Sunday, July 31, 2011

Stash Report 2011 - Week 31

Buttons were poked this week at the Fat Quarter Shop, but later in the week so that nothing landed. Next week will be a doozy, though!

And then there was the Long Beach Quilt Show yesterday. Jane and I headed over there early and spent four hours walking. I was so tired when we left at 2:30. Not used to walking so much. We had fun, though.

I picked up a bunch of patterns. If my camera charges up, "if" being the operative word here, I'll post pictures. Seems everything electronic around me is malfunctioning ... printer, cell phone, and now the camera. Even the computer is slow as molasses these days. The coffee pot also broke yesterday. I'm about to head down to McDonald's for a couple of cups to go. Note to self: Buy a coffee pot today!

Five embroidery patterns followed me home, and three or four patterns that I can make from my stash.

A couple of teeny wool kits. Also a teeny kit of fabric for a teeny pattern. I doubt there's a yard total in the kit but I'll figure it all out later.

In the meantime, I'm not changing my stash report until next week when the Marine's land .... a/k/a the boxes from the Fat Quarter Shop.

And for those of you who asked, the shops I liked best at the show were Primitive Gatherings, Pudding Stone Road, and one other one that I can't find their name anywhere, even on the receipt.

I need my coffee!

So the report is same as last week.

Year to Date:

Busted: 397.98 yards
Purchased: 431.025 yards
Net YTD: (33.045) yards busted :(

Guess it's not bad considering the quilt show!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Stash Report 2011- Week 30

All I can say is thank goodness for give-aways. I haven't been able to sew for two weeks, and might not for the forseeable future.

Year to Date:

Busted: 397.98 yards
Purchased: 431.025 yards
Net YTD: (33.045) yards busted :(

My local quilt shop is having a fund raiser for a local charity, so I'll be donating more fabric to that in the next couple of weeks. I plan to be in the black very soon!

Yeah, I know .... it's about time!!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Penny's "50" Give-Away Winner(s)

Sorry I slept in this morning. I opened my eyes and looked at the clock. Is it really 7:51 a.m.? It's been years and years since I've slept that long. And the kicker is I went to bed really early last night because this was an exhausting week. Guess I'm all caught up now.

The title of this blog post is "Penny's '50' Give-Away Winner(s)."

Yes, winner(s).

I kind of had it in my mind to give away all three things, but I thought I'd see what the response was. I said to myself (I talk to myself sometimes!) that if I had over 200 comments, I'd do it. Well, as you can see, there were well over 200 comments.

I printed off all the comments, cut them up and put them in a bag. Penny pulled one out of the bag for the gift certificate.

The winner of the $50 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop is ..........

Megan from Crooked Seams.

Megan has a really neat blog. Go check it out!

Now, at this point, Penny totally lost interest in a paper bag with no food in it, so I had to pull the next two names.

The winner of the random fat quarters from my stash is ..........

Gail at Going to Pieces.

Gail has some wonderful projects on her blog!

And finally, the winner of the 50 random yards from my stash is ..........

Quilterbee who doesn't have a blog.

I would appreciate it if the three winners would contact me this weekend with your correct email/mailing information.

Meanwhile, I'm heading up to the stash room to start pulling those random fabrics!

Congrats to all. Thanks to everyone for playing along.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Penny's "50" Give-Away

So when we were talking this morning, Penny and me, she came up with 50 when I asked her to pick a number.

Her choice kind of took me aback, but I'll go with it anyway.

Leave a comment and tell me whether you'd rather have:

1. 50 yards of miscellaneous fabric from my stash

2. 50 miscellaneous fat quarters from my stash

OR

3. A $50 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter shop

One winner will be chosen.

Since I won't be able to post at all this week, I'll run the give-away to next Saturday morning, July 23rd, when I get up and have a cup of coffee. It'll probably be around 6:00ish a.m.

Be sure to leave contact info (either a link to your blog or your email address) in case your name is chosen.

Remember, comment moderation is turned on, so you might not see your post right away. I will be publishing several times a day, so be patient. Also, because of the volume of entries for give-aways, I won't be able to respond to each comment. Please know that all commenters are entered.

That Penny! Whatever am I going to do with her?

