Stash Report Week 14: 07 April 2013

Whoa ! Where'd the week go?  This was Easter vacation from school week for Nick.  So Marty took two days off work and took Nick and his best friend Tino up to the mountains for an overnight for snow-boarding.  They left the house at 3:00 a.m. on Wednesday and got back around 10:00 p.m. on Thursday.  Joining them for this trip was his other friend, Jay and his dad but they went in a separate vehicle.  Two adult men and three teenagers plus all their gear and snowboards just won't fit in one vehicle and it's about a 4.5 hour drive each way.  They had a fine time, and no injuries - praise God for that!

I didn't do a whole lot differently while they were gone.  A few chores, played with the cats, and played with a lot of fabric, fixed a roast in the crockpot, and got caught up on Doctor Who episodes.

There were no changes to my stash report.  Nothing in, nothing out which means nothing finished.   (My stash is not counted as out until a quilt is finished.)  Linking up at Patchwork Times.
Used This Week: 0 yards
Used Year to Date: 0 yards
Added This Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 14.625 yards
Net Used for 2013: -14.625 yards 

I finished the piecing on the O Christmas Tree quilt.  It took 2.5 hours to remove all the paper, and even though paper piecing is said to be more accurate, I seem to have a few spots where things are a little wonky - not bad wonky, but still - wonky!  I'm sure most of that can be quilted out when I get to that point.  It will have to wait as I don't have any available pins for basting!  I would still like to have it finished to display by Christmas, so that means I have to get something else quilted!

Over all, I'm very pleased with it, and I'm very appreciative of all the kind comments about it on my last post.

I also worked on specific cutting of fabric in my scrap bins.  Bonnie Hunter had a leader/ender project a year or two ago using bow tie blocks so I thought I'd alternate that with my spool leader/enders.  Not in the same quilt mind you, but as a change of pace.  While doing the Tree quilt, I managed to make quite a few spools, but realize I will need a lot of them for even a lap-size quilt; same with the bow ties.  I'm trying to decide what color I want to use as a background for the bow ties - I don't want to use cheddar, as B.H. did.  Maybe black, or a dark blue which only means that some of my darker bow ties will not be used, but they can go into one with a lighter background.

There are approximately 540 matched sets in this plastic tub.  I still have to choose a background and cut it though.  I have a few more strips on my table to cut as well so will probably end up with over 600.  I'm sure that's more than enough for a single quilt, so maybe two or more depending on the size I make.

I also kitted a patriotic colored log cabin quilt, logs all cut and ready! I've done this one before for a military family at church and really liked it so want one now for myself.   Now I have plenty to start sewing on, but have reached that point of indecision/overwhelmedness as to what exactly I want to start with.  You'll notice I haven't added my April "Get It Done" goals, and I had nothing listed for March! (see tab at the top of the blog).  I have lots to finish, so need to work on a lot of those projects.

Have a blessed week....it may take me that long to get another post posted, lol. 

NewFO

My NewFO for March was this little wall hanging that I began at a quilting class on the 16th.  I've posted more details about it here.  

It has joined the ranks of many another quilting project - that being the status of UFO.  Before putting it away though, it will be worked on some more over the next few weeks.  The tree will be outlined in a zig-zagged satin stitch, and of course all the blocks will be sewn together along with the center medallion.  The tree outline will be in green and I thought I had green thread but it isn't out in the open.  I may have it tucked away with another UFO project that I had begun to quilt and didn't finish.

Here is the current progress picture, and I'm linking this up at Cat Patches.

Blocks and medallion pinned to design wall. 

I need to read and find out at what point to remove all that paper in the boy, girl and star blocks, whether before sewing them together, or after.  Using the fusible web to adhere the tree to the background was a piece of cake!  I will also have to select a backing and binding.  I would love to find a candy cane stripe for the binding, or both. 

Design Wall Monday

Monday comes around all too soon, and March is Marching right along at a very quick tempo!  This is actually the last Monday of March, can you believe it?

