Stash Report Week #19...

May 7-13, 2010

Well this week dealt a big blow to my usage totals but all for a good cause.  I went shopping yesterday with my friend LeeAnn to find fabrics for the quilt I'm making her.  We found some gorgeous fabrics (after stopping at 3 different quilt stores).  It's going to be a king-sized quilt so of course it required a lot of fabric.  For the top alone, we bought 16.25 yards!  LeeAnn is going to wash and iron it before returning it to me so I don't have a picture of it.

But I do have the next best thing to a picture of the fabric - a picture of the quilt.  Although she picked out the design from a book, I plugged everything into my Electric Quilt software and came up with a pretty good approximation of the finished quilt.  I even found thumbnail images online of the fabrics she picked out and inserted them.  So this is the quilt that I'll be making for her...

112" x 112" (in EQ5)

While we were trying to find the perfect fabric combination, I ended up with a few samples that were eventually ruled out.   So these 3 fat quarters will make there way into my stash for some future project.

That brings my fabric intake this past week to 17 yards!  That's a lot of fabric.

And as for what I used - not nearly that much.  I finished my Supaida quilt last week.  I used 1.5 yards for the backing, binding and label.  I also used another half yard for the first 3 blocks of my Bee Sampler.  But that's about it.


So...
Purchased-this-week: 17 yards
Used-this-week: 2 yards
Purchased-to-date: 112 yards
Used-to-date: 165.25 yards
Net used: 53.25 yards

Until later...

 "I don't want your sacrifices - I want your love; I don't want your offerings - I want you to know me"

Hosea 6:6 LB

スパイダー...

A bit of trivia.  The English language has one alphabet with 26 letters.  Japanese on the other hand has 3 alphabets - hiragana, katakana, and kanji.  The first two each have 46 symbols while there are more than 6,000 kanji symbols (although many of them are archaic).   In addition, Japanese also has a romanization system where words are written in the latin alphabet.  Confused yet?

Another bit of trivia.  I studied Japanese for 3 years in college.  I also studied Spanish for 6 years in middle and high school.  So when I couldn't think of a word in Japanese, I found myself automatically substituting it's Spanish equivalent.  You can imagine the reactions I got from my professors.

But for all that studying, I still had to use the Google Translator to find the word for 'spider' in Japanese.  It's スパイダー or 'supaida' for those who can't read hiragana...

It's the new name for the quilt formerly known as 'Spider Web'.  I've just finished it and it's hanging on the wall.  As you can guess, I named it because it uses the basic spider web block and the outside border is an oriental print.  I could have called it 'Spider Web Quilt' in Japanese but the translation wasn't as pretty as just the one word.

I quilted it using a variety of threads: Aurifil 50 wt for the back and outer border, YLI 100 wt. silk thread for the inside border and invisible thread for the center.  I also used the Golden Threads paper to mark and quilt the center and the blue water-soluble marking pen for the inner border.  (You can see the blue circles above that disappear when wet.)

I spent a good bit of time planning out the quilting on this one and I'm pleased with how it turned out.

It's my 8th quilt finish for the year and the first one that I'm keeping.  I think most quilters are like that; you're always making quilts and giving them away.  As a matter of fact, I'm going out tomorrow with a friend to pick out fabric for her king sized quilt.  The pattern is fairly easy, but quilting a king size quilt is rather daunting...

You may have noticed a difference in my pictures lately.  My new camera takes much clearer pictures than my old one.  A good example is the post I did for Gabriel's birthday.  It's obvious which pictures are taken with the new and old cameras.  I also took these pictures of Jack and Gabriel recently and I'm amazed at how crisp they are...

Jack

Gabriel with her ball

Until later...

May the Lord smile on you.

Numbers 6:25 NLT

Glad that's done...

Well, I did it.  I taught my first demo last night at my local quilt guild.  It was on back-basting needleturn hand applique. (Say that 3 times fast!)  And I must say I enjoyed it.  They are a great group of ladies and it was all very relaxed.  And for those that bring back their sample blocks in the next couple of months, I'll join them all together into a charity quilt.  Because really, what can you do with a single 8" butterfly or Sunbonnet Sue block?

Sample blocks from demo...

So now that's done and I can move on to the next thing(s).  I'm currently sewing the binding down on the Spider Web quilt and then that too will be complete.  I'd like to get started on making block 3 of the sampler our bee is doing.  The first 3 blocks are all hand-pieced and I'm learning a lot.  I finished block 2 (a 6" and 12" version) just last week.

Blocks 1 (6") and 2 (6" & 12")

Although the stars look blue on my monitor, they're really black.  Block 3 teaches us english paper piecing which I've done a little bit of before.  I made this quilt for my secret sister last year using this method...

February 2009

Finally I thought I'd share a picture of Winston and his new haircut.  He may look funny but he's a lot more comfortable without the heavy coat...

Until later...

"I am ready for anything and equal to anything through him who infuses inner strength into me.  I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency"

Philippians 4:13 AMP

Happy Birthday Gabriel!!!

You're 4 today!

Three years ago while on my way to the store, I found you by the side of the road and I felt compelled to stop.  You were such a happy little dog (much smaller than you are today).  You weren't wearing a collar and we tried so hard to find your owners, but had no luck.  Although you drove me crazy that first week, we're so glad you're with us now.  The vet thought you were around a year old back then so that would make you 4.

I remember when I stopped you came right up to me and your face was covered in ticks (ughhh) because you were burrowing through the weeds.  You were so happy to see me, but very unhappy to get in the car.  Even today, you still don't like to go for rides and tend to get car sick.

I think you must have been an outside dog because you didn't seem to understand the concept of petting.  Hands were for licking or biting or throwing the ball.  You really seem to understand it now...

From day one, you love playing with the ball.  And over the years you've became very proficient - even inventing new games...

You have also taught us a lot about unconditional love.  Like most dogs, you show us a perfect example of love - one that we would do well to follow...

So happy birthday girl!  We love you! 

Until later...

"He who pursues righteousness and love 
finds life, prosperity and honor."

  Proverbs 21:21

Stash Report Week #18

April 30 - May 6, 2010

We're already into May!  Soon summer will be here.  I know I'm not the only one that thinks time has wings.

I've already posted here about the anniversary sale the Fat Quarter Shop is having right now and the great deal I got on some fabric last week.  I bought a total of 4 yards of L'Amour pink solids by Sandy Gervais.  I don't know what I'll use them for but I expect it will be something for my niece and I didn't really have much in my stash in the pink family.  I also bought a layer cake of Wiscasset which is equivalent to about 2.75 yards of fabric and another 2 yards of a coordinating print to use for a border.  So that's a grand total of 8.75 yards!  I got such a good deal on it though that I don't feel too bad about the addition.

As for what I've used this past week, most of it wasn't actually for quilts.  I'm teaching a demo on back-basting hand applique at my quilt guild Monday night and I used 4 yards in kits for the ladies.

These are the 2 samples they can choose to make.  (I still need to add antenna to the butterfly...)

I also used 2 yards of fabric to put together a dozen 9" x 12" quilt sandwiches to practice my machine quilting on - particularly feathers.  They're also good for testing out different threads and adjusting your tension.

And finally, I managed to finish embroidering the snowman blocks for June and July.

They only took about a quarter yard of fabric and I still need to make them into their own wall hangings.

So that's a total of 6.25 yards used this week.

Purchased-this-week: 8.75 yards
Used-this-week: 6.25 yards
Purchased-to-date: 95 yards
Used-to-date: 163.25 yards
Net used: 68.25 yards

Until later...

Remember, it's all about love - loving God and loving others.

Rick Warren

A time for growing...

Those who know me well, know I don't have a green thumb.  But every few years, I get the urge to try and grow something - usually flowers.  So far, I've been universally unsuccessful.

