Sunday Stash Report 2014 Week #8

 

Again, nothing in!  I'm showing remarkable restraint!  (Actually, I've been too sick to do much shopping).  That box from Hillbilly Tonya will probably show up in about 10 days, then these numbers are going to go way far in the red.

 

Added this Week: 0 metres

 Added Year to Date: 27.5 metres 

Destashed this Week: 2 metres

 Destashed year to Date: 19.05 metres

 Added for 2014: 8.45 metres

Total spent  YTD $35 = $1.27 cents/metre

 

Today we are having our first real snowfall of the winter. 

 

My son-in-law shoveled the driveway for me four hours ago, and it doesn't even look like it was touched. 

 

 

Zoey came to visit too!

 

 

Daisy has been having fun in the snow, me not so much:

 

 

My floors are going to be so clean by the end of the day!

 

I've been making good progress on using up what I have, but I don't count it out until I have at least a quilt top or a finished product.  This week, I replaced my ironing board cover for my only 2 metres out:

 

 

The fabric is an old one from Riley Blake, Verona, which I got last year from Hillbilly Tonya's Facebook shop.  I think I paid $4/yd for it.

 

Here's a closeup:

 

I've started digging through my scraps and making my first Sochi banner/wallhanging (more about that here). (I know, the Olympics are over - but I've always been a Johnny-come-lately).  I've started with the aqua/green banner, since I had the greens pulled out for Celtic Solstice. I forgot that when foundation piecing the end result ends up the reverse of printed side, but unless you compare it piece by piece no one will know. 

 

This is it turned the right way:

 

 

You'll notice I pulled out my old pressing cloth again, I don't want to ruin the new cover too soon.

 

 I hope to be able to come up with enough suitable fabrics from my stash, including my small stash of Kaffe Fawcett.  Those will be perfect for the pink/purple banner, which I will sketch out next.

 

I've also been working on Celtic Solstice and I thought I had finally settled on a border for it. 

 

 

It's amazing how much a picture reveals - the white point is supposed to be at the bottom of the "star" - I totally missed that one!  But I like the diamond shape it created, so back to the drawing board.

 

I didn't need another full-size quilt and the colours are quite bright, so I opted to make half the blocks required and see what I come up with (it totaled 26 blocks).  The finished quilt size would be 53" square so I'm going to make  14 more blocks and end up with a quilt of about 54" x 78", or a good-size lap quilt/small twin for one of the beds in the grandkids' bedroom here at my house. 

 

Back to work tomorrow, after being off for five days with a horrible chest cold on top of the tracheaitis I've been fighting since October.  Here's hoping the roads are clear by then!

 

Sunday Stash Report, Week 7

Nothing in this week (but I am expecting a box from Hillbilly Tonya any time now), but some good numbers out.

 

 On Super Bowl Sunday, Quiltbug.com posted a mystery quilt that should have been done in a day, but it took my friend Kim and I two Sundays to make two 50"x50" flimsies (I guess we should have taken more time to do the precutting!)

 

I donated the fabric to the cause, I've had this from one of the Thangles kit I've had for about 5 years old, and I'll never use it for what it was intended for.  I also gave Kim enough to do the backing as well, for a total of 7 metres out of my stash. (I still have tons left!) I'll count my backing once it's done, and I plan on gifting this to a friend who just bought a new home.  

The mystery quilt pattern included a flange - it looks a lot like the faux piping on my last finish and this next one!

Tetris is completely finished!  

I am in love with this faux-piped binding! (Check this post here for links to the tutorial)  I used varying shades of turquoise in an ombre effect.  Binding doesn't use a lot of fabric, but it's still 0.3 metres out.

 

I also made a couple of gifts - a Lazy Gal Wallet for a good friend:

 

Of course, with a little something in it!

And I had the kidlets overnight to give the mommies and daddies a night off.  I made them "Hugs" for Valentine's Day.

