Last Stash Report 123117

Since this is the last day of the year, this is about as accurate a yearly report as there can be.

FABRIC IN: From my favorite thrift store.
Moda sea foam w/ dots, pink chenille & blue chenille = 0.76 yards for $0.75

Last fabric added for 2017

FABRIC OUT:
91 Reusable Sanitary Pads = 8.09 yards

91 pads ready to go

Center of Carnival Quilt (greens only since white was purchased specifically for this project and never counted in) = 1 yard

Carnival Quilt Center

Red White and Blue Quilt Backing = 10.10 yards

I missed getting a finished picture, but it is all sewn together now!!

Fabric Purchased the week:  0.76 yards
Fabric Purchased YTD: 101.98 yards

Fabric Acquired This Week: 0 yards
Fabric Acquired YTD: 46.04 yards

Fabric Used This Week: 19.19 yards for pads, carnival quilt center, RWB backing

Fabric Used YTD: 136.48 yards

Fabric Stashed in 2017: 11.54 yards stashed

Not bad at all considering how much fabric came in this year.  I am pleased with my year and in surpassing my goal of 100 yards out. 



Staying accountable with   quiltpaintcreate.  

Year in Review 2017 and Goals for 2018

  January -  Lucy's Quilt

January -  Carnival Quilt D

February - Carnival Quilt B.

March - Emergency Quilt for Guatemala

March - Commissioned Baby Quilt

April - Busy Bag for an important trip to the doctor

April - quick birthday party gift

April - Clara Barton Apron

July - Sewanne College Quilt for niece

August - Aprons for new teachers at school

August - College Quilt for Middle E

September - Commissioned Baby Girl Quilt

October - 35 pillowcases for Houston + 3 for hostess gifts

October - Adult weighted blanket+ 2 lap weighted blankets

October - Aprons for my girls! + apron for college roommate

November - Commissioned Christmas Stockings

December - 91 pads for Days for Girls

December - 3 pillowcases for tutorees + 1 for friend back in the Fall

That's a lot of projects I finished.  Some were on the list of goals for 2017 and some weren't.  But when I look at it like this I do have a sense of accomplishment.  I work nearly full-time, tutor 4 days a week, visit my father in memory care at least 2 days a week (my sisters and I divide the week up), keep up with the various activities of Little S and maintain the home.  So that's not bad.

My goals for 2018!

Projects I had hoped to finish in 2017 but didn't:

Scrappy Mountains Majesty - no forward progress at all.  Still needs borders & quilting.

X Marks the Spot  - no forward progress.  Still needs borders, backing and quilting

Quinceanos Quilt - all the signature squares are now joined, needs borders, backing and quilting

Spider Web - finished all the triangles, needs borders, backing and quilting


Curtain Quilt - got strips joined, needs backing and quilting

Boxy Stars - made it to the flimsy stage. needs backing and quilting

Red White & Blue - finally got the backing pieced (king size so it took a while).  Because of the size I will take this to a professional long-armer when they open again in mid-January.


Strips That Sizzle - the quilt that will not let itself get finished.  I got the borders, backing, and started quilting back in May, but the thread keeps breaking.  I have changed thread, needles, foot and now I think it must be the sheet as a backing that is causing the problem.  It is in "time out" again until I figure out what to do that does not include unsewing the 12" that I did manage to get quilted.

ARRRGGGGHHH

And some new projects:

Christmas Tree Skirt for Grown Up R - she needs to choose a design

Christmas Quilt - Thinking  I need to try to replace my Christmas quilt that was stolen.  This one would not be hand sewn.

Carnival Quilt for Ms. D


Baby Quilt for Sister-in-Law - will use FIL's shirts when I find out gender

BOM - join JO's Country Junction challenge and finish my sister's BOM kit



So even though the Strips that Sizzle Quilt is driving me crazy and makes me feel as though I haven't done much this year, that is not true.  It made me try other quilting styles on the regular machine and that is not a bad thing.  And it is teaching me patience!!

In 12 months I will look back on this list.  Wonder what will be finished and what will have been added on unexpectedly ?!?!

Linking up to Quilting Jet Girl's 2018 Planning Party.

The Last Friday Finish of 2017

Big finishes this week.  It is amazing how much sewing I can get done when I don't go to work!

My new walking foot made a huge difference on the pad project!!

The reusable sanitary pads project (Days for Girls) started with good intentions.  In October, when the other teachers and I finished with the pillowcases for Harvey victims we thought this would be another good cause.  I had plenty of materials on hand (surprise! surprise!) and we dove right in.  It turned out to be way more than we could chew.

