Well, I was so proud of last week's numbers and then I realized that I never counted the 6 yards of fabric that my friend gave me for the pillowcases. Of course the yardage was counted as going out, but I forgot to add it as coming in. DUHHH It's recorded this week!
If you read my Design Wall Monday, you know that I that I wanted to increase the size of my 16 Patch X Block quilt but wasn't sure if I had enough of the red fabric that was a constant for the Xs, and I really didn't want to buy more or know if I could even find it. I had a number of people comment that I should add another fabric from my stash instead of buying more, since this is a scrappy quilt. I decided to take the challenge and see what I could find. Well, I was sooooooo lucky because I found a fabric that is just a hair lighter than the original and I decided to use that. You really can't even tell the difference! Needless to say, I'm pumped and I've made all the additional X blocks and I'm working on the 16 patch blocks.
I also started a small project that will be a wedding gift for my nephew and his bride. They are getting married in December and I plan to have this done early. I know, famous last words. :-)
Here's the report:
Fabric Used This Week: 3.75 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 241.25 yards
Fabric Added This Week: 7.00 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 129.75 yards
Net Fabric Used for 2010: 111.50 yards
Check out the stash reports of other quilters at Judy L.'s Patchwork Times.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Problem Solved
Before I went to work today, I figured out how much more fabric I would need to make this quilt larger - keeping the same fabric for the X Block. I really wanted to do this WITHOUT purchasing additional fabric, but it didn't look like it was going to happen because I was about 1/3 yard short. I had a couple of comments to my last post about possible solutions and I was contemplating them while driving to work. Then, I had a thought (scary, I know).
I remembered that I had a tub of fabric set aside for possible use in a Christmas wallhanging that included maroon fabric, because I had decided I wanted something other than the traditional Christmas red and greens. Needless to say, my work day seemed VERY long and I couldn't wait to get home. Well, after some digging around, I found fabric that is just a hair lighter than the original fabric and I think I can use it in the half blocks in the borders and for the binding without anyone knowing the difference. (Except all of you of course.) I'm excited!!
The best part of all of this is that 100% of the fabric for this quilt will be from stash. I'm even thinking that I have backing fabric and if I don't, I plan on piecing it. I love it when things work out.
I remembered that I had a tub of fabric set aside for possible use in a Christmas wallhanging that included maroon fabric, because I had decided I wanted something other than the traditional Christmas red and greens. Needless to say, my work day seemed VERY long and I couldn't wait to get home. Well, after some digging around, I found fabric that is just a hair lighter than the original fabric and I think I can use it in the half blocks in the borders and for the binding without anyone knowing the difference. (Except all of you of course.) I'm excited!!
The best part of all of this is that 100% of the fabric for this quilt will be from stash. I'm even thinking that I have backing fabric and if I don't, I plan on piecing it. I love it when things work out.
Design Wall Monday
I'm so glad this isn't Design Wall Monday Morning, or I'd never be able to post, (I guess it is still morning here). I find that I tend to get busy with something when I first come downstairs, especially if Jack's on the computer that I like to use for posting and before you know it, it's 11:15...
There should be no surprise as to what's on my Design Wall, I mean Design Floor today. Yep, that's right, it's my 16 Patch X Block Quilt (the one for which I sadly need to decide on a new name). I have the rows sewn but need to sew them to each other. I stopped when I got to this point because I'm doing the math to see if I have enough of the X fabric to make this larger.
After the inside is together, I'll be adding a small border using the X fabric and half blocks of the 16 patches and X blocks. If I stop now, the quilt will only be about 65" x 81", but if I add more blocks and keep the symmetry, the quilt will be about 81" x 96" and I like that better. I just have to decide the following:
1. Do I have enough X Block fabric?
2. If I don't have enough fabric, do I want to, or can I even get more of it?
3. What am I going to do with this quilt?
4. If I'm going to sell it, would it be more appealing if it was larger? (My gut
feeling is yes, but then again I like large quilts.)
I guess I'll check out the fabric first and think about the other stuff when I get home from work tonight.
On another note (and one reason that this quilt isn't all together yet), we had to have 8 trees taken down Friday, 6 of which were Ash trees that had been affected by the Emerald Ash Borer. Of course 5 of the trees were close to the house so we couldn't take them down ourselves because a crane was needed. Even if we could have, I still was more comfortable having someone else take them down. The last time Jack and I took down our own trees was pretty comical so we figured it was worth paying someone else this time. Now don't get me wrong, we got them down with was no damage to any buildings, animals or humans, but it was funny.
We're now left with a pile of HUGE logs that we need to split. We've already been working, but this is what's still waiting to be cut and stacked.