These are wheat bags, about 7" in height and weight, perfect for the times when Gramma can't be there and they need a hug.

And a little piece of my heart inside!  I made the bag itself from remnants of a table protector, vinyl-side out (for easy cleaning) with a minkee cover that has an envelope closure for easy removal and washing.  The kids loved them!  0.4 metres out for all the little gifts.

This is what my living room looked like this morning - they had to make a gorilla nest after watching National Geographic!

Of course, the chief inspector had to make sure they didn't leave any goodies behind!

I've managed to draft one of the panels for a Sochi-styled patchwork.  

Due to the number of partial seams required, I leaning towards foundation-piecing.  Wish me luck!

Added this Week: 0 metres

 Added Year to Date: 27.5 metres 

Destashed this Week: 7.7 metres

 Destashed year to Date: 17.05 metres

 Added for 2014: 10.45 metres

Total spent  YTD $35 = $1.27 cents/metre

Sochi Patchwork

Have you been watching the Sochi Olympic Games? (Go, Canada!)

 

Have you noticed these?
 

 

Image Source: Roustem Adagamov

 

I am smitten with the patchwork of Sochi, and determined to figure out how to create my own!  I've been scouring the Internet to get the best images so I can figure how to do it.

 

So far, I have come up with the following images:

 

 

Source as above

 

 

 Image Source: http://sochi2014.bosco.ru/en/

And pinned a bunch more (you can follow me on pinterest under Terri Fisher)

From one of Bosco's (the designer) websites http://sochi2014.bosco.ru/en/

"The Olympic patchwork quilt, developed by Bosco’s creative department and given to the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee, will be the official Look of Russia’s first Winter Games.

Our goal was to represent a diverse range of emotions and feelings, connecting concepts like Motherland, Family, Culture, Time, Olympism, Peace, Nobility, Friends, Memory, Honour, Dreams, Beauty, Freedom, Pride, Warmth, Happiness, Greatness, Reliability, Victory, Creativity, Hospitality, Creation, Future, Russia, Planet Earth.

Every region in the world is proud of its unique origins, and it is no different in Russia. That is why there are so many different local traditions, songs and crafts that highlight the individuality of their creators, each valuable in its own right. Bosco had a wealth of choices to represent Russia’s rich diversity, but in the end we settled on something familiar, warm and welcoming: the patchwork quilt.

In the concept design, every patch was infused with the history and personality of traditional crafts from each of Russia’s 89 regions: in a single tapestry we combined Uftyuzhskaya painting and Vologda lace, Gzhel and Zhostovo painting, Kubachi patterns and the flowers of Pavlo Posad shawls, Mezenskaya painting and Khokhloma, Yakutsk patterns, fabrics of Ivanovo and other distinctive Russian patterns. That is how we arrived at a modern, distinctive and unmistakeably Russian Look of the Games."

I also found this explanation of why diamond shapes were chosen:

The Russian Diamond

The Games Vision consists of nine core elements, or values, brought together under the heading «The Russian Diamond»:

• Excellence
• Efficiency
• Integration
• Hospitality
• Unity
• Uniqueness
• Respect
• Legacy
• Harmony

Just don't get me started on how well the Russian government has represented those values.

Now I'm off to figure out how I am going to make this!

Sunday Stash Report 2014, Week 6

 

Nothing in, nothing out the last few weeks so I saved it for today!

 

I'm not just buying, I'm finishing!

 

 

I finished the mini within a week of completing the flimsy.  It is simply quilted with a stich-in-the-ditch on the seams and a straight-stitch through the pieced blocks.  I'm uncertain if I will quilt in the plain blocks, I'm liking the simplicity of the background to the busyness of the blocks.

 

 

I tried something new with the binding - it is a faux-piped binding made with this tutorial I found here.  I love how it turned out and will definitely use it again!

 

It finished at 18.5 x 24", and I will be entering it in my guild's Modern Mini Challenge at the Creative Stitches show in Abbotsford next month.  Backing and binding used 0.35 metre.

