French General that really begged to come with me. I resisted. Barely.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A (Tiny) Bit of Stash Enhancement

Stash enhancement has been non-existent in the last year or two. I just came to a realization that I had so much already and the price was getting so high, I was wise to just use up the stash.

That said, I have taken tiny bites of the enhancement pie. I will occasionally buy some fat quarters, or some sale fabrics. Any bigger purchases are usually to finish something I have going from the stash or a back to use for a top I've done.

I would like to add one more category to my buying list: purchase is okay if it will work in a planned quilt on the Goals List.

On Friday, we Frankfort quilters went on a little field trip to Lebanon, OH, for a quilt show. We have gone to this one twice before, so we are old hands at finding our way around. I managed to find a few fabrics that I thought needed to come home with me.

On the list for 2013 is to make a yellow and gray quilt. I have seen this color combination showing up on Pinterest, not just in quilts, but in home decorating, as well. I found the 2 fabrics in the bottom portion of this picture in my stash.The darker grays and yellow at the top of the picture are what I bought Friday. They are all half-yard cuts.

This is what I mean about buying fabric that will enhance a planned projects. In other words, I am trying to eliminate "willy-nilly" purchases. I used to do A LOT of that, believe me!

Lest you think I am totally reformed from my "willy-nilly" days, the above Charm Packs would fall into that category. I have no intended quilt for these, and can think of no reason for having them other than I just really love this line. I have seen it used in quilts on the blogs, and I think these will be useful to me at some point, so I bought them. *sigh*

Well, peeps, I am working on another "procrastination buster" today. Pictures forthcoming!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Unusual Behavior

My motto for the last year or so has been use the stash!!

Lately, especially, I am really proud of the way I have been using from the stash for my recent and not-so-recent projects.  I have so much fabric. Really. So much. I doubt it would be humanly possible to use everything in said stash in an average lifetime. In reading some of my favorite blogs, I notice that today's blog from Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilts has a similar sentiment! Cool!

The size of the stash coupled with the alarming rate of increasing fabric prices have reinforced in me the absolute necessity to use the stash!

Given that, I have to report my unusual behavior. I have made a select few purchases lately. Twice. Both times the fabrics were sale-priced. Yippeee!

At the recent quilt show in Cincinnati, I bought only these two 1-yard bundles at $5 each. Nice, huh?

Both pieces are by Judie Rothermel. Love her stuff. I am very pleased with this purchase. Stash enhanced quite well, I must say.

Today, our new area quilt shop, Old Town Fabric Shop in Chillicothe, is offering sale prices as part of their grand opening celebration. I love getting 25% off if you finish the bolt, so that's what I did - three times!

The 3 yardage pieces totalled just under 7 yards; price around $45. The jelly roll was already marked down, and they were offering an additional 20% off because of the Celebration, so it was just over $23.

Not too bad, wouldn't you agree? These will work nicely into the existing stash, so I'm thinking I did just fine.

Retail therapy was just what I needed!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Let's Go Shopping

How many times have you heard me say I am going to use up the stash, while cutting back on adding more to the stash?? I know, too many. And yet I continue to fall off the wagon.

Last Friday was a wonderfully quilty day. It began with my Frankfort friends quilting together at JoAnn's house. Lovely morning.

Left there for a meeting with a high school classmate. We are planning our 35th year reunion. Gahh! It worked out that halfway between her and me put me in the neighborhood of Waynesville, OH, home of Fabric Shack!! Yippie!

The stripes are going to be lining fabrics on two bags I am planning to make. They are to complement the feature fabric on the bag, and work really well, I think.

The two blues on the bottom are destined to become yet another bag - this one a messenger bag for daughter Erin. She has a Mac laptop, smaller than my HP laptop, so I will adjust the size accordingly. I bought the fabric with her in mind, and she says I did okay.

The jelly rolls are my first ever purchases of jelly rolls. What do I plan to do with them? Haven't a clue. Why, then did I get them? I have either a charm pack or a layer cake of each of them, and simply bought them to coordinate whatever project happens along for them!

Last, there's that lonely charm pack there. It, too, was purchased to go with another charm pack of the same fabric. If I plan to do a Schnibbles, 2 are generally required, so I'm just planning ahead, don't you know.

Remember I said it was a quilty day? Well, driving home from Waynesville, I got a call from Linda, a long-arm quilter who had Erin's Urban Chic quilt saying that she had it done!!! Yayy! I picked it up on Saturday, and now I need to get busy binding it.

And, one more quilty thing: the retiree in our group is getting a quilt to honor the occasion. It, too, needs binding, and guess who is gonna' do it?? Me! So I must get busy with those and get them checked off my to-do list. Will post pics when complete.

