Stash Report

I hit the wall. Done run out of steam for all the folding, folding, folding of fabric. But it took more than 140 pieces of fabric to reach this point. So I'm taking a break. Whew, I need it.

As for this past week's goal, well, yes I managed to fold stash. I folded much more than I had intended. That's what interfered with getting anything done on my other goals. I'm not whining about not working on those other items. I'm glad I accomplished as much as I did with my stash-folding marathon. And... I have not yet strayed from my 6-month challenge that started this blog. Yay, me!

This was the weekend for the San Diego Quilt Show. At the beginning of the month, I asked for this past Friday off, intending to attend the show. But when I woke up on Friday morning, I just was not in the mood. There's still tomorrow, I thought. May be a good thing I did not go as my car battery suddenly died that day. Spent part of Saturday morning at the dealer while they diagnosed the problem, then spent the rest of the morning stranded at home (folding fabric) while waiting for my car to be fixed (they found another problem besides a dead battery). Life happens.

Now, for the good stuff... Photos of my stash:

Here's the "stash room" that hosts most of my stash. Three photos - starting on the left wall immediately as you enter the room there are 4 stacks of plastic drawers that contain PIGS:




The tallest stack of drawers is about 6' tall. Immediately to the right of these drawers is a bookcase of "smaller" pieces - top 2 shelves are 1 yd cuts, next 2 shelves are .5 yd cuts, and the bottom 3 shelves are FQs:



That wall is about as full as it can be without having floor-to-ceiling built-in shelves. On to the closet! (turning right)



The leftmost shelf holds finished quilts. Another 5 finished quilts reside on the closet's built-in shelf (up top). The shelves in the center and to the right are all stash in lengths of 2 - 3 yds. This weekend's marathon resulted in all the fabric on the bottom 2 shelves plus an amount equivalent of the brown, orange, and peach fabrics (center-right). The stack of fabric that still needs to be folded will nicely fit in the gaps in the bottom shelves. (*next* weekend, please) As if that wasn't enough, on to the UFOs...

The first photo is in the living room. The table "closest" to the camera usually stays there when I'm sewing. I put tools, beverage, extra fabric there. The table that usually hosts my sewing machine was moved to the right of the first table so that I have room to work with 2-yd pieces of fabric. Under those tables are more plastic drawers. Two of those stacks house UFOs, one stack houses scraps that I want to cut up, and the last stack houses scrap strips that I will use in some kind of strippy quilt. More drawers of UFOs & PIGS can be seen next to my bookcase of cookbooks (in the dining area), and even more drawers (PIGS) in the linen nook.





Finally, the last set of photos, taken in the master bedroom. Yet another stack of plastic drawers containing more UFOs located under the window, 2 more drawers and a box (UFOs) just in front of the closet, and lastly, more PIGS stored in the bottom of the closet.





Well, folks, that's the tour. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm heading for the living room to try to catch up on last season's TV programs before the new season starts in a few weeks. I'll be working on binding at the same time.

As for goals for the week, I think I'll skip that for now and just work on whatever strikes my fancy (as long as it's part of the 6-month challenge).

Kathy

Weekly Progress #3

I crossed most things off of this week's to-do list: trimmed 2 quilts, made and attached binding to both quilts, I'm in the middle of prepping the last of my applique pieces for the small wall hanging. When that's finished, it will be time to put the folded fabic away, clear off 2 tables, and start folding stash yardage. I did stray a little off this past week's to-do list - I finished the hand-work portion of binding on another quilt (but this quilt was on my current 6-month challenge).

So, what's up for this next week?

Fold stash (at least 1/4 of fabric on couch)
Start cutting pres. gift fabrics for quilts
Do some hand-work on binding
Design border for Tennesee Waltz

Kathy

Updated List

I finally decided on a pattern for one of my WHIMMs, the one where I spent more than 6 hours looking at patterns. I also managed to assign patterns to another 4 WHIMMs. I have updated the list in my post of Aug 14 to include the new PIGS. I have also color-coded items in both lists. RED indicates that it is still active on my to-do list. BLACK indicates a "dead" project. As I start to finish some of these items, I will probably use either green or blue to indicate "completed". As I continue to post, I may need to bring a copy of the list forward. But we'll see how things go.

I did get binding sewn on to the front of my small wall hanging. Yay!