I'm in the process of organizing a Lumberjack Party. We'll provide lunch, exercise, and an on-going bonfire (drinks when we're done, of course). You provide the muscles, teenager who needs to learn the importance of hard work and a rake. It's a BYOCS (bring your own chain saw) party but don't worry, we have some if you don't. How about it? Do you want to join us? What day works best for you?
Hop on over to Judy L.'s Patchwork Times to see what other quilters/lumberjacks are working on this week.
There should be no surprise as to what's on my Design Wall, I mean Design Floor today. Yep, that's right, it's my 16 Patch X Block Quilt (the one for which I sadly need to decide on a new name). I have the rows sewn but need to sew them to each other. I stopped when I got to this point because I'm doing the math to see if I have enough of the X fabric to make this larger.
After the inside is together, I'll be adding a small border using the X fabric and half blocks of the 16 patches and X blocks. If I stop now, the quilt will only be about 65" x 81", but if I add more blocks and keep the symmetry, the quilt will be about 81" x 96" and I like that better. I just have to decide the following:
1. Do I have enough X Block fabric?
2. If I don't have enough fabric, do I want to, or can I even get more of it?
3. What am I going to do with this quilt?
4. If I'm going to sell it, would it be more appealing if it was larger? (My gut
feeling is yes, but then again I like large quilts.)
I guess I'll check out the fabric first and think about the other stuff when I get home from work tonight.
On another note (and one reason that this quilt isn't all together yet), we had to have 8 trees taken down Friday, 6 of which were Ash trees that had been affected by the Emerald Ash Borer. Of course 5 of the trees were close to the house so we couldn't take them down ourselves because a crane was needed. Even if we could have, I still was more comfortable having someone else take them down. The last time Jack and I took down our own trees was pretty comical so we figured it was worth paying someone else this time. Now don't get me wrong, we got them down with was no damage to any buildings, animals or humans, but it was funny.
We're now left with a pile of HUGE logs that we need to split. We've already been working, but this is what's still waiting to be cut and stacked.
I'm in the process of organizing a Lumberjack Party. We'll provide lunch, exercise, and an on-going bonfire (drinks when we're done, of course). You provide the muscles, teenager who needs to learn the importance of hard work and a rake. It's a BYOCS (bring your own chain saw) party but don't worry, we have some if you don't. How about it? Do you want to join us? What day works best for you?
Hop on over to Judy L.'s Patchwork Times to see what other quilters/lumberjacks are working on this week.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Stash Report - Weeks 42 and 43
Sometimes I really like it when I skip a week of posting my stash report because it makes me feel REALLY productive to be able to report relatively big numbers, rather than small numbers two weeks in a row. I know I'm just kidding myself, but I have to admit that it feels good. I didn't report last week because I got busy and when I sat down to post it was really late. I decided that I didn't want to take the time to update my spreadsheet and them blog about it. (Can we say lazy?!?)
Anyway, I've been pretty productive the last two weeks, even though I had lots of non-quilting things to do. I made the pillowcases using the fabric that a friend left for me (I didn't want that sitting around and making its way into the "Fabric In" column and not right away go to the "Fabric Used" column!) I've been working on the quilt that I posted last week on my Design Wall Monday and I've gotten pretty far along. We've been having a discussion about the name of this pattern and the concensus is that nobody knows what it is. Possible names have been Hugs and Kisses and Xs and Os, but everyone has said that they've seen the pattern but don't remember the name. (I'm guessing that you'll probably see this quilt posted tomorrow:-)) I also finished 8 more of my Grandmother's Flower Garden Hexagon blocks - all hand-pieced.
Anyway, in case you can't tell, I'm pretty happy with my numbers so here's the report.
Here's the report for weeks 42 and 43
Fabric Used This Week: 12.875 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 237.50 yards
Fabric Added This Week: 3.00 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 122.75 yards
Net Fabric Used for 2010: 114.75 yards
Check out the stash reports of other quilters at Judy L.'s Patchwork Times blog.
Anyway, I've been pretty productive the last two weeks, even though I had lots of non-quilting things to do. I made the pillowcases using the fabric that a friend left for me (I didn't want that sitting around and making its way into the "Fabric In" column and not right away go to the "Fabric Used" column!) I've been working on the quilt that I posted last week on my Design Wall Monday and I've gotten pretty far along. We've been having a discussion about the name of this pattern and the concensus is that nobody knows what it is. Possible names have been Hugs and Kisses and Xs and Os, but everyone has said that they've seen the pattern but don't remember the name. (I'm guessing that you'll probably see this quilt posted tomorrow:-)) I also finished 8 more of my Grandmother's Flower Garden Hexagon blocks - all hand-pieced.
