Stash Report - March 24, 2013

I prefer making quilts without borders, I would rather make extra blocks to make the quilt the size I want it than add borders. I have 4 quilts of my grandma's and they do not have borders probably due to the fact that fabric was hard to come by, and I love them.  I usually make my quilts bigger than the pattern calls for and then trying to figure out how to make the pieced border fit just isn't going to happen. If a border is needed it will just be a strip of fabric, nothing pieced.

Next week I should have a picture of my sister's quilt to share with you. She came in yesterday and leaves on Wednesday.

What if - 
a - you went to the quilt shop and the owner told you that you were her first customer of the day at 4:30pm (store closes at 5) 
b - you picked out 24 yards of fabric - 4 yards Christmas sale fabric and 20 yards of full price fabric
c - she refused to cut 1/3 yard cuts of the Christmas fabric (sale fabric she only will cut 1 yard pieces) knowing that you had plans to purchase 20 additional yards of fabric at full price

Would you - 
a - buy full yard cuts of the Christmas fabric knowing that most of it would end up sitting on your shelves for years
b - not buy the Christmas fabric and purchase the other 20 yards of fabric
c - not buy any of the fabric you had picked out thinking that as you were her only customer of the day that she should be grateful you were there at all and sell you the fabric in the cuts you wanted

hmmmm.......

I started this quilt in February and finished it this week.

It is 105 inches square and will be living on our guest bed. The pattern is "Color Me Crayon" from the Fat Quarter Shop. The colors make it the perfect spring/summer quilt. The pattern had great directions and was easy to make. I used Batik strips. 

Used since last stash report - 20.9 / Used YTD - 133.69

Bought since last stash report - 0 / Bought YTD - 41 (bought in 2012, arrived in 2013)

Net used YTD -  92.69

Quilts finished in 2013 - 16

Visit Judy's blog to see what other quilters are up to......

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 with our new quilting cousin and I will be bringing home some fabric/patterns/etc...  That will be the only quilting shopping I plan on doing this year.

2) Make 12 QOV and 

1 

2a) 6 quilts for Boots and Booties

1-2

3) Make 12 quilts for Ronald's House

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 

4) Finish 5 quilts that I have already started

5) Make 5 quilts for Margaret's Hope Chest

1 - 2 - 3

Other finished quilts

1- 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 

Visitors.....

Every morning we have a herd of deer that come strolling through our woods, they probably live in the woods at the far end away from our home.

There are 7 of them. Couldn't get them all in one picture.

Harry and the Hendersons is a fun movie and seeing the deer remind me of the ending when they take Harry back to the forrest and all of a sudden you see other Bigfoot/Bigfeet (?) magically appear. Same with the deer, out of the corner of my eye I see a flash of white and look up and there they are.

I think they come by to say hi to our dogs.

They come within 1 foot of the fence and all the barking doesn't send the deer running off into the woods. They just stand there and twitch their tails. I think the deer actually enjoy this commotion from the dogs.

Grandma Doyle

My dad's mother, Fannie Mae, was born on March 12, 1878 in Mississippi. She had 9 children, the twins died within a week of being born. Another died of TB. Grandma had a stroke and I only remember her living in a hospital and speaking German. I could not understand her when we visited, though she did teach me to count to 10 in German. Her parents were from Germany.

I am so blessed to have many items that belonged to her.

 This is a photo album given to her by her husband on her 20th birthday in 1898, the original photos had been removed and I have copies of them.

 Here are her reading glasses, a pencil she used to mark which eggs she was leaving for the hens to hatch, an oil container she used on her sewing machine and a canning tool. I have all my treasures tagged as I want my boys and grandgirls to know why these things are so special to me.

4 of her wonderful scrappy quilts, one needs to be quilted and I really should do that some time soon.

I have some love letters written to her soon to be husband, they are in a safety deposit  box.

Then there is this doll......

I had a doll just like this one. I loved her and took her everywhere, she is posable. Her name was Candy. I took her to see my grandma in the hospital and my grandma also fell in love with her, she thought she was a real baby and talked to her for hours and hours. When we were ready to leave Oklahoma I was asked to leave Candy with my grandma and I would get another one when we got home. Of course I pitched a fit and said no! When we got home my dad bought another identical doll and sent it to my grandma. To this day I am totally ashamed of my behavior. I was only 7 when this happened. My doll is gone, this one belonged to my grandma. Every time I look at this doll I am filled with shame, maybe shame is too strong of a word, guilt, yes, I know it has been 53 years and I should forgive my small 7 year old self who didn't understand the act of kindness, of thinking of others, only thought of myself, my own needs. I keep her in a cabinet with my other treasures and smile when I see her and know how much I have changed over the years, and so glad I am not that selfish little 7 year old any longer.

