Stash Reporting and Update

Used/donated since last report:   18.25 yards

      Used year to Date:                               56.75 yards

Added since last report:               6.50 yards

      Added Year to Date:                             79.25 yards

Net Used for 2015:                                     -22.50  yards

Well, it has been a while since reporting and the fabric usage has moved in the right direction. This summer and early autumn have flown by and I am still trying to figure out where it all went.

We had our St. Cloud Heritage Quilter's show on October 10th and 11th. Have to admit, I am so glad it is over. We made a lot of miles taking the raffle quilt around for showings and selling tickets. 

I entered two quilts in the show: Dotty Dresden and Hopscotch Butterscotch. The Dotty Dresden quilt took me quite a lot of time to quilt, since I am not very proficient at custom quilting. 

Dotty Dresden - 94" x 110"

Quilting closeup.

Hopscotch Butterscotch: A Bonnie Hunter pattern

Finally had time to do some regular sewing. October 21st was Brenda's birthday (youngest daughter), so I made her a sewing machine apron and a cover for her sewing machine. She is setting up her sewing area and hoping to have time for sewing this winter. I even used a bunch of my Tula Pink fabrics which impressed her!! LOL

Machine Apron and Cover

We went to St Paul today and had dinner with our daughter and her boyfriend, Scott. It was an opportunity to meet Scott's parents as well. Maybe there will be an announcement coming soon! (Very Big Grin) What can I say ----? 

Hoping to catch up with what everyone has been doing. Make sure to hop over to Patchwork Times to see what others are doing.

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/10/25/stash-report-week-43-2015/

Hugs, Beth

Fabric Report & Catching Up

Used/donated since last report:   13.25 yards

      Used year to Date:                               38.50 yards

Added since last report:               27.00 yards

      Added Year to Date:                             72.75 yards

Net Used for 2015:                                     -34.25  yards

Have to admit that I have been on a fabric binge lately. Guess it is just like the food diet. Depriving myself of the fun of acquiring fun new fabrics just doesn't work!!  LOL

I just could not resist a collection of Tula Pink fabrics. I really like what some of the new young fabric designers are doing.

Tula Pink fabrics (Elizabeth Collection)

My straw bale garden is really growing like the plants are on steroids. Only problem is that the weeds are doing very well also.

Have finished quilting two quilts so far this month. It feels wonderful to have a couple of UFO's done.

Easy Street (Bonnie Hunter Mystery)

Strip Quilt

Our youngest granddaughter, Hannah, graduated from High School in June. Hannah is getting Easy Street as part of her graduation present. She likes purple, so I think she will really like it. She has become such a young lady. 

Hannah at graduation ceremony

Hannah with her dad, Byron (our oldest child)

The Minnesota Quilt show was held in Duluth this year. Since I rode the bus from Gruber's Quilt Shop to the show, it was a fun day with many friends and acquaintances. A week after the Minnesota Show, Brainerd Pinetree Patchworkers had their quilt show. I always like to attend their show. They have some very talented quilters.

So far it has been a busy summer. We will be going up to Fargo to help celebrate July birthdays. There are three of them: daughter Natalie, son-in-law Norman, and grandson Jacob.

Hugs to all and make sure you hop over to Patchwork Times to see what others are doing.

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/07/12/fabric-report-week-28-2015/

Hugs, Beth

Fabric Report

Used/donated since last report:    0.00 yards

      Used year to Date:                               25.25 yards

Added since last report:               25.00 yards

      Added Year to Date:                             45.75 yards

Net Used for 2015:                                     -20.50  yards

It has been a busy month. Five days were spent in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for the Machine Quilters Showcase and I was able to attend some fabulous classes for machine quilting ideas. Even won a teachers demo sample in Dusty Farrell's class. Jodi Robinson did a great job of showing simple ideas for contemporary quilts and Jamie Wallen is just such a great instructor. My head was overflowing with ideas.

Teachers sample by Dusty Farrell that I won. 