Don't you just love quilty days? Well, there is yet another...I stopped at a WalMart to buy the latest Quilt Sampler by BH&G. I knew it had been out awhile, but hadn't been anywhere that sold it. Ummm, satisfying day.

Americana Rose

In keeping with my fondness of starting projects before finishing the previous ones, here is what I began earlier in the week. It was waiting for me in a basket in my sewing room. Every time I glanced that direction, it whispered a little encouragement to me. I figured, what the heck, go ahead and cut it. Do at least that much. Then you can return to that Farmer's Wife quilt, or that Broken Dishes quilt, or that long list of UFOs residing in my sidebar.

This is from the June 2009 issue of BH&G American Patchwork and Quilting magazine.

You can see the checkmarks I made as I cut each fabric. I kept losing my place!

The finished quilt will meaure 50" square, and they sold a kit, so I just went ahead and ordered it. Hadn't ever done that before, but I knew I'd not find all those fabrics from that line on my own. The magazine did some photoshopping on its picture, as the blue in the fabric is not as vivid as the blue pictured. This was what drew me to it in the first place, so I was a bit disappointed. (I've gotten over it.)

Here are my teeny-tiny pieces. I've cut some corners off the small flying geese units there in the upper right; shows just how small these blocks will be!

Here are 2 of the 20 blue star blocks needed for the quilt. Pretty little things, aren't they? The star points are supposed to be randomly selected from 4 fabrics. The center square is consistent.

Rarely do I get started on a project so recently featured in a magazine. This project isn't yet a year old!! Since it isn't a full-size quilt, I think I will try to get it finished before summer - especially before the Fourth of July. It will be a pretty table topper for Independence Day festivities.

Let's Just Call it a Random Tangent

Nicole over at the blog Sister's Choice Quilts found herself in a conundrum a few days ago. She'd started 4 or 5 quilts, like them all, and didn't have a really strong urge to work on any of them more than another. So, in a fun way to solve the problem, she asked her readers to vote on the one she should work on. The spring-y, cheerful blue and yellow ended up being the winner.

My vote was for a different project, but I do like blue and yellow quilts. I even commented to Nicole that I had just such a stash in my sewing room that was waiting for a project, and that maybe I'd just sew mine along with hers!

You know where this is going, right?

In a completely rash move, I just started cutting and sewing. I don't have a plan in mind; I don't have a pattern; I'm not sure how big it will be, nor what other fabrics I will use with it. So far I have 14 of these 9-patches and possibly enough fabric to make 3 more. Then I'll be forced to delve into the stash and (cross my fingers) hope I come up with something!!

Here is a sampling of the blue/yellow stash. I just pulled what was close by; trust me, there's more. :-)

It looks like an overload of yellow and white, but quite a few perfectly acceptable blues are in the stash, just waiting to be called to duty.

Thanks to Nicole for moving me into action! This will be fun!

Cheddar Cheese Doll Quilt

I have thrown away scraps that are bigger than the pieces I am now stitching!

The allure of Lori's (Humble Quilts) precious doll quilt had me upstairs going through the stash, pulling a boatload of fabrics. I enventually found myself cutting a 1 7/8-inch square diagonally. Do you know how small that is??? That is a teensy-tiny  peice! So small that I couldn't even see myself sitting at the sewing machine to make these blocks. For me, hand-piecing is the only way to go when pieces are so small.

I have not enhanced these pics with PhotoShop, so you're seeing them as my camera saw them.)

So, I hunkered down, fully expecting these to be quite a bear to piece, but guess what?! It's easy! I couldn't believe how quickly I got my first block finished.

So, I am happily picking up needle and thread whenever a moment presents itself. This is the beauty of hand-piecing -- a seamstress can do it in the family room, socialize with loved ones, watch tv, or fill a few extra minutes while waiting on the roast to finish or the dryer to buzz. I am going to get a bunch of squares ready to sew and take them with me to the Friday morning quilt group get-together that I've joined. (This group really needs to have a name...)

I am also working on a back for a quilt that has long needed to get to the longarm gal. Plus, tomorrow begins the Ben Franklin sale, at which time I intend to buy 8.5 yard to back my Snowflake at Dusk quilt.

Snowflakes at Dusk

Ta-daaa!! I finished a quilt top!

Yep, you heard me. I did. I finished it. The Snowflake quilt top is complete!

I won't be earning any awards for overachieving or industriousness. Dragging out projects is a particular specialty of mine. I can procrastinate better than just about anyone around, but I did actually get my snowflake quilt top finished yesterday! An accomplishment!!

