Fall Fabric and More

Last week I missed a report.  Pretty much just missed the week altogether with everything that was going on.  I did do the Thankful Thursday posts, but it turned out both of them were on Fridays.  I don't know how I was that far off!! But now I think I am getting back to normal.

Fabric In: I cannot tell a lie.  Fabric came in.  Lots of it.  I was out thrifting on my first day in 20 years that the girls went back to school and I didn't.  That was strange.  I was looking for something specific, so I took the opportunity to make the big loop of thrift stores.  I didn't find what I was looking for but I did find some great deals on fabric - and I have a purpose for all of it.

White 100% cotton still on the bolt $2.  I haven't measured it yet so will carry this over to next week.  I can always use white, especially with another hexagon quilt finish fast approaching.

Dark green with brown details: 2 1/3 yards $1.50

This just says "fall" to me!

Lilac flannel: 1/2 yard $0.50  It has already been made into burp cloths and reusable makeup wipes.

And the lilac said "baby burp cloth!"

I had been telling myself I could just use what I have to make items for the craft fair in October, but at these prices I can't not buy it. 

Fabric Out:

These are pretty addicting for a car ride.

Flannel blanket with crochet edges.  Ladybug blanket was finished a while back, but not reported.  Pink rosebuds was finished a week or so ago.  Farm blanket got finished on the trip to get College E back to school.  4.02 yards

More burp cloths. 

Made some more burp cloths.  I love making these.  Sure hope they sell at the craft fair.  3 yards

Love the polka dots.

Bright hexagons got a binding.  0.34 yards

Pillowcase set.

Second pillowcase was completed.  Little S made one at the library class a while back and there was just enough fabric to make a matching case, so I finally did.  It sure would have been easier if they had been cut at the same time so I didn't have to remeasure to make sure they were identical.  2.2 yards for both.  I don't think I reported the first pillowcase back in June, but if so I'll readjust my numbers later.

Fabric Purchased since last report: 2.83 yards
Fabric Purchased YTD: 74.34 yards

Fabric Acquired since last report: 0 yards

Fabric Acquired YTD: 22.65 yards

Fabric Used since last report: 9.56 yards
Fabric Used YTD: 121.26 yards

Total: 10.81 yards destashed

Don't forget to check out the August Giveaway.  Help me get more fabric out of the stash.

Kate over at Life In Pieces has challenged us to try to stitch 15 minutes each day.  This was definitely an odd last few weeks.  Considering everything that was going on I am happy with my progress.  I love that 15 minutes can make a difference in productivity and attitude.

Days stitched since last report: 12/14
Days stitched this year: 217/237
Success Rate: 92%

Linking up to QuiltPaintCreate and Life in Pieces to keep accountable.

Stash Report 040818

I've been sewing in dribs and drabs.  I had thought I'd get more done on Spring Break than I actually did.  Isn't that always the case?

Fabric In:  I'm not doing so good this year on resisting temptation.  But when it is so super cheap (or free) I can't help myself.

This will make a great backing.

Turquoise chevrons: 3 yards for $2.29

Solid Red: 2.44 yards gifted

Just cute!

Princesses: 1 yard for $1, most of it already used in a pillowcase

Snowmen: 0.9 yards for $0.50

Soft and snuggly

Flannel: It has already been cut into large squares (44" x 44") for baby blankets with crochet edges, but I think I can use it for backings for baby quilts also.  10.21 yards gifted


Fabric Out:

There were some straggling pillowcases that found their way back to me for finishing.  All done.  Three of the more childish ones will go to a family in Spain next month, but the rest need homes.  Ideas??  Some of the fabric had been donated just for this project, but most was from the stash.  19 pillowcases = 14.64 yards

Who needs pillowcases?

Fabric Purchased this week: 4.9 yards
Fabric Purchased YTD: 30.76 yards

Fabric Acquired this week: 12.65 yards

Fabric Acquired YTD: 22.65 yards

Fabric Used this week:  14.64 yards for pillowcases
Fabric Used YTD: 43.68 yards

Total: 9.73 yards stashed

I am mostly keeping up with Kate over at Life in Pieces trying to get 15 minutes of stitching or sewing related work done every day.  I am not getting it reported regularly, but I am getting it done in real life.

Days stitched since last report: 13/14
Days stitched this month: 6/7
Days stitched this year: 88/97
Success Rate: 91%


Linking up to QuiltPaintCreate and Life in Pieces to keep accountable.

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.

Stash Report 111917

Fabric In
Through work I had access to a room filled with fabric and no limitations.  If we are lucky our school is invited about three times a year, but it doesn't always work out that I can go.  This time I could.  A lot of it was not quilting fabric so I literally felt my way around the room picking the fabrics that were most likely quilting cottons.  The lady supervising the room asked what I would do with it all.