I tried to keep purchases down at the show but bought a lot of quilting thread and one set of rulers. The rulers will do the curved baptist fan and then I can fill between the lines for interesting fill.

Dusty Farrell sample of using the Baptist Fan Rulers

While we were in Cedar Rapids, we visited  Inspired to Sew at Pine Needles. It is a great shop and had a very large selection of batiks. There was a large section of sale batiks and some just had to come home with me. In order to use the batiks that I have, I of course needed more light value batiks.  

Well, I might have won the prize for most fabric acquired in one month (at least for me)!!! LOL  One piece purchased was a five yard sale bundle for a quilt backing. It was just so cute for a kids quilt. Also, I needed eight yards of backing for my Bonnie Hunter Easy Street quilt which needs to be finished before June 20th. That is when my granddaughter Hannah has her graduation party and I want to give it to her at the party.

Cute 5 yard bundle for backing!

Last week Tula Pink was at Country Fabrics in Brainerd, MN. She is so cute and funny and I was amazed at how much of her fabrics I have. She will have a 12- part segment on QNN. Think I will need to subscribe to QNN to watch her.

Tula Pink at Country Fabrics

Memorial weekend, most of the youngsters were home. The girls and I went to the Old Depot JUNKtion in Brainerd and of course we came home with a few interesting items for decoration. The rain held off until we were leaving Brainerd, so we had a fun day. The boys went fishing and brought home some fish. We sent the fish home with our youngest daughter, Brenda, and her guy, Scott. 

The roof was re-shingled this month. Glad to have the chore done. Hopefully we don't have to do it again for a long long time.

Hoping to finish planting my straw bale garden today, but it is cloudy and feels cold outside. I usually have everything planted by now. I only plant enough for fresh eating. 

Hugs to all and make sure you hop over to Patchwork Times to see what others are doing.

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/05/31/fabric-report-week-22-2015/

Hugs, Beth

Fabric Report

Used/donated since last report:    11.75 yards

      Used year to Date:                               25.25 yards

Added since last report:                9.25 yards

      Added Year to Date:                             20.75 yards

Net Used for 2015:                                        4.50 yards

Well, it sure has been a while since reporting any activity. Early summer has arrived and winter has gone by since my last post. It just seems like time flies by.

I joined a "Batik BOM Club" at Colorz Quilt Shop in Brainerd. Thought I would go a different direction for a change and meet some new people. Here are the blocks we have done so far:

For a service project for the St. Cloud Heritage Quilters guild, I sewed up ten pillowcases. Sure helps with the fabric report.

During the last snowstorm, I sewed a "Classmate" case, designed by Atkinson Designs. It will be a nice little case for my hand work to travel with me. I was suppose to take a class to make the case, but the drive was so bad that I turned around and came back home. Since I had done so much prep work for sewing the case, I just went ahead and finished making it. It was a fun project.

Last Monday, we had Sew-Sew Monday. Mary K. and I agreed to bring our Celtic Solstice quilts for show and tell. It is amazing how different they look. 

Mary's Celtic Solstice quilt

My Celtic Solstice quilt

In April, I grand-dog sit my daughter Brenda's dog, Zoe. She is 14 years old and really not hard to watch. Zoe did not want to pose for the camera, so she is hiding behind the table! LOL

We did have a scare with my MIL who is 102 years old. She was put into hospice care and not given long to live. That is almost two months ago and she is still going strong. Now the doctors think it could be six months. Who knows? She is showing those doctors up!! 

Now is the time of the year when it is so nice to be outside after the long winter. This year I need to stain the posts and railing on the front of the house, and hoping to get the deck done as well. We also have to have new roofing installed. Hope all of this doesn't keep me from getting some sewing done! Priorities - Right???

Hugs to all and make sure you hop over to Patchwork Times to see what others are doing.

