Sunday, August 29, 2010

Stash Report 2010 - Week 34

Head on over to Judy's Patchwork Times to see what real quilters do with their stashes! My stash is just hibernating. Nothing in, nothing out again this week. I guess I'm not a real quilter!

I don't know what's wrong with me lately. I've filled up my cart at the Fat Quarter Shop at least twice and then forgot about it. Kimberly is going to think I've abandoned her!! Hello, Kimberly? Remember me?

I'm so glad this sort of thing doesn't count on Judy's stash report, but I ordered some dies for my cutter, and yesterday I ordered a counted cross stitch kit from ehandcrafts.com. I'm going to start with one of the Anniversaries of the Heart by Blackbird Designs. Probably way over my head, but I'll do it! It will just have to be my learning piece.

This year I had a short list of a few things I want to learn or reacquaint myself on doing. One was embroidery. I got that small Rabbits Prefer Embroidery by Anne Sutton at BunnyHill done earlier this year. Although I have a lot more to learn, at least I know I can do it. Second on my list was counted cross stitch, so that stuff is ordered. The last thing is hand quilting. I read all of Laurie Simpson's tutorials at the Minick & Simpson blog, and I'm going to jump in and give it a whirl. I have several small tops here on which I can practice. So at least I'm trying to get through my list this year. Next year I'll work more on these three things. Oh, and quilting!

I have packages in the back of the QuiltMobile that need mailing. If I owe you one, they'll go to UPS today. Sorry, but it seems like every spare moment was in the dental chair these past two weeks.

So my numbers have not changed:

Year-To-Date:

Busted: 298.75 yards
Purchased: 372.055 yards
Net YTD: (73.305) yards busted :(

There's always next week. Hey, we have a long weekend coming up. Maybe I can get a couple of backings done and get those off to the quilter! I feel a bust coming on!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Playing Around

I decided to get the cutter out of the box and give it a try. I don't have an other dies except the one that came with it, but I have a few on order. Wish I had known before I ordered them that Joanne's carries them. Oh, well, it will do me good to practice a little patience! Well, practicing patience is a real challenge for me. I guess you could say I'm patience challenged!



Anyway, I grabbed a handful of scraps and started cutting 2" finished HSTs. Got about 100 cut in less than ten minutes. I found I couldn't turn the handle at all with my right arm which is weaker because of the shoulder replacement. But I'm ambidextrous, so it was easy to switch hands and try it from the other direction. I had a hard time getting the die to go through until I figured out how to best position myself in relation to the cutter while cranking. Also, I think I need a lower surface than the dining room table. That will give me a little more leverage with the crank.

Yep, I think I'll be able to use this for a lot of projects. Now if that darn order would hurry up and come in!

Watch out Stash Room! Here I come!!

Cross Stitching

Can anyone direct me to a good book or two on how to learn counted cross stitch? I was taught how to do this 40+ years ago, but haven't touched it in at least 30 years.

Also, where is a good source of supplies: linen, good floss, etc.?

I DO NOT need a new hobby, but this has been eating at me for quite some time. Thought I'd try a small project and get it out of my system.

Thanks!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

After the Day After

Well, this birthday just doesn't seem to want to end!

My present to myself arrived today .....



I'm the marketer's dream consumer. I can't stand not having what everybody else is getting! ;~)

Good thing this is the "last" birthday I'm celebrating!

Monday, August 23, 2010

The Day After

The day after the last birthday I'm ever going to have, that is!

Yep, I'm stopping at 59! I refuse to be 60. So I'm just going to celebrate 59 from here on out!

I had such fun. Jane, her sweet DH and Skippy all came over and we had a feast. Grilled two huge beef tenderloins, some great chicken and apple sausage, and also Italian chicken sausage. A ton of other fixings, a good bottle of vino, and lots of laughter. The pups played until they were just totally pooped.

