Last Day of In Your Words Hop

Who would believe the time has flown so quickly?  Today is the last day of posts for the In Your Own Words Blog Hop.  I'm amazed how quickly this went by besides seeing all the different interpredations that this hop entailed.    It's been wonderful!    So many beautiful items have been shared with  the techniques, tutorials and giveaways too!  All  worded perfectly! 

So without further adieu, here is the list of participants on this last day.  Notice our organizers are on this list.  I'm heading over right now to check out their sites.   Enjoy the hop.

Buzzing and Bumbling(Linda W.)

 

My Collection of Things (Jeni K.)

Quiltin' Jenny (Jenny)

Shade Tree Quilting (Judy C.)

Rosemary) at “that other blog”

Pat Sloan, The Voice of Quilting (Pat. S.)

Dachsies With Moxie (Agnes B.)

Sew Many Yarns (Lyndsey M.)

Tomorrows Treasures Today (Denise D.)

The German Mom (Tina S.)

Christa Quilts (Christa W.)

Read, Quilt, Cook, Pray (Aletta D.)

Sew We Quilt (Mdm. Samm)

 

 

Okay now,

 

ready....set........GO!

 

One last note, Madamme Samm the creator of this hop created a pinterest board so the pictures can be viewed on one page.    If you saw somethin gof interest and forgot which site it was on, there are links attached to the pics.
Thanks again to Madamme Samm, Linda and to Timeless Treasures Fabric who so generously donated gifts for the giveaways.    Check out their site to see the latest additions.

This hop has created some wonderful, timeless and treasured memories for me.  :)    Thank you.

Have Fun and Enjoy!
Jane 

 

Stash Report #2 of 2013

Still doing well with my stash report numbers and I actually just created an Excell spread sheet to keep track of purchases and expenses this year.  Created columns for the description, price, yardage, beads, cross stitch, threads and services paid for  such as framing /long arm quilters, etc..  If I need another column as time goes by then I'll add it at the time.  It'll be very interesting as SCHULTZee from Hogan's Heroes used to say to see what is what by year's end.    I wasn't able to finish anything yet, so there's nothing to report as fabrics going out,  but I did happen to buy 2 fat quarters Saturday while a friend and I were in Glens Falls at Patti's (even though now

a Jessica Vandenburgh is the new owner).    Without further adieu,  here are this week's numbers.

Stash In:   .50 Yards
Stash Out:  0  Yards
YTD In:  .50 Yards
YTD Used:   13 yards


Net Changed so far this year is 13.0 Yards that have been used and out the door!  Yippee! Skippee!!!!

 

I started a new BOM for 2013 called AND SEW ON and did the first block.  Lucky for me I had some of that measuring tape fabric in my scrap bag from making the Professional Tote several years ago.


Kristy from Quiet Play shared the first block called Measure Twice.  If you are interested in participating in this freebie, do hurry since she'll only be offering the block one month.  After that it's still available for sale through her Etsy shop.  The next month she'll place the next block as a freebie for one month and "sew" on  besides  she's hosting a giveaway for  ASO participants.  Sorry, couldn't resist!


For my masterpiece block, I placed a seam through the floral print to emulate a fold in the top fabric.  Had I thought more about it, I could have used a fabric with the selvage edge print visible, but this is good enough.  It will stay as is. 










Luckily for me when I was starting to make this block, a lovely squishy package arrived in the mail.  I do so love squishy packages!  It was the giveaway of fabric scraps that Heidi of Fabric Mutt sent me.  I won her giveaway!    Check out her fabric goodies.  Fondling through them I saw one I had to use rightaway, that olive green print was one of the scraps she sent and it looked perfect with some of my scraps so I threw it intomy ASO's first block.    How perfect is that!  Thanks Heidi, love them!





But I do have a question regarding STASH reporting;

Do I have to try to figure out how much fabric those scraps are to add in to my stash report numbers as fabric coming in?  If so, how do I do that? 
Thanks for stopping by.  I feel like 2013 is going to be the best year yet with my PROGRESS.

Tonight I'll be sharing what was been my focus for  this past week and several weeks prior.   I hope you'll like it. 


Jane  :)

Giveaway soon.

