happylab

Good morning everyone. For the last month I have been busy boxing up stuff so I could rearrange several rooms - furniture moved around. Now we have a guess room, a much much larger sewing/quilting room, and got rid of stuff we didn’t need or want anymore. This month I will unload boxes in the sewing/quilting room (I tell hubby it’s the entertainment room, lol). I also need to quilt 5-6 tops for a friend. Most are baby tops.

Last month I finished 3 quilts. Lock-in (ufo), Halloween quilt (ufo) & Labs going hunting quilt(ufo) I will calculate the yardage out in the next few days. Hopefully this month I will complete several more quilt tops

I do plan to do BHMQ this year and use nothing but my stash. I really don’t need another r/w/b quilt. So I will be changing my colors. My 1st thought = dark/light purple or dark/light blue, tourques, and sorted whites if I don’t have enough of one white yardage. 2nd thought = I found a multicolored piece of fabric (for focus & last border, which I will add). dark/light browns, & sorted orange all in batiks and background in light tan and beige colors. I will be posting my fabric selection on the BHMQ thread. Then you could give me your thoughts. I so enjoy following along and doing her quilts.

WMUTeach

Happylab, You go! Wow accomplishments and a plan to make more from what you have! Busy, Busy, Busy.

Gemm

Seems like a totally justified fabric purchase to me, Iceblossom! I also enjoy lurking on the BHMQ thread - it's a great community. :-)

Gemm

I also have a bit of a confession to make, although I feel it's not my fault!

My Mum asked me to make her a little quilted purse to take to her card games - big enough for her phone, a hanky and her winnings. I went through my stash and pulled fabrics and she chose three she loved (two for the outside, one for the lining). Sounds like a win so far, right?

But... I needed to get some foam "batting" (the batting I have just doesn't have much structure) and of course you buy it off a bolt so I got 1/4 yard at $45/yard. I now have enough of this for at least two more purses (if I'm still sane at the end of this process). And I also needed to buy a magnetic clasp ($13!!!). Oh, and some cordage for a strap. More purchases!!! I also found a tutorial on how to use the magnetic snap and it turns out you also need heavy-duty iron-on interfacing. Massive eyerolls happening at this point because I will need two 2-inch squares of this. That's it. Happily my quilty neighbour came to the rescue with a large bag of interfacing in which I found exactly what I need (or at least I am telling myself it will work beautifully).

Let's not forget that I didn't actually like any of the free patterns/tutorials I found online so I'm adapting several of them into the purse Mum wants. I hope. :-) And I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that I don't suddenly see something "perfect" in some store one of these days. I keep telling myself that even if I did, it wouldn't be the unique, made-with-love (and probably liberal curses by the time it's done) item it will be.

At least all of the fabric came from stash! :-D

WMUTeach

Gemm, that is a long story to make us smile and to remind us all of how additions to our stash can happen in the blink of an eye and a request from our mum.

Iceblossom

Gemm -- To get what we want when we want adds a premium to price! But sometimes we just need the things we need, want isn't so much an option. But now you are set up to do further projects.

My friend in Arizona makes lovely purses, she also buys expensive purses so her $100 projects don't seem too bad... many of the ladies in my new sewing group are making bags and purse type things to donate to a women's shelter. More power to them, my quilting is much more 2-D than 3-D.

I shared a humorous article with the hubby when he first moved in 20 years ago. We've had a running joke about "look how much money I save with fabric compared to the price of cigarettes" (not that I smoke). If you need something to be certain about how much money you are saving, do a search on Cork Fabric (which my friend in AZ just loves for purses) to feel better!

I got a lot done yesterday, all 120 string pieced triangles are rough trimmed and ready to go to group on Tuesday for final trimming and paper peeling. They will be turned into 30 squares. I made an error while cutting and ended up with a ton of pieces that were all about 1/2" short of being usable -- but I figured out how to incorporate them into the border -- yay me!! That will be the next step as I clear my table for the Bonnie Hunter mystery.

Pictures show the rough trimmed pieces both top and bottom (paper pieced).

Gemm

Iceblossom, your almost-at-the-finished-stage blocks look great - so festive! Way to go for managing to save the OOPS! blocks, too!

I do believe I am going to stop here with purses. My latest realization was that while I'm quite capable of doing 6-strand braiding for short lengths of cord, trying to come up with a strap that ends at over 4 feet long is proving to be a bit more challenging. If only my arms were longer!

Sync

I decided to join in on Bonnie Hunter's mystery this year. The colors this year are indigo/navy blue, which I have in my stash, medium blue, red and nuetrals. All fabric colors in my stash, with no need to add any fabric. I will call that a win!

elly66

Wow! What fun the Bonnie Hunter mystery sounds like with so many of you doing it. I must admit I haven't even looked but need to. I've done a few though the sizes she cuts the blocks are so small. I had trouble keeping up honestly. It helped me grow as a quilter using her neutral concept.
It's been awhile since I've been on here to post just reading what everybody has been doing with their stashes. I'm happy to report I have been busy making quilts and tops and not buying fabric except just today and it's going to be put to use as soon as it gets used. Actually this year I think has been my best year yet on the moratorium. The last three months I think i bought one backing only. I have finished three quilts, halfway through quilting one, and three more in the line for quilting including backing and bindings decided already.
I got a bit of bad news health-wise. One of those pesty things that can make one evaluate. Honestly its been a prod for me to sew like a mad woman. Those beautiful fabrics that are too pretty to cut into just yet? I'm cutting into them. Still too pretty? Make really big blocks and show it off then. The goal is simple - to have all these gorgeous fabric made into snuggly quilts. I've been having so much fun! Happy quilting everybody!
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Gemm

Way to go, Sync! Sounds like your stash will be shrinking soon!

Glad to have you here, Elly66, and congratulations on having such a great moratorium year to report! Sorry to hear of your health concerns, though - I admire that you have turned bad news into such a positive goal. Thank you for sharing and all the best on your health journey!