Saturday, February 9, 2013

Stash Report - February 10, 2012

Knowing that Bill's quilting cousin will be a house quest in April I thought it would be a good idea to begin cleaning my sewing room. My plan is just to do a bit each day/week/month so on the eve of her arrival I won't be staying up all night to clean.

Anyway, when cleaning out the closet I came across this pattern by  Kerr and Ringle (I so enjoy their patterns) from the June 2010 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting.

I saved this pattern because I bought some faux chenille at the Houston Quilt Festival and thought this would be the perfect pattern to use it on.  Instead of using 1 inch sashing strips (they would have finished at 1/2 inch,  I just sewed all the green squares together without the sashing. I sewed three layers of cinnamon faux chenille on the seam lines.  

Here is my version - I used odd bits of greens, except of the dark green.

It just came out of the dryer, so it is wrinkly and not hanging perfectly straight, couldn't find all of my clamps. I used every inch of the dark green fabric I had so I went with a brown binding that almost matches the chenille.

Here is a close up of the chenille after washing and a good brushing to help it fluff.
I think it turned out pretty good and for me this was the perfect pattern to use the chenille on. After washing it is about 97 inches square. I worked on this quilt for about 2 weeks on and off

I sent more than 6 yards of fabric in orphan blocks to Beth who is turning them into works of art. Some I had made, some were given to me in block swaps. I can't wait to see what Beth creates from this assortment of blocks. I am glad they are going to a place where they will be made into quilts, instead of sitting in a bin in my closet. I am counting these blocks as 6 yards out.

Thursday's mail brought a wonderful surprise, I was expecting the package, just didn't know when it would arrive.  Background: sometime last year I came across a blog and saw this quilt http://edutach.blogspot.com/2012/02/design-wall-february-27-2012.html  I thought it was just wonderful, showed it to Bill and he also liked it so it was only natural that at some point it  would be made. I contacted Mary and she had already made a tutorial on it so we started looking at fabric. Then I remembered from Judy's blog about Vicki's hand dyed fabrics. Vicki was great to work with. I sent her a picture of the quilt and told her I would be needing 11 different color ways each with 5 shades for my quilt and she came up with the colors and we bought fat eights from her. We also purchased the brown background fabric from Vicki. The fabric we received was perfect, the colors bold and bright, just what we were looking for.

Last November I contacted Alycia to see if she would be able to quilt it for me and she had an opening in January. So I got the quilt top finished and in the mail to her. 

I got the quilt back on Thursday.
We love it. Alycia's quilting really brought it to life. My most modern quilt so far.
I counted the yardage in last year and I get to count it out this week! (I only count fabric out when the quilt is 100% finished) 2 quilts just for me this week!

Here is the backing I used, it is flannel....I like my backs to be a bit unexpected...


Used since last post - 39.60  / Used YTD - 82.88

Bought since last post - 0 / Bought YTD - 41

Net used YTD -  41.88

Quilts finished in 2013 - 7

Goals for 2013

1) I am planning on staying out of quilt shops - there is not one thing I need. No patterns, no thread, no batting, no fabric, no rotary blades, no rulers, no gadgets, nothing. If I don't have it then I do not need it. There isn't any reason for me to visit a shop in town or online. I guesstimated how much fabric I have and I will never come close to using it all. The folks who get my quilts don't know if the fabric is brand new or 6 years old, they only know that someone out there in the world cares enough about them to make them a quilt. I will be unsubscribing to all emails from quilt stores, if I don't see it I won't be tempted.

Amendment to Goal #1 - I will be going to the Paducah Quilt Show in April and I will be bringing home some fabric/patterns/etc...  That will be the only quilting shopping I plan on doing this year.
1 - 
3) Make 12 quilts for Ronald's House
1 - 2
4) Finish 5 quilts that I have already started

Other finished quilts
1- 2 - 3 - 4

8 comments:

Harriett said...

Your quilts are beautiful. Your modern one is stunning. You really busted some yardage this week.

WyoPat said...

What an innovative idea with the chenille--I like it! And really like the Modern Bargello--oh, no, there goes another one on my bucket list!

Teresa in Music City said...

Sounds like you have a great plan for getting your sewing area in good shape for the visit! I would need something like that too - mine's pretty much a mess right now!

What an awesome idea to use chenille in there instead of a narrow strip!!! I love the texture and no worries about getting them perfectly straight - ingenious!!!! And your greens really sparkle too - love the scrappy deliciousness :*)

And your "modern" quilt is wonderful!!! I have pinned it - it's an amazing design, and you've done it full justice. Great job!!!

Deanna said...

Amazing quilts! The chenille sashing solution (try saying that three times fast) is particularly interesting and clever.

Beth in MN said...

Way to go Dee Dee!! Sewing area in the process of being cleaned, orphan blocks out, great stash report, and fun quilts to show. What a nice amount accomplished.
Beth in MN

Denise :) said...

Dee Dee, I love the greens you used ... the quilt is darling! And using the chenille is a brilliant idea! So fun!! And the bold, bright colors in the second quilt are marvelous!! What fun things you're creating!! :)

Lori said...

Okay--the green is to die for!! Please tell me you have it on your bed! The modern quilt--you teamed up with the experts--Vicki's dyeing and Alycia's quilting. This is a good month for you!

Jill said...

What a fabulous quilt (the black one)!!! Yes, Alycia did a great job. I love the fun backing fabric, too.