Forgot to mention - last week when I was freeing-up floor space in my computer/stash room, I uncovered several more pieces of large yardage (sigh). Having also removed a couple of WHIMMS from project drawers, it was time to return fabric to general stash, which in turn meant cutting large pieces to "stash size" (2 - 2.5 yds). Whew! That task is also done. All pieces 1 yd or smaller have already been folded and are ready to be placed on appropriate shelves (based on size). But I still have those 2 stacks of "medium" pieces to fold and put away. Before I can start folding, I need to get binding attached to two more quilts and then clear off my sewing tables.

This is a good point to set goals for this week:
trim 2 quilts
make binding for 2 quilts
attach binding to 2 quilts
clear off tables
put smaller, folded fabric away
prep last of applique pieces so they are ready to be glued on

That ought to do it!

Kathy

Weekly Progress #2

It feels like I accomplished absolutely nothing today. Which is not realy true...

I spent 4 hours with 3 other guild members, and we worked on finalizing a draft of by-laws for our guild. Somewhere back in time, our by-laws got lost. We now have a solid draft. Our note-taker is going to re-type the document and send it to the other 3 of us to review. If we are all OK with the draft, we will present it to the Board for review & discussion. Once the new set of by-laws are approved by the board, we will finally present them to the general membership for official approval.

I no sooner came home from that project than I started going through 2 full bookshelves of quilting books looking for a pattern that I can "assign" to a particular WHIMM. Oh, my word! More than 6 hours on this. Well, I have narrowed down the candidates to just 9. ("just")

One of the projects on my list is going to be removed: Anniversary Waltz.
It was a kit I bought from a quilting catalog. Based on the tiny photo in the catalog, I thought I would like it. I do like the pattern, but I don't really care for the fabrics in the kit. Life is too short -- out it goes. I'll probably keep the cover picture for the kit so that I can make my own version from stash. (Note to self: DON'T BUY ANY MORE KITS UNLESS YOUR ARE ABSOLUTELY *CERTAIN* YOU WILL *LOVE* WHAT YOU BUY!!! sheesh)


No sewing since last Sunday. So, I hereby promise myself that tomorrow I will dig out the 3 quilts that are awaiting the start of the binding process and then machine sew the binding onto the front of the quilts. These are not queen-sized quilts -- a small wall hanging, a larger wall hanging, and a couch quilt. Since I hand-finish bindings, these will have to wait for cooler weather before I tackle that aspect.

Kathy

My List

I just inventoried my "project stash" to list all the things I have started but not yet finished (UFOs) and all my planned projects (not yet started, but fabric & pattern ready to go). While going through each project-drawer, I have discovered that I have some fabric sets for which I either never decided on a pattern, I have lost/misplaced the pattern, or I have totally forgotten how I wanted to use those fabrics. Which means that I need to make a second pass through all these projects and project-wannabees and pull out the wannabees so that I can return that fabric to main stash. (Either that or collect all the wannabees in their own section to remind me that I need to decide on a pattern.)

Meanwhile, here are my UFOs (does NOT include anything on my "challenge" list):

1. No Such Thing as an Ugly Fabric
   
2. Maroon & Sage
   
3. Friendship 4-Patch
   
4. Red, White, & Blue (Amidon "backdoor")
   
5. VQ Autumn Trees BOM
   
6. Double Wedding Ring
   
7. Ribbon Stack & Whack
   
8. Cover of "Power Cutting, Too"
   
9. Sister's Choice
   
10. Wendy Mathson's stars class
    
11. Rosie's Simple Treasures
    
12. 9-Patch/Hourglass
    
13. Potted Flowers
    
14. Pinwheel Parade
    
15. Carolina Crossroads
    
16. Blue X Floral applique
    
17. 3 quilts Mom did for me (just need borders)
    
18. Scrapmania page 48
    
19. Scrapmania page 40
    
20. Scrap Frenzy page 65
    
21. pink/green/cream stars (Debbie Caffrey)
    
22. Slice & Dice #1
    
23. Slice & Dice #2
    
24. Postage Stamp
    
25. From My Garden (12/23/2008 - decided not to finish; fabric returned to stash)
    
26. Strips & Curves
    
27. Spring Break
    
28. Christmas units (nickel quilts)
    
29. handquilt snowflake quilt
    
30. Storm at Sea
    
31. Lemoyne Stars (2008 Aug 17: fabric goes back to main stash)
    

And my list of planned projects (otherwise known as PIGS):