This is one GI-NORMOUS quilt!! It measures 96x114! It requires 8.5 yards for backing. I hope to buy that at Ben Franklin next week when they are having their 30% off sale. I looked over the selection today when I was there, and I found a couple fabrics that will work very nicely with my quilt.

This quilt is going to be especially memorable for me. It is the first quilt made in retirement. I began it at the very end of October '09 after several months of focusing entirely on finishing off several UFOs.  Eventually, though, one gets really tired of UFOs and I was so ready to start a new project!! This is it!

When I retired, I knew I would focus on making a lot of quilts. (Considering the enormity of my stash, it is pretty much a given!) I made a rule for myself: use as much of the existing stash as possible. It would be a challenge, but it was necessary, really. The rule wouldn't be steadfast, but I would try to adhere to it as much as possible.

So I decided on my pattern, Thimbleberries Patchwork Snowflake. I then had to make decisions on fabrics, a particularly fun part of the process. Instead of following the pattern's suggestion to make the snowflake blocks in a variety of fabrics, I opted to go for one really appealing paisley fabric. The neutral I chose to compliment it with was darker than the typical neutral. At this early stage of planning I also selected a different neutral to use for the alternate blocks. I was not entirely thrilled with it, but in keeping with my plan to use up the stash, I would be satisfied with it.

In an earlier post, I described the creative use of blue paisley. I was roughly a quarter yard short of what I needed, so I ended up sewing scraps together to get pieces large enough to use on the last 2 or 3 blocks. It slowed me down A LOT, but now that I'm past it, I am glad I stayed with the plan.

In the weeks I spent sewing the blocks, I came upon an end-of-the-bolt sale. This was the kind of situation that warrants breaking the rule to use from the stash. Lucky, lucky, lucky find: a bolt with enough for the alternate blocks as well as the backing. Well, after cutting the alternate blocks and the inner border, I discovered that I would be short 1 yard for backing. Oh, well, I've come this far, a suitable back will be found.

This close up shot of one block shows the 3 main fabrics more clearly. Because the neutrals are so dark, I've named this quilt "Snowflakes at Dusk." I have it scheduled to go to the longarm quilter next week.

Planning Future Projects

Yes, I know I have a UFO list over there in the sidebar sneering at me, but I just can't help thinking about the next new project I might begin. As I've been cleaning my sewing room, I've uncovered some buried treasures that are getting me excited to have a long stretch of sewing days ahead of me.

This (above) is a project from American Patchwork and Quilting called "Enduring Elegance." The fabric (most of it) is called Aviary.

This is a grouping of various fat quarter packs I've collected in recent years. What will they become?

Here is a kit I bought from one of the popular magazines (I don't remember which). It's called American Rose. Won't it be gorgeous?

I'm barely scratching the surface of the stash!
                           
I could spend a year just working down the Kaffe Fasset collection I've accumulated! Doesn't that look exciting?

(Blissful sigh.)

I love quilting.

Stash Building!

Yeah, I know I've been blogging periodically about reducing the stash, but when this lovely new Moda fabric came out, I just had to place an order.

It's Rouenneries by French General for Moda. I fell in love with it when I first saw it on the web months ago. When Hancock's of Paducah came out with it in their catalog, I promptly put in a hefty order! It has been coming in rather piecemeal, but it's fun that way -- prolongs the anticipation!

Hi, My Name's Jayne, and I'm a Fabri-holic

There. I said it. I've admitted my addiction. The great thing about this kind of addiction, however, is that I don't have to stop any of my current behaviors. I can continue to hoard, increase the size of the stash, and it's all in the name of planning future projects.

This is a pic of the early stages of my Kaffe Fassett collecting. This picture was taken in May of '08, and pretty much shows all I had of his fabric at the time. Today, we'd have to have a mighty wide lens to see what I've added to this particular stash. I have it all neatly folded and stacked in a gi-normous clear plastic tub. It is so full that I cannot lift this tub, and the lid will not attach, as I've overflowed the top.

I remember a time when I wouldn't even take a second glance at his bright and gawdy creations. For example, in September of '07, on a weekend quilt outing, a quilting girlfriend bought a book and some fabrics of his, and I barely gave it notice. She was all excited to do some particular project, but I wouldn't budge from my firm traditional quilt fabrics. My how I've come around!

I've not forsaken the traditional, however! I still collect reproduction fabrics - to excess! - but I've branched out to romantic florals and batiks, in addition to the Kaffe. This quilt on my design wall is of fat-quarter batiks I collected over the course of a few months. I have since finished this top and it is ready to be taken to a long-arm quilter.

