Stash Report, Acquisitions and I feel great!

It's been a while since my last stash report and all I can say is that I am glad I am NOT on the No-Buy this year. I have stopped my frivolous spending and only getting what I need to finish a project, ahh..hum, most of the time. BUT today.......I really outdid myself. hehehe.



This first photo are fabrics to make the Miranda Bag, a Lazy Girl Pattern. Oh, I love her patterns! The column of fabrics on the left will be the outside of it while the two on the right will be for the interior. Would you believe that with the 10 sets of purse handles I have in stock, that none of them could work with these fabrics! Guess I'll have to do some more shopping.

Next for display is a selection of cloth to make a quilt for our new camper. We gave our '77 Vintage Prowler to our children to share with their families and we are now the proud owners of a 2002 Prowler tow behind camper. It is really in terrific shape and the color inside is a soft sage. I'll share more about that later.



Dreamcrafters, a fantastic quilt shop in Awkesawne/Hogansburg was having one of their annual sales. Dyan S. (the owner) has such a great eye for color and buys many fabric lines that appeal to me. It always great to go there and besides getting what I need I usually run into friends that I haven't seen for awhile. It's so nice to catch up when you get the chance.



Can you tell I'm drawn to the green, blue and browns today?
This panel would be a great center for some accessories to the "Prowler quilt" and since it was her last one, I purchased it just in case. You know you have to get it when you see it and get enough otherwise you'll forever dread it.
And of course there is still the "stash" to paw through and audition for this quilt too.



I plan to do my own dimensions and design for this quilt. So, not being sure of anything yet, all of that will have to be figured after I finish my backing for the patience Corners Humpjumper king size quilt that is currently being worked on. (That is after the jam, pickling and canning processes are finished up.

The last selection of fabrics will be for a fall jacket for myself. There tends to be alot of brown, black, green, pinks and oranges in my closet at this time of year, besides of course blue jeans, so this combo will work up gorgeously, I hope.



All of these fabrics (except for the 2 silks) were purchased at Joanns with their Labor Day sales going on. The fabrics are silks, wovens and cottons and the plan is to shove them all in the wash together on a gentle cycle and come what may, call it done. I always do this with any apparel fabrics since that's how it will be washed after it's made. Perhaps it'll be best to stabilize the silks and wovens first or prewash them by hand to keep them safe and from unraveling too much.

The backing is done for the Alien Invasion twin size quilt, but since I don't count any fabric used until the project is 100% done, I still can NOT count any that I've used. But using it, I am! With purchasing all the fabrics I did, it's going to shoot the gain way up, but I really don't mind, I needed the retail therapy. You can't create if you don't get your mojo going. So with out any further babbling, my numbers for this week are:

Used this week: 0 yards
Used Year To date: 43.25 yds

Added This week: 24.50 yards
Added Year To Date: 84 yards

YTD is a gain of 40.75 yards

All in all, it was a very nice DAY. 8~) Be sure to stop by Judy Laquidera's blog to see how much fabrics are being used and with what. Great eye candy. Judy and many of these quilters just amaze me wiht how much they get done.

Jane

Another Go! Accuquilt is being given away. Can you believe how generous all of these quilters and Accuquilt Go! has been? It's not too late to sign up for this one on a quilting life. Go over and check out Sherry's blog. She has many other goodies and great eye candy throughout her blog too.

Good luck, but I seriously hope I win. This would be heaven sent.

I did finish making the backing for my Alien Invasion quilt too. After it's quilted, I'll post a picture and calculate how much fabric I used. After making several attempts on facial features, I came up with this one.



I think it fits him nicely, this lop-sided quirky smile. This makes him not so frightening. I'm not sure who will get this quilt yet. My daughter saw it the other night and thought it was real cute, so perhaps it'll go to her youngest son who will be 2 in December. Time will tell.

I also slept really well several nights ago and came up with "the perfect plan" for the backing for my Patience Corners King size quilt that is also waiting to be assembled. I was able to do some calculations to figure out how best to proceed and think it should be rather smooth going. I might actually try to machine quilt that beast too, by quilting it in sections and starting with the center section first. Oh no! I'll have to some more math and make sure it'll fit okay. Ohhh, I love to tease! Check back soon. (I think I'm on a roll again.)

