Stash Report #5

I am blessed to have lots of home bound time right now. I make all of our meals on Sunday, so not much time is spent cooking during the week (most times I double up on the meals and make enough for two weeks). I have a cleaning routine, where I focus on one room each morning for abt 30 minutes and at night I do a general pick up, those dogs can sure make a mess! I do laundry on Fridays and grocery shopping late at night once a week. Tuesday mornings are reserved for running errands and doctor appointments. The rest of the time I can be found at home, in my quilting room, where I also watch TV, read, play on the computer, nap, snack, daydream, plan, fold laundry, make lists of things I will never do, listen to music, research our ancestors, etc....

I wonder if all this time spent at home taking care of  my mother is turning me into a hermit.....I do not think I have any anxiety disorders, so I am not agoraphobic. Just one of the many thoughts that go through my mind while in my quilting room....maybe I do need to get out more.

This is baby quilt #5  

Good pattern for using up leftover pieces of 2.5 inch strips.

This week I made 13 Tula Pink's blocks -

Here is my January's rainbow block challenge - this will be going to RMH.

We have 4 grandgirls - 
M - 14 - has made 4 quilts 
E - 13 - has made 6 quilts
EK - 11 - has made 1 quilts
K - 10 - has made 3 quilts

EK spent the weekend and wanted to make a quilt! Her first! She has never shown an interest in quilting before. She chose the pattern "Curiosity" by Rachel Griffith.
She picked out the fabrics from my stash, I cut the pieces, she did all the sewing and ironing and quilting except for the binding, which I did as we were running out of time. We both did the unstitching when it was needed.

She did spend about an hour sewing 2.5 inch squares together practicing her 1/4 inch seam before she began her quilt. She quilted stars, flowers, trees, her name on her quilt. She  thought that the quilting was the best part. Nowhere close to  perfect but a great job for her first quilt.  She is pretty proud of her quilt. And I am proud of her.

She wants me to save all my tops so she can quilt them, not sure I am ready for her help!

I am participating in the "Wishes" quilt along with the fat quarter shop. I usually buy 5 yd pieces for background and this quilt requires 5.25 yards. Luckily I found the perfect fabric and I had probably bought all they had on the bolt as I have 9 yards!

Tiny little dots that match the colors I will be using.  I decided to make two quilts from the "Wishes" blocks. I decided to go with solids and black for the background for the 2nd one. 

Totally different looks. These two quilts will be going to RMH in December.
Wishes Block 1 ~ January

They went together pretty easily. I am so spoiled by cutting either whole or half numbers. Cutting 3/8 and 7/8 took a bit more concentration, took me out of my comfort zone. The kids who receive these quilts will not realize I made a mistake with the color placement.

Wishes Block 2 ~ February

These blocks need a good pressing. Only problem I foresee with these blocks is that I might not be able to find them in March!

For more stash reports check out Judy's blog...

Added this week - 0 yards

Added YTD - 10 yards

Used this week - 26.17 yards

Used YTD - 98.83 yards

Net Used - 88.83 yards 

fabric not counted until quilt is 100% finished

Quilts finished in 2014 - 12

UFO - Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - June - July - Aug - Sept - Oct - Nov - Dec

QOV - Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - June - July - Aug - Sept - Oct - Nov - Dec

RMH - Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - June - July - Aug - Sept - Oct - Nov - Dec

Baby Quilts - 5 of 52 quilts 

Rainbow (Angela)/Block (Judy) Challenge - 1 out of 12 months 

Fat Quarter Shop - 4 out of 24 blocks 

Tula Pink - 51 of 120 blocks - making 20 additional blocks

Project Linus Quilts / Stash Report

When I make donation quilts I always finish them - quilting and binding. I got a call from Project Linus and they needed some tops so they could tie them on their next sew day, luckily I had a stack of panels waiting to be made into tops. I also had five pieced tops waiting to be quilted that went to PJ.

The first four are panels with side borders -

This next quilt I got last year as a kit from Hancocks of Paducah. I do remember that I thought the directions were a bit confusing, just can't remember what it was that had me stumped.

I spy panels with side borders. I bought this fabric for $1 a yard 3-4 years ago. I had enough to make 8 of these tops. I just let the fabric sit until I decided to add a 1 inch strip on each side in a primary color and then a black and white stripe fabric that matches the black and white stripe at the top and bottom of the panel. Easy way to finish off the quilt top.

Another kit from Hancock's. I like this one better than the other and I had no problems at all with the pattern. Love sewing with Batiks.

