LEGO Party Decor from the Stash

We had a LEGO birthday party this weekend.  It was Little S's actual birthday, but 2 cousins also have June birthdays and another has a July birthday.  So we invited everyone to our place to celebrate summer birthdays.

Little S and the boys are very much into LEGOs, so that was the theme.  Of course I had fabric on hand to do an interesting table arrangement.  Little S spread out her box of "Classic" LEGOs as table scatter and we were good to go!

My sisters got a good laugh in with the creative table decorating.  They can laugh all they want.  It was perfect for the occasion and I didn't have to cut into a single piece of fabric.  Every piece worked the size that it already was since it was LEGO the varying sizes were perfect.  My soon-to-be 8-year-old nephew spent nearly the entire time building only taking a break when we were eating at the table. 

Success all around!

Enabling Gets Reported!

Fabric In:  Through no fault of my own my stash took a huge hit this week.  You can read about how my sister in enabling me HERE!!  $19.60 yards for $4.  That's just $0.20/yard so I can't get too mad at her!!

Before I totaled it up.  I was thinking maybe 1 yard per bag.

Fabric Out: I finished the last borders on my improvisational stars.  I have a backing picked out and hopefully will get to that soon.

36" square.  Done!

Fabric Purchased Since Last Report - 19.60 yds

Fabric Purchased YTD - 67.55 yds

Free to Me Since Last Report - 0 yds
Free to Me YTD -  8.75 yds

Fabric Used Since Last Report - 0.80 yds
Fabric Used YTD - 23.49 yds

Fabric Movement -  52.81 yards stashed 

Total Spent - $40
Price/Yard YTD - $0.52 / yard

Days spent on sewing related tasks this week: 7/7
Days spent on sewing related tasks this month: 8/8
Days spent on sewing related tasks this year: 35/39
Percentage of time on task: 90%

I certainly did not get as much time sewing as I had hoped, but at least it was something every day.  This coming week I have a professional development class in the next town over every morning.  I am hoping there is no homework involved.  But I also know that every little bit of time sewing is progress, so I will aim for just a bit and that's okay.

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

My Sister is Enabling Me

My sister was thrifting last Saturday while I was driving to meet Grown Up R in South Carolina to hand off Little S to spend the week with her.

Turns out I don't even need to be present for the good deals to find me.  There was an estate sale of a quilter and she got a nice pile of fabric for $2.  She had even held back and let the other more serious quilters go first.   6.93 yards

At the Hospice Thrift store that sometimes has great deals on fabric and sometimes has it overpriced she took advantage of the half off everything weekend sale.  Gallon sized zip bags stuffed with fabric.  She got 4 bags @ $0.50 each.  I was going to just guess it at 1-2 yards each since it was lots of scraps, but I had a change in my schedule one day where I needed a quick project to take with me to kill time and I had a table available.  I took the fabric bags and a tape measure.  I never would have guessed each bag held so much fabric.

 Blue bag - 5.55 yards  Had some greens mixed in.

Black bag - 1.19 yards  After I threw away a solid black that was so aged that it ripped on contact.

Green bag - 3.35 yards

Neutral bag - 2.58 yards  There were also some yellows and pinks in here.

She did not help me with my stash problem, but she sure did get some good deals!!  She has been with me buying fabric enough that she knows colors I am likely to use and what is cotton.  $19.60 yards for $4.  $0.20/yard

Nice Job, Stephanie!  Thank you.

Improvisational Stars are Finished

I had a lot of fun working on this little quilt top.  I knew I wanted to start with stars and then I just let it and my scraps speak to me at each step.

The BOM that inspired my starting point is in the upper right.

Pretty much in line with my normal MO of making it up as I go along, but different than usual in that there was no end product envisioned except 36" square.  I am pleased.

Linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict to show off finishes.

Tasty Tuesday - Strawberry Jam

I usually make strawberry jam in the Spring when the prices are way down.  I make enough for us and for gifts for the girls' teachers.  Last year I didn't because I was overwhelmed at work.  This year I didn't because the price never really went down.  Senor G will only eat my homemade strawberry jam, so when he ran out of homemade a few months ago reality hit.

Reality was that he had to make do or do without.  He chose to do without.  My schedule was not conducive to making jam no matter what the price of strawberries.  Well, this weekend strawberries were at a historical low in our area.  They were pretty large, so there was more white than I would have preferred, but once they get blended up all is well.

New label, same recipe.

I got enough for 2 batches of jam and extras for eating and smoothies.  College E helped me prep the first round of strawberries and that was a huge help.  The plan was already leftovers for dinner, so I got jam started when I usually start dinner. 

"A watched pot never boils!"