Last night while watching TV, I did restart organizing my button box. This is what I have left to go through.





The next few photos are the piles currently on my sewing table. See what I mean about so many buttons. I am using quart size plastic bags and I'll probably use a couple of gallons size bags too for the larger quantity colors of the black, brown and white.


Does anybody have any great ideas on how to store Buttons? I know these bags won't be the best solution for the long haul, but after shopping at Walmart today while my car was being repaired, nothing there seemed like a good solution.


Jane

Silly Me!

As Oprah would say, I just had a light bulb moment. It's such a simple idea, but I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner. You know that button box we all have? Well mine has been a disaster for many years. Learning how to collect them like my grandma did during her simpler times and me doing it the same way. Here's what it looks like.




As you can tell, it's a rather large plastic tote and the cover won't even shut on it any more. It's been on my to do list to organize. I've started and had to put it away many times so far. I was taking the buttons off the cards they came on and then stringing them on thread. Talk about tedious!
Any way, I did purchase a new blouse/jacket to go with my outfit for this past weekend's wedding and of course it came with a spare button. DUH! Sew those on the garments they come with instead of tossing them into the box! I know some garments even come with the spare button already sewn on the seam line somewhere inside the garment. It makes total sense. That way when the garment gets out of my closet, the spare button will be gone too. It'll also make it easier to find a replacement should I need to replace a lost button and it'll be wherever I happen to be when it's needed. AHAA!



So I am sewing them on from now on. I still need to reorganize my button box but I also had another thought. The heck with taking the buttons off all those cards. Leave them on and twist tie similiar color cards together. Boy is my life getting simpler. Can't believe it's taken me this long to sort that all out.

Stay well,
Jane

What's been going on:

It's been a very busy weekend:

Mom and Jim came over and spent their last night up north with us on Friday night. Knowing that they would be heading out early Saturday morning (back towards Florida with visiting different family members along the way), I precooked the bacon Friday AM for our Saturday morning breakfast.
So Friday night, as we were all tired after a nice dinner out (their treat) we set a time table for breakfast at 6:30. That way they could be on the road at 7am. Imagine my dismay when I woke up at 6:25 and their vehicle was gone. POOF! There goes that plan. I was very disappointed since my Mom is 78 this year and with the possibility of never seeing her again without giving her a proper goodbye, just plan hurts. I'm surprised that I am crying as I'm typing this since I don't try to make any ruckus or upset people (esp. family) with unrealistic demands. I understand why Mom cut out early, but I am hurt none the less.

So next on the weekend agenda is a wedding. Good friends of ours' second son married a lovely girl this weekend. Neither DH or I had planned on staying too late at the reception, but what a party! Friends to reconnect with, dancing and partying, we had a great time. Did I mention the bride's parents had an open bar for 6 hours! (Yikes! Can you imagine that tab.) It was held at an upscale restaurant in Lake Placid and it was so much fun. The newly married couple are in love and that was quite evident to all that attended. Good Luck Jason and Emily! May you have many blessings on this next journey of your lives together.

Then today was another slightly emotional day. A local 5 year old girl has a horrible cancer - Rhabdomyosarcoma. A benefit was held to help defray some costs the family is incurring while seeking medical treatment. This little princess angel also was in preschool with our little granddaughter, so we know her and her family well. The benefit today looked like it was a great success which I am so thankful for. Good Luck Princess Audrey! You are quite loved by your family, the community and us. We pray and hope that you stay strong to beat this disease and stay as beautiful as ever.

This evening I plan on working more on my backing for the alien invasion. I need to figure out how to fix a mouth or facial features on this beast.




Any ideas? Oh well, I'm off to play.

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

On your mark, get set, GO!

Karrie Lyne over at Freckled Whimsy is having a fabulous giveaway. Go! check it out. If you GO! to this post, you'll see what I'm talking about. Good Luck everyone. I know by yelling out about it here I am lessening my own chances of winning this, but it is "sew wonderful" of Accuquilt GO to share these useful tools with so many of us quilters. Their generous contributions have made many happier quilters. Thank you Accuquilt GO! as well as Karrie Lyne!