Next quilt is made from 5 inch I Spy squares. I got the idea for this quilt from "made by Rae". Here is the link - 

http://www.made-by-rae.com/2010/12/finito-storytime-squares-quilt-in-far-far-away-ii/

Great pattern if you need a a super fast and easy quilt.

Next, I can't remember on which blog I saw this quilt. I ordered the book and while waiting for it to arrive made the top.

I also made a yellow version of this quilt. Made with 5 inch I Spy blocks. Learned that I should have used a busy non-directional piece of fabric for the framed blocks, as some of the designs are now sitting  cockeyed.

I made this quilt for my friend's husband who is in the hospital for a extended stay, hope it brightens up his room and reminds him that we love him.

It is from Kim's Bracket Scrap Basket Surprises book and is call Scrap-Basket Blues. Pretty easy quilt, cut and pieced in one day, quilted and mailed the next. I used one fabric for the back ground.

My granddaughter wanted to make a quilt for her cousin for Christmas and picked the pattern 

"The Big EZ" by Bloom Creek

We went to JoAnns and she picked out all the fabric, it has bears, wolves and eagles on it. She is getting so much better at her 1/4 in seams. She patiently watched while I cut out the pieces and stated that now that she is 13 she should be cutting out the pieces. Next time she can, after I buy her a cutting glove!

She pieced the top in one day, it is huge - 63x79 and most of the pieces are big so it went together quickly. She quilted and bound it the next day. I am only adding 1 yard of left over fabric from this quilt to my report.

Bought YTD - 47 yards (paid for 41 yards in 2012 - it arrived in 2013 so I counted it for this year) actually only purchased 6 yards this year)

Used - 281.04 yards

Total YTD - 234.04

Hoping to get some bed quilts finished by the end of the year and that will really help my numbers.

Check our how other quilters are doing with using their stash

QOV-RMH - Kimmy's Quilt

These two quilts are on their way to Alycia in Colorado.

I finished this top a few years back and sent it off to be custom quilted. I just love it.

I bought the I Spy fabric for $1 a yard, I will be making 8 quilts from it. I added a solid strip on each side and then added the black and white stripe on each side. Here are the first two all ready to go ...

I am using primary colors for the inside strips and binding. These will all be going to Ronald McDonald's house.

My 9 yr old granddaughter wanted to make a quilt for her friend's birthday - she did a great job - it took her 9 hours and she hung it there with no complaints - even did the quilting on it. All the fabrics she chose were polka dots.

So far this year I have used 226 yards of fabric.

December 16th Stash Report

My granddaughter, Elizabeth, is in the 7th grade this year. Her math teacher, Mr Benton, recently adopted a baby. While on his family's Thanksgiving vacation he died of a heart attack on the plane, he was only 34.

Elizabeth's first thought was that his family needed a quilt. As he was a NY Mets fan, she wanted it blue and orange. Mets fabric is hard to find. I found some for $14 a fat quarter, too expensive so we went with blue and orange fabrics.

We cut out  5.5 inch blocks that she took to school for everyone to sign. Then we made the blocks using the Puzzle Box pattern by Tracey Brookshier.

We also made a NY Mets fleece throw so the mom and baby could snuggle together. Didn't count the fleece in or out.

We took the quilt to the school so it could be on display for a few days before it is given to the family.

I am so very proud of Elizabeth for wanting to honor her teacher's memory with a quilt.

I have come up with my quilting goals for 1013 - pretty similar to this year's goals.

1 - make 12 quilts for QOV
2 - make 12 quilts for Ronald's House
3 - finish some UFOs

Even though I haven't met all my goals for this year, I am really pleased with what I accomplished.

Used - 445.16 yards

Added -111 yards 

Net Used YTD - 334.16 yards

Quilts finished in 2012 - 47

My goals for 2012 are simple~

1 - make one QOV each month. 

Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  June  July  Aug  Sept  Oct  Nov  Dec  Yippee!!!!!

2 - make one quilt for Ronald McDonald's House each month

Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  June  July  Aug  Sept  Oct  Nov  Dec plus 3

3 - finish one already started quilt each month 

Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  June  July  Aug  Sept  Oct  Nov  Dec

4 - if I complete the above 3 goals each month I can start one new quilt

 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12

See how others are busting their stash over at Patchwork Times.

Stash Report - August 21st and Best of Show Winners!

Here are my finished quilts since my last stash report.

This is a baby quilt for my great niece - Olivia.

This is a I Spy quilt for our Church's Santa's Warehouse, nice to have this one done ahead of time. I have 4 more of this quilt cut out, using different color sashing. I am trying to use up all my novelty prints. It is lap size.