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/05/03/fabric-report-week-18-2015/

Hugs, Beth

Fabric Report

Used/donated since last report:    3.00  yards

      Used year to Date:                               13.50 yards

Added since last report:                6.00 yards

      Added Year to Date:                             11.50 yards

Net Used for 2015:                                        2.00 yards

I really hadn't intended to add six yards of regular fabric. The description online said it was canvas and I intended to cover a chair in the sewing room and make some other accessories. When it arrived, the fabric was regular quilting weight. Guess I will use it anyway but it won't be as sturdy. The pattern is cute and sewing related.

 Last week I attended Quilt Camp at Wahkon, MN. It was five days of socializing and sewing. Becky did a great job cooking for us and of course we all wanted recipes, so she is making recipe books for us. Made some wonderful new friends and I am signed up to attend in the fall.

While at retreat, I finished sewing all the Cactus Flower blocks (my very vintage UFO) by Trudy Hughes and all of the blocks for Scrappy Mountains Magesty by Bonnie Hunter. One day I sewed sections of Grand Illusions and Scrappy Trips. (Can you tell I am a Bonnie Hunter fan?) 

Cactus Flower blocks

Scrappy Mountains

Grand Illusion block

My friend Mary was also at the retreat and pieced this beautiful quilt. She used fabric she had bought in Ireland. What fun!

On Tuesday, I attended Machine Embroidery club and on Thursday was our quilt guild meeting. The guild meeting featured two young quilt designers, Vanessa Lynch of Punkin Patterns and Kristin Lawson of A little crispy. To see more of their designs, click on the links. It is so nice to see younger ladies coming along in the quilt world. Some of us that started out as young quilters are getting a lot of "wisdom & maturity" under our belt! ;>)  Here are a few of the projects they showed:

Kristin's quilt

Kristin's quilt

Kristin's quilt

Vanessa's pillows

 All in all, it has been a fun and busy two weeks. Now I am getting ready for the annual machine embroidery retreat. Sounds like we will have some fun projects. 

Hugs to all and make sure you hop over to Patchwork Times to see what others are doing.

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/02/08/fabric-report-week-6-2015/

Hugs, Beth

Fabric Report

Used since last report:                   0.00  yards

Used for service projects:              0.00 yards

Donated fabric:                              3.50 yards

      Used year to Date:          10.50 yards

Added since last report:                 3.00 yards

Added for service projects:            0.00 yards

      Added Year to Date:         5.50 yards

Net Used for 2015:                    5.00 yards

It has been such wonderful weather in Minnesota this week. It was 40 degrees the other day.  Went on a couple of outings with Hubby since it was such awesome temps and "sunshine." Sunshine has been sadly lacking for a long time this winter. I feel for everyone in the bad weather areas, especially since we have been having such mild weather. 

Only attended one quilting event this week. On Monday, we had Sew-Sew Monday at the LQS. There was a fun quilt show during lunch time. Two of the ladies, Bonita and Mary, had each bought three yards of the same fabric. They challenged each other to make a quilt using the fabric and keep it secret from each other. Well, on Monday they brought their completed quilts. Oh, how different they are and how much fun to see how they utilized the same fabric.

Bonita - fabric used in the border. Beautifully mitered!

Mary - Cut the fabric into strips and inserted in the center
of the colored blocks

I spent a lot of the week cutting out all of Bonnie Hunter's "Grand Illusion". Since I will be going on retreat, it is nice to have the whole thing cut and ready to sew. All the pieces are separated with directions into the five parts so that I do not get them mixed up.  Wouldn't it be nice if I could get all the pieces sewn during retreat?

Grand Illusion - all the pieces cut and organized

Did not finish any projects this week but did purge and donate one UFO. It was a hand applique project started about 15 years ago. I donated five completed blocks, fabric, and book with patterns to a very nice friend who took it off my hands. WooHoo -- one project that will no longer guilt me because it is not completed. 

Besides purging a UFO, I have been combing my stash for fabric to make pillowcases for our guild service project. The pillow cases are cut and ready to sew. Hoping to have a lot of usage to report next week.

Hugs to all and make sure you hop over to Patchwork Times to see what others are doing.

