Forming a Plan Here

I spent a little while up in the stash room last night just kind of looking around.

The first thing that's bugging the bejeebers out of me are the odd fat quarters that are everywhere. I'm going to be pulling some patterns from the pattern "stash" and from the book "stash" and will be using up as many of those odd fat quarters as I can here very shortly. Whatever doesn't get used will get cut into strips. I want those things out of my life!

Tonight I stopped by Ginger's to get a Jane fix, and found the cutest pattern in there. You already know I love BOMs, and here's a pattern I can pull from the stash and do a row a month!! My own BOM!!

http://tinyurl.com/2ffvd9

The pattern is "Seasons in a Row" by Sandy Brawner of Quilt Country. I had already put it on the counter when Jane told me she saw the quilt at market and it was just adorable.

On the health front, I'm feeling so much better. I had a visit with my new family physician yesterday and I really like him. The hospital doctor was kind enough to find a new doctor for me since mine retired last month, and then called him and filled him in on what I was going through. Before my appointment yesterday, my new doctor had pulled the hospital records and was all ready for me. We had a few good laughs and I think it's a good fit. He told me he wanted me to wait two weeks after I finish the antibiotics before resuming my dental work. Well, today the endodontist called to check on me, and he disagreed with that. He wants to do the work now while I'm still full of antibiotics. I'm going to let those two battle it out! They're supposed to talk tomorrow. I don't think in my whole life I've had so many doctors communicating about me. Geez, I feel special! ROFLOL Oh, as an aside, I lost 11 pounds on the liquid diet, but it's certainly not a diet I'd recommend! LOL

This week has seemed really long to me, I think because I was so sick last week and slept away most of it. One more day to get through.

Jane and I are going to see the Nutcracker Ballet in the middle of December. We're both really excited about that! I can't wait. I danced in the Nutcracker for maybe 10 years when I was a kid. I always thought it was magical!

What else? Oh, yeah, the garage. This weekend I start weeding it out. I'm NOT looking forward to that!

And did all of you go to www.fatquartershop.blogspot.com to check out Miss Emma crawling? I can't believe she's already old enough to do that! Totally adorable! I tried to 'dibby' her, but Kimberly wouldn't let me!! :) :)

And those two BOMs I blogged about last time, they don't start until next year. So if I get a running start on stashing busting before those start .... I'm just saying ....

That's it for tonight. A blog about a whole lot of nothing, with a little lagniappe thrown in for good measure!

Gratitudes:

~ Getting well
~ Excitement about stash busting
~ Getting in the mood for Christmas
~ Crawling babies!

I'm Just Saying ...

... if I were so inclined to order another BOM since All Things Christmas is almost done, I'd sure want to think about these I just spotted at The Fat Quarter Shop.

First, Blossom Time by Bunny Hill Designs. I think my heart stopped when I saw it. Wait, maybe that was the medication. Anyway, this thing is drop-dead gorgeous!! http://tinyurl.com/27kgdb. I mean, I can actually visualize it on my bed.

Then this popped onto Kimberly's site today. http://tinyurl.com/yumrqr This is called Birds and Bees, and uses that fabulous Dandelion Girl line by Fig Tree. I think that's a dynamite price for the monthly blocks, too. A whole lot of happiness for less than $19 a month. And wouldn't this be a great quilt for maybe a beginning appliquer!

I'm not going nuts here poking buttons. But, I mean, I'm just saying ....

Stash Buster Sunday

I didn't bust any stash this week. Unless, of course, you count the cash stash for medical bills. No, let's not count that. In fact, I'd rather not think about it.

I did start sewing up a couple of things for a friend, but I can't call that stash busting because it was her fabric. But while I was doing that, I came up with some plans for how to use up some of the stuff I have here, and how to store it better so I can more easily see what I have.

A friend emailed me yesterday and said she was going to send me some strips for my loggies. WHAT? NO, YOU ARE NOT!!! Nuh uh!! No way!!! I was so shocked that I forgot to email her back! Will do that immediately! ROFLOL. Honey, we're stash busting - and that DOES NOT mean sending me your stuff! Love you anyway, and nice try!! LOL

One thing I was also thinking about last night are the most favorite quilts I've made. Those haven't been from coordinated lines of fabric, but from my stash.