Hmm.  We just made 35 pillowcases for Houston and quite a bit of that fabric came from this source last year.  I also made 2 quilts last year that were auctioned to benefit the local elementary school and some of that fabric came from here. We will make Christmas ornaments at school and I was able to pick up some Christmas fabric.  In another room I got several cards of Christmas trims that will also get used for our classroom Christmas projects.

22.5 yards

It is such an odd variety that it just freshens up the stash a bit.  It also makes me feel more generous in using it up on projects that get donated.

Guessing about 2.5 yards since there are a few FQ in this mess still in their packaging.

Amazing how a few pieces really add up.  After I got it all washed, measured and folded it was a bit over 22 yards.  I also picked up a bag that was loaded with scraps of all shapes and size that Little S is working on ironing.  I'm going to say it was 25 yards total.   It is doubtful I will dig my way out of this hole by the end of the year, but boy oh boy it felt like Christmas!!  All for free makes it even better.  How could I possibly not load up?

Fabric Out

I finally got the weighted fidget lap blanket finished for my father. 

Weighted Fidget Lap Blanket  0.5 yards

I also remembered the football pillowcase and finally gave it to a budding football player who was thrilled.

Football Pillowcase  1.1 yards

Fabric Purchased This Week:  0 yards
Fabric Purchased YTD: 71.46 yards

Fabric Acquired This Week: 25 yards
Fabric Acquired YTD: 46.04 yards

Fabric Used This Week:  1.6 yards for lap blanket and pillowcase

Fabric Used YTD: 100.98 yards

Fabric Stashed in 2017: 16.42 yards stashed


I'm deep into the hole, but who can resist free fabric.  I hit 100 yards out and that's great.  I have a few more finishes coming up, so maybe I'll break even by the end of the year.

Staying accountable with quiltpaintcreate.

Friday Finish 111717

Last Friday I had the day off and Little S had to go to school.  That was a very unusual combination, but had to do with making up the hurricane days from Irma.  Her public school make up schedule was different than my private preschool make up days.

Wrighted Fidget Lap Blanket

I considered doing errands, but decided a day at home alone was the best choice and it was.  I got the sewing room kind of cleaned up.  I also started and finished the weighted fidget lap blanket for my father.  Even though I had planned in advance to add a zipper, buttons, and ribbon loops I basically made it up as I went along which is kind of obvious.  I used the last bits of fabric from his bed size weighted blanket and a few "kind of" coordinating fabrics.  I had one last larger piece of the feathery fabric that I was using as backing and it was my guide for size.

When I took it to him on Monday he was very curious and started fiddling right away.  He doesn't open his eyes much anymore so all the touchy feely is good for him.

The staff says using the weighted blanket at night makes a huge difference in helping him sleep, so I am hoping this will help keep him seated.

Another pillowcase

I had another finish from the week before that I had forgotten about.  A pillowcase for a coworker's son.  He is really into football, so when I got this piece of football fabric not long ago I immediately thought of him.  Since we had made lots of pillowcases lately it seemed like a pillowcase was the thing to do.  He loved it!

Very Happy Recipient!!!

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

Stash Report 100117

I was willing to bring more fabric in this week.  All my fun fabric is pretty much used up by pillowcases, but when we went out thrifting there were no appropriate fabrics to be found.

So only fabric out.

More pillowcases for Houston...

Most of this row was sewn this week.

and 2 that went to Georgia.

And these two as well.

Fabric Purchased This Week: 0 yards
Fabric Purchased YTD: 51.17 yards

Fabric Acquired This Week:   0
Fabric Acquired YTD: 18.98 yards

Fabric Used This Week: 14.43 yards for 13 completed pillowcase

Fabric Used YTD: 87.33 yards

Fabric Stashed in 2017: 17.18 yards used



Staying accountable with quiltpaintcreate.

Friday Finish 092917

Still More Pillowcases

We had more ladies show up to sew pillowcases this week.

Newcomer Lisa took advantage to give her daughter a sewing lesson.

Tuesday we got 4 completely finished and 3 partway.  Not bad for 1.5 hours and lots of distractions.  It was lots of fun and reminded me so much of the sewing group we had in Guatemala.

Miss Lauren's mother-in-law's friend got put to work ironing.

Wednesday my other sister (not the one who sewed with me before Hurricane Irma hit) joined us.  We finished the 3 from Tuesday and got 4 more done for a total of 11.   Woo hoo!!

Wednesday Miss Anna is back at the machine along with my sister.

Pretty sure it was 32 all together.  Not bad for an impromptu project.

Separately I finished 2 more to send to the siblings of Middle E's best friend in college.  Middle E's college was evacuated for Hurricane Irma and they couldn't come to us because we were also under evacuation order (even though at the last minute we didn't go and we were okay except for loss of power for a few days) so the friend's mother came to get them (a trip that normally takes 4 hours took all night) and they went to her home for 10 days!!! before the dorms opened again.  I figured the siblings deserved some sort of prize for sharing their home unexpectedly for so long.

Heading to a special pair of sisters.

