Stash Report 012818

Some progress this week, but nothing finished enough to call it "fabric out."  I finished quilting Boxy Stars.  The backing had already been counted out.

Quilted and trimmed!

College E came home for the weekend to attend an early childhood education conference with me and that was more important than sewing the binding on.  I did get the binding prepped and hopefully I'll get it sewn on after she heads back on Sunday afternoon.

Binding is ready!!

No fabric in either so the numbers remain the same.

Fabric Purchased this week: 0 yards
Fabric Purchased YTD: 13.13 yards

Fabric Used this week: 0 yards
Fabric Used YTD: 14.39 yards

Total: 1.26 yards used

I still brought work home in the evenings this week.  So that cut into my time and energy level, but I did get a bit of sewing related work done most days. Slow and steady.

Days stitched this week: 6/7
Days stitched this month: 25/27
Days stitched this year: 25/27
Success Rate: 93%


Linking up to QuiltPaintCreate to stay accountable with the stash and Life in Pieces  to keep sewing every day.

Frday Finish 012618

I surprised myself but getting my Boxy Stars quilted and trimmed and ready to bind.

Last Wednesday it looked like this.

Slow and steady

On Saturday evening it looked like this.

Making progress!

On Sunday it looked like this.

I just might finish this after all!!

And now it looks like this.

Quilted, trimmed and waiting for a binding.

The binding is cut and waiting to be sewn and attached.  College E came home last night with her friend to participate in an early childhood conference with me this weekend, so not sure how much will get done this weekend.  But I'd rather have her home than sew anyways.

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

UFO Challenge 012418

Last Wednesday it looked like this.

Slow and steady

On Saturday evening it looked like this.

Making progress!

On Sunday it looked like this.

I just might finish this after all!!

And now it looks like this.

Quilted, trimmed and waiting for a binding.

This is huge progress for me.  My first big finish since the machine I use for machine quilting started shredding thread last spring.  This is far from perfect, but it is the best I have been able to sew on this machine in ages.  I had tried all kinds of fixes and I think it ended up being a thread caught up in the machinery behind the bobbin housing.  I am not afraid to take things apart and it appears to have paid off in this case.

The binding is cut and waiting to be sewn and attached.  But I have had a another week of bringing home work every night, so sewing progress has slowed down.  And College E is coming home Thursday night with her friend to participate in an early childhood conference with me this weekend, so not sure how much will get done this weekend.  But I'd rather have her home than sew anyways.


Linking up to Jo's Country Junction UFO Challenge to show progress!!

Design Wall Monday 012218

Last week I had a big project I was working on for school and not much time to sew.  I made myself sew the bare minimum of 15 minutes a few nights and mostly worked on the leader & ender project because it was mindless and that is what I needed.  I was afraid that if I tried anything else I'd mess it up.

Red on the left is new this week.

Voila!  Another red hexagon.  I have about 15 more of these ready to go so doing one not by leader & endering is no big deal.

Linking up to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts to show what we are working on.

Stash Report 012118

Fabric In: I haven't been to the thrift store since school started back up and I went back to work.  Two whole weeks!!  I broke down and headed over on Saturday afternoon since it was on my way to a few other errands.  The other errands were a bust, but the thrift store was great.  It looked like the craft room had just been stocked.  Lots of new scrapbooking supplies and new fabrics at good prices.  I don't have anything specific in mind since I am trying to finish things, but solids are always good and the red plaid will work for Dear Jane.  I have another FQ exactly like this one, so I thought that maybe with 2 I'd turn them into something. $3 for 8.32 yards  No regrets.

Latest haul from the thrift store.

The brown and yellow bundles each had 3 perfect yards (not scraps and no chunks cut out of them) and were $1 each.  The red was also a perfect yard for just $0.25!!  The white was actually 2 different white pieces and was just over 1 yard total for $0.25.

Fabric out made the fabric coming in was easier on my conscience.  I finished piecing the backing for the Boxy Stars quilt.

I love the plaid backing.

Now I am slowly working on getting it quilted.

Only 2 rows of stars left.  Making progress.

