Sunday Stash Report, Week 31

I went into the sewing room today for 15 minutes and spent over 4 hours in there! Besides doing some cleaning and organizing, I finished a dress for baby Mya:

 

I made it a little shorter, because she is finally crawling!  She's almost 10 months now.

 

 

I added a vintage button from my mom's collection to disguise the fact that I didn't have the neckline even at the back!

 

And although I didn't a picture, my grandson just "had" to have stuffed starfish for his upcoming vacation, so I made two of them (one for my older granddaughter as well) so they could have hugs from Gramma at the cabin!  (Both families are going)

 

So, 1 1/2 metres out!  But....

 

this week's the hens came home to roost.

 

 

 

 

My package arrived from Ozark Fabrics.  The best thing about ordering from Tonya is that she will wait until you have a full envelope or box, and then ship it!  That means I can buy what tickles my fancy, but not pay shipping for every item.  It is a closed group on Facebook, but I highly recommend it for quality fabrics, great prices and a unique shipping method.

 

The bottom fabric is 7 yards of "Color Me" fabric - to make pillowcases for all the boys this Christmas. There was actually enough to make 9, and I only need 7 so I gave enough for 2 to my friend and co-worker. I still have 4 yard of "girl" fabric coming - it was on backorder.

 

The quatrefoil fabrics are for Christmas projects as well.  Good thing I got them now, because I got a layoff notice and I'll be looking for work to start in September.

 

 

I also got these various 1/2 yd and fat quarter pieces, plus my co-worker gave me the Scrabble board fabric!  More Christmas present sewing in my future!

 

So the totals are:

 

Added: 15.75 metres
 

Added Year to Date: 19.75 metres 

 

Used/Given away: 3.0 metres

 

Used/Given away Year to Date: -21.0

 

Added for 2015: -1.25

I'm still in the negative, but barely.  I better start kicking out some more finishes!  I have a ton of quilting to do, and hope to tackle some of those tops this week.

It's been too long...

I've been really slacking off on my blog and also my sewing!  So I'm going to try and get in the sewing room for at least 15 minutes a day, then post about it.  Today, I actually spent a couple of hours in there, cutting down scraps into usable sizes, then made a few Wild 'n Goosey block units and a crumb block. Yay, me!

 

 

5" squares, 2 1/2" strips and blocks, 2"  & 1 1/2" strips and HST in a variety of sizes

 

 

5" strips of novelty prints for I-Spy quilts

 

Colour's not true - it's after 11 p.m.  I love these little 3 1/2" blocks.

SCORE and Sunday Stash Report, Week 27

Yesterday I went garage-saleing for the first time in a few years, at not since I started my vintage sewing machine addiction.  At the first stop, I scored all of this!

 

(Ruffler, binding foot, pintucker and seam guide plus extras)

 

 Cost: FREE! The seller had sold an old machine that needed work, and these fell out of one of the drawers when they were loading it up.  The buyer didn't want them, so the seller had put them in the trash.  When I asked if she had any sewing machine accessories for sale,  she said she just thrown some out, I asked if I could see them. We literally dug through the trash!

And at the second stop, these!

 

Total cost: $6.00  Both the buttonhole attachment (it was complete) and the circular stitcher will work on my 1947 Singer Featherweight and my 201 (once it's up and running).  I'm going to play with these and post more about them another day.

 

On to my stash enhancements:

 

 

These colours are not accurate, but it is too hot to go out for good pictures, and besides the grass is all dead anyway, so it would make for a lousy background.  The pindot is a dark aqua and the large polka-dot has a black background.  I was introduced to a new-to-me store near my work that is like a wholesaler.  Prices were amazing at $6-12 a metre for quilt-shop quality (min. cut 1 metre), but even better they offer a 2 for 1 pricing, so you pay the same for 2 metres as you do for one metre.  My friend and I spilt the cost and ended up with a metre each!  Unfortunately, they don't sell online.

 

Added: 3 metres

 

Added Year to Date: 4 metres 

 

I also found out one of my friends recently started quilting, so I invited her over to pick through my stash for her next project (a wall hanging).  She chose these colours, so I gave her a fat quarter of each (that's all she wanted!)

 

 

 

Used/Given away: 2.0 metres

 Used/Given away Year to Date: 22 metres

 

Added for 2015: -18.0 metres

 

All the fabric I have given away this year has helped me stay in the negative.  Good thing, because I don't seem to be sewing much! It's been too bloody hot! I really miss my basement sewing room this year!

 

Here on the West Coast, we have been breaking 100+ year-old records.

 

 

It was over 40c (104F) in the shade on Canada Day! What a switch-around in the weather the last couple of years - usually it's us on the West Coast that is waiting for summer to start until mid-July. Instead, this year, it seems like it is everybody east of the Rockies.  The downside is the number of forest fires starting daily is crazy - the last week has averaged 30-35 a day. 

