Used this Period: 5 yards
Added this Period: 4.5 yards
Used year to Date: 99.48 yards
Added Year to Date: 6.25 yards
Net Stash Decrease for 2016: 93.23 yards
I added yardage to my stash, but the damage to my numbers was minimal. I bought flannel (2.5 yards) at JoAnn's in the near big city on Monday, so I could complete the last two double flannel receiving blankets to be donated to Turning Point. This will be the last two pieces of patterned flannel from my "petting cabinet." (I still have the pink elephants flannel, but will use it to back a baby quilt at some time in the future.) On Tuesday, I went downstairs and finished the receiving blankets--so, in and out! That used 2.5 yards of flannel from stash, so I got a bit ahead.
The other 2 yards was fleece purchased to make a double fleece quillow for the young grandson. Our son's first grade teacher made fleece quillows for the two granddaughters at Christmas--but the grandson didn't get one. So, Grandma to the rescue!! I'm not sure when I will get it done, but it is ready to be in the queue. The Hancock's Fabrics store in the near big city is one that is being closed in their bankruptcy reorganization, so they are in the first 30% of their sales as they get ready to close. They don't know what their closing date will be; it will be a loss as we will only have JoAnn's and a limited amount of fabric at Hobby Lobby.
The remainder of my week kept me out of the sewing room. On Wednesday, I accompanied my DH when he was transporting vehicles to Colorado and back for the local dealership. It was a long day! We were awake at 2:30 am (Wednesday morning), departed at 4:15am, and returned at 3:30 am (Thursday morning). I spent Friday and half of Saturday working on our taxes--just have to check them and they are done. Whew--that's a relief! It always feels so good to get to this point.
Used this Period: 11 yards
Added this Period: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 94.48 yards
Added Year to Date: 1.75 yards
Net Stash Decrease for 2016: 92.73 yards
Well, that feels soooooo good--last panel out of that basket (the applique one) and the quilt is just now finished! And even better, I used a lot of my autumn stash--both yardage and bits & pieces of leftovers from previous quilts. I was going to make it larger--it ended up at 57x72--but I was quilting "by the seat of my pants" without preplanning, and the last border just said "You don't need anything but me!" This was one of the few quilts that I quilted from the center out, thinking I would just add pieced and plain borders. Other than my backing fabric (which was an autumn leaf print by Timeless Treasures and was on sale for $2/yard a couple of years ago at Hancock Fabrics) and the applique panel, everything was leftover from other quilts. The applique panel had several "extra" pieces for a trapunto effect; I used all but 4, which did not match the regular outline or which would have been trapunto under a trapunto. My trapunto isn't super puffy--I used a fusible quilt batting that I had left over. Anyway, counting the panel and backing, I think I used 11 yards--close anyway.
I won't be able to reduce stash much if at all next week (so I won't get to a net decrease of 100 yards by the end of the month!), as I plan to work on our taxes--not my favorite thing to do! But if I get it done, I can concentrate on more enjoyable things--dangling the carrot! We've got the "winter melt" going on here. I think our snow pack in the yard has dropped a foot. Today is a sunshiny day, making me think "garden." That's probably why I bought wildflowers to plant on the edge of the back yard! I hope everyone has a good week with lots of stash usage!
Used this Period: 7.92 yards
Added this Period: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 83.48 yards
Added Year to Date: 1.75 yards
Net Stash Decrease for 2016: 81.73 yards
I tackled the last fabric panel (one that was gifted to me by my quilting partner) and have finished a 57x57 quilt plus backing (binding will be made with leftover backing). What a good feeling it is to be able to see the bottom of that basket! Not the prettiest lap quilt that I have done, but it is OK. I should have spent a bit more time in planning, rather than just the hit & miss of "doing." The panel itself was quite narrow and long, which is why I added the colored wedges on the sides--I wish I had made the background between each of them narrower (the "planning" bit that I should have done!). If I use that concept again, I will preplan and make the background strips narrower! I used 7.92 yards on this quilt and backing. (That's my Lhasa at the bottom of the first picture--wearing a sweater because it's cold here!)
Now I have an applique scarecrow with dimensional pieces to do (from that same basket). I'm still visualizing how I want to do it so the extra pieces will be dimensional. I may get started on it today (Saturday), because I will need to have some yardage to report for Week 8! This has been a busy week with giving blood, Ash Wednesday, the seniors' Recipe Club meeting (cooking beforehand), and Stations on Friday (with soup supper afterwards). I made cinnamon rolls to take to the soup supper; it was the first time I have made them since last winter so I wasn't sure whether I would need to make a soup to take at the last minute. However, my dough was quite good and they were tasty. When I take them to the soup suppers, I make some of the dough in my mini-muffin pan--just the right size for the children! Now, on to another week of happy stash busting!
Used this Period: 32.5 yards
Added this Period: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 75.56 yards
Added Year to Date: 1.75 yards
Net Stash Decrease for 2016: 73.81 yards
Do any of you have fabric just for "petting?" I find that I have some fabric that I like so much that I just want to use it for a "special" project--so I pull it out of the fabric cabinet, look at it and touch it, and then put it back--waiting for that "special" project to come along. It's almost as if I don't think they will make more fabric that I like that much--wrong! Well, this week I decided to use those special flannel fabrics that I have been saving for "some day." So, I pulled all those pretty flannel prints and started making "double" flannel receiving blankets--the print on one side and a coordinating flannel on the other side.
Three or four years ago, I went to a garage sale where she was selling garbage bags of color coordinated fabric (I think the lady and her mother had done a lot of crafts); a friend had called and told me that the lady was selling them for $8 a bag. I bought a bag of blues and a bag of pinks (flannel and cottons) for $5 each--and still have a lot of it in my stash. One of the pink flannels is a cute pink elephant with daisies. I made 3 receiving blankets with that print--and still have 4 3/4 yards left. But I used all my flannel prints except 2--I need to get a coordinating flannel that will look good with those prints. And now I have a stack of 11 double, nice-sized (3 are 42x45-47; 8 are 36x42) receiving blankets that I will take to Turning Point (22.5 yards used). Turning Point has a point system--if the girl will take parenting classes, for
instance, they accumulate points that can be used to "purchase" baby
items.
Then, the hospital in a neighboring town is having a sew-in to make blankets, burp cloths, bibs, etc. to give to new mothers. I'm not going to the sew-in but I am going to donate fabric--some Soft & Cuddly that I bought to make crib sheets for my daughter-in-law (she sent me Minkee instead), and smaller flannel left-overs that can be used for burp cloths & bibs. Yea!! All of this (10 yards gifted) is really freeing up some space in my fabric cabinet!! But I need to do a lot more!!