Fabric Purchased this week: 8.32 yards
Fabric Purchased YTD: 13.13 yards

Fabric Used this week: 4.75 yards for Boxy Stars backing
Fabric Used YTD: 14.39 yards

Total: 1.26 yards used

I have been trying very hard to get 15 minutes of sewing in every day.  The first week back to work was easier and I got a bit done every evening after dinner.  This week I had a huge project for work that I was working on in the evenings.  Some evenings I got in the 15 minutes anyways, but by Friday I was pooped.  Worked on the big project til after 9 pm and then hit the sack.  Overall it is making me more aware of trying to get some sewing time in.  Even the nights that I sewed the bare minimum I made noticeable progress.

Days stitched this week: 6/7
Days stitched this month: 19/20
Days stitched this year: 19/20
Success Rate: 95%


Linking up to QuiltPaintCreate to stay accountable with the stash and Life in Pieces to keep sewing every day.

UFO Challenge 011718 - Boxy Stars

My Boxy Stars finally has a back.  It has been waiting since last Spring at least. The plaid was one of the last purchases of the year from the thrift store.  It is perfect.  I'm so glad it worked out to wait on the finishing of this quilt.  There wasn't enough, so I added the pink to make it large enough.

I am so glad to finally have gotten the backing ready.  Now the quilting.  I am trying again with the machine and the frame.  I took am much as I could apart on the machine to try again to find out why the thread keeps breaking.  Deep down inside I found a thread trapped.  Hmmm?  I got it out and got the machine back together.

Boxy Stars nearing a finish.

It is doing much better, so I think I am on the right track with the fix.  Wasn't the thread, wasn't the tension, wasn't using a sheet as a backing, wasn't the needle, wasn't the free motion foot.  Seems like it was the stray thread where it didn't belong.  Slow and steady on this now.

Linking up to Jo's Country Junction to get some of the pesky UFOs taken care of. 

Design Wall Monday 011518

I had run out of Leader & Ender material so I took the time to prep more hexagons and in the process I found another bag of pre-cut hexies most of which had multiples.  Woo Hoo.

The red one is new this week.  The star is for the BOM challenge.

I think I have enough sets for over 20 large hexagons.  I don't want a king size quilt of child-friendly hexagons, so I am thinking to make 2 baby/kid quilts.  We'll see what happens when I get that far.  I may as well keep working on them though since the hexies are already cut and everything else is from the stash.

Three more hexagon sets ready to go.

Linking up to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts to show what we are working on.

Stash Report 011418

Instead of going to the thrift store for therapy Friday after work, I stayed home and sewed for therapy.  Much more productive.

I finished the Carnival Auction Quilt top and backing.  The teacher likes to show the students each step of the quilting process, so I will get the flimsy and backing to her to show off and then I'll quilt it when it comes back.

My helper wasn't quite tall enough!

I like this a lot.  I went way out of my comfort zone on the blocks and then stretched myself more by trying to use up blocks that were abandoned years ago as an outer pieced border.  They worked perfectly.  I was nervous about the math to get the borders right, but it turned out to be easy and worked the first time. I considered adding another round of pieced border blocks, since there are plenty, but it is big enough.

I had to piece the backing and it isn't my favorite, but it will do.  Apparently I had plenty of small green pieces of fabric, but not much that was large.  The focus is the front with the kids' drawings so the backing doesn't much matter on this one.

The center of the quilt was already counted out when I finished that a few weeks ago, so now I will count out the borders and backing.

Fabric Purchased this week: 0 yards
Fabric Purchased YTD: 4.81 yards

Fabric Used this week: 3.35 yards for carnival quilt borders and backing
Fabric Used YTD: 9.64 yards

Total: 4.83 yards used

I have also been trying to sew for 15 minutes each day.  This was easier before I went back to work, but this past week I have still been able to make it happen.

January 1-13 13/13 days of sewing 

Linking up to quiltpaintcreate to stay accountable and Life in Pieces to keep track of those 15 minutes. 

Friday Finish

Some good finishes for the beginning of the year.  I am trying really hard to keep sewing even on work days.  These were finishes the first week of January before going back to work.

Finished this UFO from the thrift store.

Little Baby Quilt

Finished this random baby quilt I've been working on in spurts.

Alligator Baby Quilt

And also finished this one that started out as a bag of squares from a friend and became much more - over a year's time!

