My Festivus list!

Three things to be happy about:
(1) straight teeth
(2) overalls
(3) a foosball match

In a nutshell, the "Festivus" celebration was born on the Jerry Seinfeld show, where George Costanza's father wanted a celebration "for the rest of us."  He'd get a Festivus pole and gather the family around and berate them for their failures during the year.  The poorest performer would have to carry the festivus pole of shame.

Well, I love Christmas and I don't celebrate Festivus, but I thought it would be a fun name for this post.  Throughout the year I started things that for one reason or another I didn't finish; I don't mean UFO's, that's a whole different category!

So, this is my Festivus list, or "things that I dropped like a hot tater."

First up - Inspired by Toefeather, I wanted to make a 4-inch block every day for a year, then I'd have 365 blocks to make into a quilt.  Clever girl!

Seemed easy to do and it really is, but that daily block became a group of weekly blocks, then there were no blocks at all, doh!   After I made 35 blocks I discovered I wasn't sure I liked how they all looked together and I dropped that idea!  I'll make one more then set them in a quilt with sashing in between.

Another one - a slashed 9-patch block using African fabrics. 

Sounded like a good idea and the single blocks looked great... but when I placed several of them together on my design wall - yuck!  Not my idea of an attractive quilt.  If you stared at it too long it'd probably knock you down!

I could take the ones I did and set them with some kind of sashing (w-i-d-e sashing!) I suppose, but I'll not be making any more of these rascals!

Here's a good one - South of Baltimore!  I was using scrap yardage to make the flowers and leaves.

This actually should be considered a UFO because I can finish it by simply making two more blocks and setting them in a gigantic four-patch.  The blocks are 16" square so they'd make a nice wall hanging.  At this point I can't remember why I dropped this one - UFO!

And last but not least - my stash report!  Where did that go? Well, I found it tedious to try and figure out how much fabric I was using every week.  I stopped my wild fabric buying several months ago, I don't even look at the emails from Hancocks of Paducah or Thousands of Bolts or eQuilter (why haven't I dropped off those mailing lists??) and I think I've bought less than two dozen yards this year, so maybe the list did have some effect!  How much fabric did I use this year?  I have no idea but I know I used some, so that's a good thing!  So that's my story and I'm sticking with it!

If you had a quilting Festivus list, what would be on it??  I'd love to hear your hidden secrets!  Have a great Friday - sew forth and sew on til later!

Hello, Monday!

It's a new week already, spring is just around the corner!!

First, my stash report for last week - I'll keep it simple for now:

Fabric purchased last week:  0 yards
Total fabric purchased in 2012:  0 (not counting the bag of scraps in February!)

Fabric used last week:  3 yards
Total fabric used in 2012:  4-1/2 yards

** Although I started my stash report in February, I didn't buy any fabric in January **

I've been working on my traditional block project for June, and I've also made a few string blocks. It's really hard to count strings, you know what I mean? So, I'm doing a "guestimate" and saying 3 yards total used for last week.

I didn't find anything I couldn't live without at the yard sale Saturday, but I did find some nice strawberries at Costco! 

I was thinking it's sorta early for strawberries - even if they're from Florida or California - so I bought these with one eye closed, as it were. I had some for breffus this morning and they were just fine... could have been just a touch sweeter and there were a few underripe green spots, but overall they were very good!

I have this cute little unfinished top that someone gave me that I want to work on; she knew she wouldn't finish it and didn't want to toss it out...

I like these pups!  I measured the pieces for each block and figured out the measurements for the pattern, I know I'd like to make this one from scratch someday. It's approximaely 22 x 27 as is, I was thinking to enlarge it by adding at least one light- or medium-toned border, and another one using this fabric:

I think these playful kitties would look really cute with the serious-looking puppies (are they hounds?). I got this fabric from Hancock Fabrics when their store was closing in December, who knew it'd be the perfect thing for an unknown project! I might even fussy cut some of the kitties and applique them onto a border.  I don't want the finished quilt to look too dark but you almost can't avoid it, given the background color she used for the blocks.

Now, did you notice all the strings attached to my design wall? I have a lint roller and I thought I'd see if it could pick up any of those strings...

Yep, it picked up quite a few but that's just the tip of the iceberg!  I got some of the longer ones off though.

Well today it's errands, a bit of sewing and some basement cleaning time.  I haven't claimed that extra hour of daylight yet, but it's out there!  Have a great Monday everybody; let's see how much we can squeeze out of this week!

Sew forth and sew on...

Stash count

Three things to be happy about:
(1) whiling away an afternoon
(2) chopping like a chef
(3) quilting

I've been thinking about starting a weekly stash count but I haven't done anything about it yet.  Well, I think today's the day, get to steppin'!

There's no way I'm going to measure and count all the yardage I have in my stash, Mission Impossible for sure!  I'll just start with what I use and what I add, on a weekly basis. 

So... my grand total for last week:

Added:  -0- yards
Used:  1.5 yard (?)
Scraps cut into usable pieces (?)

Last week I made that little fractured crumb quilt and I'm not *quite* sure how to count crumbs, so I measued the piece and got an approximate count.  That includes fabric for the back, border and binding - the three B's.  This seems a bit small... I'll just let it be for now; I might change to a rounding-up or -down method later on, as I get used to doing a count. 

I actually meant to start my stash count in January, but a start is a start.   This will help keep me aware of what I'm doing!

Sew forth and sew on