Sharing the word about a nice giveaway ending soon. Check it out here. at Loretta's blog.

The Plaid Scottie is also hosting a giveaway for her first anniversary of blogging. Make sure you check these out.

Jane

A couple of giveaways

Two blogs I follow are both having wonderful giveaways.

Nataly over at natalysneedle.blogspot has many sweet gifts for the Valentine's Day Giveaway. She does gorgeous stitchiing so I know you'll enjoy the visit.

Then Deborah who also does beautiful but very quickly gorgeous stitching is hosting another giveaway for reaching 300 followers. Her blog is Cranberry Samplings. MAke sure you check out her pom pom pillows, they are so CUTE!

I realize by posting this I am limiting my chances of winning but the giveaways are too nice not to share with you all. Good Luck!

Jane

Upon reflection and DMC,

After my post on Sunday, I did ponder how I ever got started on my collectives and why.

After much thought, (quite deep and it hurt just a little.. VBG :~) Hopefully I think I have figured out the why of some of it. I have always led a rural life which is one I am blessed to have grown up in and also have raised my family in. As far as great and big selections available locally though, there are limitations in many areas not just threads. So, up to that point I just planned ahead and waited until I went to town to purchase the required pieces needed to do my craft. Then it changed in the summer of 1983 or perhaps some year quite close to that.
I was doing CXS and when finishing a project, I would quickly want to stitch something else. I used to always try to keep my hands busy and actually had trouble stopping and just being at that point in my life. Too much to go into the whys of that now, perhaps a bit of my self proclaimed ADD or OCD was kicking in. Anyways, it was a major hindrance when I didn't have the required threads in stock at home and wouldn't be going into town for several more days. To compensate for that I would routinely buy 10 or 20 skeins of colors I knew I didn't have (courtesy of keeping track on the little DMC cards they used to have available) hoping to acquire the full collection of DMC skeins. Then eureka!  A family vacation to Myrtle Beach and you know about their Wakauma Pottery retail and their prices? Egads!  You'd think I had died and went to heaven.
They had DMC threads priced at 6/$1.00 a too good to be true price, so at that time I finished filling in my collections of DMC.  And you know what they say....THE REST IS HISTORY! Here is my stack of boxes of regular DMC and some of the Kreineks for cross stitch.



The DMC 8 is in another tote in my sewing studio for crazy quilting. Now mind you, they have all different sorts of threads, brands and I continue to do my part in supporting our nations economy, but perhaps I'll challenge myself to brazen away from following these charts so closely and start making the stitchings MY OWN. The next photo is how I organized my other "cross stitch" threads.



The rings seem to work the best for me. On E bay I found a seller that was auctioning off some thread tuxes. The tuxes are actually a long thin bag to hold a skein of thread with a punch hole in it to pull the thread from. That would work for storing, but with a plastic baggie the thread package would be slip siding every witch way. Not great in my mind's thinking. With storing my threads on these rings in a large plastic bag, I can locate what I need quickly (If I have it) and then it can slip on to my thread ring of the current project I'm working on. I did punch an additional hole into the cardboard tags that the threads came on to slip the parts used back onto the bobbin.




Of course with working on a couple of quick Halloween items, I became aware of the Kreinek Glow in the Dark and the DMC Glow in the Dark threads so I did order the Kreinek filament blenders in all the available colours besides a couple of Prairie Schooler patterns, and 2 pairs Kelmscott scissors of LOVE and spiderweb. Drool!

Check out how cute they are next to my recent find at Michaels. When I saw it I thought  Eeeks! a seasonal pincushion. Isn't that sweet, oops I meant kreepy! LOL



Now I'll have to try to wip up an appropriate scissor fob to complete "the package". This is what I'm currently working on.


It a freebie called Boo Thyme from Sandra S. of Homespun Elegance. Love the look of this and since it has a key too, it just appealed to me. Thanks to Berit from the blog of Along the Paths of Pins and Needles is where I found a link to it after my webbing hopping from blog to blog.

And lastly, I just have to share about a fantastic giveaway of HalloweenY items and treasures be given away over at Missy and Annette's ~ 31 Days of Halloween Giveaway!