Cute & practical

The straight sewing on the pillowcases was just right for their beginning to intermediate skills.  These were just the opposite.  Lots of layers, lots of curves, and zig zag stitching that needed to be precise.  All the fabric we started with had already been cut, so the only thing was for me to take them home and work away at it, which means it get set aside, but took up lots of space.

91 pads ready to pass on for pins & shipping.to Days for Girls

My recent plan was to make that be my priority project as soon as I got the sewing room cleaned up after Christmas.  The girls were gone for the afternoon after Christmas so I had completely uninterrupted sewing time - and no pressure for dinner since there are plenty of leftovers. I got the last 51 pads finished.  As a bonus I actually got a system going where I could piece the carnival quilt blocks in between pads.

Carnival Quilt Center

This week I also got the backing for the Red White & Blue quilt done at last.  I had almost all of the strips ready, but needed a large enough place to lay them out to decide on the placement and then cut the last two and sew them up.  This week I am not teaching, but I am tutoring so I took the pieces and used my classroom to lay it all out.  We have a sewing machine in the class so I just sewed them up as well.  HUGE RELIEF that this step is finished.

Red White & Blue Backing ready to sew

I have been trying and trying to figure out why the thread is breaking so much when I use my Brother machine on the frame for quilting.  I had narrowed it down to the darning foot and had gotten a replacement.  It didn't really make sense, but the foot had more then a few issues that had already been "fixed" so that I could still use it, so getting a new one was overdue anyways.  Sure enough when I reloaded the finicky quilt and tried again this week I had the same problem.  I now think it is the sheet as a backing that is causing the problem.  So I loaded this little one as a test on that theory.  After a not-so-smooth start I got in the groove and got it finished up in no time with no more thread breakage.

Test Quilt

CLEAN WORK SPACE 
+ DETERMINATION 
+ GIRLS GONE 
- WORK 
- DINNER 
= DONE DONE DONE

Linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Crazy Mom Quilts to show off finishes.

Design Floor Monday 122517

I didn't plan to even try to get my sewing room cleaned up until after Christmas, but I worked hard during little bits of time and actually started and was nearly finished by Christmas Day.  I lowered my decorating expectations and that worked out just fine.  No one even noticed and we had a really wonderful day anyways.

Green Carnival Quilt

I got enough cleaned up so that I could use the floor to lay out the carnival quilt when we got back from dinner with the extended family.  The teacher had suggested green and I went ahead and cut it all without testing.  But I think it works. It will have a white or black border next and then I have a pieced border left from another project that I think will work perfectly for this.


There are no glaring errors, so I will start sewing it leader & ender style around another project I am trying to finish.

Not linking up up with anyone since it is Christmas, but for my own sake here is what I'm working on.

Stash Report 122417

Christmas Eve.  Where does the time go?  We worked through Thursday so I have low expectations for myself as far as decorating and the like.  I did get the house clean on Friday and stocked up on groceries Saturday.  I am so thankful that my girls understand that it's not about the "stuff" and if Mama's stressed and tired nothing is fun anyways.  College E hung lights soon after she got back and then last weekend got Little S to help her decorate the tree.  Grown Up R gets in tonight from a bucket list trip overseas and we are all just happy to be together.  Taking a Guatemalan style dinner tonight to my father in Memory Care.  Hoping he snaps out of whatever is going on now and is able to enjoy it.

Fabric In - I had to buy solid black for the basketball pillowcase.  2 yards because it was half off and so I'll have enough black the next time I need it.

Fabric Out - 3 pillowcases you can read about HERE.  3.3 yards
More squares of Christmas fabric for ornaments at school.  0.18 yards
Faux Cross-Stitch for school project  0.55 yards

Faux Cross-Stitch

Fabric Purchased:  2 yards
Fabric Purchased YTD: 101.22 yards

Fabric Acquired This Week: 0 yards
Fabric Acquired YTD: 46.04 yards

Fabric Used This Week: 4.03 yards for pillowcases and school project

Fabric Used YTD: 117.29 yards

Fabric Stashed in 2017: 29.97 yards stashed

I still have that king size backing that is almost done and I have another long-term project that is reaching an end.  Those will help me get closer to breaking even, but does it really matter.

My annual mental goal is always to use 100 yards and I surpassed that this year.  Woo hoo!


Staying accountable with   quiltpaintcreate.  

