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!!
Used this Period: 8.42 yards
Added this Period: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 43.06 yards
Added Year to Date: 1.75 yards
Net Stash Decrease for 2016: 41.31 yards
More blues--a third quilt to decrease the blue stash finished! I think this will be the last blue quilt I make for awhile, although I still have a lot of fabric on that shelf. This was a quilt I saw on Pinterest--sort of. I should have used pinks because the sample was so much prettier--much brighter! I changed the flower as I knew I had a Baltimore Album quilt pattern that I could use for my flower. I used 8.42 yards in the top, backing, and binding.
We went to the "big city" on Monday of this week to see "13 Hours." I had already read the book and have followed all the news regarding Benghazi as someone dear to me has served in the military. Such a sad day in the history of the United States--those brave men expected help and should have had help.
It is snowing here now, and snow is predicted for the next week or so. The Servpro guy replaced our dishwasher, which was about 8 years old and leaking. I told him that I don't even like dishwashers--but if we ever sell this house, a dishwasher would be expected. He told me that the expected life of dishwashers these days is 13-14 years at most. Where are the good old days when your appliances lasted 25 years?! He also told me that I need to use it at least once a week--for the two of us, that will probably be about 1 week's worth of meals!! He said he and his wife put in two dishwashers when they had their house built--oh, my! Ours started leaking after we had company over Christmas.
The excitement for the week occurred with our Lhasa, Smokey. DH let Smokey in after doing his thing outside--I was sitting in my
recliner with my computer and watching TV. Smokey runs around like a
mad bandit when he comes in, and that night was no different. At that
time of the night, he usually will go get Chippy, the plush toy chipmunk
(about 3 inches in size) he brought with him when he joined us. He takes care of Chippy like it
was his kid and always seems to know where he put him the last time he
was carrying him around. He will bring him to me, but not to DH--and then I get to "babysit" Chippy until we retire to the bedroom.
Sometimes Smokey will just drop Chippy in my lap and curl up--and
sometimes he waits until I take hold of Chippy before he lets go.
Smokey
hopped up on my lap with Chippy in his mouth, and I took hold of it and
kind of wiggled it to get Smokey to let go. I thought "Chippy feels really
silky" (which Chippy doesn't feel silky since he has been carried
around, stuffed behind pillows & couch cushions, etc. for about
11years!)--took another tug and glanced down just as Smokey let go and
dropped it from his mouth... And screamed! That got DH's attention; he sat up and wanted to know what was wrong. "A MOUSE!! Get it!"
The
mouse was dead, and DH "got" it while he was bent over laughing.
Scared Smokey when I screamed, and he jumped off my lap--then he spent
the next 5 minutes looking for his "treasure." Smokey had to sit on DH's lap for the rest of the evening, and I washed my hand multiple times. Ewww!! I can do without that kind of excitement! Now I check Smokey's mouth when he comes in from outside.
Used this Period: 10.75 yards
Added this Period: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 34.64 yards
Added Year to Date: 1.75 yards
Net Stash Decrease for 2016: 32.89 yards
What a beautiful scene up on our mountain--all the trees have little puffs of snow on their branches. Frequently they produce small avalanches as the weight becomes too heavy to support. We have a weather advisory of 70% chance of snow through tomorrow. Our road is getting narrower and the snow on the sides of the road is getting higher--I hope we continue to have cold weather so we don't have a "January melt."
Out of the frying pan into the fire--that's what happened to me this week! I complained last week because the Delectable Mountains had so many seams to match--and then saw this site:
Since I have so many blues in my stash, I thought "Why not use some more blues and make that quilt?" (I store my stash in a enclosed cabinet--and I think those "blues" are having too much fun behind the closed doors! They seem to be multiplying just like dust bunnies!!) I had forgotten that there was a reason I don't use this method to cut half-square triangles--bias edges!! After I had made the first 3 blocks, I knew this quilt wouldn't be any larger than a twin-sized quilt--and reminded myself that I don't like working with bias edges. This quilt had just as many seams to match, too! Bias edges make it easy to match seams because they stretch; unfortunately, that doesn't do much for the squareness of the quilt! But, seldom do I not finish something that is started so I blundered along. (And blue is not my favorite color!) The following picture shows the finished result--yep, twin-sized! The good part was that I reduced the "blues"--now if I can just keep them from having so much "fun!" I used 10.75 yards for the quilt, binding, and backing.
We had our first "recipe club" for 2016 at the Senior Center; this month it was soups. I made Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Bisque, which we were introduced to at Yellowstone. Only one small problem: when I took the canned fire-roasted tomatoes from the pantry, I noticed that it was "salsa fire-roasted tomatoes." No problem, I figured; when I make salsa from scratch, it isn't hot so I thought this just had onions, etc. added. Wrong again! When one of the ladies tasted the soup at our "tasting session," she said "Oh, this has a little kick to it." After she said it a second time, I decided I'd better try it. DH and I like it better without the "kick," but several of the ladies wanted to know where I got the salsa version of the fire-roasted tomatoes because they liked it! Since I didn't know it was a salsa version, I'm not sure where I got it!!
Used this Period: 23.89 yards
Added this Period: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 23.89 yards
Added Year to Date: 1.75 yards
Net Stash Decrease for 2016: 22.14 yards
What a productive week I've had--at least in the sewing room! I started the "blues" Delectable Mountains quilt on Saturday and finished the backing on Wednesday of this week. It is such an easy and fast pattern! I was thinking "maybe I'll make one in Christmas fabrics"--and then I started putting all those blocks together. Oh, my--every block had 8 seams that had to be matched, plus the seam connecting the blocks! I do like the end result, but I don't think I'll make another one any time soon. I know it reduced my stash, but there are still a lot of blues on that shelf. It turned out larger than I was expecting--or maybe it just looks that way. I still don't have a good place to hang quilts for pictures--as you can see! I used 13 yards 29 inches in the quilt, backing, and binding.
Then I decided to get back to the basket holding my quilt panels--it still had 2 snowmen panels, a moose panel, and an applique panel for a Halloween quilt. I finished the first snowman panel on Thursday, and the second panel on Friday. I have to admit that the second panel didn't reach the same size as the first one--it will definitely be for a "little one." I raided the Christmas stash for the backings--yea!! Panel #1 used 6 yards 3 inches (quilt/backing/binding) and Panel #2 used 4 yards. I will have some backing left over from the first panel and will use leftover backing for the binding on the second panel. Done!!
And a closeup of the panel:
I really dislike using a dishwasher--seems like such a waste for just 2 of us. I guess I never really disliked doing dishes when I was growing up (we didn't have a dishwasher--it was just my sister and myself!). Because we had so much company over the Christmas holidays, our dishwasher sprung a leak. The repairman said the newer ones are made a bit differently so they shouldn't spring a leak (ours is only 10 years old and used very sparingly)--but he also said the expected life was only 13-14 years. I told him we have had dishwashers in the past that were still going strong after 25 years, but he said that is no longer the case. I think the reason I don't like to use it is because we have so few dishes and so you have to run it when it is only partially full. He said he and his wife had 6 kids; and when they built their present house, they put in 2 dishwashers. Apparently that is not uncommon. The short story is...we are getting a new dishwasher. And I will use it at least once a week--and grumble all the time I have to use it!