Scraps from a friend

This I got done since Sunday even with work, so I am encouraged.  This section is from a bag of squares and scraps from the thrift store.  I will take a break at this point and let it speak to me as to what borders it wants.  Nothing left in the bag, so whatever it is will have to be from stash.

Thrift Store UFO Bag

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

UFO Challenge

This was actually a UFO that was a bag of pieces I got at the thrift store.  I just can't resist a good puzzle.  I went through a few variations with the original pieces and then changed some out for fabric from my stash that I thought looked better.  On Sunday evening it looked like this.

Sunday night

I have been trying to hard to maintain the momentum from Christmas break and keep sewing in the evenings after work and dinner even if I am tired.  A few minutes goes a long ways.  By Tuesday evening it was all webbed together.

Tuesday night

At this point it needs a few borders to make it big enough to be practical for anything.  So it is likely to go back into UFO status while I work on the Carnival Quilt which has an actual deadline.  But I am pleased to have gotten it this far.  I like it and will be thinking of borders.

Linking up to Jo's Country Junction UFO Challenge.

Design Wall Monday 010818

It's a Design Floor for me.  With College E home lots of stuff got moved into my work area and I can't get to the wall.

I finished up a few odd small quilts and then pulled out a bag of someone's UFO that I had gotten at the thrift store.  All the muslin squares were cut but there were not very square so I straightened them up.  Only a few of the colored squares were cut, which was good since I had to square them up also.  Then I cut the remaining fabric the correct size.

I wasn't convinced on one of the fabrics that came in the bag, so I switched it for a brown from my stash right away.  Better, but still not quite right.

Layout #1

Then I switched out the beige with red blobs for more brown and did a little bit of rearranging.  I am hoping this will be a baby boy quilt to have on hand.  Those red blobs looked too much like roses and the color just wasn't working.  I like this much better.

Layout #2

I already got a few rows sewn together in Bonnie Hunter's webbing style.  I'll work at it this week as I get time.  I like a simple project without much thinking when I only have a little bit of time to sew in the evenings.  This is perfect.

Linking up to Small Quilts Doll Quilts to show what we are working on.

Stash Report 010718

Fun Facts from 2017

I kept track of enough details in 2017 to be able to calculate my price/yard across the year.  I get quite a bit of fabric free or very cheap and I rarely buy fabric at a regular store unless I need it for something very specific.  I love numbers so I went back "mathed" it. 

I brought a total of 147.9 yards of fabric into my home at a cost of $54.02, which made my fabric in 2017 cost $0.37/yard.    That was fun!!

First Stash Report of 2018

Unfortunately, fabric already came in.  I blame it on the thrift store.  Once I go back to work there won't be as many trips over that way, so there is hope for the future.

Fun fabric roll!

When I unrolled the light blue to measure it out came this cute vehicle FQ as a bonus!

This is really light blue and the surprise FQ also.

I went through a lot of my browns making Dear Jane blocks over the vacation.  I'm trying to make each block from a unique fabric and not have duplicates, so this brown for $0.25 caught my eye.  It ended up being almost 1.5 yards.

4.81 yards for $1.75

Fabric Out: Since I had over a week without going to work and it was too cold to go out much I got a lot done on the sewing front.  I tried really hard to finish things that were started, specifically things that were stalled because of difficulties of any sort.  Mentally I was trying to lift the burden of those projects to free me up to sew something fun and easier when my time is limited in the future.


I got the Alligator Baby Quilt completely finished.  I was struggling with the quilting and I'm not completely happy with it, but it's done.  I can count out the backing and binding.  3 yards

Alligator Quilt

I also got this cute little one finished.  I bought it at the thrift store a few weeks ago.  $4 for the finished quilt with batting and backing, in a large wooden hoop, partially hand quilted.  I figured I could finish it by machine and then I'll have a cute baby quilt on hand.  So little was hand quilted that I just machine quilted in a meander over it and didn't bother to remove the stitches.  I can later if they bother me.  I never counted this in because I couldn't figure out how, but I can count out the binding now.  0.29 yards.

Cute little baby quilt

Once those were bound I reached to the next one on the pile.  This time last year I worked on this cute bright quilt then set it aside.  Apparently I had planned for the next round of borders, since it was all folded together, but hadn't sewn them.  I had to piece the circle fabric carefully since the pieces were not long enough.  While I had momentum I quilting it and got it bound.  This will make a super cute baby quilt to have on hand.  Outer Border, backing and Binding 3 yards

My favorite so far!