And birthday cake! No gourmet cakes for us! Jane and I have this thing about white cake with buttercream icing from the market. We call it wedding cake! Her DH just rolls his eyes! Anyway, the more icing, the better. We figure only on birthdays can we seek sugar highs like this! It was so delish that I had a piece for breakfast! Ssshhh....



The most wonderful gifts made their way to my house - DVDs, books, a gorgeous stitchery kit, dishtowels, beautiful soft butter scotch colored pearls, some textile bobbins.

And these gorgeous Bunny Hill pink roses from my boss and his wife! Sorry about the bad picture, but my camera died before I could get a good shot. There are twigs wound around down in the vase. The smell is heavenly!



Gosh, everyone knows exactly what I like. But the absolute best was all the phone calls and emails with birthday wishes. Okay, so I cried a couple of times. I'm really such a softy!

Thank you to everyone for helping me celebrate in style the last birthday ever!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Stash Report 2010 - Week 33

I got sick last weekend, and it's taken me most of the week to shake the chills and fever. Guess that 'splains why I bought nothing and busted nothing.

Actually, I bought so much stuff this month that I'm kind of burned out. What an awful thing to have happen in your guilt-free month! I'm waiting for yardage on a couple of lines to hit the shelves at the Fat Quarter Shop.

Like I need more projects .....



As is evident in this photo, I haven't even started some of the BOMs. Sheesh. Guess I need to pick a tub and just do it! Think of how much money I could save on tubs. I need to go green -- recycle!

Went to Home Depot yesterday to get ONE thing and came home with the back of the QuiltMobile loaded. What is it about those kinds of stores? I picked up batteries, a poop scoop, mailing tape, a bunch of other stuff - and, yes, I came home without light bulbs. But I can see why guys like going there so much. Kind of like we are in quilt shops!

Jane, her sweet DH and Skippy are coming over this afternoon. We're going to grill beef tenderloin, and I think birthday cake will be involved!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Pennsylvania Dutch BOM #10 - WINNER!

The winner of the Pennsylvania Dutch drawing for the $25 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop is -----------

SIMONE!

Congratulations, Simone! I'll email your gift certificate to you in a few minutes!

I would like to thank everyone for doing this BOM along with me this year. Truly, because of this group I managed to do every block each month. Thank you!

We need to set aside a weekend when the blocks are finished to do our settings. Maybe if we hold hands and do it together I won't let it languish in my stash room!

Kimberly at the Fat Quarter Shop -- THANK YOU! It's because of you that we're getting our blocks done in a timely fashion! You and Kevin have been so incredibly generous this year to us. Your support has been awesome. xox to you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



It's time for everyone to get Month 10 of their Pennsylvania Dutch BOM blocks made!

Kimberly at the Fat Quarter Shop has donated a $25 gift certificate for a drawing from those who comment here about their finished block. Just leave a link to your blog that has a picture of your block, or email me a picture to be entered in the drawing!

The drawing will be held on Sunday morning 8/22/10 when I get up and get a cup of coffee in me.

Only two more blocks to go! I'm really looking forward to getting this gorgeous quilt finished up. These blocks were fun and easy to do!

Thank you to Kimberly and everyone at the Fat Quarter Shop for your generosity this year for the BOM participants! You pick always come up with the best BOMs! Love finding those packages on my doorstep! Thank you!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Stash Report 2010 - Week 32

I'm not feeling very well this weekend, so I'm going to post this now just in case I sleep all day tomorrow.

Since August is my no-guilt month, I took full advantage of it!



I gathered up some Clermont Farms precuts - two layer cakes, two jelly rolls, and four charm packs. I'm waiting for the yardage to hit, and then I'll be done with this line of Minick & Simpson. Can't wait to see what they're cooking up for Fall Market!

Then I found some neat stripes from the Wee Woodland line by Keiki for Moda. I call these subtle stripes, and I love incorporating them into quilts.

I picked the backing for the Fig Tree Club kit that came in last week - from the Fresh Cottons line. I've so truly enjoyed the Fig Tree Club, and have signed up for the new one. My Fig Tree stash runneth over!

