Sunday Stash Report, Week 16 - Where have I been?

I haven't been anywhere - just in blah-land.  My oldest daughter, son-in-law and grandson (who live in a 2-bdrm suite in my home) were gone to New Zealand for 5 weeks, and although I had great plans, the poor weather and work kept me down.  Since they got home, I have been in my sewing room every day, listening to the sounds of a full house again and enjoying spending time with them!

An pre-order I placed in January finally arrived. I couldn't resist this fun print "Burly Beavers" being Canadian and all!

Of course, while I was at the shop, Dinkydoo Fabrics, I had to buy a few more things - so I stocked up on mini-Pearl Bracelets, and a new book, Quilt Lab - using math and science in quilts. It is a brand-new shop in Pitt Meadows, BC, having an online presence for about 6 months and now it has a bricks-and-mortar store. The downside is that it sells it fabrics in yards, not metres, so I have to remember that when comparing their pricing and buying fabrics.  Otherwise, it's a nice little shop, focused on modern fabrics.

I bought 6 yds of flannel to make pyjama pants for my sons-in-law and grandson for Christmas, and some cotton versions for the stash.  Love the thermos and woodgrain. 6 fat quarters of pearl bracelets and a 1/2 yd bundle of free Christmas prints (opening special) rounded out my purchase of 9.75 yards. Converted to metres, I've added 8.9 metres to the stash.

Added this week: 8.9 metres

Added this year: 28.7 metres

Used this week: 1.5 metres

Used this year: 18.5 metres

Added/Used this year: 10.2 metres

My daughter wanted her quilt queen-size, so I added another 4-patch border to my En Provence quilt. This used up another 1.25 metres of aqua/teal and white and I am finally running out of aqua and teals.

I'm hoping to make another good dent in the stash next week. I'm working on 3 quilts celebrating Canada's Sesquicentennial (150 years), on for each of my grandchildren. I'm using the Falling Charms pattern by MSQC. It's simple and makes good use of the charm packs that I was able to get. I still have a jelly roll that I'll probably make myself something with.

And I have this big bin of scraps to trim down, so while I'm doing that, I'm going to cut strips for Scrappy Trips by Bonnie Hunter and this pretty quilt by Brooklyn Quilts.

Her version used Anna Horner prints and small rectangles 2"x3", but then I saw this version which inspired me to use up my 2 1/2" strips.  My rectangles are 2 1/2" x 4 1/2", which will finish at 2 x 4 and make quick and perfect quilts for the kids' campers.

Verre de Mar En Provence - Details

My "Verre de Mer en Provence" or Sea Glass in Provence is finished (unless my daughter decides she wants a queen-size!)

16 blocks with 76 pieces each:

40 sashings with 18 pieces each, plus 25 cornerstones with 4 pieces each:

Then two borders with a total of 843 pieces (corner shown above - most accurate picture of the colours).

Total number of pieces: 2,879

Finished size: 87 1/2" x 87 1/2"

Total yardage used: 13.5 metres

Once my daughter makes up her mind, it's off the long-armer!

Thanks, Bonnie, for another wonderful mystery.  To see more wonderful quilts and colour combos, be sure to check out Bonnie's link-up party!

Sunday Stash Report, Week 7

Finally!  A big finish to report - Verre de Mer en Provence (Sea Glass in Provence) is a flimsy!

Thanks to this:

Followed by this:

I had plenty of time to sew!  There was no driving to work, no driving anywhere for a week. The schools were closed, and it was crazy around here.  Thankfully, we are back to normal, it's 10c (50F) and raining, so the snow is melting.

Added this week: 0 metres

Added this year: 19.8metres

Used this week: 16 metres

Used this year: 17 metres

Added/Used this year: 2.8 metres

I also made some placemats for the grands!  Maybe I'll make a series of holiday ones for them this year - they sure enjoyed getting them.

If I can keep this up, maybe I'll get some positive numbers.  I'll share more about En Provence later this week.