For instance:

"Strawberries for Lisa" has been juried into Road to California!!!! That was 100% out of my stash! Well, except for the background because I didn't have enough of any one piece. But all the rest of it came from my stash! It's a special quilt because I had hoarded that strawberry fabric for five years until Judy's design inspired me. Thank you, Judy!

I was thinking about Judy's pink quilt she just made, and all of the other Hour a Day quilt patterns. I'm going to make some of those starting over the Christmas holidays!! Yep, I'm just going to do it!

So while I've gotten off to a shaky start this week, I'm driven by my determination to have all my stash fit into one room! I'm not going to pledge yardage used or number of quilts made, but just to have it all fit into the stash room! So that means a LOT of sewing in my future!! :)

Gratitudes:

~ The remarkable health care system we have here in America.
~ Jane.
~ A long holiday weekend to recuperate.
~ Coming to the conclusion that I actually like Jell-O!

It's Strangling Me!

My stash is strangling me. Really! I thought about this last night, and here's why I'm in this dilemma:

~ When I started quilting six years ago, everyone I spoke with about quilting talked about their stash. Every online group I read talked about their stash. I had just started quilting. What stash? So I set out to have a stash. The age-old question quickly arose - how much do I buy?

~ The very first trip to the quilt shop to sign up for a beginning class found me face-to-face with Robyn Pandolph's Moda line, Morning Glory. Oh, goodness, that stuff was gorgeous. I didn't know how much I'd need for my sampler class, had no idea which colorway I should buy; in other words, I was totally clueless. So I bought two yards of each piece in the whole line. 40+ pieces in that line. I was so proud! I now had a stash! I came home and washed each piece, carefully ironed and folded it, and it looked pitiful sitting there all by itself. And if I actually cut it and used it, I would no longer have a stash. I needed more fabric!

~ Then I joined a squishie swap. I bought FQs to make blocks for folks. But what if I messed cutting or sewing and needed more fabric? So I bought two FQs. What if I really messed up? So I bought a yard.

~ Next I made the discovery of all discoveries! They sell fabric online! OMG, I was in seventh heaven. I can't even tell you how much fun I had exploring those sites, poking buttons, discovering the greatest secret on earth - shopping in your pajamas! Since I was still taking my beginning classes, and still clueless about quilting, I had no earthly idea what I would make out of this stuff, but I just know I had to have it!

~ One weekend I was eavesdropping in the quilt shop, and a lady said she was going to buy a whole bolt of something. A whole bolt!! She was my hero! That day I bought a bolt of muslin and a bolt of Kona Snow. Good buys, but really blah next to my Pandolph stash. I needed more bolts!

~ I explored a shop in the next county and saw a stack of neatly folded FQs all tied up with a Moda ribbon. I asked the dumb question, and was told it was a Moda tower -- an FQ of every single fabric in that line! I bought that tower. (And I still have it!) Towers opened up a whole new way of thinking for me. I could have just a bit of ALL of the fabrics! And they wouldn't take up so much room. Really! I really thought that! But, of course, if you're going to buy a tower, you must get yardage for borders and backing, right? Still no clue how much I'd need, but I figured four yards for borders and eight yards for backing ought to do it.

~ Wait! They sell kits -- already made up -- out of the same fabric of which I just bought a tower and yardage! All right! Now I won't have to use my stash to make that quilt!!

I won't go any further. The rest of the story is sadly well known among quilters. But what I do need to emphasize here is at this point in the story I've been quilting a grand total of THREE MONTHS!!

So here I sit in my pajamas the day after Thanksgiving, having just viewed all the Coming Soon stuff at www.fatquartershop.com, and feeling a bit righteous about my new resolve to bust that stash!! While I was in the hospital last week, my inbox filled up with online shops taunting me with their after-Thanksgiving sales. I deleted all of them. Not a gigantic step in the scheme of things, but a beginning!

I'm formulating a game plan to use up the stuff I'm not so taken with any more. Batiks and Civil War fabrics are on list. While I really do like those, I'm not head-over-heels in love with them any more. It was just a quest to collect them. And those odd FQs, hundreds of them - I've been cutting them up into strips, giving them away, using them up. A long way to go but at least I've started.

