Sunday, January 14, 2007

The room is clean

I just couldn't take looking at the sewing room, and there certainly wasn't any room to work! So I spent this evening getting it straightened up. The table is now bare, the scraps are corralled in a small bin ready for me to cut them into sizes for "filing". The leftover triangles from Sophie's Stars are sitting on the machine ready for when I have a few moments to stitch them together. I'll make flying geese and half square triangles of the leftovers. The triangle squares will get filed in the appropriate plastic box and the flying geese will be added to the crumb bin. I have my papers stacked and hole punched, and all ready to be added to the following notebooks: pre-1830's medallion, Jo's Little Women's Club, and Civil War Heroes.

I mentioned earlier in the week that I got a couple nice surprises in the mail. Since the surprises were part of what I needed to straighten up I figured this is the perfect time to blog about them.

The first surprise was a large Priority Mail box from Amy at The Calico Cat. Amy mentioned a couple weeks ago on her blog that one of the things she wanted to "stash bust" was the rest of the scraps from the masculine plaid quilt she'd made as a gift. Plaid just isn't Amy - after all, have you ever seen a plaid cat? Anyway, I jokingly commented on her blog that I'd be happy to take them off her hands. In no time at all she was asking for my address, and Thursday they arrived in the mail. Here I was picturing a manila envelope full of scraps - not a box full of yardage! Many of these are full fat quarters, plus she set a big piece of a navy homespun she decided not to use in a project. It was like Christmas all over again opening this package! Amy has given me a list of things she'd like, so I will happily deplete a small part of my stash by mailing it on to Amy!

The second surprise was another large priority box from my friend Kathie. Kathie and I are both working hard sticking to the "no buy" plan of action. We both have goals that are very important to us, and we can reach them faster if we stop buying fabric. We still seem to fall off the wagon at times, as we are both so in love with 19th century reproduction fabrics, especially those from the Civil War era. We've decided that in addition to encouraging and supporting each other, we are also going to share when we fall off the wagon. Kathie sent me this beautiful collection - a 6 1/2" x 21" cut of every piece in the new Civil War IV collection by Baum fabrics. In return I'm going to be sending her the same size cut from all the new Jo Morton fabrics I bought in December, as well as some of the pre-1830's reproduction fabric I bought then. I just need to get it washed and ironed and then it'll be on the way to her.

Quilty friends are just the very best!

21 comments:

Unknown said...

Those plaids are awesome - one of my friends here in the UK has just gone over to Florida for 6 weeks with a shopping list of a similar pile for me :o)

Tazzie said...

What lovely treats to receive in the mail. You'll have fun playing with them!
*hugs*
Tazzie
:-)

Carol said...

What wonderful surprises in the mail!

Helen said...

Lovely fabrics. My friend would be green with envy over the reproduction fabrics.

quiltpixie said...

I love the idea of sharing your fabric if you fall off the wagon... not sure if it'd help me stay on or just encourage me to buy "extra", but it is a neat way of doing accountability and sharing together.

Angie said...

What wonderful fabrics!!! I love those plaids, but those repros are beautiful too! Really great idea to share like that! ;P

Cher said...

good thinking to support each other in this way! wow, nice job tidying up! I had to do some of that myself yesterday..I still have a huge amount left to tidy up however :-)

Juliann in WA said...

I have done a similar thing, getting rid of fabrics to cut down on stash - when our daughter was home at Christmas she wanted to start a quilt. I jumped at the opportunity to have her cut a whole bunch of 2" strips and squares to make a log cabin. Keep up the good work.
Juliann

Melanie said...

Looks like there's lots of people out there that love you... Gorgeous fabric.

Judy said...

Love the groups of fabrics!! I got the Beacon Hill FQ bundle for Christmas and love it! I saw both of the ones you ladies received! It's tough when they are so fabulous, but it's a great idea to share some of the yardage because I doubt I will use the enitre FQ. Why not share a 6.5" slice...two for one sale in my book!

Quilts And Pieces said...

Oh those are wonderful fabrics! Jsut think of the things you can make with them! Ohh!!!!

Libby said...

Never met a plaid I didn't like. Have fun with all the goodies.

Vicky said...

Wow, those plaids and CW fabrics are wonderful! What awesome packags you received!

Hugs

McIrish Annie said...

Patti, Sophie's quilt came out beautiful. I love that green! it's the color of my Living room.

I am with you on busting the stash and I am also an INFJ.

btw, your daughter Chelsea is a cutie!

Anonymous said...

I found you, and now I won't loose you, heehee ! LOL
Oh, how pleasant being able to write a comment to you again !
By the way, I switched to new blogger, too....
Ah, yes : "falling off the wagon" seems to happen more than once to us ! Lucky you with your friend Kathie ! I wish I lived by you ! (LOL)

Biiig hugs & smiles,
NADINE.

Ann said...

WOW! Sophies quilt is gorgeous! Looks like a LOT of work, but well worth it! When is she due? It was really hard leaving my new grandson yesterday, but, I'm hoping to get to go back and see him this weekend. I'm sure he'll have grown by then! WTG on cleaning the sewing room, I wish I could get into mine....but we have all the rooms in the house closed off til they restore our power so it's not so hard to heat the front rooms.

Quilting Kim said...

WOW, Patti, Sophie's quilt is just gorgeous. Also, what a great Stashbusting plan to split a FQ line with your friend. I'll check back to see what you are going to do with that Civil War pack - I just love the CW prints.

Clare said...

Sophie's Quilt is gorgeous!

I was wondering this morning how the fabric shops would cope if every single quilter in the world joined Kim's Fabric Diet -:)

Cynthia said...

lucky you receiving those packages in the mail. They look great. Do you have any plans for them yet?

May Britt said...

Lucky you. I am also sharing a cut from all the newest fabrics I buy with a friend, and I get the same from her back. This way we get a wonderful collection of fabrics we usually not buy. We have similar taste, but we buy different fabrics all the way. Love he civil war collection you got.

Leslie said...

What is it about homespuns that are so appealing? I've been collecting since August... following Bonnie's suggestion to browse the Goodwill and thrift stores for men's shirts. You get a whoooole lotta homespun for $2-3.00. And they're usually already soft from washing. Sometimes the hunt is as fun as the project. =)