1. Friendship Quarters
   
2. Rock Candy
   
3. Cobblestones
   
4. Shakespeare in the Park
   
5. preemies/charity
   
6. Springtime Tulip Garden
   
7. Glittering Gems
   
8. Friendship Twist (12/23/2008 - lost interest; fabric returned to stash)
   
9. Christmas Stars & Strings
   
10. Rainbow Lattice
    
11. Spring Maze/Autumn Haze
    
12. Dresden Plate
    
13. Pineapple Blossom
    
14. Blueberry Pie
    
15. Amish Square in Square
    
16. Red & White (Simply Quilts)
    
17. The Puzzler
    
18. Roseville
    
19. My Cats Garden
    
20. Wild Berry Patch
    
21. Quarters in Celebration
    
22. Irish Chain
    
23. 25-Patch
    
24. Heritage Squares
    
25. cheater's panel (double wedding ring)
    
26. Grandmother's Flower Garden
    
27. Sea of Tropical Fish
    
28. Windmill Rails
    
29. Pinwheel Trellis
    
30. Bolero (2008 Aug 17)
    
31. Daydreams (2008 Aug 17)
    
32. Sassy Stars (2008 Aug 17)
    
33. Hunter Star (2008 Aug 17)
    
34. Offset Star (2008 Aug 17)
    
35. Tropical Sashiko Sampler (kit)
    
36. Ocean Waves (kit) (2008 Aug 31: removed kit from to-do list; will donate to guild for fund-raiser)
    
37. Anniversary Waltz (kit) (2008 Aug 16: removed kit from to-do list; will donate to guild for fund-raiser)
    
38. Fairy Dust (kit)
    
39. Starlit Lilacs (kit)
    
40. Mountain Retreat (kit)
    

Worse than some, not as bad as others. Bad enough for me. Guess I'd better get busy!!

Kathy

Breathing Space

Well, actually, I should title this "walking space". I've been working on my stash/computer room, trying to clear the floor.

I have a 3-drawer plastic storage unit. I moved this out of my stash room into a corner of the hall. It contains my laundered fabrics (whereas all the rest of my stash has *not* (yet) been laundered). Now I have better access to the bookcase that holds the 1/4 yd to 1 yd cuts. I put a few fabrics away on the shelves. (Not so impressive? Just wait.) Behind the storage unit, I had smallish boxes of fabric - one of which contained one each of an entire color range of Jinny Beyer fabrics (sorta like tone-on-tone, but really prints; not her border prints or the kaleidoscope -style prints). Hmmm, where to put? Just to the side of the bookcase are 4 tall stack of plastic drawers. I removed the fabric from one drawer and stored the Jinny Beyer fabrics there. Oooo, looks like a little room remains. How about adding those hand-dyes I got for doing applique? Perfect fit. That drawer is now *full*. And the fabric I took out of the drawer? Goes back into general stash. While I had wanted to use those 3 fabrics together, I never decided how I was going to use them. So, no loss.

Floor in this area is not yet perfect, but improved. Now for the floor under the window. OK, pull a few pattern books off this shelf, stuff them in that shelf, remove the shoebox of acrylic templates, and I have room for the boxes containing patterns I ripped out of 10 years' worth of magazines last year. There's a bit of space available on 2 other shelves, put shoebox in one of those spaces and gather up the stack of templates that have been inhabiting the floor and put in the other space.

OK. Floor is still not perfect, but is a great improvement over its earlier state.

Since my last post, I have done very little sewing. I took some handwork (applique) with me when I went to visit my parents this past Sunday. But that's it. It's possible I might be able to do some sewing tomorrow evening (if I don't spend more time clearing the floor). Serious sewing will just have to wait for the weekend.

Kathy

Weekly Progress #1

It's only been half a week, but I'm going to summarize anyway.

Challenge to myself for the rest of 2008: no new fabric, regardless of source; no new projects; selected some existing projects to work on; finish re-organizing stash.

So far: no new fabric, regardless of source; all large yardage has been cut into lengths easily folded; worked on Pineapple wall hanging; spent a little time on applique wall hanging.

I spent several hours today at guild sit & sew. There were some charity quilts that needed some work.
No! No! No! I will *not* add another project to my list. And so I was good and left the charity work to other guild members. Yes, I know making/finishing charity quilts would provide great joy to someone in need. But I am feeling overwhelmed with all the projects I have started but have not finished. I will gladly help with charity projects at a future date. Just not now.