As for the romantic florals, what do you think of the "shabby chic" quilt above? It is a Carrie Nelson pattern called Tag Sale. I had a large pack of fat quarters with no intended purpose, so it went into this quilt. I needed to augment just a bit with eight or 10 additional fabrics from my stash. So this is truly a quilt made entirely from fabrics I had on hand. See, there is a reason to hoard! This quilt came together super-fast. I was so into it! It is definitely a pattern that begs to be made again and again.And I think I will!

Okay, I'm going up to the sewing room to take a picture of the overflowing tub of KF fabrics. It will illustrate to all just how far I've fallen into my fabric-collecting addiction. Will add shortly...promise.

Here it is! The heaviest tub of fabric in my sewing room: the Kaffe Fassett tub. It's sitting in the middle of the floor because 1)  as I said before, I can't lift it, and 2) the closet is full. Of fabric. Yeah, I know. I already admitted to the addiction.

Gift from Mailman

Does your mailman make deliveries like this? Doesn't it look delicious? This was in my mailbox yesterday. I am always interested in adding to my Kaffe Fassett collection, and a quilting friend had just introduced me to some of his older polka dot and target prints. (My dear friends, the "Frienzies," made my retirement quilt out of Kaffe fabrics because of my recent love-affair with his material -the fabrics and the quilts. That will be another picture in another post.) In searching around on the internet, I found a site that had clearance-priced some of these older pieces, so I was prompted to take advantage. The out-of-place floral in the mix is an Alex Anderson print which I took a fancy to as I was "shopping." Online fabric shopping has become the norm for me, lately. I just haven't had the inclination to make it out to the actual shops. And, I do think I am getting pickier, in that I want fabrics that will enhance what I already own. Won't these fabrics look great in my stash? And even greater in a quilt?

Okay, now I already own more fabric than I will ever be able to use. Quilters know this reality, I am sure. This fact, however, does not stop said quilters from continuing to add to the stash. I wish I could explain this phenomenon. Perhaps it's inexplicable. Besides, who needs an explanation? We just "need" more fabric! This next statement will be shocking, so prepare...I truly am cutting way back on my fabric stash-building! Yes, it's true. Since I have retired, I plan to focus on the making of quilts, rather than on the accumulation of fabric. As a matter of fact, I will go one step further...

My goal for this first year of retirement is to see how many quilt tops I can make. It'll be sort of like a contest I will have with myself. I have an unlimited number of patterns to choose from what with all my magazines, books, and print-offs from the internet. I also have a more-than-ample stash of fabrics at my disposal to use on these quilts! Won't I have a great time making gorgeous quilts? I am very excited to get started.

What is stopping me from proceeding right now? I have one more baby quilt to finish hand-quilting. The completed one is shown here. The girls, my nieces, will be 2 in October, and I've set their birthday as my arbitrary deadline. A second UFO that I want to strike off the list is Erin's quilt - the one that just needs to have the borders added. Finish those, and I will, in earnest, get cracking on quilt-top creating!

A New Beginning!

I have an old blog, but want to begin a new, improved one. This is my test/transition post. Working out the bugs, so bear with me...

The summer has come to a close, the school year starts tomorrow for Emma, and I begin my first day of being retired. Technically, I retired in May, but when you're a teacher, summer vacation doesn't really count as being retired. There's no going back to school for me this fall! I am embarking on a new adventure--one that opens up many possibilities! Each day I will get to decide what I want to do - finish a work in progress? begin a new project? read a book? have lunch with girlfriends? whatever needs to be done or whatever is "calling me" to be done--I now have the freedom to make the choice!

Brings a grin to my face just thinking of it! :-)

This has been a good day in a couple of ways. First, I managed to get a new blog started in time to chronicle the goings on in my newly retired world. Also, my dear friend Kay came out to take advantage of the monthly fabric sale at our local Ben Franklin store. She brought the Kaffe Fassett project she is working on; we ventured upstairs to my sewing room to look at my enormous KF stash; we shopped at BF (she bought fabric; I bought none!); and we went to the Greenfield Farmers' Market. And finally, Kay ran an errand for me by picking up my sewing machine from the cleaning & repair shop. I now have a newly serviced machine to use when do begin the next project!!

The stars have certainly aligned for me.

I continue to quilt away on the 2nd of the baby quilts. I put this one in the frame about 10 days ago, and currently have 15 blocks quilted. There are 48 blocks in the quilt, plus borders. I am working as much as my sore fingers will allow. My goal is to finish by the twins' 2nd birthday, October 11. I will attempt adding pictures of the finished baby quilt and the one in the frame in tomorrow's post.