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/01/24/fabric-report-week-4-2015/

Hugs, Beth

Fabric Report

Used since last report:                   7.00  yards

Used for service projects:              0.00 yards

Donated fabric:                              0.00 yards

      Used year to Date:          7.00 yards

Added since last report:                 2.50 yards

Added for service projects:            0.00 yards

      Added Year to Date:         2.50 yards

Net Used for 2015:                    4.50 yards

On my way to a good start for 2015. I had a problem finding fabric for the last border on Celtic Solstice, but finally found some and it was on sale. There was just enough left on the bolt for both the border and the binding. So I get to report some fabric in and out in the same week. Course, 3/4 of a yard added was just a good rust color that was on special and is used to enhance the stash! LOL

Celtic Solstice - 80" x 98"

Hugs to all and make sure you hop over to Patchwork Times to see what others are doing.

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/01/18/fabric-report-week-3-2015/

Hugs, Beth

2015 Q1 Finish-Along

Okay, it is time to get some UFO accountability, so I am joining Finish-Along over at On the Windy Side. There are so many UFO's to do but I have identified four to finish for the first quarter.

1. Jelly Roll Quilt - needs to be quilted

2. Neutral Strip Twist Quilt - piece and quilt

3. Parry Primrose, A Walk in the Mountains block - finish the hand applique

4. Scrappy Mountains Majesty - piece and quilt

 Hop over to On the Windy Side to see what others are planning for the first quarter of the Finish-Along.

Hugs, Beth

Fabric Report

Used since last report:                   0.00  yards

Used for service projects:              0.00 yards

Donated fabric:                              0.00 yards

      Used year to Date:          0.00 yards

Added since last report:                 0.00 yards

Added for service projects:            0.00 yards

      Added Year to Date:         0.00 yards

Net Used for 2015:                     0.00 yards

No fabric additions or completions to report this week. I have made some changes to the fabric report (no longer called Stash Report). Since I sew a lot of service projects, I thought I would like to track fabric used for the projects.

I did want to share a prize that I received. I was lucky enough to be the 2000th visitor to the Selvage Blog. Karen Griska sent the cutest pincushion and "pinsies" that she makes.

There were a lot of activities going on this week. So many activities are scheduled the first and second week of the month and then the rest of the month is quiet. More things get done in the latter part of the month -- sometimes!! LOL

Hugs to all and make sure you hop over to Patchwork Times to see what others are doing.

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/01/11/fabric-report-week-2-2015/

Hugs, Beth

Stash Report 2015

Used since last report:                   0.00  yards
Used year to Date:                        0.00 yards

Added since last report:                 0.00 yards
Added Year to Date:                      0.00 yards

Net Used for 2015:                     0.00 yards

Hey, it is always so nice to start out with a clean slate. Love all the zeros. I wasn't going to do the stash report this year but I feel it keeps me on track to actually use stash!! LOL  New purchases are so nice but I do need to clear some space to store them while they age. The shelves are VERY full.

The plan is to be more productive this year and finish projects even if they are not PERFECT. I tend to be a little bit of a perfectionist and sometimes this keeps me from finishing projects. Maybe that is just plain procrastination (which I have down to a fine art)??

Last night I finished sewing together the center portion of Celtic Solstice by Bonnie Hunter. I did add two rows of blocks to the center to make it longer. It now covers the top of the queen size bed nicely. Hoping that I can find the inner and outer border fabrics in my stash. The middle border pieces are done, just need to be sewn together into long strips. 

Celtic Solstice

This year a UFO list has been started. As I clean and sort the downstairs closet where a lot of the overflow from my sewing room is stored, I know that additions will probably be added to the list. There are a lot of projects that just need to be quilted and moved out of the house! LOL 

I sincerely hope that everyone has a wonderful 2015 and are able to work on some fun and wonderful projects.

Hugs to all and make sure you hop over to Patchwork Times to see what others are doing.

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/01/04/fabric-report-week-1-2015/

Hugs, Beth