Organizing scraps

I have been cutting and sorting and I managed to get through all my scraps!  I did actually take a plastic grocery sack full and dump a bunch.  They were old and I just couldn't cut anymore!

I have bins for strips cut:  1" to 3 1/2".  

I also have squares cut 1/2" to 3 1/2"

Rectangles cut 2" x 3 1/2", 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" and 3 1/2" x 6 1/2"

There is a great tutorial on Bonnie Hunter's blog ... Quiltville ... In the top right corner of her blog is a pull down box, go to Tips and Techniques and then go to Scrap Users System.  It's really interesting ... So here's what I got ...

And here is more ...

This doesn't look like much, but it took hours!!!!  There's a lot more here than appears to be!

So now that I have all these scraps, every project I make has to have the scraps cut and saved, so as not to have such a huge pile to go through!!  Not thrown into a basket to deal with later!!!  I really encourage you to tame your stash and cut anything smaller than a fat quarter in these various measurements.  Now the next step will be to find a pattern that uses these scrap dimensions!  Pretty sure I can find a Bonnie Hunter pattern!

Ok ... Onto my February stash project... I cut it all out the other day ...

Super quick and fun ... And look .. I'll give you a peek at my first block ...

How cute is that?!!  Okay, gotta go figure out yardage so I can do my overdo stash report!!

January sewing plan

Alright ... So my room was clean, my needle and bobbin area replaced and cleaned out ... I spent the last 2 weeks working on my January stash class ...

How cute is this?  I really had a lot of fun making this quilt.  It went together pretty fast.  It was a challenge matching all those intersections, but one I enjoyed for sure!  The strips are cut 1 1/2" wide in this block, so precision in your piecing is really key with smaller pieces.

Last year I made a Christmas in January quilt, so I decided to echo that idea and do it again .  I bought a few Christmas pieces in November and they worked well with other fabrics I had.

I love this gray fabric with the snowmen on it ... You lose some of it because the pieces are narrow, but I think it still worked.

The fabric in this top block is a new one, but the fabric in the bottom block is an old Whimsicals fabric ... It was a challenge to use because it was directional and had a fairly big print, but I like the way it came out.

My stash is now at the point that I am struggling at times to find enough of something when I need larger pieces.  When I got to the sashing I couldn't find anything that worked ... I was thinking black, then red, then gray ... Nothing looked right.  I got frustrated ... But I figured I could raid my friend's stash!  She went right to it and pulled out  this brown and said what do you think!?  I loved it!  You know how when you look at something too long it stumps you ... Sometimes all you need is a fresh eye!!  I spied a very small piece of red with bright green dots on it and knew that was my cornerstones.  I just loved how it brightened the sashing and made everything come together!!  My first finish of 2016 ... Yay!!

Now to make a back and make some binding for when it's ready for the quilter to quilt it -- haha -- me!!!!  I really didn't want to add it to the stack of what needs to be quilted, but I had to get it into the store to hang for my sample ... Only 2 weeks til class, so the quilting will have to wait!

Now that my project is done, it's time to make some plans for 2016 ... I have a big pile of scraps that need to be cut and sorted so I can get that off my desk/floor.

I'll be back later to walk you through how I do that.  In the meantime, go through your fabric and find those scraps ... Anything smaller than a fat quarter or 1/4 yard gets cut up and goes into scrap bins.  Get that pile together and press everything so it's ready to cut.  I know this is not a fun project ... But you're going to feel so much better when it's done!!

Stash Report - Weeks 2 and 3

Somehow last week slipped by without my stash report ... So here you go for the last 2 weeks:

Used this Week: 3 yards

Used year to Date: 3 yards

Added this Week:  0 yards

Added Year to Date: 0 yards

Net Used for 2016:  3 yards 

Getting started ... Motivation!

Do you find it hard to get back into your sewing routine in January?  As much as I live quilting, I have a hard time switching gears in January and getting going.

When you teach classes and need to have your sample done, motivation gets a big nudge!!  I have some ideas to help you get going ... First thing I do is clear my work space.  I was smart enough and neatened my sewing room after I was finished with my last longarm project in December.  It felt so great to go into my room and see it nice and neat.  That is a welcoming sight for sure ... I have a bin next to my work table that holds scrap fabric.  Put all your tools where they need to be.  Make sure there is a sharp blade in your rotary.  If your area is cluttered and you can't find what you're looking for, you are not going to be motivated to sew.  Make your area happy ... You love to quilt, let your space reflect your personality!