This year I'm trying to grow some basil.  We tend to eat a lot of bruschetta and having fresh basil would be so handy.  I'm glad to say the seeds I've planted have actually sprouted!

I also went searching for a couple of plants to put on the columns in front of our front steps.  Currently there are two empty pots there because everything I've planted in them has quickly died.  I didn't find anything I thought had a chance of surviving, but I did find some oriental lilies...

I just love their fragrance.  It wasn't blooming at all when I brought it home and transplanted it, but this was it today...

The tag says it's a perennial, but does anyone know what I'm supposed to do to it once the blooms have died?

I've been so busy lately, I've been staying out of the quilt stores.  However with the internet that doesn't make much difference!  Fat Quarter Shop is having their anniversary sale right now and I found a few deals that were too good to pass up.  I bought a couple yards each of some solids by Sandy Gervais.  I like that although they read as solids, they actually have a textured look to them.

And they were having a great sale on the Wiscasset fabric line.  I've been eyeing this one since it debuted so I bought a layer cake and some yardage that will work as a border.

I'm eager to open it and start making something, but I have a few too many irons in the fire right now to start just yet.  I'm preparing for a demo at my local quilt guild next week and I have 2 quilt tops I'm working on quilting. 

I took this picture of Gabriel last night while I was preparing dinner.  After cutting up some cheese, I dropped a piece for Gabriel.  As you can see, she didn't even notice...

Until later...

Surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.

Psalm 37:7 (GWT)

April package and some ladies of the sea...

Well, I mailed my mom's April package just in time.  Each month, her package's are getting later and later as things pile up.  I've already started on June's Camelot Snowman block so I'm hoping to be better about it.

This month's package was a more sparse than the others.  I'm working on a quilt for her, but didn't finish quilting it in time.  I just haven't had much time to spend on it lately.  Hopefully it'll be done in plenty of time for May's package. 

I included the next Camelot Snowman mini hanging, the 5th block for Imperial Splendor and a general quilting book by Fons & Porter.  I bought this book back when I started quilting and it has information on almost every subject pertaining to quilting.  I figure it will be a good how-to book for my mom.  She was asking me some questions on how to bind a quilt, so I also printed out a couple of tutorials and included them.  Isn't the web great for finding information?

Since I started putting together these packages for my mom, I'm always on the lookout for things I think she'll like.  I found this little box at Michael's and it made me think of her.

Inside I included several things geared towards quilting your quilt top.  These are few of my favorite notions as well...

We basically have the same sewing machine (hers is just a newer version of mine) so they take the same type of bobbins.  I'm always running out of them so I bought a mega pak online and split them with her.  Also, if you haven't tried the Machingers gloves, I highly recommend them.  They make such a difference in controlling your quilt when free motion quilting.  There's a water soluble blue marking pen which makes marking quilting designs on your quilt top so easy.  But if you've never used one, I'll warn you that ironing over them before erasing will set them permanently - so be careful!  And have you tried the new Sewline fabric pencils?  You can get the lead in different colors as well as an eraser to remove the lines.  I use mine mainly for marking applique projects, but they work well for marking your quilt top too.  And finally, I included a little stencil so she can see how she likes it. 

I forgot that I had picked up some fabric for her as well, but it will keep until I see her.  She's so busy right now, I know she wouldn't have time to play with it in any case.  In fact, she's walking for the March of Dimes today.  Way to go mom!!!

While sitting in front of the television at night, I work on some hand sewing projects.  Lately I've spent most of the time working on my Ladies of the Sea blocks.  I work on them 2 at a time because I find it easier to baste a bunch of pieces in place on both blocks and then applique them down before repeating.  After several months, I've finally finished the outer wreaths for both blocks.

Soon I'll start the ships that go in the centers.

The ships usually take much less time than the wreaths do to applique.

Until later...

"Wherever your treasure is, your heart will be also"

Matthew 6:21 NIV