Anyway, in case you can't tell, I'm pretty happy with my numbers so here's the report.
Here's the report for weeks 42 and 43
Fabric Used This Week: 12.875 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 237.50 yards
Fabric Added This Week: 3.00 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 122.75 yards
Net Fabric Used for 2010: 114.75 yards
Check out the stash reports of other quilters at Judy L.'s Patchwork Times blog.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Design Wall Monday
It's Monday and I have something new on the wall. Amazing, isn't it, since I had so many things on my "to do" list last week? I got bored cutting up clothing for memory quilts so I took a break and started this. If I hadn't done that, you'd be looking at a pictures of cut-cup clothes.
A friend of mine who happens to be a new quilter, saw an advertisement that had a small segment of a quilt in it. She really liked what she could see of the quilt and decided that she wanted to make one like it. She showed me the picture and asked if I could help her with the pattern. Well, neither one of us could find the name of the quilt, its maker, or designer so I sketched it out on a piece of graph paper since the computer that has my EQ on it is in the "hospital". Knowing that I was going to see her Friday morning, I decided to play around and make a couple of blocks so she could see how easy the construction would be. Well, a couple has turned into 16 and I've decided to make my quilt large, at least a queen. I've already got lots of scrappy squares cut that I'll use for the 16 patch blocks and all of the X blocks are cut and ready to sew. I'm making all the light fabric the same within each block, but each block has a different light fabric. Does that make sense? The only constant fabric is the X fabric. This is an easy quilt, and I know that I'll feel good when it's done - and it'll use up lots of stash. I'll go back to cutting up clothing soon, but it's nice to be able to take a break and make a quick block or two.
Do you know the pattern or name of this quilt? If you do, please let me know. I want to give credit to the designer. Thanks!
I did get some of my "to do" list done; but I still have a lot more to complete. I want to finish another Patriotic Rail Fence and Star quilt so I can donate it for the Girls' Night Out Silent Auction, and since I need that by Wednesday, I better get cracking. I just have to quilt and bind it and because the quilting is pretty basic, the deadline should be easy to make. I did make some pillowcases, so I was able to use the fabric that came into my stash last week. (I never did get around to doing a stash report yesterday. I guess I'll just have to do two weeks worth. Like that's never happened before!)
Speaking of Girls' Night Out, (I'm in charge of Bras for a Cause), the event is the Wednesday and I'll busy with that all day Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday should be my "day of rest", but of course I work. I'll try to get pictures and post them so you can all see the wonderfully decorated bras that have been donated, as well as the generous silent auction gifts.
To check out what other quilters have on their design walls today, go on over to Judy L's Patchwork Times. You may just find that sleep is overrated and you could be quilting instead!
A friend of mine who happens to be a new quilter, saw an advertisement that had a small segment of a quilt in it. She really liked what she could see of the quilt and decided that she wanted to make one like it. She showed me the picture and asked if I could help her with the pattern. Well, neither one of us could find the name of the quilt, its maker, or designer so I sketched it out on a piece of graph paper since the computer that has my EQ on it is in the "hospital". Knowing that I was going to see her Friday morning, I decided to play around and make a couple of blocks so she could see how easy the construction would be. Well, a couple has turned into 16 and I've decided to make my quilt large, at least a queen. I've already got lots of scrappy squares cut that I'll use for the 16 patch blocks and all of the X blocks are cut and ready to sew. I'm making all the light fabric the same within each block, but each block has a different light fabric. Does that make sense? The only constant fabric is the X fabric. This is an easy quilt, and I know that I'll feel good when it's done - and it'll use up lots of stash. I'll go back to cutting up clothing soon, but it's nice to be able to take a break and make a quick block or two.
Do you know the pattern or name of this quilt? If you do, please let me know. I want to give credit to the designer. Thanks!
I did get some of my "to do" list done; but I still have a lot more to complete. I want to finish another Patriotic Rail Fence and Star quilt so I can donate it for the Girls' Night Out Silent Auction, and since I need that by Wednesday, I better get cracking. I just have to quilt and bind it and because the quilting is pretty basic, the deadline should be easy to make. I did make some pillowcases, so I was able to use the fabric that came into my stash last week. (I never did get around to doing a stash report yesterday. I guess I'll just have to do two weeks worth. Like that's never happened before!)
Speaking of Girls' Night Out, (I'm in charge of Bras for a Cause), the event is the Wednesday and I'll busy with that all day Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday should be my "day of rest", but of course I work. I'll try to get pictures and post them so you can all see the wonderfully decorated bras that have been donated, as well as the generous silent auction gifts.