The big yardage pieces upstairs, I'm going to cut them. No use saving them for the perfect backing piece. They're taking up room and they're not getting any younger. This is funny, but a while back a good friend mentioned looking for a beige mottled background for an applique project. I sent her a strip of something I had in my stash. She emailed me back that it was perfect, but since it was a really old Pandolph Moda and she needed five yards, that she'd have to look elsewhere. Not a problem. I happened to have seven yards of it up there!

I don't know where all this is headed, but I do know that I am out of room here. I'm going to make flimsies this year, tons and tons of them. I've got thousands of yards of fabric here, so I'm going to experiment a bit. While the fabric choices for a particular quilt might not be perfect, I'll bet my next paycheck that they will look just fine. Besides, we aren't building a piano here! I see charity quilts and "happy" quilts for friends and family coming out of the stash room.

I'm deadly serious when I say I could never buy another inch of fabric or another spool of thread or another ruler or book, and still prolifically quilt for the rest of my life. But I'd rather be stimulated occasionally by the new stuff, be tantalized by a new pattern or book. To do that, I need to do some serious stash busting.

2008 is the year!

Happy Thanksgiving

I've been so out of it lately. I slept 18 hours last night. I guess I needed it.

Thank you all so much for your notes and emails and kind words. Next week I've got a couple of doctor visits, and then hopefully I'll be right as rain.

Wishing everyone a wonderful day with family and friends.

Last Three Days

The last three days have been spent in the hospital. Friday I was at work but was miserable - in pain and my face was real swollen. Saturday morning I called Jane and asked her to take me to the ER. We got there about noon. They immediately gave me pain meds and antibiotics, and then admitted me.

Clear liquid diets - what can I say about those? The last meal of solid food I had was Tuesday at noon, and I ate very little of that. From then until Sat. night about 8:00 when they brought me a hamburger, all I had was broth and Jell-O. Now I know I can live 'off the fat of the land' for a long time, but I was just plain hungry. I hope that liquid diet was good for at least a five pound loss!

The bone infection under that crowned and root-canaled tooth spread very fast. The right side of my face was swollen, my neck looked huge, and two large egg-sized knots traveled down the front of my neck to my chest. That was real scary.

The hospital was wonderful, starting with the ER nurse who was a quilter. The general physician, internist and ENT specialist all visited. I was on standby to be taken to surgery, but thankfully responded well to the mega doses of antibiotics.

I got home at around 8:00 tonight. And VERY glad to be home!

I have a lot of catching up to do on your blogs, and a lot of catching up to do on some sewing for a friend, but it'll all get done this week. Over the long weekend I should get the sewing finished up and off to be quilted.

I was truly scared. It hasn't often happened to me, but this was just one of those times.

Dentists

I hate them. I woke up with a huge problem yesterday, got in to my dentist, and he promptly referred me to an endodontist (sp?) today. I cried in the chair it hurt so badly. I haven't done that since I was about six. And I look like I have the mumps.

I was going to go on another fabric diet. That won't be hard. I spent $91 yesterday and $1255 today FOR DENTAL WORK. And we're not done.

I'll blog about retreat in a couple of days. I just want to go to bed now.

Gratitudes:

~ Antibiotics
~ Chicken noodle soup
~ Yogart
~ Daisy -- well, not tonight. She's really munching down on her hard food in there. I'm jealous!!

Want a Dog?

This is the last time I hear my dog making a strange growling, playful sound and don't go to investigate.

A spool of Aurifil thread ..... $9.50.

The toys I buy for her to tear up, she lays there and licks them. Of course, those only cost $1.99.

If I hurry, I can get the following in the weekend paper: "Free to a good home. One slightly used doxie. Comes with poop bags and gently licked toys. "

Home from Retreat!

Jane and I had a good flight up and got to the hotel right on schedule. Set up our sewing space, and then waited for friends to drift in. The first night is always fun. No one sews - well, I don't. LOL.

On Friday there was a workshop about applique prepping, and then it's a free day to sew or shop. Guess which one we chose? We went to Quilter's Inn, Main Street Quilt Shop, In Between Stitches and ThimbleCreek. I bought some patterns and some Kansas Star books. I'll dig those out and post a picture tomorrow. In Between Stitches is my favorite shop up there. We went back for a bit on Saturday just in case we had left something behind on the first trip! I was really good this year. Then we all went over to Mimi's for dinner, and then sewed late into the night.