This is a Alaska themed quilt. My mother and I went to Alaska in June and we bought fabrics that would remind us of our visit. There is fabric that says Welcome To Alaska, a map of the area we visited, bears, seal, whales, all kinds of birds, glaciers, small airplane, sea otters, a dog sled (I highly recommend that to anyone who goes to Alaska) every activity we did we were able to find fabric for. I used the All About Me pattern. This is 100" x 100".

This is a huge Halloween quilt. You never can have too many Halloween quilts.

Another I Spy quilt sent to a friend to enjoy with her grandkids.

Granddaughter #4 and her Best of Show Hello Kitty wall hanging at her county fair. She designed this quilt, cut it out, I did the ironing, she did most of the zigzagging around the pieces, quilted it, sewed the binding on by machine, made and sewed on the label, I sewed the sleeve on the back. There are numerous mistakes but I didn't have the heart to make her rip anything out. I am so proud of her, she is 8.5 years old. She said to me "I know why you like quilting as a hobby....because IT IS SO MUCH FUN!" Sure made me smile. She already has plans for next years quilt, a face with flowing hair - wish us luck. She won $60.00!

Couldn't get the picture to go the correct way. Another Best of Show (4th to 6th grades)  for Granddaughter #2 who is 11 years old. She designed her quilt and did everything without any help from me (I did wind the bobbins and thread the sewing and quilting machines) . She also did her own ripping out. I am so proud of her. She asked me that when I get too old to quilt if she could have my long arm! There is a better picture of her quilt in a previous post.  She won $76.00! She also made a stuffed dog with her other grandmother's help and it came in 1st place.

I also made 7 small pet beds for the animal shelter out of left over pieces of flannel with batting and scraps of fabric cut into 2-3 inches squares for the stuffing. 

Total fabric used this year - 184.96


I have decided not to post how much fabric comes into my home. I know that once we are retired I won't have as much $ to spend on fabric. I am buying background fabrics for current quilts and for quilts that won't be made for many years. I think of it as my Fabric Savings Plan or my 401K in fabric. I'll need something to keep me busy for the next 25+ years.

Finally some finishes - 1st Stash Report for 2011

This is a very scrappy tumbler quilt. They are easy to piece and cutting is a breeze as I have a Accu-studio cutter. This quilt is a lap size.

This quilt is a lap size kid's quilt - there are sharks in the center blue squares.

This is a large lap quilt. Even though there are bright bold colors in the scrappy 4 patches, it has an old fashion feel to it. I adapted this from Carrie Nelson's Route 44 pattern. At times I have been known to lose the tips of my squares so I made the backgrounds a bit larger than the pattern calls for.

I was going to make this a queen size quilt, I had all the pieces cut. I followed the directions for making the 1/2 sq triangles, guess I didn't do a good job with it as they didn't come out the correct size. And that means the blocks didn't come out the perfect size, so they all had to be resized and the seams didn't match.  So I decided to make a large lap quilt out of it. I really like the pattern and will make another one  but use a different method for making the 1/2 sq triangles. This pattern is from the book Scrap-Basket Sensations.

This is a QOV that was sent to Colorado.

This is a twin size tumbler quilt - I really love making these. I love my Accu-quilt cutter machine.

This pattern is a favorite of mine, great for using up scraps. It is called Migration from the Quilt Asylum in Texas. It is a lap size quilt.

This is a baby quilt the center squares are sharks.


All these quilts are donation quilts, 7 of them are going to Basic Housing in Brooklyn NY.  Go to www.bumblebeansbasics.com for more information. I don't know how to do link ups.

This top has been sitting in the closet for two years waiting to be finished. It is 100x100 inches, perfect for my bed.

This quilt was designed, pieced, unpieced and quilted by my 11 yr old granddaughter. I am so proud of her. It took her about 4 full days to complete. I wasn't sure that she was up for all the machine applique. She used invisible thread and it isn't perfect, but she did a great job.

She quilted clouds in the sky, waves in the sea and swirls in the sail. It looks great. The sea monster has net for his fin and pointy things on it's back. This is a quilt of the  ship "The Dawn Treader" from the Narnia movie. This is her 2nd quilt, she is going to enter it in her county and the state fair. Last year she came in 2nd place and won $5! I think the only reason she wants to make quilts is to win the $5. She also sewed a sleeve on the back.


Last year my goal was to use 500 yards. I came close by using 435 yards. I finished 50 quilts. Most just needed quilting and binding.

This year I hope to use 350 yards.


To date I have used 94.35 yards.


Thanks, Judy, for giving us a place to showcase our finishes.