 

In the morning, my kids and grandkids, some of their friends and I went on a hike.

 

 

I am so proud of myself.  I climbed this mountain trail...

 

 

...up to this lake (Lindeman Lake, near Chilliwack, BC).  I haven't done it in over 30 years, and after having knee problems two years ago, I thought I would never get to do it again.  My knees never bothered me at all (although my butt cheeks were sore the next day ;o) and I plan on doing more hiking this summer.

 

After, we spent the afternoon in my daughter's pool, where some of us (1) got to cool off in the best way! (Although it looks sunny, my daughter has a UV shade drawn to protect her).  She is sitting on a quilt my mother-in-law made and gifted to me when the kids were babies - proof a quilt doesn't have to be made from quilt-shop fabrics to be enjoyed and loved.

 

 

Mya is eight months old and starting to move, but isn't crawling yet.  She'll sit like this for hours, but as soon as your back is turned she'll bum-scoot off the blankets.  My daughter says she's watched too much Doctor Who when she was pregnant, and Mya is like one of the Weeping Angels that only move when you turn your back!

 

Hope you all are enjoying your summer so far.  If it's hot where you are, stay cool and careful not to start any fires.  If it has been raining where you are, I hope you see a change soon.

 

For more stash reports and goings-on, check out Judy's Stash Report linky at http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/07/05/fabric-document-write-stash-report-week-27-2015/

 

 

Terri in BC

 

 

Sunday Stash Report 2015, Week 24

I gave up on trying to rearrange my new sewing room.  The door, closet and window placement really only allow me to have it laid out one way.  Ce la vie!

So now, I am finally sewing - which means I have started buying fabric again.  I have a shipment on its way from Ozark Fabrics, a Facebook fabric store with the best prices!  I'll tell you more about her store when my package arrives, and I count that fabric in.

Added: 1 metres

Added Year to Date: 1 metres  

Used/Given away: 4.5 metres

 Used/Given away Year to Date: 20 metres

Added for 2015: -19.0 metres

Added: I'm starting planning my Christmas gifts, and I couldn't resist this!  It will be perfect as a liner for a basket or tote for some of my friends.

Used:  I've made some summer outfits for the grands.  It's Zoey's 4th birthday and later today, I'll be heading over for the party.  I made her and her little sister, Mya, coordinated outfits (Zoey loves it when they dress the "same", much to her mother's chagrin).

Zoey's:

Mya's:

And of course, Alex couldn't be left out:

Shark shorts! He had to have them right away to wear to the party.

Mr. Sassy strikes a pose:

Now I'm off to the party!  A pool full of 1 to 6-year-olds - wish me luck!

Sunday Stash Report 2015, Week 18

Just a bit of mending makes for a very boring report. I've decided that I don't like the setup in my new sewing room so today I'm tearing it apart and starting over.

I made this pillowcase for Zoey at Christmas (her Gramma Goodie Bag), and before I could give it to her, my Daisy dog ate a hole in it about the size of a quarter. She used that hole to get at the chocolate inside and managed to open every package through that tiny hole! (She was fine afterwards, by the way).  I finally got around to fixing it this week by fusing the hole shut and adding a triple pocket that she can put her Frozen dolls in.

Then I made another mini-design board (a la Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet):

I'm going to make a few more, then I'll show you what I'm going to with my collection!

So, only a quarter metre out, but at least it's something.

Added: 0 metres

Added Year to Date: 0 metres  

Used/Given away: .25 metres

 Used/Given away Year to Date: 15.5 metres

Added for 2015: -15.5 metres

Linking to Judy's Stash Report at patchworktimes.com

More small accomplishments:

I added my Ikea buttons to my sewing room!

I found my mom's cow bell when I was unpacking and hung it on the sewing room door handle.  This hung for many years on my mom's sewing room door to warn her if one of the grandchildren was going where they shouldn't and I thought I should carry on the tradition!

I have ho idea where she got it, most likely at a garage sale (she loved to go garage saleing!)

And I got a new "TV" for my bedroom armoire!

Alex decided I needed one since I haven't replaced the old one!

I've been feeling out of sorts with the chaos in my sewing room, so I need to set some small goals to help me get back on track.  I also need to make some serious headway on clearing out the UFOs and WIPs, before I start too many more.

  I like the way Barbara of Cat Patches does hers monthly with goals and bonus points ;o), so I'm going to give that a shot!

MAY GOALS

Flimsies and Quilting

1.  This Super Mario Quilt is my number one priority.  It's a gift for my sister's oldest grandson and has been languishing for far too long.