 

Friday Finish - More Pillowcases

It has been a year for pillowcases.  35+ got made for victims of Hurricane Harvey, others got made for friends, and hostess gifts.  And at the last minute I decided I should made some for the kids I tutor.  That was inspired by a bit of basketball fabric I happened to have.

But the basketball pillowcase turned problematic.  I didn't have enough black for the body of the pillowcase so bought (ack!) more after church on Sunday.  Our washer is broken, so someone else prewashed the fabrics for me while I was at work on Monday.  I got sick (head congestion, fever, and yucky stomach) but I was determined to finish the pillowcases in time and wasn't thinking right or I probably would have noticed that the prewashed fabrics just didn't seem right.

Cute, but distorted

Sure enough - after a second washing with color catcher because all that black with a white band really made me nervous it was obvious (photo above) that the newer black fabric had shrunk - a lot.  I was still sick - worse  - the night before I needed to gift this, so I did my best to make it presentable.  Ironing and taking a bigger seam on the focus fabric helped a lot.  I didn't have any more basketball fabric to try again.  Unsewing and starting over wasn't really an option although that is what I should have done.  When it is on a pillow it looks good.  Lesson learned - don't delegate.  Recipient was super happy and that's what really matters.

The next pillowcases turned out uneventfully.  Whew.  First was for a girl whose favorite color is blue.  I thought I'd try Christmas fabric.  This piece was not quite long enough so I made it up with a longer upper band.  She was thrilled.

Winter mittens

The last one went to her little sister, who happens to be in my class this year and because I changed grades this year, she was also in my class last year.  Sweet little girl who I could not leave out of the gifting.  Her favorite colors are pink and purple.

Winnie the Pooh Christmas

This one I cut according to the instructions, but comparing it to the blue one I don't like the proportions as well.  So lots of lessons learned during these three pillowcases.  But the bottom line is once they are on the pillow they are cute no matter what.  I know that the pillowcases for Harvey had a lot of variation in cutting depending on what was available to use and they all came out great.

Three happy students!!!  Despite the little problems, I was glad that I went with my instinct to make a nice gift for each of them even though it was last minute.  It was the right thing to do for the relationship I have with each of the families.  So often, I feel like I miss my opportunity and am kicking myself later.  Not this time.

Linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Crazy Mom Quilts to show off finishes.

Design Wall Monday - Carnival Quilt 2018

I actually have a design in the works.  For the past few years I have made one or two quilts to auction at Little S's elementary school each Spring.  You can check out all the past quilts:  2017 B, 2017 D, 2016 W, 2016 D, 2015 D, 2014 D.  That was a fun trip down memory lane going back and looking them up.

a paper plan

Anyways, Little S has now moved on to middle school, but the teacher who got me started is still at the elementary school, so I agreed to make another this year.

a few greens here

A few weeks ago I got the white squares back that the students had designed.  I am wanting to do something a bit different this year.

and a few more greens here

She suggested green and I have plenty of green since one of College E's college choices had green as their predominate color and I thought I was clever stocking up.  Check out this post to see what I ended up making for her that definitely was not green!

testing the design

My plan is a variation of the Missouri Star Quilt Company Two Step quilt for the main block.  I think I will only have one fabric instead of two around each of the white blocks.  Since it is a "signature" quilt I don't want to take too much attention away from the kids' squares.

Linking up to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts to show what's in the works!

Stash Report 121717

With College E back home I have lost the use of all the flat surfaces in her room.  I was doing scrapbooking in there and was making great progress since I didn't have to take things out and then put them away when I wanted to sew. I am happier to have her home than to make progress on the scrapbooks though!!

But now that it is all back in the sewing room again I took advantage of a slow day last weekend to clean up and try to get things organized.  I put away the remains of completed projects.  Cut odd scraps into usable sizes for the scrap drawers.  Cut a few more pillowcases to finish that up and return the fabric that was given to me specifically for that project but didn't work.  Resisted started anything new.  I still have a few piles of fabrics that were auditioned for pillowcases to put away, but I am getting closer to clean and neat than I have been in a while.

I have cleaned almost enough so that the backing for the king size red, white and blue stars quilt has resurfaced.  But I need to clean the floor in order to get to it!!  If I get that taken care of then I will be able to see the sewing machine that needs a new free motion foot, which I received a few weeks ago.  Hope I can find it again when I am ready. 


