Stash Report Sunday 6/24/12

I missed making a stash report last Sunday because we were out of town all week.  That meant no stash reduction, but  there have been some additions.

Our first stop on the trip was Paducah, KY, which of course meant a visit to Hancock's.  The only other times I have been there were during the AQS show when the place is a madhouse.  It was so different this time--plenty of room to wander the aisles, and most of the other people there were workers filling on-line orders.  I discovered that the many fabrics listed at sale prices on the website are not marked down if you buy them at the store.  The sale prices only apply if you order on-line. 

We spent a night in St. Louis and went to a baseball game there.  I saw a woman at the game with a great tote bag made from a baseball print fabric.  The next day I found that very fabric at a local quilt shop, plus a coordinating one at another store a few days later.

In the nine days that we were gone, I visited 5 quilt shops/fabric stores (including Hancock's twice) and bought just over 10 yards of fabric.  It could have easily been two or three times that much, but I am determined to concentrate on using up more of my stash this year.

Used this week:  0 yards
Used year to date: 39-1/2 yards

Added this week:   10-1/4 yards

Added year to date:  53-1/2 yards
Net year to date: 14 yards added

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie

Design Wall Monday 6/11/12

It feels so good to be making progress on finishing up old projects.  The latest was piecing the back for a quilt top that I made back in 2001! for a guild challenge.  I have no idea why I never bothered getting it quilted because I love the way the top turned out.

The pattern for this quilt top is "Atlanta Commons" from the book 101 Nine Patch Quilts by Marti Michell.  I highly recommend this book if you come across it.  There are so many great ideas for ways to use the simple nine-patch block.  I call the quilt "Hidden Nine-Patch."  Don't you love the grid design effect of the dark blue?

Here is the crazy fabric that I got for the back of this quilt.  The biggest leaves are about 6" long.  I always thought it would be fun to quilt this from the back side, following the shapes in the print.  However, I am not up for quilting it myself, and I don't think it is possible to quilt from the back side on a long arm.

Check out all the amazing design walls at Patchwork Times  You can't help but be inspired!

Julie

Stash Report Sunday 6/10/12

Oh, it feels so good to be finishing up some projects!  The accomplishments this week were preparing the backs for two quilts that are ready for quilting.  The first was the pieced back for my Storm at Sea quilt, but I already reported the yardage for that last week.  The other back is for a nine-patch quilt that I made for a guild challenge many years ago and just never bothered to have it quilted.  The back for that one used 3 yards.  I will be delivering both of these to my long-arm quilter in the next week or so.

Used this week:  3 yards
Used year to date:  39-1/2 yards

Added this week: 0 yards

Added year to date: 43-1/4 yards
Net year to date: 3-3/4 yards added

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie

Design Wall Monday 6/4/12

The past week has been fairly productive for quilting.  After finishing the Storm at Sea quilt top before Memorial Day weekend, I wanted to switch over to something smaller.  I finished up these four pineapple blocks for my red, white & blue scrap quilt.

I love the look of pineapple blocks and the many variations that are possible.  They sure are time consuming though.  These blocks have 49 pieces in each block!  Here is a photo of them along with the other red, white & blue blocks.  Don't the pineapple blocks look great next to those stars?

My other current quilting project has been enlarging the back for the Storm at Sea quilt.  The wide quilt fabric I have is about a foot too short.  I am making a row of stars similar to the border design in the quilt top and that row will run all the way across the back of the quilt.  Many of the parts in these stars were leftovers from making the quilt top.  This photo shows half of the row of stars to go across.  Now I just have to figure out a workable way to press and square up the big piece of backing fabric.  This is when I really wish I had one of those big boards for ironing.

Check out all the amazing design walls at Patchwork Times

Julie

Stash Report Sunday 6/3/12

This has been another good week for stash reduction.  I finished four pineapple blocks for my red, white & blue scrap quilt, using up 1-1/2 yards on those.  I have been preparing the backing for my Storm at Sea quilt.  The backing fabric was not long enough for the quilt, so I am piecing a row of stars similar to the quilt border from leftover units.  That used up 5-3/4 yards of  backing fabric and 1-3/4 yards for the pieced section.