Good Luck,
Jane




PS: Would you believe I just came across another Accuquilt Go! Giveaway over at Heathers' blog at alamode fabric's blog. Go! right over and sign up. The drawings are happening soon!

Another Patch Abilites..

CHECK! Another one completed. These are so sweet to make and I love how they finish up.

I did add some beads into the flower centers for interest. The kit came with little black beads, but since I do have an assortment of my own beads, I came up with this effect for my finish. I actually used three different beads. The orange are triangular while the yellow I used 2 sizes of regular beads.

Summer has been too busy. Between all the Dr's appointments, BBQs, get togethers, weddings,... it has been a blur! This past week, the Day care Center my daughter uses for her 2 little ones was closed for vacation, so we got to enjoy our youngest 2grandchildren whilst helping her out. They are such well behaved children.

When I had activities to keep them engaged for 30-60 minutes it was so much easier then when they just did as they wanted. I called out the Play do, the Fisher Price cars and garage, the animal bag, toy blocks, the jeep the 5 year old GD drives around the yard, swimming and the much needed rest-time (for Meme and Papi) it filled the days quickly.

Here is a photo with PGD#1 having curlers in her hair for the first time. We enjoyed a beauty day polishing the fingernails, washing and blow drying the hair and I was able to talk her into curling her hair. She thought she looked dumb.



Where do they come up with these ideas.



Shortly after removing them from her hair we fixed her dolly's hair too.



Nice to spend some quality time with them, but phew! Meme was very tired!





Her brother is going constantly and he loves his food! I spent more time closing the refrigerator door, trying to keep him out of it. Every 2 hours there was a snack or a meal and then he wasn't as mischievous, he'd be a happy camper. We also know a little trick. The boy (PGS#3) loves vacuums!
Put a vacuum anywhere around and he is busier than ever. Placing the tubes together, into each other and then the tool holder areas on the shop vac. I even used child (really toddler) labor to clean our front steps while they were here. Shhhh.., don't tell any authorities. I do realize about child labor laws, but they were having such fun that I thought I might as well try to get one of my own chores done. VBG!



Here is a recent photo of him. What a cutie pie and a smartie!

Jane

I want one of these....

I'm sure many of you have watched the quilting trends and seen many bloggers that are lucky (smart) enough to already have acquired one of these. This is where I am lying on the floor wailing like a younster and saying (in a very whniney voice) I want one too!

The ease of trying to cut my fabrics would be so much easier for me because of my continued conundrums of my hernaited disc impinging my spinal cord. It affects all my extremities and some days it's just beyond what I can manage. This would be heaven sent! Maybe someday when my ship comes in or I get really lucky like Karrie Lyn over at the Freckled Whimsey. In the meantime I continue to check out the dies they have and where the company is headed. Check it out for yourself on the Accuquilt web page.

Two Wolves

A friend emailed me this, I thought I'd share:

Two Wolves




One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people..

He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

"One is Evil - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

"The other is Good - It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Stash Report #25,26,27,........31

With being gone and then the computer frozen in limbo land, I have not signed in for any stash reduction. Summer is always so busy. Since we're blessed and have the pool and other water friendly functions around the house(kiddie pool and hot tub), our grandchildren love to come and spend time with us. PGS#2 (age 13) is trying once again to break his record of spending every night of his summer vacation with us. When we have a function to attend, he'll go home and then returns the following day so he starts his count all over again. Currently he has a record of 28 days in a row. (I do also realize that our computer as kick-*ss abilities for his gaming interests online!) Of course with having these blessings, it's difficult for me to carve some time for my own interests. Sufficed, sewing has really taken a back seat.
So my stash reports for the past weeks and today is NADA. Again. How embarrassing!

Used this week: 0 yards
Used Year To date: 43.25 yds

Added This week: 0 yards
Added Year To Date: 59.5 yards

YTD is a gain of 16.25 yards

I do hope I can muster the energy and strength to get a couple of backs made so I can really start to use up some fabric.
Oh, PGD#! age 4 just called, wanting to know if she can come down and visit. You know what that means. Another day of blessings.


Enjoy yours,
Jane