I now have all the boys and girls paper pieced and can work on the last three stars for the corners.  I have to say, I was getting real tired of boys and girls.  The stars go much faster.  Then I can figure out how to do that center section.  Tina Curran, the class instructor, gave instruction on it towards the last hour of the day, and well, I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention, but I have her instructions sheets and the instructions on the fusible web, and am quite able and capable of learning from those.  I don't think I'll have any problems with it, at least I hope not!

Without further babbling on, here's what's on my wall:

Linking up at Judy's Patchwork Times and will be back to see what all everyone else is working on...I need lunch and it's already 1:45!

Design Wall Monday

As I wrote about yesterday, I took a class at a nearby quilt show.  The three blocks I made in the class are on my design wall, and I will be doing some more work on this project later today.  For now, here's a shot of the three blocks:

Pattern: O Christmas Tree by Tina Curran (see yesterday's post)

Linking up at Patchwork Times.

Quilt Show Class

On Saturday, I took a class at a quilt show not too terribly far away. 

Bright and early, I got my stuff loaded into my car and drove to the home of my friend Panda, and she loaded her stuff into the car and we drove together to the show.  SHE talked me into going to this class.  It was not a class I would have considered otherwise...it was described with paper piecing, and fusible web, and nylon thread, and oh blech, that just did not sound like MY cup of tee...and good grief, what did I need another Christmas wall hanging for!  I had even thrown the brochure with the list of classes into the trash by the time she'd prodded  asked if I'd join her....it would be a lot more fun to take a class with a friend, she said.

And you know what?  IT WAS.  We had such a great time.  The class was small, only nine of us.  It was the instructors first time teaching this class...and she did a terrific job!  Very nice, personable and helpful young woman.  The teacher was Tina Curran (yes, I'm using a real name and she said it was ok).  Here she is holding her quilt that we were learning.  And you can see more of her work at her web site.

Tina Curran with "O Christmas Tree"

I only took a couple of photos at class so here are two of the ladies who were there.

This is "P", she flew in from a point north of us that would be about a 5 - 6 hour drive by car!  She was at the same table set-up as Panda and I.  She was very nice and we talked quite a bit.  I especially enjoyed when she told me how much space her stash occupied in a moving trailer/van when they moved north, ahem, makes mine look puny! 

This is "M".  She likewise was very nice, and I'm afraid I've already forgotten where she said she was from, but it seems it was closer than "P" though I could be wrong.  She was at the table behind us, so we didn't get to talk as much with her.

We had two ladies from a location about 6 hours drive east, another was from a couple hours to the east, and the others I don't know.  As this was my first class at a quilt show, I was a bit surprised that people came from so far away to attend the show and classes.  I guess to them, it's a three-day retreat.  So with that in mind, Panda and I just might take an occasional road trip if only to just get away from the sameness of our area and to see what lies beyond.  

The class was from 9 - 5, and it sure doesn't seem like we got much done, time passed very quickly, but then, paper piecing does take a bit longer, and it's a method I've only done once before many years ago and was not overly fond of it.  With that project, it came with pre-printed tissue paper sheets.  For this class, she printed her patterns on standard printer paper and newsprint.  We had the option of choosing either one.  After the tissue-paper project, I really felt I did not enjoy paper-piecing.  Using the stiffer paper, I found it to be much more enjoyable, although I'm still not crazy about how much time it takes - I'm a slow piecer anyway. 

These are three blocks I managed to get done during the class. 

This is the boy.  There will be six.

This is the star block, there will be four, one for each corner.

This is the girl block.  There will be six.

When you look at those faces, or their clothes, can you just imagine adding a little embellishment for eyes, nose, mouth and buttons, or belts, or a hair bow?  And I suppose, if you're really creative, you could come up with some toes or shoes and socks.  The boys and girls alternate with each other around the outsides of the quilt, three on each side, then in the center is a tree made from half-square triangles.  I was able to sew about half of them together before it was time to pack up.  The tree is made independently and then adhered to a center background square using the fusible.  It is then machine embroidered around the outer edges, and I'll have to go to the pattern to find out where and how that nylon thread is used - I missed it while she was explaining (I was busy sewing instead of paying attention!).  

I'll show some of the photos I took at the show of the quilts on display sometime during the week, probably spread over a few days.