Odd bits of fabric out this week:

Felt for scarves for snowmen kits: 0.25 yards felt

Swaddling clothes for Baby Jesus for the one-year-old class at school:  0.15 yards flannel

Fabric Squares and felt squares for Christmas tree ornaments for my class:  0.3 yards

Fabric in:  Nothing!!  Zero !!  Nada!!




Fabric Purchased:  0 yards
Fabric Purchased YTD: 99.22 yards

Fabric Acquired This Week: 0 yards
Fabric Acquired YTD: 46.04 yards

Fabric Used This Week: 0.7 yards for misc school projects

Fabric Used YTD: 113.26 yards

Fabric Stashed in 2017: 31.25 yards stashed

Staying accountable with   quiltpaintcreate.  

Friday Finish - Snowman Kits

The last weeks of school before Christmas and again in June are just crazy busy.  I guess because there is no longer any time to put things off for later.

So with school in mind I did have a finish of sorts this week.  I made 5 double batches of peppermint playdough in order to make "Snowman Kits" for the students. Each kit got a good size ball of playdough, a felt scarf (fabric out!!), buttons, eyes, beads, sticks, and a hat.

The hats were so fun.  I got baby socks at the $ Store.  Then cut off the heel and cuff and folded over what was left to make a cuff for the hats.  After a bit of deliberation I machine sewed the cuff down to avoid fraying and disappointment in the future.  Then College E hot glued pompoms to each one.  They are so cute.

Cut...

Fold, Sew!

The containers also came from the $ Store.  This is much bigger than the idea we used for inspiration, but I think it will be easier for little fingers to manage.  Sometimes you just have to work with what is available.

They came out super cute.  I think the kids will like them.  The best part is that they are done a full week and a half before the last day of class!  I think that means this weekend will hold more sewing and less school prep.  Woo hoo!

Snowman Kit!!

Linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Crazy Mom Quilts to show off finishes.

Stash Report 121017

No fabric in this week.  Whew!

Hmm.  That's what I had originally planned to report.  But, alas, it was not to be.  College E got home for Christmas two days early, so I took the day off to be with her while Little S was still in school (and I was not the lead teacher this week, so it was much easier to miss than usual).  We did a few errands over the bridge and off course couldn't help but pass by my favorite little thrift store on the way back.  2.5 yards for $1

I'm thinking this will be a good baby girl quilt backing.

I finished the Christmas stockings that were commissioned.  The client was thrilled and it was all from stash.  Win Win!!   5.28 yards

Commissioned stockings.

I also made a cute pillowcase as a Christmas gift for the same friend's daughter, who is also a good friend to Little S.  She likes pink, so this fabric was perfect.  The upper band was given to me for pillowcases so I don't count that in or out, but all the rest was from the stash.  The cupcake fabric was a very recent addition, so that was a quick turnaround.  It was a very odd shaped piece so my upper band is wider to make up for the shortage of the cupcake fabric.  It is still cute if not perfectly proportioned!  0.75 yards

Cute cupcake pilowcase!

Fabric Purchased:  2.5 yards
Fabric Purchased YTD: 99.22 yards

Fabric Acquired This Week: 0 yards
Fabric Acquired YTD: 46.04 yards

Fabric Used This Week:  6.03 yards for Christmas stockings & pillowcase

Fabric Used YTD: 112.56 yards

Fabric Stashed in 2017: 31.95 yards stashed

I'm headed in the right direction - ever so slightly.  Now if I could just get that king size backing finished.

Staying accountable with   quiltpaintcreate.  

Commissioned Stockings

A friend asked me to make stockings for her family.  She went through my Christmas stash and chose fabrics.  When I started cutting I made 2 suggestions to change.  One because I had just received the flowery fabric and it worked better.  The other because the flow just wasn't right and the change worked better.

After the stocking boots were made it was time to decide on the cuffs.  This is where it really needs to be the client who makes the decision.  I have learned to present the options and then step back.

All red?

All green?

Red & green mixed?

How about white?

In the end she went with all red, which is what she had indicated at the start of the project, but it helps to see all the options to be sure that what you imagined is what you really want.

I did add lace to the youngest.  It helps with the red on red and is appropriate for the age and gender. All in all they came out great and the client was very happy!

Ta Daaaaa!

I made lots of stockings when we lived in Guatemala because it was a novelty there and not part of the culture.  But here in the US I haven't made any because my mother knit stockings for all of the family.  Amazingly I still had the pattern from Guatemala.  Why did I even wonder - of course I held on to it!

Linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Crazy Mom Quilts to show off finishes.