It took me 2 books and 1 handwritten note to figure out what recipe I have used in the past.  Turns out the recipe on the label of the pectin is the one that works best for me.  The only change I made was putting the strawberries through the food processor rather than using a potato masher.  I remember using a potato masher years ago and that did not work at all.  Not sure how it possibly could given that a potato is soft after cooking and strawberries are very firm. 

Done at last!

After 3 hours and plenty of sweat (this is not a good season for canning) I ended up with 5 pints jars and 5 half pint jars of fresh homemade strawberry jam!! There was also about 1/2 cup that didn't fit in a jar so it went into a custard cup for immediate eating.  Senor G "licked" the pan and spoons and was very happy. 

For about 10 seconds I thought about getting more strawberries and making another double batch, but then I came to my senses!!

Strawberry Jam

5 1/2 - 6 c mashed strawberries
4 T lemon juice
1 T butter (optional to prevent foaming)
6 T pectin
4 c sugar

Cook the strawberries, butter, lemon juice, and pectin to a rolling boil that can't be stirred down.

Add sugar and return to rolling boil.

Stir constantly for 1 more minute.

Fill sterilized jars and process in boiling water bath.

Yield: 7-8 cups

Leader and Ender Project Makes it to the Stash Report

Fabric In: My "no fabric" streak was bound to end eventually.  I went to an estate sale of an obviously crafty person.  I wish I had taken photos.  There was a smocking machine and its started projects.  Yarn and its related projects.  Very old Dresden plate rings just waiting to be sewn to squares.  Beautiful linens of every shape and size.  A biscuit quilt made from polyester! And a bin of fabric for $1/piece.  Fortunately most of it was cotton/poly blends or too small for $1.  I did get one piece that will make a nice backing for a baby or lap quilt.  1.75 yds  $1

Progress so far.

Fabric Out: I started working on my star idea as a leader & ender project, but since I hadn't sewn for pleasure in so long I ended up just sewing it up for fun.  I had enough precut triangles for 4 stars.  That was my starting point.  I pulled out my bins of strips and just pulled things out and made it up as I went.  I will keep adding borders, but for now I will count out what is already together.  0.87 yds

Fabric Purchased Since Last Report - 1.75 yds

Fabric Purchased YTD - 47.95 yds

Free to Me Since Last Report - 0 yds
Free to Me YTD -  8.75 yds

Fabric Used Since Last Report - 0.87 yds
Fabric Used YTD - 22.69 yds

Fabric Movement -  34.01  stashed 

Total Spent - $36
Price/Yard YTD - $0.63 / yard

Still have that deep hole to work my way out of.  But with first full week of summer vacation starting this week and Little S out of town visiting Grown Up R all week I am confident that a lot of time will be spent sewing.  I am still tutoring 5 days/week, but that is easy to work around.

A day off, one more day of post school for teachers, and then catching up on all that had gotten put off the last few weeks.  What a week!  But before I got that far I had to finish my application and resume for a teaching position that was advertised on Friday weekend and had to be submitted by Monday.  

So I missed two days of sewing, but then I got to work on my stars.  Hopefully I will get into a rhythm of sewing during the summer.  Then my fabric outages and time spent sewing will improve.

Days spent on sewing related tasks this week: 5/7
Days spent on sewing related tasks this month: 1/1
Days spent on sewing related tasks this year: 28/32
Percentage of time on task: 88%

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

Improvisational Sewing

I had planned do make the 8-pointed stars as Leaders & Enders from my scrap and precut drawers.  Well, the scrap and precut part worked out, but the L&E part didn't.  I was so eager to sew something for fun that I just dove right in.

Testing ideas

I worked with what I had on hand and my layout was whatever spoke to me at the moment that I needed a next step.  So far, I am very pleased.  My goal is about 36" square to donate.

I like it.  What's next?

Sarah, over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, just finished up her Hands 2 Help quilt challenge.  I was not able to participate this year due to my work schedule, but I did follow along.  I was drawn to the Jack's Basket, which gives a basket with a quilt and goodies to babies with Down syndrome when they leave the hospital.  They ask for 36" quilts.  So I thought that when I do random sewing this summer I will aim for 36" and send them off to Jack's Basket.  Better late than never, right?

Maybe a bit more black?

I have enough large quilts that are languishing unfinished and with temperatures in the high 90s no one needs a quilt right now so I don't need to set myself up to start anymore UFOs.  If I want to try a new design I will, but not full size.  36" is the perfect size for the perfect cause.

I like where this is headed!

So....  I'm thinking my next round on this little gem will be another white border and then a border of alternating black and bright squares.  Time to go dig into the 2" precut squares.  I'm telling you - already having precut squares, triangles and strips in the Scrap User System from Bonnie Hunter is such a time saver.  I just pull what I need and sew.  No delay while I agonize over color choices, audition fabrics, and then cut.