I think that I am going to work my personal challenges to 6-month segments - using Road to California (January) and International Quilt Festival - Long Beach (July) as my markers. Assuming that I am successful in a particular 6-month period, I will allow myself some smidgeon of freedom at each of these quilt shows. That's assuming I attend them. If I don't... Well, I'll have to think about what little freedom I'll allow myself.

I'm debating whether to track how much fabric I use up during each challenge period. I'll let you know what I decide.

Kathy

Day 3

So far, so good. I'm deleting email from evendors as fast as I receive them. And hardcopy catalogs are going to the round file almost as fast.

Last night, I spent some time downsizing large yardage. Not removing fabric from stash - rather, I was taking the large pieces of fabric (3+ yds) and reducing them to increments of 2-2.5 yd. I can refold fabric this size without too much trouble (my new way of folding fabric for storage in stash). Besides, the new fabric-folding makes better use of my shelf space *and* lets me see fabric in stash much better than before. I downsized almost half of the stash that has not yet gone through this process (although I still haven't refolded it). I'll be glad to get all that fabric off the couch and back on the shelves!

I'm missing out on the current mystery quilt from the Stashbuster sub-group (StashMystery). My fabric is selected and has been washed. BUT... I have not yet started cutting it. That means it does not qualify as a project I can work on at this time. Booo. (not that I needed another project to add to all the others I've got going) Ah, well. I have saved a copy of the pattern, so all is not lost. Just delayed. As for the other participants in this mystery quilt... Go get 'em!! I'm eagerly awaiting posts of finished quilt tops.

Kathy

Start of challenge...

I picked up my mail after yesterday's post. What do I find? A catalog from Hancock's of Paducah! Ouch. I made a very quick perusal through it (and, yes I did see fabric that I liked, but I gave myself no time to drool). I ripped out pages with pictures of quilts I might like to make, and then put the catalog in my recycle bin. Then I got to work preparing applique pieces for the wall hanging that I started earlier in the week (OK to work on this because I started the work before I challenged myself in yesterday's post). And what timing! For the pieces that I starched, ironed, and then glued down, I reached yesterday's goal with a few minutes to spare before bedtime.

Oh, forgot to mention... I also made myself a sign that I posted right in front of where I sew. That sign lists my challenge goals for the rest of 2008 (same as I posted yesterday). So I'll be looking at them every single day!

Kathy

Too much!

I signed up for the Stashbuster (a Yahoo group) No-Buy Challenge in Nov, 2007. I have done well. Not perfect, mind you, but *much* less than I bought in the previous year. The no-buy year is not over yet - it continues through the end of Oct. Why did I join this challenge? Because I cannot believe just how much fabric I have and how many projects I have started. It seems like I keep starting projects, but few get finished. I know by the size of my stash that I have bought a lot of fabric; and if I have this much fabric on hand, then obviously I have been buying more than I have been using.

Well, that ends today.

In addition to continuing with the no-buy challenge, I am challenging myself with:

For the rest of 2008:

1. I will not start another new project. If it is a project I have already started, I may keep working on it. A project counts as "started" if I have started cutting fabric. But if it's nothing more than a collection of fabric plus a pattern, it will have to wait.
2. I will keep true to the no-buy challenge: no more fabric will be purchased; nor will another piece of fabric enter my home, regardless the source or the reason.

Before the end of 2008, I will
1. finish the bindings on 4 quilts before the end of the year.
2. finish the pineapple wall hanging before the end of the year. (finished top)
3. finish the small applique wall hanging. (finished top)
4. add borders to my Tennessee Waltz quilt.
5. finish reorganizing my stash

Four quilts done-done, 1 bed quilt top completed, 2 wall hanging tops completed.
Plus any sewing that I do during the remainder of the year. Not a bad goal.

I have lots of UFOs to pick from, but for now I will continue to work on 2 quilts I recently started. They are quilts that will be made from fabric gifted to me by my guild as a "thank you" for serving as President. So, these are 2 (or maybe 3) quilts that I would like to get finished to show the guild how I used the fabric they gave me. Since I am keeping these 2 quilts a secret until the tops are done, when I attend quilt retreat with guild members, I will need to select projects from my UFO collection.

If I meet the challenge, I will reward myself with being able to work on any quilt that is calling my name, whether UFO, planned project (not yet started), or shopping my stash and creating a totally *new* project.

Well, I think I have set a significant goal for what remains of 2008. Wish me luck!

Kathy