I too am declaring war!

Judy has declared war on her stash. She's also declared a monthly stashbusting challenge. I love the general idea, but just as Nancy did, I am modifying it for myself. My struggles are different from theirs, so I need a different plan of attack

I declare this war to be of six months duration, at which time I will reassess the situation and create new battle plans.

(1) I will NOT pull fabric from my shelves for a new project (Joseph Logan's baby quilt being the exception). Any new quilt I start in the next 6 months will be from either my scrap boxes, bins, drawers, etc. or my HSY's list. No more pulling 60 to 80 or more fabrics off my shelf, carefully cutting two or three squares or triangles or strips from them, then refolding them and putting them back on the shelf.

(2) For every new scrap or HSY quilt that I start I must either quilt, bind and label two flimsies or take two UFO's from their current status to completion.

(3) I have unsubscribed to all quilt shop email lists. I have tossed my Keepsake Quilting and Connecting Threads catalog in the recycle bin without opening them.

(4) I will NOT go to the Superbowl Sale at my favorite quilt shops!

As you can see my focus is still on my UFT's, flimsies, and HSY's, with the addition of using up scraps. I love to use the fabric from my stash, and never have trouble cutting into a piece so I'm not worrying about that. I'm not prepared to forbid myself to start new projects, so I'm counting on this compromise working. I can start new projects - they just must be HSY's or something from my scrap bins.

I did it - happy dancing now . . .

There was a method to my madness, actually. I went to Fabric Depot on my lunch hour because I knew that I'd have only 15-20 minutes total inside the store as the rest of the hour would be spent driving to and from. (Though I have been known to get into a lot of trouble in less time than that in a quilt shop.) I went in the door I knew was closest to the irons and farthest away from the fabric. After I grabbed a tag for the iron I wanted and waited at the wholesale window while they retrieved it from the back for me, I headed to the quilting notions and picked up the little Creative Grid rulers I needed. I was feeling pretty strong, so I cruised through the aisles of quilting books. Nothing jumped out and grabbed me - so far so good. So I cruised down the store to the quilting fabrics and took a quick turn in the center aisle. I knew that was safe as all the tables I could see were full of fabulously beautiful Bali batiks - something I never use in my quilts any more. By then my time was up so I headed to check out, paid for my iron and rulers, and returned to the parking lot. Hooray - I passed my first big challenge!

I know a lot of people have had trouble with Rowenta irons, but I've had nothing but good luck with them. My last one lasted well over 10 years and only succumbed because of our hard water. So I decided to try this iron. It's listed on the website at $139.00 but was only $104 in the store. With the 30% off everything in the store the iron and my three new rulers came to about $89. I know I could have bought a much cheaper iron elsewhere, but I never can find the features I want in a cheap iron. This iron is NOT auto shut-off, it has an extra large water tank and features extra long bursts of steam, and a handle that won't give me blisters. If it lasts even half as long as my last Rowenta I'll be happy. I can hardly wait to get home to try it.

My first real test

Last night my iron died. I was pressing postage stamp strips merrily and suddenly it started smelling extra hot. The smell went away so I finished the strips and went back to stitching. When I got up to iron again it was deader than a doornail. Not a light on it anywhere. I let it sit overnight and tested it again this morning. Same thing. Very frustrating as it was an expensive iron and less than two years old. I know for sure because it was my birthday present from my hubby two years ago next May - and we got it on my birthday. The very expensive much touted Maytag cordless iron. Retail $160 but I think we paid $149 for it. Titanium sole plate - the latest thing.

Well, I loved the fact that it was cordless. I disliked the auto shutoff intensely. I loved the titanium soleplate but hated that the steam holes seemed to catch on my piecing and pulled the edge up into an accordion pleated mess. I loved the fact that I could put it away hot. I loved that it steamed a lot, but hated the fact that the water tank was small. I hated the handle as it caused a blister in the palm of my hand after an entire day of ironing.

As you can see, it's been a real love-hate relationship from day one. I was frustrated that such an expensive appliance lasted such a short time, but deep down inside I was glad that I can get something now that I'll like better. This one replaced my trusty Rowenta which still heats very well after at least 10 years, but is literally coming apart at the seams from corrosion due to our hard water.

So I checked the Fabric Depot website. I'm sure many of you are familiar with fabric depot from shopping there online. Well, it's only 20 minutes away from me across the bridge into Oregon. They are currently having a 30% off everything in the store sale that goes through today. Great for buying an iron, but not at all good for my no buy resolve.

So today will be the first real test. Can I stay out of the fabric end of the store? Can I stay away from the quilting books and magazines? I know I can't stay away from the notions because I need to replace a couple small rulers. The ones I have now have chipped corners from too much use. The store opens at 9:00, so I'm going to take an early lunch and head over there. I have a little over an hour to strengthen my resolve.

I'll let you know how I do.

The best laid plans . . . .

As far back as I can remember - even when I was a small child - I have hated to stop in the middle of a project. Once I'm on a roll I like to proceed to the end - no interruptions, no breaks. I even forget to eat if I'm really deep into something. (Unfortunately for my waistline I don't seem to get that deep into anything any more!)

That's the way I felt about that scrap fabric on my table that was still waiting to be cut. I just couldn't go upstairs to quilt knowing I'd not finished that task. I kept thinking it would take only a little longer. I said that at 10:00, I said it again at noon, and finally just before 3:00 I finished. It took a little longer to put all the different shapes and strips into their various containers and then straighten up the room. What a great feeling to have that done! However, it wouldn't be a good idea for me to spend all my weekends this way. So I filled a small plastic tote with scraps from the big tub and then put the big tub away. The small tote can sit on the corner of my ironing board and I can press and cut a few each day. The big tub really looked emptier when I'd shifted this to the tote. I like this idea - as long as I don't get so involved I forget to do anything else.

The second picture shows the four postage stamp blocks I finished last October, plus the two more I made on Friday night. I have a rich royal purple that I'm going to sash the blocks with - it's a fabric I bought for Sophie's quilt but then didn't use. I need to make 6 more blocks in order to have a quilt of the proper size. This has been my leader ender project for a long time, but now I have enough sewn together to finish it I think. I'm going to shoot for this being one of my UFO finishes in February.

If anyone is interested in reading the story of these postage stamp blocks you can find part 1 here, part 2 here, and part 3 here.

A day well spent

Cher and I had a great time cutting scraps yesterday. We got a lot done, I think - but it's never as much as I hope to get done. I pulled fabrics from the giant white bin one at a time and pressed them. When I had a fair size stack I started cutting. By dinner time I'd cut all the shapes that you see here on the cutting table, but I still this stack of pressed fabrics that I'd not touched yet! And the bin looked like I'd made hardly a dent at all!

The stuff I found in that bin was pretty amazing. It's been stuffed full for well over 10 years, so none of these pieces had seen the light of day for at least that long. These were from before I had a scrap cutting and saving system, so there was something of everything. Large pieces - almost a fat quarter - to pieces so tiny that I decided I must have missed the waste basket and tossed them in the bin instead. Triangle squares and triangles. Strings. Cut strips of various sizes. Strata ends from who knows what projects. It was a bit like digging through a treasure chest. I refuse to think about how long it's going to take to get these in order, so instead I decided to fill a plastic shoebox with a few handsfull and then close up the rest. If I keep the shoebox on my table and do 10 minutes of cutting each time I go in the room before I start to sew then maybe I can make some good progress relatively painlessly.

The other thing I discovered is that all my boxes, bins and drawers of my scrap savers system are pretty much full already! Before I do much more cutting I'm going to have to piece some scrappy tops - otherwise there won't be any place to put the things I cut. Oh my - I don't know if I can handle that idea - having to piece some scrappy tops! (Hee, hee, hee.) Thank goodness the guild has committed to making these quilts for Hotel Hope. They have 16 beds, and the quilt size is 63" x 87". They want any resident who becomes attached to their quilt to be able to take it with them when they leave, so this will be an ongoing project for the guild. I'm sure I have enough scraps to cover those beds two or three times over all by myself - I just have to find the time somewhere.

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Gratitudes:
1. Bins, boxes, and drawers full of scraps all ready to sew into quilts
2. A nice day spent with a friend
3. A lazy Sunday just meant for sewing
4. The cozy warmth of my bathrobe and slippers
5. My little featherweight, which just keeps humming along

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A little bit of everything

Let's see. It's hard to know where to start first! I guess I'll start with our son and daughter-in-law Jeremy and Chelsea. Chelsea is wearing black so it's hard to see "Sophie" in the picture but she is definitely there. They liked the quilt very much, and have promised to actually use it. Chelsea saw the doctor yesterday and he was surprised to find that little Sophie just might arrive sooner than expected. We told them we want a call as soon as they get to the hospital - even if it's in the middle of the night. I can't imagine new grandparents that are more excited than we are!

Last night was our last class for the early 19th century medallion series. Those of you who've been reading my blog for awhile will remember me talking about this class when we first started. Our instructor is Eileen Trestain, a certified quilt historian and appraiser and expert in fabric history. She's written two books on fabric dating, and we are so lucky she lives here in town. I've posted a picture of my medallion, which hasn't progressed any farther as I had to stop to make Sophie's quilt. It still needs three borders. At the last class instead of receiving the brown paper wrapped kit we got to choose 3 yards of a selection of chintz and large reproduction florals. In the picture above you see Eileen on the left cutting my selection and one of the other students on the right. The next picture is my friend Liz looking at her choice for her border.

Tomorrow is scrap cutting day with my blogger friend Cher. This is the second time we will have gotten together to cut scraps. Hope it's as productive as the first time. Here you see the task I have ahead of me. I weighed these two boxes and found I have about 36 pounds of fabric here. If I remember correctly 4 yards of cotton fabric weigh a pound. Please correct me if I'm wrong - at the moment I can't find any of the places I think I read that! If that is true then these two boxes contain about 136 yards of scraps - that's after I took off a couple pounds for the boxes. It's almost as much as Jeanne has in her two garbage bags! Jeanne says she is scaring herself - I'm right there along with you Jeanne! There should be at least 10-15 scrap quilts lurking in these two boxes! I seriously doubt that I have enough room in all my plastic drawers and boxes of strips, squares, triangles and bricks for everything here. I need to get sewing - quickly!

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Gratitudes:
1. A sewing weekend has begun
2. Crisp blue skies after the fog cleared
3. Quality sewing time with friends
4. Oodles of scraps for quilty play
5. Chocolate covered pretzels

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Well, what do you know

If I could have been patient just 13 days longer I could have saved myself the time it took to create my new blog. I wanted to check something on my old blog, and in the process of trying to sign in discovered that they were finally ready to convert it. So both my old blog and my new blog are now "new blogger" blogs. Live and learn I guess.

The good news is that all you folks out there who haven't been able to switch because your blog plus comments was too big - try it again and I bet you'll find it works this time!

What I wanted to check was the number of posts. A total of 264 on the old blog and 26 on this one. If I eliminate the duplicates then that's over 270 posts. And tomorrow is my blog-anniversary. I never thought I'd have so much to say in a year's time! Or that I'd make so many wonderful new friends though sharing my quilting. This has truly been a marvelous experience, and I hope it is still just beginning.

Just in time

Sophie's quilt is done! It's a good thing too, because Jeremy and Chelsea are coming up for dinner tonight so they can pick it up. I'm very happy with how it turned out, but I'm glad it's done also. It'll be nice to get back to working in my kind of colors. I even busted most of what I bought when I made the back. For the label I just wrote on the back on the green fabric with a Pigma pen. Nice and quick but it works!

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Gratitudes:

1. Beautiful clear blue skies

2. A bright crescent moon rocking in the sky

3. Hot tea with milk

4. A UFO crossed off my list
5. Dinner out with all four of our kids

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Practicing my new mantra

If I buy it I'll have to
wash it

iron it

trim off the threads

fold it

find a place to put it

The solution is simple . . .

don't buy it in the first place!

I think I'll create a few signs with my mantra, and put one on the computer, one on the computer at work, and small copies taped to my check book and credit card.

I've just spent almost all of my weekend washing, ironing, etc. the fabric I bought on my holiday buying spree at the end of December. I kept thinking of all the sewing I could be accomplishing if I'd not bought this fabric. I'm glad I have it - I love every piece - but this is definitely the end of it. I'm taking myself off quilt shop email lists. I've stopped visiting online quilt shops. I've not stepped foot into a quilt shop this year.

The real test will come in March when I spend a four day retreat in the basement of my most favorite of all quilt shops. I have two months to build my resolve between now and then. In the meantime I need to come back daily to read this post, so I don't forget.

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Gratitudes:

1. Good action movies to help the ironing time pass quickly
2. New found resolve - at least where shopping is concerned
3. Warmer temperatures
4. No fat fresh hot blueberry muffins
5. Reaching the last piece of fabric needing ironing

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Friday - I am SO glad it is Friday

Wednesday night did not go below freezing, so by yesterday afternoon roads were basically clear of snow. They were wet, however, which wasn't a good thing because it DID get below freezing last night. I went in to work a bit late - still sleeping more due to my fall - so I was still home when my husband called from school to tell me it was raining and still below freezing. I watched for ice all the way to work but didn't see any and had no trouble driving.

By the time I got to work it had stopped raining and was above freezing - in fact the temperature had risen just above freezing when I left the house. I had to park on the far side of the employee lot in the last space available because I was the last here. The lot was still slushy and ugly looking, so I walked carefully. I'd gone about 4 steps past the cars when - can you believe this? - I slipped on ice again! This time I went down on my left "cheek", soaking my hip and pants leg all the way to my foot, plus my coat. I couldn't believe I'd done it again! At least this time I didn't fall as hard and didn't hit my head. I tried to stand up but it was so slick I couldn't, and I finally crawled on my hands and knees back to the cars so I had something to hold on to when I stood up. This time a member coming through drive-up saw me - they have to go through the employee lot to get to our drive-up window. She got out of her truck and came over to make sure I was OK, and was able to walk me across the ice on the lot to the employee entrance because she had good heavy outdoor boots with traction on her feet.

I still love snow, and love to see it fall, but I've certainly had enough dealing with ice to last a lifetime. Thank goodness I am seeing the chiropractor at 5:00 today. I sent an email to our facilities manager suggesting that it's past time to come up with a better way of dealing with parking lots in wintry weather like this. I've also had enough of sitting at work in pain, which is why I'm SO glad it's Friday.

Enough of my griping - I don't usually do this sort of thing. I just HATE being negative!

I finished quilting Sophie's Stars last night. Tonight I hope to get the binding machine stitched on. I'm heading north to Longview tomorrow with Fred to attend a retirement seminar, so I can take my hand stitching with me. Now that I've finished all my obligations other than making one small appliqué block, I'm really excited about choosing my next UFO project to work on. So many choices - how can one ever decide!

I laughed when I read the comment left by Karen on my last post - I guess I really do have food on my brain LOL! Yes Karen, I meant to type "Hand and Foot". This is a new card game Rick and Rebecca learned a few weeks ago that they taught us. I guess it's a variety of Canasta that uses 6 decks of cards. It's lots of fun, and we've played nothing else since they taught us. I googled "hand and foot" and "card game" and found several sites that list the rules - none of which are just like we play it. We stopped at Costco last night and one of the things we got was a box of 12 decks of playing cards so we can be all set to play it at our house also. It's a great two-person game also, so I figure Fred and I can play it - if I ever stop quilting and he stops watching TV long enough for us to do so LOL!

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Gratitudes:
1.Surviving my second fall in three days with just bruises and soreness
2. Fridays
3. Warming temperatures
4. Gandalf, my longarm machine
5. Lots of boxes of scraps to play with this weekend

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