Check them out for yourselves and good luck! They are both really creative and have a lot of eye candy to check out.

Jane

More giveaways ...

Check out some more giveaways going on through blog land:

Melissa S. over at Lilac Lane is hosting fabric scraps!

Cathy A. over at wondrous woven fabric is giving away 3 1/2 yards of these beautiful fabrics.








Raven of oversewn is hosting a featherweight with the condition of a donation to Santa Barbara Birth Center. She has first hand knowledge of SBBC's efforts and is hosting a gem of a giveaway in honor of their talants as well as helping them to build a new center. Such a noble cause, great giveaway and a great idea, thanks Raven.


Leslie over at girl from tulsa is hosting a whole fabric line called Love from Amy Butler. What fun!










Megan at Lucy & Norman is hosting a giveaway for her 1st anniversary of blogging. Wonderful selection of fabrics. This one is over.


Leona over at Leona's quilting adventures is also giving away a nice lot of items. One is the EZ scallop ruler that I have looked for high and low to no avail!

Melanie, a very busy Mom over at Texas Freckles is also hosting a giveaway despite a very chaotic life right now. Check it out. The lovely Katie Jump Rope fabric collection.

Good luck All,
Jane

Look what came.. and Lil Peep, tout fini!

Check out what came by the post this morning.




Investigating further, I kept finding more and more lovely goodies. Love the quilted little bag and the quilted holder that came with it too. Thank you Vicki C! She also enclosed a couple of patterns, a seam ripper token that is essentially a needle stuck into a cork for ripping out any unwanted stitches, besides several fabrics and some hexagon paper piecing kits. It feels like Christmas with so many great and practical gifts. I won the giveaway she hosted at her - my creative corner blog.



I really appreciate them. Thank you Vicki. If you get a chance, check out her blog. She always is getting so many things done. She's very creative yet down to earth. What an inspiration.
Watching Avatar was on my want to see list, so this is what I was working on last night while watching it.



What is it? you say.... Well it's to finish my lil' peep from the Silver Needle.


11 Count Aida with Chick- Medici Light yellow, Lavender Splendor silk 8 strands, Pink Fyreworks 1 strand, Artic Rays and Green Flair 1 strand each for the grass besides DMC.

The kit came with 7 ct Klostern but after several stitches, I did not care for the way the fabric was visible through the stitching, so changed it to an 11 count Aida. I am way, way early for Easter 2011. LOL!
I've had this kit in for about 3 or 4 years, since I picked up a couple of Silver Needle kits for a song on ebay. I was finally able to stitch them up in time for the holidays this past spring, but couldn't find the right fibers to complete them in a timely manner. It's no mistake saying them either, another one will be visble soon, but that's for a March Holday.
I do miss Joann's when it used to be in town. It was a haven I would return to weekly. Thank goodness for Michaels, that we at least have a bit of a selection, but I do mean a bit. This purple ribbon is the 3rd ribbon I purchased to finish this before I was satisfied with how the end result would look. Did a lot of auditioning and a couple of others could have worked, but I was not impressed so ditched each one consecutively. So it was great to finish it while watching a terrific movie.



The fabric I used to make my second flat fold also came out of my stash. I used the tutorial from Vonna of the twisted stitcher blog, but got ahead of myself a couple of times so had to undo and redo. Thanks Vonna, I am learning. I'm hoping to be able to get this done soon without studying your tutorial print out though.

Another fat quarter gone, yippee.
A finished Easter "Lil' PEEP", fantastic.
Gifts from cyber friends, Priceless.

Enjoy your day,
Jane

Twice Remembered Sampler

Kim is having a fantabulous giveaway on her Twice Remembered Blog. SHe has a beautiful knack for simply decorating and love the vignettes she displays through out the year. Check it out and good luck!

Jane

Back from the framers

Megg Jack, an artist from Australia gifted me with this painting when I won the drawing from her blog: Artnomadix. I mentioned it previously on this post.

It has been waiting for a frame. Since my local framers had a 60% off coupon, I literally ran down with it and selected the frame and setting. It just came home this afternoon so it's now proudly displayed on the wall. Gorgeous isn't it? Thanks Meg. LOVE IT!

Jane