I missed the linkup to Judy's Sunday Stash Report but this more for me anyway!

En Provence Progress

I'm so glad I started this year's mystery quilt by Bonnie Hunter, and stuck with it.  Just like the first mystery I did (Orca Bay), I've been able to complete all the steps with 10 days of the reveal. 

(Steps 4, 5, 6 and 7 all at once!)

(All that's left is assembling the rest of the QSTs of Step 6 & 7)

I have now finished assembling my first corner block, complete with the outside border!

(The edges are straight - I just haven't done a firm press yet)

(Block before border, at night!)

I love this quilt pattern and think I'll be making it again, as my younger daughter has hinted that these colours would look good at her place. She hasn't received a quilt from me recently, so it could very well end up a birthday present in March!

My plan is to complete the top within a week or two, then send it out for quilting.  I just have too many tops to quilt myself to do this one.

Linking up to Bonnie's Linky Party at Quiltville.blogspot.com

Sunday Stash Report 2017 - Week 2

After-Christmas sales are a killer, just sayin'.  I stayed away from Fabricland's New Year's Day sale, and Hamel's Boxing week/warehouse sale, but fell hard on Saturday!  I had to pop into Hamel's to pick up some of my favourite Bella Solids on their monthly 20% sale (the first full weekend of every month) and low and behold, they had held over their warehouse sale.  When this girl goes down, she goes down hard!

Added this week:

The Bella Solids I came for; aqua, red, silver and cream (1 meter each) to coordinate with my Glowing Hearts fabric I bought in the fall.  These will be used to make Canada 150th anniversary quilts for the grands, and hopefully a lap quilt for me! They don't have a lot of this fabric left, but have ordered more. 

Next the warehouse sale fabrics - at just $4.00/metre, that was more than a 75% discount.  (PS: They still have some listed on their website).

From left to right: 2.5 metres of the pink floral to make nightgowns for Zoey and Mya, 2 metres of the blue to make sleep pants for Alex (and leftovers to stash), .5 metre of a neutral for the stash, and 1 metre of the fruity stripe for my daughter, for the binding of a quilt she is making from the coordinates.

All of their Christmas fabrics were on sale for 50% off, and one of my favourite designers, Sweetwater, latest lines Cookie Exchange was there.  I bought 2 metres of the cookie recipe and 1 metre of the teal to make aprons, and a half metre of each of the rest for stash enhancement.

More stash enhancement: 1.25 metres of the grey snowflake (end of the bolt) and .5 of the silver on grey

And some fillers for existing projects - a FQ of a '30s type print for my Splendid Sampler, and Bonnie and Camille Basics charm pack for Pat Sloan's Winter Solstice project (yes, I started another new project). A charm pack is just over a half-metre, so I'll count .55 in.

Last but not least, I picked up Block 9 of the

This one my grandson is excited about, because it features Puffins from the province of Newfoundland, where his Poppy comes from (my ex-husband). His great-aunt in Newfoundland sent him a puffin stuffie when he was born, and Poppy has been a part of his life since he reconnected with my kids 5 years ago. Newfoundland and Labrador has a special part in my heart, as I lived there as a teenager, in the same place my great-grandmother had lived at the same age in 1905, and I have maintained a close connection with my in-laws since the divorce 30 years ago. Many people in my life, and one of my best friends also comes from there as well, so "Newfies" are a part of my life!

There is the equivalent of about a FQ in these packs, so another .25 in!  I haven't started assembling these yet, but will do so soon.

So the grand total is:

Added this week: 18.8metres

Added this year: 18.8metres

Used this week: 0.00 metres

Used this year: 0.00 metres

Added/Used this year: 18.8 metres

Hopefully, I'll have a good finish soon to add to the done side.  I'm making good progress on my Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt, En Provence and think I'll have it together as a flimsy by the end of the month.

Clues 1, 2, 3 complete; Clues 4 and 6 started, and all the cutting is now done!

Linking up to Patchwork Times Sunday Stash Report

Have a great week,

Terri in BC

The best laid plans...

I had finished my 4-patches from Step One of Bonnie Hunter's En Provence mystery quilt Friday night, but ran out of neutrals for Step Two. I'm using white and light cream tone-on-tones so Saturday I headed off to Hamel's and between their remnant baskets, their fat quarter selection and their 20% off regular fabric sale, I picked up about 3 more metres.  I also bought myself a Christmas present:

By the Fireplace is a pattern by a local designer, Barb of Coach House Designs.  She actually is located only a few blocks from my home.  It was designed using Aspen Frost by Basic Grey, and Hamels has several kits with this original fabric in it.  I couldn't resist after seeing the original on display as I entered Hamels, so I bought the kit!

Since I was babysitting my grandson, I decided to wait until evening to sew, and we set about starting to decorate.  Unfortunately, I had an accident and ended up here:

Thank goodness my daughter Sarah was visiting and was able to help me out of the house and to the hospital.  I'll be spending the next little while on the sofa like this:

Of course, it had to be my "driving" leg.  Nothing was broken on the X-ray, but until the swelling goes down, they can't tell what kind of damage I did to my knee. It seems to involve the lateral collateral ligament and possibly the meniscus, and hopefully is only a sprain and not a tear. Since it's been two days, and I still can't put any weight on it, I'm not optimistic. This is how I'll be spending the week until my doctor can check me out on Friday when the swelling will hopefully be down. Luckily, I can still work from home so I won't lose any pay.

Until I can find a way to prop my leg up and sit at a table to cut and sew, I'm stalled so nothing to do but surf the net and dream! (and knit, and hand-sew). I found this new-to-me blog, Crazy Quilter on a Bike, who is going to do Motivational Mondays throughout 2017, and will also share tips on how she going to make changes to manage her UFOs, sewing space and keep herself accountable.  I for one find that blogging helps me stay motivated and I am pledging to blog at least 3 times a week, even if I am the only one to read it! 

Linking up to: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2016/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-2.html and hope to join back in next week!

Bonnie Hunter's latest Mystery quilt has begun!

Wow, I didn't realize how long it's been since I have blogged.  It's been a busy year and I have been sewing, just not much time for writing!  More about what I have been up to later.

Today is about sharing my progress on Bonnie's newest mystery quilt project, En Provence. Last year, I only made a few pieces and then never got back to it, so this year I'm in, full force.

These photos above are Bonnie's inspiration photos.  Although I love the colours, I have pretty much depleted my purples, greens and yellows with her Easy Street and Celtic Solstice patterns, so I went to my stash to see what I had a lot of.  Apparently, I like to buy turquoise and aqua so I went to the internet and found some images when I googled "sea glass". Trying to find sources for these images is like getting into the endless loop on the phone, so I listed the best one I could find.

(image: postris.com - links back to pinterest)

(image: sealevel320.com)

(image: lighthousememories.ca)

(image: blog.frankiefoto.com)

I've also been inspired to set up a new board on my Pinterest account - I'll be filling it up soon! So many great ideas. Thanks to the photos, I was able to pull these colours from my stash:

It will definitely be a softer look than if I used Bonnie's colours, but I already love it. I'm not sure how they will be used yet, I'm going to wait and select them as the various clues come out.

I also choose to use a sand colour for my constant, so off to Hamels I went.  I found this in their warehouse sale section, just $8/metre:

It's from the Little House on the Prairie line, with clouds and grass and "dunes" that will work perfectly for a beach theme. I'll just have to make sure I don't have the wagon, sod house or Laura Ingalls in her prairie dress showing up!

Because of my sand-coloured constant, I have chosen to only use white and light off-whites for my neutrals. There might be a little grey that shows up as well ;o). They look darker in the picture because our rainy, gloomy winter season has begun!