Fabric Purchased this week: 4.81 yards
Fabric Purchased YTD: 4.81 yards

Fabric Used this week: 6.29 yards
Fabric Used YTD: 6.29 yards

Total: 1.48 yards used

Linking up to quiltpaintcreate to stay accountable.

BOM Challenge

I took the BOM Challenge!!

This BOM was actually my sister's.  She thought she wanted to learn to make a quilt - at least 15 years ago I would guess.  My mother and I got her this BOM kit set since it was pre-cut and that would make it easier.  Well, she never even started and on one of her recent moves she gave it back to me.

Find the project - CHECK!

I couldn't remember what the details were on the BOM Challenge, but I had time after New Year's before I went back to work and figured I'd just at least make Month 1.  Little S helped get it all out.

Find Month 1 - CHECK!

A few months are missing.  A few months have duplicates.  Little S also helped me figure out where the duplicates can be used and how to fill the gaps.  It all seems very doable.  Little S thought she could even do it, but she went back to her book and left me to the sewing.

A little history to go with the block - FUN!

Wow, pre-cut made it a breeze.

No decision making at all - EASY PEASY!

Month 1 - DONE!

Eliza's Star - FINISHED!

Linking up to Jo's Country Junction to join the BOM Challenge.

UFO Challenge

Jo's Country Junction is having a challenge to get some UFOs finished.  I have been working hard since New Years to get things done that have been frustrating me.  I figured if I got them done early in the year instead of letting them really get me down, maybe I'd progress more overall.  It's worth a try.

Practice  Free Motion Quilting

I need to tackle the Strips that Sizzle that just keeps breaking the thread no matter what I try, but I worked on the alligator quilt instead.  It has the same thread-breaking problem, but is smaller.  So I took it off the frame and thought I'd try free motion quilting on my mother's machine that I use for regular stitching.  I has all the bells & whistles for free motion feature but I've never tried since the other machine has been easier in the past.

Ready to trim and bind

I did it, but I don't know that I would do it again.  Or maybe I just need more practice.  Sometimes I would get in a groove and it was smooth sailing and other times it was "toenail catchers."  It was a good experiment.  Now I know that this is NOT an option for finishing the Strips that Sizzle - and the quilt is ready for binding.  So it served its purpose and is nearly off the UFO list.

Linking up to Jo's Country Junction to show progress.

Tasty Tuesday - Play Dough

No Fail Play Dough

I have made a lot of play dough in the last few weeks.  This is an old recipe from a cookbook compiled by missionaries in Africa.  When Senor G went to Africa for a visit one of the women gave him a copy for me.  We were living in Moscow, Russian then and Grown Up R was about 1-year-old.   It's been a while.

This one's a keeper.

 The Play Dough recipe was perfect for us at the time since we didn't have access to much of anything. I have used the recipe over the years for the younger girls and also for school.

Thank you Sandy M.

I recently made Pumpkin Pie Play Dough at Thanksgiving time for school.  Just add cinnamon and nutmeg to the dry ingredients and orange food color.   For Christmas I added peppermint extract and red food color.

Colored peppermint getting mixed up.

I made 6 double batches of white peppermint play dough for snowman kits for student gifts at Christmas.   We got good reviews on that from the parents. 

Plain peppermint for snowmen kits cooling - before and after kneading.

Then I made bright play dough for my nephew for Christmas.

Nice and Bright for Nephew.

PLAY DOUGH

Mix together in a saucepan:
1 c flout
1/2 c salt
2 t cream of tartar
dry spices if desired

Mix together in a measuring cup or small bowl:
1 c water
2 T oil
few drops of color
flavor extracts if desired

Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until ball forms.  This only takes a few minutes.
Remove dough from sauce pan onto flat cool surface.
Knead til smooth.
Store in a tightly sealed container or bag.

Notes: I have never had a batch not work.  When you first start stirring it doesn't seem like it's going to work, but it always does.

I find this play dough to be smoother and easier to use than name brands.  For little hands and fingers this can make a big difference.  I also doesn't leave that icky feeling on your hands.