Jshep

Happy belated birthday Iceblossom!

Gemm

This made me giggle, but I'm still cheering and clapping! A small win still counts as a victory! Bring on the parade! :-D

petthefabric

Another win. Was on my way to LQS. Took a sharp left to check stash first. Yep. Found small pieces to make it scrappy. Save $ here to spend on another project. Yeah🤸‍♂️🕺🤩

ibex94

I am loving all these wins! Congratulations everyone!

Rff1010

Alright - so my quilting room is being painted and it's going sslllooowwlllyyy.*. So the piecing machine is put away and the longarm is wrapped up in drop cloths.

Question is...how far ahead can I cut? Can I cut and Ziploc 1 project ahead? 2? More? I'm worrying about fraying.

*I was fully ready to just paint and then the hubster walked in - looked at the condition of the walls and took over the project. The spackle was abundant. Yes it will be nicer but I want it DONE.

WMUTeach

I often box up twelve project boxes on or around January 1. Now, that does not mean I do them, but they are ready to go. A box may have a top to be finished, the backing and binding or a whole complete new project that has been on my "To Do List". I also have a couple unfinished projects that were given to me by a quilting friend. My intent is to do one box a month, but we all know how that works out. Tee-Hee-Hee! I have 5 boxes waiting from my January 2023 start and I know that likely only one will get finished by December. But on the other hand I have a good start for January 2024. Yeah!

If creating project boxes keeps your occupied while the room s-l-o-w-l-y falls into place, then dive in.

Iceblossom

I box my projects and sometimes it takes quite awhile (like years) to get back to them. In general, things keep very well without fraying or issues if they are stable and don't get played with or dropped a lot. I tend to bag smaller pieces into sandwich bags (larger or smaller as needed) and write myself notes on the count or other good to know info because I don't always remember. I include the magazine or pattern and again any notes I might have.

In my current project using string and paper piecing with Christmas fabrics, I had a small bag of 2" strips in there too -- it's been a long time since I cut fabric into small strips, at least 5 years or more. They are perfect! Also, right around Y2K I was doing a lot of fabric swapping, 10" squares. Those are still in perfect shape.

For me, again, I put the baggies into a box and then write on the box what the project is so I can find which ones easily Just baggies slide around too much for me and sometimes get folded or crumpled up and sometimes the really bad thing happens -- bags go missing.

Gemm

And I'm off the wagon. :-P What a naughty week I've had!

Went to visit a local quilt guild (which I have now joined) and was strongly encouraged to check out the free table. Managed to walk away with less than a yard of random pieces in colours I can see myself using so was feeling pretty chipper and proud of my restraint (after all, one doesn't join a guild every day so some celebration was in order). :-D Next day I had to drop off some stuff at our local thrift shop and was not quite as successful as I'd hoped in staying at the drop-off back door. A quick peek inside the store meant I walked out with two more pieces of fabric, only one of which I have an actual idea for. Then Saturday rolled around and I went (on purpose) to a fabric store to get the equivalent of one or two fat quarters to finish up a blue and cream quilt I'm working on but I sadly forgot my swatches to colour/tone match. Found two fabrics and kept my purchase to less than half a yard. Thought I'd done well, but when I got home I discovered one of the pieces is too green and so will just go into stash. Some good lessons learned.

Happily, it happened before the month turned so I'm back on the wagon and still at 100% for October! :-D

WMUTeach

I am with you on the 100% for October thing, Gemm. Tee-Hee-Hee. I only bought two yard in all of September and used about half of that already. I have a retreat coming up so I hope to be getting more out the door. I usually take one big project to work on and then one project that can be finished and a third small project just to break up the time when boredom sets in. Since I am working toward a "from my stash only" year, everything is from what is on hand at the moment. Working well so far. Just three months to go and then I can celebrate with....oh, I don't know what.


Everyone get comfy on the wagon and settle in as we travel down the lane watching the leaves change colors and smell the apple cider and campfires burning.

petthefabric

For months, Been trying to clean studio by using what’s there, putting away, etc. Daughter shopped my stash for a gift quilt……then returned a bag of leftovers, including fabric she’d bought for her project. (Reminds me of when she was little, handing me her stuff to hold.) This made the scrap drawer overflow. See another project. And I was getting so close……