If you're like me you can't remember when you cleaned out your bobbin race. So take your bobbin out of your machine, take the whole assembly out and using a small brush, dust it all out.  Take off your presser plate and get all that dust out too.  I am very familiar with my machine, so this isn't a problem for me.  If you are not familiar with your machine, check your manual.  Put a drop of oil in the bobbin area, put everything back together.  Change your needle ... And you're ready to sew!  I always put a piece of scrap fabric in after I've oiled my bobbin area ... Just to make sure any residual oil gets on the scrap fabric, and not my good fabric.

Your area's clean, your sewing machine is ready!  I'll be back later with a few more ideas to help you get started!  Here's a peek at my stash project for January ...

Stash Report 2016 - Week 1

I stopped reporting on my stash in June ... I vowed to myself I would get back to it because I love the accountability ... I did some figuring, so here are my final numbers for the year:

Used this Week: 0 yards

Used year to Date: 99 yards

Added this Week:  0 yards

Added Year to Date: 38 yards

Net Used for 2015: 61 yards

I am so proud of myself!  Those are some awesome numbers for the year ... The most productive I've ever been.

So here it for the first week of the new year ...

Used this Week: 0 yards

Used year to Date: 0 yards

Added this Week:  0 yards

Added Year to Date: 0 yards

Net Used for 2016:  0 yards 

This number will definitely change next week as I am working on my January stash project for the end of the month class ... It is so cute!  Stay tuned!

Here's the two most important girls in my life ... My sweet daughter and my adorable granddaughter!

Happy 2016 ... It's gonna be a great year ... I can feel it!!!

Vacation!

I finished my last customer quilt over a week ago.  It is amazing what you can get done when you're not working!  I've been baking, shopping, decorating, gardening and writing Christmas cards.  There are only 10 days until Christmas!  What?  It feels like the days just vanish ... I can't explain it!

Here's the last customer quilt .. I used a pantograph, which I rarely do.  Love this line of blues and taupes ... I can't remember the name of it.

A tight feather pattern .. 

Beautiful quilt!  I hope the recipient loves it as I believe it is a gift for a special person!

... Speaking of special someone's ... This guy decided to clean up after my cookie baking last week ...

I have no idea how he got powdered sugar on his face!  Haha ... I think he liked it!!!

I'm here ... I really am!!!

Oh my I have neglected all you friends and I am so sorry!  This happens to me every year after Halloween ... The time just disappears!  I have been so focused on getting my quilting work done so I don't have to work in December that I have ignored most everything else!  I have my last customer quilt of the year to do today!  I hope you are enjoying this season of blessedness and joy.  I live in Southern California ... close enough to San Bernardino to have felt even more the terror of this last week, combined with the terror in France a month ago.  I console myself knowing most of the world is full of good and decent people.  Especially this season when we celebrate     family, joy, and for many, a savior and his birth ... I won't let evil people destroy my peace!  

I just have to finish this last quilt and I am putting up my Christmas lights, and decorating my house, sending my Christmas cards and joining all the rest of those crazy shoppers and spending some money!!  I love you all!!!  Please stick with me ,,, I promise I'll get better again at my blogging after the holidays.  But for now ... Here are a few pictures to keep you going!

A quilt I quilted on Thursday for my friend's granddaughter.  

All this sweet embroidery could not be covered up by quilting!

Look at some of those stitcheries ... They are all adorable ... The puppy!!!

This is my friend who loves super tight stitching ... I free handed a tight double flower pattern.  Omni thread in top and bobbin in Cream color.

I can't wait to hear how loud her squeals are on Christnas morning when she opens this special gift!!!

Merry Christmas from this sweet little munchkin!!

Falling in fall

My falling was catching a major cold from my hubby last week -- I had a cold a couple weeks ago, but mild.  This last one knocked me out from last Friday and I am still fighting it!  Yesterday was the first day I could get off the couch ... Lucky for me I didn't have a lot going on!

I had the pleasure of longarming this adorable quilt a couple weeks ago!

It was for someone that does hound rescue!  I just loved looking at the tshirts as I was quilting.

This was one of my favorite shirts ... We have a beagle in our house, and this is perfect for describing him!

I have never made a tshirt quilt, and was admiring how she the shirts out.  I just wanted to hold the quilt together with lots of texture, so we chose a meander.

Look how cute the back is!!

This was such a joy to do and I know it's owner is going to love all the memories this quilt will bring!

Slow down

If I could just make time go slower right now, I surely would!  I love this season and time of year ... I guess October is my favorite month ... I never thought of it that way but here's why:  it's my birthday month, it's fall, it's weeks ahead of the time of year where I feel crazed from too much to do!!  Fall to me means apple cider, turning leaves, a chill in the air ... Except when you live in Southern California and it has been in the 90's for the last week.  I am sick of the heat ... Bring me some snow!!!  Ok ... I'll take rain  instead ... I'm about ready to figure out how to do a rain dance!!  I can feel wrinkles sprouting on my face from lack of moisture in the air!!