What else?

Oh, yeah, the Luna Notte kit by Moda! Oh, my goodness, this thing is gorgeous! I'm just waiting for the 108" fabrics to come in to purchase the backing.

And last but not least, although they haven't come in yet, I ordered up some '30s fabrics. I seem to be so attracted to those lately. Anyway, those will arrive next week so I'll report them now.

Purchased this week -- 48.73 yards.

I also busted some fabrics for give-aways here and in my guild, and filled another box for Judy's charity quilts. Goodness, I need to mail those out this week before I have to borrow Chad's new truck to get them to the mailing place! Busted this week -- 66.125 yards.

Year-To-Date:

Busted: 298.75 yards
Purchased: 372.055 yards
Net YTD: (73.305) yards busted :(

I'm determined to finish this year even. ROFLOL. Kimberly needs to quit enabling me!!

Oh, and Penny was busy this week busting her paper towel stash!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Kit Give-Away Winner!

Wow, there were lots of comments on this give-away! Thank you all for stopping by. The names went in the bowl and the lucky winner of the beautiful Provence kit and backing is ...

BECKY AT Quilting Booklady!

Congratulations, Becky! I saw on your blog that you just retired. May you have many, many, many years of quilting happiness in your retirement! I'm jealous!

Email me at krz4kwlts@yahoo.com with your snail mail address and I'll get your kit off to you!

Thank you for helping me bust my stash!

We'll have another one soon, so stay tuned!

Sunday, August 08, 2010

August Give-Away

It's GIVE-AWAY TIME at LA Quilter!!!

This month's give-away is the Stars of Provence kit by RJR Fabrics.



It's the blue colorway that is pictured on the right side of the color chart.

The quilt top measures 84.5 x 108.5 - 11.375 yards of fabric. The floral package you see there is 8.5 yards of backing! That's 19.875 yards of fabric total!

This will be a quick and easy quilt to make. All it is is four-patches and HSTs. Very do-able! You could get this done in time for a fabulous Christmas present for someone!

The drawing will be held on Thursday 8/12/10 at around 9:00 pm California time. It is open for everyone, both here and internationally! (I would do it on Friday the 13th, but I'm kinda superstitious! ;)

To be entered in the drawing, just leave a comment here. No guessing anything this time! Whew!

As always, make sure your comment either links to your blog or else leave an email address. I have to be able to contact you if you are the lucky winner!

Penny says GOOD LUCK! I do, too!

P.S. That yellowing you see on the dark blue fabric is not a stain on the fabric. It's where the picture of the quilt got stuck to the plastic. The fabric is perfect! :)

Stash Report 2010 - Week 30

This week wasn't as bad as I though it would be. But only because two more boxes haven't landed yet. Next week -- uh oh! But it's okay. Repeat after me ... August is my no-guilt buy month! :)

The July shipment of the 2010 Fig Tree Club arrived. What is it about Joanna's fabrics that are so appealing to me? It must be those soft colors - they're like pastel but not pastel. Does that make sense? I don't remember if I signed up yet for the Second Annual Fig Tree Club. Kimberly, help!



Anyway, this adorable Blooming Meadows quilt from Fresh Cottons is 6.37 yards. I'm going to stash dive on those Fig Tree shelves for backing - unless I cave and go ahead and poke another button. It's August, after all!

The other box that arrived was the one with BOMs. I'll be making the Pennsylvania Dutch this week for sure. And before someone asks *again* - no, I don't count BOM monthly packages in my stash report. So there's a lot of sewing going on with no busts. I do, however, count the finishing kits and backings both in and out.

Went to Jane's last night for Sarah's birthday dinner. Yummy steaks! Jane's sweet DH cooks the best steaks ever! And a gorgeous birthday cake, but I passed on that because it was - gasp - chocolate! Okay, I admit it. I'm not much of a chocolate person .... I know. Weird, huh?