 

 

 

If I get this next one bound (I have a month!), I'll enter it as well.  It will just barely squeak by as a mini at 36" x 36".

 

 

TETRIS  - pattern by Melissa Cory of Happy Quilting.

 

I tried something new with the quilting, a large swirl.  It's not quite free-motion quilting, I did use a walking foot quite successfully.  There is actually no puckers on the back!

 

 

I used a turquoise thread to match the minky backing and so it would show up on the black , and will bind it with the dotty material with a turquoise piping.

 

 

I had never counted the top out (I wonder how many other projects have been finished and not counted?) so this amounts to 2.75 metres out without the binding.

 

I picked up a little fabric this week, the binding for Tetris and some more white for Celtic Solstice and two just because. 4 metres in at a cost of $30 (the apples for I-spy quilts and the lime green were just $4/metre).

 

And remember, this little bundle I gave to my friend?

 

 

Well, she doesn't save scraps so she gave me back what she didn't use, and more - so 2 metres back in!  This is what I've been cutting down and using for Boxy Stars.

 

 

I've never get rid of my scraps at this rate!  We actually work well as a stash-team, I hang onto the scraps and when she needs some, say for a Bonnie Hunter mystery, we go through them at my house. It's a great method and gives us both great variety.

 

Added this Week: 6 metres

 Added Year to Date: 27.5 metres 

 

Destashed this Week: 3.1metres

 Destashed year to Date: 9.35 metres

 Added for 2014: 18.15 metres

Total spent  YTD $35 = $1.27 cents/metre

I've decided to track my spending as well, as this year I'm more about staying on budget, rather than restricting my stash. I'm all about bargains and so far, I have spent just over a $1 a yard! Check out my other Sunday Stash reports to see how I've done it.

Linking to Judy's Sunday Stash reports at Patchwork Times.

 

Scrappy Saturday

Day 1 of the Olympics and Canada already has one of each medal!  Go, Canada! 

While I was watching the women's moguls, I started clearing out some of the scrap buckets.  Each time I came across pink, I made a Boxy Star.

 

I actually made some practice ones last night, these go so fast.  Four of the large ones together make an 12" block:

 

 

Excuse the bottom right one - it's upside down!  I also re-calculated the design to make use of 2" strips, I couldn't waste those!

 

Of course, this is another Bonnie Hunter pattern - she has scads of them on her website for free.

 

Cutting my scraps into The Scrap User System meant I also generated strings.  Since I'm working with pink this month for So Scrappy's Rainbow Challenge, instead of adding my pink strings to the bulging bag, I made string blocks that will eventually become another Bonnie Hunter quilt, Zuckerwatte from her book, String Fling.

 

 

I just can't seem to get enough of her patterns.

 

I'll probably make baby quilts with these blocks, it seems there's an awful lot of babies being born this year, including a set of twins to friends of my daughters in June.

 

This is a long weekend in BC.  Last year, we got a new statutory holiday called "Family Day".  I'll probably spend it sewing since we might get snow or freezing rain.  Today the front moved in from the south quite dramatically.

 

 

Linking up to So Scrappy's Rainbow Scrap Challenge - see what everyone else is doing with their scraps.

15 Minutes and a Furball

It's been almost a month since I posted (and for that matter, I've sewn about as much), so for the next little while I want develop the habit of sewing for a bit and to take 15 minutes a day to post a photo (and maybe even a little something to say). 
 
Today's photo: A cute paper-pieced Wombat.  I have been honoured to test a pattern by Kristy from Quiet Play, and what a cute little guy he is.  He measures 10" - I may have to buy the rest of the collection!

 

I used some Nancy Halvorson prints to create my furball, and some cloud print for the sky.

For Kristy's Australian animal collection and her Woodland Friends, just search for Quiet Play with the Craftsy button on my sidebar.  She has the best paper-pieced patterns!