I have been busy busy ... Finished the quilting and binding of a quilt I started years ago.  It is a Donna Yackey pattern and the Thursday girls at the Country Loft will surely remember it!

I love it and have decided to teach it in my October stash class, Friday, Oct. 30 from 10 to 1.  I requested permission from my dear friend to teach it!  She is a doll!!

Been longarming as well ... Here is a beautiful quilt that I worked on last week 

This was a stash class from a couple of months ago and she put the pattern on point and added some appliqué.  The idea here was to use what you had ... She did!  What a great way to use up those 5" charm squares

I wanted to make the texture on this quilt special ... Been working on feathers, and it seemed like a good quilt to get more practice on.

I used Glide thread in the top in a color called Vegas Gold ... Isn't that a great name?  It is a caramel kind of gold and works so well on many quilts where there are light and dark colors.  I hate putting a light thread on a dark fabric, but even worse, I don't like a dark thread on a light fabric.  This thread color worked great and the low sheen on the thread makes it look a little special!  I used Omni thread in the bobbin.

Her appliqué is only partly done ... She wanted me to put some texture on the leaves before she added flowers!  Beautiful quilt, and a pleasure to work on.

Moving into October

I am slowly getting my quilting business organized.  I thought a couple of weeks ago that here it is almost October ... If you're a quilter, you are thinking that your Christmas quilts or ones you want finished by the end of the year need to get to your longarm quilter!  I didn't have any new quilts for a while, but over the last couple weeks I have had at least 8 come in ... That's a lot for me.  I realized I better get myself organized and stick to a schedule!!  

I quilted a 108" x 108" quilt last week.  It took me 4 days because I would only work on it about 2 or 3 hours a day.  Longarm quilting puts you in a position where you are always leaning over the quilt.  I quilt from the front of the frame, so I lean over the quilt and tend to have poor posture, because I am leaning down to see where I am quilting and making sure it looks beautiful!

This was a flannel quilt made by a young lady for her boyfriend... To keep him warm.  No fancy quilting here ...

Just a medium stipple for texture ... And it will hold up well during all the washing and love the quilt will provide!

The quilt is a great pattern for a fairly fast quilt ... An alternating solid block with a four patch ...

I had a bit of a hard time picking a color that I thought would go with the light and dark fabrics, but finally settled on a cotton caramel brown color thread by Gutterman; I used Glide in the bobbin in a complimenting color.  Don't like to use the heavy cottons in the bobbin -- because the thread is so bulky it doesn't go as far; it also tends to be really linty and the Glide is not linty at all.

Slipping in a couple proud grandmama pictures ... Daddy took her to the aquarium for the first time ... 

She found Nemo!!

Cotton and Steel

Most of the people I quilt for are friends/customers I have had for some time.  I am a part time longarm quilter, so my calendar is usually pretty full.  I had the opportunity and pleasure to quilt for a new customer ... I met her so we could discuss thread color, pattern, etc and I was so excited when I saw her quilt.

The quilt is for her young son, and I am in love with the color combination ... That salmon and navy ... It sings to me!

I recommended a fairly close together stipple since it was going to get washed and loved a lot!  I am always impressed, especially by young quilters, who take on challenging patterns.  I love her color interpretation, and even after quilting for many years, this is a pattern I would be intimidated by!

I used Omni thread in a taupe color.  It blended well with the dark colors, but not too dark in the light fabrics.

What a lucky son she has to have such a talented momma!

Loved doing this happy happy quilt!

... A sneak peek at what I'm working on ...

September and back to school!

Have I said how happy I am that school is back in session ... There is such a peace that comes over me in the fall.  It is my favorite time of year and reminds me that routines are good, and a necessary part of life.  I have been busy ticking things off my to do list ... I'm currently working on my September stash class quilt ... Here's a sneak peek ...

I am loving these little stars ...

So cute!!  Stay tuned for more!  I am hard at work because it needs to be finished by Friday.

I quilted a huge quilt ... 108 x 108 ... 

I was really happy to get to the end ... It took me several days.  The customer wanted a basic pattern, so we decided on a traditional stipple.  This quilt is probably the best pieced quilt I have ever had the pleasure of quilting!!

Every seam matched, and all of her pieces had the seams pressed open!!  In the past I have never been a fan of opening seams ... but I have changed my mind!    What a pleasure it was to quilt over all those flat seams!

Look at some of these lovely blocks ...

I could just go on and on!!  I used Omni thread, and free motion quilting.

I could certainly learn some piecing techniques from my customer ... And she has only been quilting a few years!  I told her when she starts teaching. I'll be the first person to sign up!!!