Penny is plumb worn out from playing with Skippy. We walked this morning, and she climbed right back on her perch to sleep more. She didn't even get down when I put the Fig Tree there to photo. I can't believe I actually got a picture without her head stuck in it! (LOL, I have to lighten the pictures so much to get her to show up.)



I'm going to dig around in the stash room and come up with something for a give-away. I'll get that posted a little later. Pennsylvania Dutch ladies, I'll get that post up after the give-away ends next week. And I also need to stick some more fabric in the charity box. Hey, a bust is a bust, no matter how!

Busted: 232.625 yards
Purchased: 323.325 yards
Net YTD: (90.70) yards busted :(

Saturday, August 07, 2010

Week in Review

Not much going on here - at least in my sewing room! However, the rest of my life is eventful, even if I'd rather it not be so much that way.

1. Round 1 at the dentist on what will be a long, expensive adventure. Ouch!

2. Penny escaped! This little turd took off running out the door without a leash when I opened it one night this week to get a box off the doorstep. She headed right for the walking path running full speed, with her little fat mommy right behind her. She wasn't slowing down.

The neighbors were cracking up laughing and yelling "Run, Penny, run!" (Name that movie!) I finally screamed "STOP!" And she dropped to the ground. Just about when I got to her, she turned and took off running back to the condo. She ran inside. By the time I came back in huffing and puffing, she was laying on the back of the sofa like nothing had happened. I'm going to strangle her if she ever does that again!

Later (after I called paramedics and got oxygen) I had to laugh. I just have a visual of me jiggling all over the place while I'm chasing her ...... dang, that dog is fast!

3. Incoming boxes. Yes, plural. One more (or is it two?) winging its way to me. August is my guilt-free month for buying. :) Time to clean out the sewing room, or at least my cutting table. Just in case I actually get some time to cut fabric. Okay, I'm dreaming.



4. Twins' first birthday. Happy birthday to Will and Peyton! I'm being reactive these days instead of proactive. I didn't forget your birthdays, sweetie pies. I'm just running behind, as usual.

5. Watch for a give-away announcement tomorrow evening. Don't know what yet, but I always manage to find something lurking in the stash room. Need to offset the incoming boxes!

6. Internet provider tech is coming this morning. Hooray! I still have modem issues, and I'm tired of not being able to get a connection every time I sit down at the computer. They called yesterday to tell me they investigated and there really is a problem. Whew, and here I thought I was just imagining it all.

Hope everyone has a fine day. I'm heading over to celebrate Jane's daughter's birthday this evening. I hear birthday cake is involved! Yeah!!!

Sunday, August 01, 2010

Stash Report 2010, Week 30

The stash report is the same as last week. I'm still 81.33 yards down.

That said ... I'm not counting the eBay box purchase as incoming because it would be impossible to figure out how much is in there. If and when I finish up these projects, I'll only count any additional fabric purchased to finish. I have two HUGE tubs of this sort of vintage fabric, so I may not need to purchase anything except backing. I almost gave this stuff away five years ago. I'm so glad now I hung onto it.

Since so many asked to see the box, here are a couple of pictures. The box is big, heavy and packed with goodies.



The first set of blocks, and the ones that I will more than likely work on first, are these scrumptious nine patches.



There are 27 completed blocks in various colors - the "colors" being the solid fabrics in the nine patches, with coordinating fabrics.

The note pinned at the top says, "I need 3 more blue." Then she wrote "6 x 5 with borders," which denotes her intended layout. Below that she has a list of the ones already made:

Red - 3
Pink - 3
Green - 3
Orange - 3
Purple - 5
Blue - 2
Green - 8

There are two lines scratched out referring to orange and purple.

The blocks, in case the pictures aren't clear, have four patches in two corners and HSTs in two corners, and the block measures 14" square. They are hand pieced and in mint condition.

I'll be posting more as I unearth the contents. I played around in the box a good while on Friday night when it arrived, but didn't make my way all the way to the bottom. I wanted to save some surprises for later!