On Saturday there was a machine applique class, and more sewing. Saturday night is the official dinner. Lots of goodies at our place at the table. And our annual pincushions. Mar makes these and they are wonderful. We had show and tell on Saturday as well as our official group picture. Holly puts all of these in a great frame for us. She's such a sweetie!

On Sunday we left the hotel at noon with our favorite taxi driver, and there was no problem getting my shoulder through security this year. As we were getting our purses off the screening belt, everyone started yelling "5-0-5! 5-0-5!" All of the security workers surrounded our screening area. Keep in mind our horrible trip home and the security problem that kept us grounded for five hours last year. Jane muttered, "What now?!!" Everyone had to stand perfectly still, couldn't touch our purses or anything. It was a little scary. I wasn't about to move a muscle. Then an announcement came on thanking us for our participation in their security drill. Whew!

Jane and I were giggling later and wondered what would happen if we started yelling "5-0-5" and fell down spread eagle on the floor. ROFLOL. Okay, maybe that's not really funny, but we thought it was at the time! LOL. Sheesh, you can't take us anywhere.

My favorite thing from retreat? Mar brought me a Condo Cow!!! Yep, a real, honest-to-goodness Condo Cow!! Eat your heart out, Kim!

More details tomorrow night. I'm bushed. Does this mean I'm getting too old to have fun any more? Hmmmm...... I'll tell you what. My bed sure did feel awfully good last night. I don't think I moved all night.

Gratitudes:

~ Friends
~ Tears
~ Laughter

One More Day!

I'm so tired and so stressed right now. It's almost no fun getting away for a couple of days in view of what all has to be done at the office before I leave. However, I AM getting on that plane Thursday morning!

Off to Alex's retreat! I just need to put clothes in the suitcase tonight, and I'm ready! Daisy's friend came over last night to get the key to the house. I need to pull her kennel into the breakfast room and she's all set. She's going to freak when I move it. Such a creature of habit. I hope she behaves for Candice while I'm gone.

Make a list for a quick stop at the market tonight. Dog food, conditioner .... well, I guess that's my list. LOL. Want to bet I come home with more than that?

I hope everyone out in Blogland has a wonderful week and weekend. I'll see you Sunday night.

Well, this was hard!

I was trying to figure out a retreat project. Jane and I are flying up for Alex's retreat on Thursday morning. Nothing like waiting until the last minute!

The official retreat project this year is from her new neutrals book. I've got a couple of neutral quilts, so I thought I'd work on something different - although I wanted it to be something "Alex."

Jane gave me this pattern and a whole bag full of greens and black/whites for Christmas a couple of years ago. She started hers. I hadn't. Until today.

Three attempts to make these stupid pine trees. I cut templates per the pattern instructions, and let me just say that I didn't do very well on those at all. So I made up a paper pieced pattern, and my backgrounds came out on a diagonal. Didn't like that either. I was whining to Jane on the phone about it, and she suggested the tried and trusty Tri-Rec rulers. The size is slightly off from the pattern, but I can adjust the piano key borders to fit. Yep, this will work. So I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon getting a bunch of these cut out. And finish watching LSU get clobbered by Alabama. (sigh) Maybe they'll do better in the second half. I know, hope springs eternal! Geaux Tigers - please!

Edit: Whew! I'm getting way too old to watch LSU games! I wasn't breathing at the end of that game!!!!!!!

This week was busy because the CEO will be gone hopefully for the next two weeks. He's going up next week to watch Magic train for the National Championship, which is the following week. I said that "hopefully" he'll be away that second week. There is an elimination each day. Magic is high point dog in the country, so he has all the potential to go the whole week. If on Thurs. 11/15 he is called back to Friday's trial, I will probably leave and drive up there. I don't know when I'll find out, or if I'll leave Thurs. night or very early Friday morning. It's a six hour drive, and I'd want to see him run on Friday. So that week is kind of up in the air.

But first things first -- RETREAT!! I'm so excited! I haven't had a vacation day since January, and it was only one day to attend the Road to CA quilt show. So these two days are very welcomed!! And I can't wait to see all of my buddies. We've been together for a lot of years at this retreat. Fun, fun, fun! Let's just hope that the flight up and home are smoother than last year's.

Gratitudes:

~ An absolutely gorgeous day today!

~ Spending another portion of today petting the Market presents from Jane!

~ A nice conversation with a good friend last night!

~ Lazy Daisy.