To check out what other quilters have on their design walls today, go on over to Judy L's Patchwork Times. You may just find that sleep is overrated and you could be quilting instead!
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Pink, Pink and More Pink
I meant to change the color of the blog earlier in the month, but I just now remembered. I hate it when I forget things or get so busy that things don't get done. Anyway, it's pink for a while now. Hope you like it.
Okay, so I'm not going to reach all of the goals I set for this past week, but that's okay. I've made some pillowcases, finished the embroidery, cut some of the memory quilt clothing, finished the borders on Sadie's quilt and have the backing fabric ready, and then I sketched out and started sewing a new scrap quilt. (Thanks Carol for showing me a picture that I really liked and then just HAD to go home and work on it! :-) At least it's scrappy and I'll use LOTS of stash.
The guild retreat is this weekend and I stopped in for a bit today. It looked like everyone was having a good time and getting lots done. I sure wish I'd been able to go. I know I would've had a better chance of meeting my weekly goals, but then nothing at home would have gotten done. Of course, there's that thing called work that keeps getting in the way. :-)
Okay, so I'm not going to reach all of the goals I set for this past week, but that's okay. I've made some pillowcases, finished the embroidery, cut some of the memory quilt clothing, finished the borders on Sadie's quilt and have the backing fabric ready, and then I sketched out and started sewing a new scrap quilt. (Thanks Carol for showing me a picture that I really liked and then just HAD to go home and work on it! :-) At least it's scrappy and I'll use LOTS of stash.
The guild retreat is this weekend and I stopped in for a bit today. It looked like everyone was having a good time and getting lots done. I sure wish I'd been able to go. I know I would've had a better chance of meeting my weekly goals, but then nothing at home would have gotten done. Of course, there's that thing called work that keeps getting in the way. :-)
Friday, October 15, 2010
Full Circle - Almost
Remember the other day when I wrote about the quilt I made that a friend purchased at an auction? Well, she brought the quilt to show me last night and we had an interesting discussion about it.
It seems that she went to this auction because the advertisement listed that "old quilts and other antiques" were going to be sold. There were a couple of old quilts (1957 and 1970s) and Liz was able to purchase one of them, but most of the quilts were not antique.
Now, here's what's interesting. My quilt was in the "old quilt/antique" category. Granted it looks old because it was made with all homespuns and homespun plaids, but this quilt is clearly machine pieced and machine quilted and there is the fact that it was signed and dated! Anyway, it didn't really matter to Liz that this quilt wasn't old. She wanted it because of the colors and the fabrics and she just loved it. Period! It would've simply been a bonus if it was an antique.
This situation does make me stop and wonder how many people have purchased a quilt (or other item, for that matter) thinking that it was old (an antique), when it really wasn't. I understand that "buyer beware" is important but - wow - my quilt had a date on it (black ink on a muslin label), so how did the seller (auctioneer) not see it and decide that this quilt was an antique? Anyway, this is just a reminder to all of us the look closely when buying "antiques." (I feel like I've just been on Antiques Roadshow and was told that my heirloom was a fake!)
One other thing about this quilt. I'm really glad that I've gotten more practice at things like machine quilting and binding. Maybe that's why the auctioneer thought it was old. It sure looked like an antiquated machine made those free-motion hearts in the cornerstones! :-)
It seems that she went to this auction because the advertisement listed that "old quilts and other antiques" were going to be sold. There were a couple of old quilts (1957 and 1970s) and Liz was able to purchase one of them, but most of the quilts were not antique.
Now, here's what's interesting. My quilt was in the "old quilt/antique" category. Granted it looks old because it was made with all homespuns and homespun plaids, but this quilt is clearly machine pieced and machine quilted and there is the fact that it was signed and dated! Anyway, it didn't really matter to Liz that this quilt wasn't old. She wanted it because of the colors and the fabrics and she just loved it. Period! It would've simply been a bonus if it was an antique.
This situation does make me stop and wonder how many people have purchased a quilt (or other item, for that matter) thinking that it was old (an antique), when it really wasn't. I understand that "buyer beware" is important but - wow - my quilt had a date on it (black ink on a muslin label), so how did the seller (auctioneer) not see it and decide that this quilt was an antique? Anyway, this is just a reminder to all of us the look closely when buying "antiques." (I feel like I've just been on Antiques Roadshow and was told that my heirloom was a fake!)
One other thing about this quilt. I'm really glad that I've gotten more practice at things like machine quilting and binding. Maybe that's why the auctioneer thought it was old. It sure looked like an antiquated machine made those free-motion hearts in the cornerstones! :-)
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