I have only had one granddaughter who has shown any interested in playing with Candy II so when the time comes Emma will be gifted this sweet doll.

Here is my grandma as a young married woman and her with her dad in 1880.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Linking with http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/

March 10, 2013 - Stash Report

Using Mollie's tutorial on Forest Bricks I created this fun little quilt. It will be going to Ronald's House.

It is all made from scraps and used my darkest green for the binding. Finished at about 50 x 62. It reminds me of spring when all the leaves begin to appear and the flowers are popping out of the ground, such a magical time of the year.

I changed it up a bit as my bricks are smaller. They are 4.5 x 2.5 and the frames are 4.5 x 1.5. Each little block finishes at 4.5 inches square.

The greens are left over bits from this quilt. Instead of cleaning up from making that quilt, I thought it would be just as easy to make another quilt. And the mess is still there! I already had a baggie of the black strips in a drawer.

 You could use a jelly roll and a honey bun to make it.

SewCalGal from California and Kaholly from Texas are having a quilt drive. They are asking for baby quilts that will be given to soon to be born babies whose daddies are away serving our country.

I will be sending this one to Texas.  I copied it from one on Michelle's bog. Mine finishes at about 39 inches square. I used 2.5 inch squares in my 9 patches. Gotta love making a quilt when you do not have to piece the backing! The border is extra from a backing.

This quick strippie quilt from Mollie's website will also be going to Texas. The dog fabric is left over from a backing. I have enough dog flannel to make another one.

I am enjoying making these baby quilts, they go together easily and I am able to use up some leftover fabrics from other quilts. A win/win for me and the babies.

When I gift quilts made with flannel I do not wash them as they can sometimes look used.

Used since last stash report - 10.94 / Used YTD - 112.79

Bought since last stash report - 0 / Bought YTD - 41 (bought in 2012, arrived in 2013)

Net used YTD -  71.39

Quilts finished in 2013 - 15

Visit Judy's blog to see what other quilters are up to......

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 with our new quilting cousin and I will be bringing home some fabric/patterns/etc...  That will be the only quilting shopping I plan on doing this year.

2) Make 12 QOV and 
1 
2a) 6 quilts for Boots and Booties

1-2

3) Make 12 quilts for Ronald's House

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 

4) Finish 5 quilts that I have already started

5) Make 5 quilts for Margaret's Hope Chest

1 - 2 - 3

Other finished quilts

1- 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 

March 3, 2013 Stash Report

This 50  square inch I Spy quilt is on it's way to Victoria at Bumble Beans Basics. The turquoise fabric is leftover from a backing. I love the stripe binding.

I have two Bernina 1130 machines which I love. One I have had for 18 years and the other about 10 years.

 I just took #1 in for service and when  I began using #2, I didn't put the needle in high enough and I messed up the timing on it. Took it into the shop and saw there were 2 more 1130s for sale! I was ready to buy a third 1130 but Bill wanted to look at new machines. Of course they started at the top of the line, too many do-dads for me. I only use a straight stitch, forward and sometimes backwards. Finally he showed us a basic 830, it didn't have as many extras, it also didn't have the foot pedal you can tap to make the needle go up and down or the knee lift. I could probably do without either one. Bad thing is that my feet from my 1130s won't fit on the 830.  The 830 was less $ than the 1130. I voted for the 1130 and Bill voted for the 830 and we ended up getting.......... 

the new machine. It came with a 2 year in store warranty and two free check ups.  I wasn't expecting it to have the "new car" smell.

The repair guy was able to fix my timing on #2 while we were debating about machines and #1 will be ready next week. 

This yellow quilt will be going to Margaret's Hope Chest.

It is about 45 inches square. I used 1/2 sq triangles to make it.

Used since last stash report - 9.62 / Used YTD - 101.85

Bought since last stash report - 0 / Bought YTD - 41 (bought in 2012, arrived in 2013)

Net used YTD -  60.85

Quilts finished in 2013 - 12

Visit Judy's blog to see what other quilters are up to......

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 with our new quilting cousin and I will be bringing home some fabric/patterns/etc...  That will be the only quilting shopping I plan on doing this year.

2) Make 12 QOV

1 - 

3) Make 12 quilts for Ronald's House

1 - 2 - 3 

4) Finish 5 quilts that I have already started

5) Make 5 quilts for Margaret's Hope Chest

1 - 2 - 3

Other finished quilts

1- 2 - 3 - 4 - 5