I have 3 of 6 blocks done (I made mine larger than Angela's) and the 4th is half-way finished, so I should be able to finish it this month. I made him this pillowcase and he already has that, so I really want to get this in his hands soon.

2.  This quilt is a house-warming gift for a friend - again, long overdue.  It is basted and ready for quilting. I finally decided to quit waiting for my FMQ skills to improve and just go for it!

WIPs (Works in Progress)

4. About a month before my niece was due with her first child, I realized I didn't have a boy quilt ready.  I had a girl one almost finished, but as she didn't know the gender, I figured I should have a second one at least started.  I've had this Debbie Mumm Noah's Ark fabric for about 15 years, and have always wanted to do a medallion quilt, so I got a good start on it.

I got it as far as this before Baby Eloise made her arrival!  I've decided to keep at it, and use it to practice some new techniques.  First up, I have to design some cornerstones for this round, because I don't like the way these borders finished up. I'll share more about how I got this far later this week!

Leaders and Enders

4.  As I work on the above projects, I will focus on my Grand Illusion quilt pieces.

I still haven't finished Step 1! (Pardon the poor colours)

This free Bonnie Hunter is about to be retired for future publishing, so if you haven't already downloaded it, you might want to check it out!

Bonus Points

5. Just for fun, and like Barbara, if I get bored or actually finish all the above projects, I'll dig through my UFOs each month and try to get through them. 

Check in around the 1st of June to see if this helped me progress just a little.

Sewing Room Makeover - part one!

Now that I had to move my sewing room upstairs to the spare bedroom, I'm working on making it my "Happy Place" once again!  I even bought a sign for my room!

 

 

(bought at Target Canada closing sale for $2)

 

In my little corner of Canada, the last of the spring flowers are just about done and summer appears to have arrived already!

 

 

(Flowering Crabapple)

 

It is already 22C (72F) in my backyard, and it will get hotter over the next few days! Given that our average summer temperature here on the West Coast is normally around 23 - 25C, it bodes well for a hot summer.

 

The first thing I set up in my sewing room was my Ikea shelves and mason jars filled with buttons.

 

 

Here's the complete wall of shelves:

 

 

The shelf holds a mix of practicality and nostalgia. The tin on the third shelf came from my maternal grandmother's sewing collection, and held her buttons.  The tomato sugar and creamer set was my mom's, which she bought at a garage sale because it reminded her of  the ones her mother had. The little flower box on the right-hand end of the third shelf is one my kids brought me back from Cuba, and is carved from wood. 

 

Just for fun, I also have jars filled with my dog-ears and labeled by year! Sadly, 2014 is only about 1/2 as much, so I'll put them in a smaller jar.  2015 is practically non-existent, so I need to get cracking!

 

I love mason jars for storage because they are inexpensive (sometimes free!) and see-through - very important for me as I am "visual" when comes to being inspired. 

 

I plan on posting more pictures as I get each area just the way I want it!

 

Finally back at the machine! Sunday Stash Report, Week 15!

Wow, it's been 10 weeks since I've been able to post a report!  The move is mostly done, still some totes to go through but I've been able to make a path in my new sewing room and do some sewing.  

My brother and his wife are finally grandparents, so I had to make a quilt for my grand-niece!  Little Eloise is finally here, and this weekend my daughter flew to Calgary to meet her so I had to finish off this quilt for her!

(I wish the picture was better, but it was late at night.)  The quilt police will have a field day but it is made with a mix of poly-cottons and laces and trim from my mother's sewing room, and these are scraps from the dresses and clothes my mom made all her granddaughters.  I backed it with minkee, which is another synthetic material, so it probably be quite durable and hardy for a baby.  I don't care what the "pros" say, the sentimental value of this little quilt is all that matters.

We great-aunties and gramma-friends are all referred to as Gramma ____ (name), so of course I had to use that name when signing the label, with a homage to my mom.  My daughter will explain it to my niece when she gets it to her.

(Still too yellow of a picture, but shows the laces and trim better)

I practiced my barely-adequate free-motion quilting skills and did a meander with a flower loop-de-loop.  Some of them looked like butterflies!

This quilt is my own design and I think I'm going to make a larger version as a summer quilt (maybe for me).

On to the stash report, still no purchases!

Added: 0 metres

Added Year to Date: 0 metres  

 

Used/Given away: 3.25 metres

 Used/Given away Year to Date: 15.25 metres

 

Added for 2015: -15.25 metres

Tomorrow, more work in the new Quilt Cave! Here's some gratuitous kidlet pictures! 

Mya, (5 1/2 months) on her first Easter, 

Zoey, (4 in June) and Alex (6 1/2) enjoying the first marshmallows of the year!

Linking with Judy's Stash Report at www.patchworktimes.com and Michelle's Let's Make Baby Quilts.