So all in all a good week for pillowcases.  We will meet again in 2 weeks to sew more.  I have 10 more cut and ready to go.  Digging deep into my mother's stash now and my sister brought me a bit as well.

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

Stash Report 092417

Fabric Out - Again!

We got 6 pillowcases made at school on our two "learn to sew" days.

Day 1 with Miss Lauren

They were the perfect project for straight line stitching.  

Day 2 with Miss Anna

My contribution on Saturday.

We have a friend in Madrid, Spain whose mother was hit by a car recently.  She is in the hospital in serious condition.  This pillowcase will not go to Houston, but will go to Spain personalized just for her.  Hope it brightens the hospital room a bit.

I need to work on my spacing, but for my first try it's not bad.

Fabric In - But With a Reason!

I've been looking for a heavier/decorator weight fabric to make children's aprons for my classroom this year.  I changed classes this school year and the aprons I had made years ago stayed with the previous class.  We have some Dollar Store aprons in the new classroom, but they are not nearly as good as homemade.  Aprons will be another good "learn to sew" project in the future.  $3 for 4.5 yards at my favorite thrift store.

Green on Green with almost a denim feel. 

Fabric Purchased This Week: 4.5 yards
Fabric Purchased YTD: 51.17 yards

Fabric Acquired This Week:   0
Fabric Acquired YTD: 18.98 yards

Fabric Used This Week: 13.32 yards for 12 completed pillowcase

Fabric Used YTD: 72.9 yards

Fabric Stashed in 2017: 2.75 yards used

I'm glad the pillowcases are getting me out of the red, but I'd rather there wasn't a need for them.

Staying accountable with quiltpaintcreate.

More Pillowcases Finished

With my co-workers help we got 6 more pillowcases finished. Woo Hoo!!

Day 1 with Miss Lauren and her kids.  Everyone is in on the action.

This was the perfect project for teaching straight line sewing.   They really enjoyed the project and it was for a good cause.  Because we sewed at school we had a few people come and comment on what we were doing and express and interest in also learning to sew. When the kids came in they picked which ones we would sew next and that was fun too.

Day 1 finished pillowcases.

There are still more cut and ready to sew so we will try to get more done next week. If I can borrow another machine I think we can have someone else join us at.

Day 2 finished pillowcase.  Forgot to get a picture of  Miss Anna sewing.

We made 3 pillowcases in 1.5 hours both days we sewed.  They asked how many I could make myself in 1.5 hours.  That is a good question!  I would assembly line sew and I am much more confident and sew faster overall and there are no pauses for explanation, so I am guessing I would get more done.  But the important part was encouraging others to sew and sharing the joy of sewing.

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

Stash Report 091717

An unexpected fabric outage during an expected power outage.

At daylight after the worst had passed us.

My sister and I made pillowcases for Harvey victims while we were sitting out Irma.  You can read more of the story HERE.

Ten finished pillowcases before the power went out!

I cut a lot more after the power went out, but they haven't been sewn so I won't count them as out yet.  My co-workers are going to help out with those.

Fabric Purchased This Week: 0 yards
Fabric Purchased YTD: 46.67 yards

Fabric Acquired This Week:   0
Fabric Acquired YTD: 18.98 yards

Fabric Used This Week: 11.1 yards for 10 completed pillowcase

Fabric Used YTD: 59.58 yards

Fabric Stashed in 2017: 6.07 yards stashed


Staying accountable with quiltpaintcreate.

Pillowcases for Harvey During Irma

I had offered to teach my co-workers to sew by making pillowcases for Harvey victims.  Sarah over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict has a pillowcase drive going and it seemed like the right thing to do.

Potential Pillowcases

Before I could get going on it we found out we were in the path of Hurricane Irma - along with the rest of the state of Florida!!  Never seen anything like it and hope to never again.  So I picked a bunch of likely fabric and packed up what I needed to work on it while we were evacuated.  My sister would bring her smaller machine.

All hands on deck!

When Irma turned to the west we decided to hunker down and sit it out.  But my sister still came to us.  All day Saturday we still had electricity.  I cut and gave her instruction and she sewed.  After the first one or two we got a system going and we knocked out 10 pillowcases before we called it a day.

All the stages of the process.

Sunday morning we had no power and we were in the throes of the eastern bands of Hurricane Irma.  No sewing or cutting.  Mostly just looking out the window.

Out the sewing room window as it was in the final hours. Not too bad, really.

Sunday noonish the worst had passed and she found out that her neighborhood had power and the way had been cleared for her to go back home.   I cut the rest of the day until it got too dark to see well enough.  Ended up with 20 more pillowcases to add to the 5 that we hadn't sewn on Saturday.  Whew!

10 Finished!!

Our power was still out, so we spent the night at her house Sunday night.  I took the bag of cut pillowcases, but we were so tired that we didn't get to it at all.  Showers and feet up was all we could do.  It had been a fitful night.

One of my favorites.

So now I am back to getting my co-workers going to finish these up.

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