Used this week: 9 yards
Used year to date:  36-1/2 yards

Added this week: 0 yards

Added year to date: 43-1/4 yards
Net year to date: 6-3/4 yards added

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie

Design Wall Monday 5/28/12

The design wall is empty at the moment, but there is something to see on the "design deck."  The Storm at Sea quilt top is done!!!

My husband had a friend visiting the other day, so I got the two of them to hold it up over the side of the deck.  The top is too big (87" x 96") to hang up anywhere inside the house.  There are also photos of it on the bed in my last two posts here and here.

I am so happy to have completed this quilt top after such a long time (started in 2001).  The only bad news  is that the fabric for the back is not as big as I thought.  It is one of those super wide fabrics, but it is about a foot shorter than it needs to be.  I will have to fix that before I take this to my long-armer in June.  I can't wait to get this finished and on the bed!

Check out more amazing design walls at Patchwork Times

Julie

Stash Report Sunday 5/27/12

I finally have a major finish to report--my Storm at Sea quilt top is done!!!  At times it seemed like it would never end.  The quilt was begun in 2001 after I found this fabulous background fabric with sea anemones on it.  I had already amassed a large collection of teal/blue/green/purple fabrics. 

There are just over 3500 pieces in this quilt.   I worked on the piecing on and off for a couple years, but kept setting it aside in favor of other projects.  For some reason, 2012 became the right time to get it done!  I have quite a few projects that have been hanging around for a long time, and I hope to get some others finished this year too.

I have been reporting stash usage on this quilt as I cut new pieces, but hadn't figured out the yardage used for the parts that were already cut.  It feels so good to see the numbers go up for fabric used.  Even better is seeing the result of all those hours at the sewing machine laid out on my bed!  Tomorrow I will post a photo of the full quilt .



Used this week: 12-1/2 yards
Used year to date:  27-1/2 yards

Added this week: 0 yards

Added year to date: 43-1/4 yards
Net year to date: 15-3/4 yards added

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie

Storm at Sea top complete!!

For those who have been following my blog since I started at the beginning of this year, you know that my main project this past few months has been a Storm at Sea quilt.  I started this quilt in 2001, worked on it sporadically for awhile, then put it aside for 7 or 8 years.  I am hoping to finish up some of my old projects this year, and this was the first one tackled. 

I will get better photos later when I have some help to hold it up outside.  For now, the best option was on the bed.  Can't you just feel the movement of the waves?!!

Design Wall Monday 5/21/12

After making the tablerunner for my mother and trying it out on our own dining table while she was here visiting, it was obvious that we needed one.  I had purchased these lovely paisley fabrics a couple years ago with the plan of making placemats from them. 

I had several placemats partway done, but that's as far as it had gotten.  Last week, I finished the six placemats that were already started, plus made a tablerunner.  I still have more of all the fabrics and hope to end up with a total of 12 placemats.  That's the most people that will fit around our dining table. 

This is what my husband discovered on the dining room table when he got home from work on Saturday.  It was my anniversary gift to him.  Five amazing years together!

Here is a photo of the tablerunner alone.

Check out more amazing design walls at Patchwork Times

Julie

Stash Report Sunday 5/20/12

After making the tablerunner for my mother a week ago, my husband commented that it would be nice to have one for our dining room table.  I pulled out the set of placemats that I started making with these great paisley fabrics that I bought in Arizona in 2009.  I was able to finish up 6 placemats and a tablerunner in time for our anniversary yesterday. 

The fabrics are "Harmony" by Jan Patek for Moda.  I will show the finished placemats and tablerunner on my design wall tomorrow.

Used this week: 3-3/8 yards
Used year to date:  15 yards

Added this week:   0 yards

Added year to date: 43-1/4 yards
Net year to date: 28-1/4 yards added

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie