Used this Period: 11 yards
Added this Period: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 79.67 yards
Added Year to Date: 22.67 yards
Net Stash Decrease for 2015: 57 yards
Another finish--another Christmas quilt--and a "first" since I pieced the backing. This is the one I "unsewed" because the alternating blocks were too dark. I can't remember how long ago I purchased the Santa blocks, but it was a long time ago! The fabric I'm using for the backing came out of the Christmas tub, but I had to add two strips of a coordinating fabric to make it wide enough--a first for me. I really wanted to get that particular fabric (the backing) out of my stash as I had no idea how I would use it in a quilt. It has a really good hand. Anyway, I may have to do a bit more work on it--I just added the strips to the outside edge and know it would look better if it were located in the interior. I don't have the binding made yet. This quilt will make a good "blankie" for watching TV next winter. I have one Santa block left and am considering making it into a quillow after the top is quilted.
I have finished longarm quilting another Longarm UFO. I tried some "point-to-point" ruler work--and got better by the end of the quilt, which measures 82x82. I'm not really pleased with the SID; I think this quilt will be one that I use to measure my longarming progress in another year! :-)
Then I pulled a flannel baby panel that I'm not sure why I purchased--but I did. I pieced the flannel backing and made the binding--and then quilted that little quilt with the CircleLord clamshell board. I love that board for baby quilts and lap-sized quilts. It seems to be in perfect proportion for those sizes of quilts. I now have 2 quilts hanging over the log railing, awaiting my attention (hand-sewing down the binding). I'm so pleased to now have 8 quilts out of the Longarm UFO stack--only 99 to go!! I only had 99 left to quilt last week--but added a new quilt so it's still 99, even though I quilted 2!
Used this Period: 0 yards
Added this Period: 13.67 yards
Used year to Date: 68.67 yards
Added Year to Date: 22.67 yards
Net Stash Decrease for 2015: 46 yards
Whoops--I'm heading the wrong way again!! I went to JoAnn's when we were in the nearby "big city" this week, and things just jumped into my cart! They were having their Daffodil Dash days, so I got some good deals. I bought a yard of a border print--didn't need it, don't have project picked out for it--but I want to use it for a mitered border in some future quilt. I bought 2 yards of a red fabric with gold metallic swirl feathers; it will be used in the MOY boy & girl machine embroidered quilts. I bought about 1 3/4 yard (end of bolt) of a beautiful burgundy "Zen Garden"--again, just because! And then I purchased the backing for my roly-poly penguin quilt--it matches the background fabric on the front. I don't have any gray in my stash and wanted a gray to go with the top. Perhaps I can get the backing made this week so I can make my net decrease numbers look better. And another "just because"--a brown floral that was $2.50/yard, marked down from $10.99 and enough for a quilt backing. Sure messed up my decrease numbers!
When I got home, I started pulling fabrics for the MOY embroidered blocks--I thought I could use a gold as an accent strip (the background on the embroidered blocks is an off-white and I don't have any more of that fabric) between the two reds I now had chosen. That didn't seem to work very well, so I went to my Christmas tub and pulled a red/white stripe. Unfortunately, there isn't enough of it left to do the 2 quilts, so... I finally changed the original red I was working with and now have 3 reds that I am happy with. Whew! I have been searching for a long time to find fabrics to finish those embroidered blocks. Anyway, I may get started on them this coming week.
I took apart the Christmas blocks I had made into a lap quilt as the alternating blocks made it too dark. I hate to rip things out, but the Christmas printed Santa blocks are too cute to make a quilt I don't like. I will pull Christmas fabrics and make light/dark Log Cabin blocks to alternate with the 6 printed blocks. That's on the near future to-do list.
In the past week I've finished quilting another Christmas lap quilt on the longarm. (Can you tell I really like all-things Christmas?!) The binding is done and the quilt is hanging on the log railing; I just want to look at it for a time before it joins the other 4! I used the CL clamshell board again--I'm getting pretty good at spacing the rows on that after 5 lap quilts! (That "hairy" arm is a plush bear that is holding the border onto the railing!) I have a scrappy quilt on the longarm now and have one row quilted--ruler work and Terry Twist. I really struggled in marking the ruler work blocks until I finally used my head and figured out an easy way to mark them uniformly. Maybe I can get a couple of rows quilted tomorrow--I have 6 rows left plus borders.
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| Christmas lap quilt |
I raked up the twigs/limbs/leaves from our "thicket" in front. I didn't get it done last year and didn't want to wait until tick season to do it. It looks very nice--and it's done! I need to move some of the ground cover to fill in some spots--so much to do. We have decided to get a concrete mower-edge curbing put around the flower beds in front and on each end of the house, but that won't get done until May, when it is warmer. We've talked about doing that for a few years and now will finally get it done. It will make mowing easier and will look nice; the rocks we now have there will be added to the "dry riverbed" channel that catches runoff from the roof in the front.
And that's been my week--my longarm UFO stack is under 100 now!
Used this Period: 9.34 yards
Added this Period: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 68.67 yards
Added Year to Date: 9 yards
Net Stash Decrease for 2015: 59.67 yards
Yardage used was for backings/bindings for 4 lap-sized Christmas panel quilts. The two quilts with red borders are the same panel; I just used a different batting. These were all quilted with the CL Clamshell boards. I really like clamshells on this size of quilt; it seems more in proportion than larger patterns. I met my week's goal of longarm quilting 4 quilts--yea!! Only 100 more tops to go!
The quilt shown below has been hanging on the log railing for a long, long time--waiting for binding to be sewn down on the back. While I was finishing the Christmas panel quilts, I spent an evening finishing this scrappy quilt.
Used this Period: 5.68 yards
Added this Period: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 59.33 yards
Added Year to Date: 9 yards
Net Stash Decrease for 2015: 50.33 yards
Another Sally King shoe quilt finished--on an aqua background this time. That is my last set of embroidered shoes that were ready to be made into a top--yea! This quilt came together so nicely--I didn't even have to square the alternating blocks after they were sewn! I did run out of the light aqua marble fabric--I had to sew together some 3.5" scraps to make the 2 last sides for 1 block! I normally make my binding from the border fabric--but only have 10" left so will have to use something else. I don't have the backing or binding made yet--I think that is 2 or 3 quilt tops that lack a backing.
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| Checkmate |
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| April Showers |
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| Black Velvet |
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| Harvest Time |
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| Masked Ball |
I loved making the shoe quilts--there is such detail and innovation in the designs.
I always read all the stash entries each week--but sometimes wonder how people get their yardage count! This shoe quilt measures 64x88, and I kept accurate notes on the yardage used--and it was only 5 2/3 yard (backing not made). Some quilts that are about the same size are listed as using 2-3 times as much! I admit that I use all usable scraps (for instance, I used the ends of the rows I cut for my embroidery squares for the 4.5" pieces on the alternating blocks), and any small scraps left I cut into 2/2.5/3/3.5/4/4.5-inch squares (per Bonnie Hunter) for a some-day scrap quilt. And I know that if a quilt has a lot of little pieces, it will use more fabric. Oh, well...just wondering.
I finally started quilting some tops--boy, that was like pulling teeth! I was dragging my feet because I didn't like the lap quilt that was on the longarm, partially done. But I finished it (still don't really like it!)--didn't do the heavy custom quilting I had planned--but it's DONE! Then I made another back and loaded another Christmas panel with borders added--and finished quilting it with clamshells. And I really like it! So now I have 3 quilts (1 large, 2 lap-size) on the log railing upstairs, waiting to have the binding hand-sewn to the back. And I will make a backing for yet another Christmas lap quilt (panel with borders added) and get it on the longarm--perhaps on Monday. I'm hoping to get 10 quilts quilted this month--only 8 more to go! I will count the backing fabric for these lap quilts next week.
DH has the wooden (all different kinds of wood) Easter eggs ready to hide--outside, if the weather allows. Then I'm supposed to find them--and get to eat the contents. Of course, the eggs only hold 4-5 M&M's each! The last time we did this (this is what happens when the grandchildren are so far away--Grandpa hides eggs for Grandma to find!), there was still a lot of snow on the ground and it was easier to see the wooden eggs on the white snow. It's a good thing DH knows how many eggs he hides and where he hides them! And wouldn't you know that I finally started on the weight-loss project I've been putting off! I wonder how many M&M's make 1 point on Weight Watchers?