Stash Report 2011 - Week 29

I really blew it out this week on purchases. No excuses, except I've been so good this year ...... and it was killing me! However bad this report is, it's way better than prior years. So I guess progress is being made.

Four yards of this Floursack by Windham for a backing. It will be perfect for the back of an old utility quilt I'm finishing for my sister-in-law that was made by her mother and grandmother. It's even the same vintage. I wanted a whole bolt of this, but a cooler head prevailed. :)

Yes, I do practice restraint occasionally while poking buttons at the Fat Quarter Shop. Occasionally. Ask Kimberly. She'll tell you!



Then oodles of Civil War came in. Oodles of it. First is Sweet Emilie. That's the two bottom packs in the picture below. This is the prettiest Civil War line I've seen in a long time. The colors are so soft. Will I be able to cut these?



Hello, my name is Vicky. I'm a ..... oh, never mind.

Also, a tower of Little Gatherings. Look at that range of neutrals to black. Gorgeous!

The box I was most excited about was Scandanavian Christmas.



Sorry for the blurry picture. My hands got all trembly when I opened the box this morning! I poked a few buttons, and then decided to find the pattern I wanted to make before ordering the borders/backing. Well, that was a mistake. This stuff is selling like hotcakes! The piece I wanted was gone, I tell you, gone! Youdathunk I'd have learned that lesson by now. Get it while it's there! ROFLOL. I bought so much of this line that I think I'll be able to wing it, though, so don't feel too sorry for me. Oh, and the best part of this? It blends very well with the first couple of French General lines. So you see? I'm all set!! :)

I also picked up a couple of yards of shirtings, and another piece for a backing.

So there you have it, all 53 yards of it.

EDIT: Oops, I forgot one of the pictures. More Civil War fabrics, Cotton Club.



Next up, shopping for an 18-bedroom house to store all of this stuff!

Year to Date:

Busted: 318.73 yards
Purchased: 431.025 yards
Net YTD: (112.295) yards busted :(

I'll get up a give-away later today. I asked Penny to pick a number and she chose "50" - so 50 it is. Hmmmm, I wonder what that means........

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Good Grief!

When I said boxes would be rolling in this week, that wasn't an exaggeration!

I think I'm done buying for a while. But I knew this would happen. All those wonderful things that were taunting me, and you, in "Coming Soon" have hit the shelves at the Fat Quarter Shop! Go check them out. I dare you!!!!! :)

Next week I'll get up another give-away. Need to offset at least some of it!

This weekend will be fun. I'm going to Newport Beach with my late boss' family to spend Saturday frolicking in the surf and sun. Well, let me rephrase that. I seldom frolic, so I'll have to be content with watching others doing the frolicking! I'm really looking forward to hearing waves and seeing water. I didn't realize how much I've missed it until I started thinking about this weekend. I'll be the old lady in long sleeves and a hat sitting under a beach umbrella!

And then next week will be meetingsmeetingsmeetings, and the week after that, too. Sheesh, I get tired just thinking about it. I'm going to take reading material with me to the beach to cram and prepare. Or maybe I'll just take my Kindle!

I'm feeling a lot better but still not over this crud. I've been early to bed and drinking lots of water and taking Claritin, antibiotics and cough syrup. Penny has been feeling neglected, so I guess tonight we'll cuddle for a bit before I head upstairs.

That's it. Just fair warning about my stash report on Sunday, and a give-away next week.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Stash Report 2011 - Weeks 26, 27 & 28

This is the first report I've made since retreat weekend, so three weeks here. Thought I'd best do it now before that boat-load of fabric arrives next week! :)

Busted -- I sent a little quilting buddy some charm packs for her birthday, and then I cut out two quilts last weekend. So 28.05 busted! There were some other fabrics sent to a swap pal, but I didn't write down what those were and can't remember now, so I can't count them.

I need to hire myself a CFO! ;)

Incoming -- There are 28 yards that were given to me by a friend. (Thank you, my friend!!)

Next week ....... ouch. I have a package sitting here that hasn't been opened. I figure it'll just get added to the other gazillion yards incoming next week.

There were a ton of notions that came in this week from the Fat Quarter Shop. I laid them all out and found out my camera batteries were dead. Guess I need an assistant, too. Anyway, I picked up four spools of dark brown, dark green and dark blue Aurifil threads, fall colors. I plan on doing some quilting myself this winter. I love Aurifil thread, but more importantly, my Bernina loves it! The spools seem to last forever and there's a whole lot less lint than other brands I've used!

Four packs of these Clover fine pins. These are the only pins I have ever used that my Bernina allows me to sew across. I know I'm supposed to take them out, but who really does that? Okay, I know some of my readers do, but I don't. Anyway, these pins are so thin and fine. They bend easier but I'd rather lose a few in the process of making a quilt than having to spend the time stopping and unpinning before stitching that seam. I buy these every time I see them. I'm so glad the FQS is now stocking them. I can poke the button and toss some into the box on a fabric order.

Then for applique I picked up two favorites. I love the ThimblePads for both my pushing finger on top and the underneath finger. I also pick up these when I see them.

But the one thing I'm so glad the Fat Quarter Shop is now stocking are these General's white chalk pencils. I have tried every marker out there for making on dark fabrics and these are my absolute favorite! They're hard to find locally, so I'm a happy appliquer!!

Wow, this is long. That's what happens when I don't report for a while. I guess it means that I'm feeling a tad bit better today!

Year to Date:

Busted: 318.73 yards
Purchased: 378.025 yards
Net YTD: (59.295) yards busted :(

Thursday, July 07, 2011

I Can Multi-Task

I can be sick as a dog, coughing, sneezing, wheezing .....

..... and still poke buttons at the Fat Quarter Shop.

Guess my poking finger isn't as sick as the rest of my body!

Monday, July 04, 2011

Fourth of July, 2011

Happy 4th of July to everyone!

Penny and I have been sewing. Well, I've been sewing, and Penny has been bugging me. She finally threw in the towel and went to sleep.

I finished the Peyton at Play pattern except for the borders. I'll get those on either tomorrow or next weekend.



Dug into my Minick & Simpson stash for this one. I think there are two or three different lines in this quilt. The outside border will be that large blue Prairie Paisley fabric.



Sorry I bothered you, Penny. But turn about is fair play!

Sunday, July 03, 2011

A Good Day!

I've been busy in my sewing room today!

First, I finished the patriotic tumblers. I decided on a blue border, although I'm rethinking that now. LOL.



Then continuing the patriotic theme, I cut the Peyton at Play pattern from a couple of Minick & Simpson lines. I notice I don't have the borders in the picture, but they're cut also. I'll start sewing this one tomorrow.



And finally I cut out the Brrrr Park quilt. Again, the borders are not in the picture but they're ready to sew on when the quilt center is finished. This was a lot of cutting. I'm going to enlarge the quilt so there will be more cutting later, but at least I can get started on the majority of it.



Of course, I didn't vacuum...........

July 3rd

Today I cut. Just need to tidy up a bit more around my cutting table and then I'm just going to do it! I don't know if I'll sew any today ... maybe later ... but I have two quilts I want to get cut out and ready to stitch.

The first is Brrrr Park which I talked about in the last post. I love that Winter fabric by Minick & Simpson.

The second one I want to cut is also Minick & Simpson fabric, a patriotic, but I don't know exactly which one yet. Doesn't matter at this point. I'm just itching to fiddle around with patriotic fabrics seeings as how it's the 4th of July weekend and all. I *think* I have some up in the stash room!



The pattern I'm going to use is Peyton at Play by It's Sew Emma designs. This one will sew up really quickly, and those large squares are perfect for some of that gorgeous patriotic fabric that Laurie and Polly design.

So that's my plan for today. I'll get laundry going in the interim, and will vacuum after finishing one and before starting the other. I hate house cleaning, so I'll play the little games I play to get it done. No stash report today. Next week will be a three-week report. I have a little bust so far, and a friend gave me some fabrics last week so I need to count those in. I just don't want to deal with that today. I'm hoping next week's report will have me very very close to being in the black. We'll see. As long I don't go sleep poking again!

It's so hot here. A great day to stay in and play. I need to sweep the patio, but that will have to be way later when the sun is about to go down.

I slept in a bit this morning, and Penny is over there snoring. She cracks me up!