Monday Meanderings 1 - 23 - 2017

Does this happen to you? OOPS!  This is suppose to be 2 pinwheel blocks.  Unfortunately I didn't notice it until I'd sewn the row together.  

And, yes, I did get the center of this top together.  It is another baby quilt that will go to a NICU.  I used the 9" Qube half square triangle die to make this.  When I make baby quilts I generally like them to be no wider than 1 width of fabric.  So 9 x 4 = 36.  I've got about 4 to 5" of border I can add.  Below I'm auditioning some of the fabric.  I do have a big piece of the print available.  But it is directional.  I probably have enough of the yellow, green, or red to use as a border.  

Any suggestions on it?  Unfortunately, I took these photos in the late afternoon.  And, today it is poring rain so there's no chance for better photographs.   I'm beginning to think I might put the extra print fabric on the back. Send me your ideas.  The border will probably be about 2" on each side.  It won't be finished this week because I'm heading up to take a class at Faithful Circle Quilters in Maryland so Sharon and I are having a sewing weekend at her house.

                               

Here's my prep work for the Bargello class we are taking from one of the members.  

No, I did not sew all of these strips together this past week.  This is a UFO.  The best I can remember is it was started in a class in the mid to late 1990's but I can't pinpoint it any better than that until I talk with Sharon. She didn't take the class because she moved away for several years.  I've got four width of fabric strata sewn and some cuts already made.  Why I didn't finish this is beyond me.  Although I was working full time so that may have been part of the reason.  

It's going to be really challenging to re-iron all of the strips that have been cut.  The plan with bargellos is to have two identical strata and press the seams opposite -- one set of seams go up and the other goes down.  Then when you sew them together all the seams nest really well.  I'll be ironing these in between other things this week. 

I did really well on my goals this past week.  I was really energized and spent a lot of time in my studio.  

January 16, 2017

Load and quilt customer quilt√

Knit on UFO sweater√

Start emptying boxes & put things in new closet shelves √

Put together pinwheel quilt√

Load RWB Gems quilt√ quilting is started

And here is what I'm going to be working on this week.

January 22, 2017

Finish quilting RWB Gems Quilt

Bind black and bright colored quilt

Prep for the bargello class and attend it

Finish bargello top except borders

Gather all red, white and blue orphan blocks

Knit on sweater

This is a pretty daunting list, especially finish the bargello top since I won't have all that much time after the class to do that.  But I really hope to get to all of these projects.  

I'm linking up with the regular blogs: Monday Making and Main Crush Monday.  I'm going to spend a bit of time visiting various blogs this morning and then head down to the long arm. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

2016 Year-End Stashbusting Statistics

For many years I've recorded fabric that comes in and goes out of my stash.  This year my tracking was hit or miss.  Ok, so I tried but can't guarantee I've recorded every thing coming in or going out.  It is what it is. The last time I reported was in mid November for July.  Now I realize how bad a year it was for using stash.   So first up are the stats since July. (Hey, I was really behind!) 

2016	Fabric In Month	Fabric in Year	Fabric Out Month	Fabric Out Year	Total In or Out Year
Aug	4.125	67.00	0.5	33.00	-34.00
Sept	12.625	79.875	0.75	34.375	-45.50
Oct	0.0	79.875	5.75	40.125	-39.75
Nov	3.50	83.375	4.00	44.125	-39.25
Dec	0.0	83.375	11.25	55.375	-28.00

Pretty pitiful fabric usage. I was working on things during these months but not very much was finished and what was finished were small pieces.  One way I motivate myself to actually finish an item is it has to be done completely before I count the fabric as being used.  I'm not doing so well with labeling my quilts recently but at least the bindings are done. That said, here's what last year looked like overall and how it compares to previous years. 

Year	Fabric In	Fabric Out Year	Total In or Out Year
2010	65.00	70.250		13.000
2011	186.5	72.00		114.500
2012	113.545	108.970		4.575
2013	100.71	103.015		2.305
2014	108.25	79.75		28.500
2015	66.205	77.150		10.945
2016	83.375	55.375		28.00

This is the lowest I've ever been on fabric going out.  Coming in could have been a lot worse so overall I'm not too upset.  Finishing Christmas Favorites was really helpful to my overall stats.  I'm going to try to keep up better this year.  I blame my neglect on the move...too much needed to be done. Watch out folks -- I have a large number of quilt tops ready to be quilted so I may have a mega "out" year.  Don't I wish! 

Here's a shot of one of my projects given at Christmas.  My daughter-in-law had asked if I could get or make an apron for her that she could use in the lab.  (Um, did I happen to mention she works in the ballistics lab for the FBI? Yea, she does.  When there are big shootings she and/or some of her colleagues might be called on to process the crime scene.) 

I got the design from Urban Threads. You can see the design better there.  It's called Baroque Punk Revolvers.  I tend to call it guns and roses.  Aimee LOVED it! She likes the design, the pockets and the dark color which will hide the dirt and grease that get on her clothes when she is working.  I also gave her a bottle of Grandma's Secret Spot Remover to help with the dirt. I have always had really good luck with this product. I'll let you know if Aimee has good results getting gun grease out of clothing. 

That's it for me today.  I'm linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday. Hope you can spend some time checking out all the wonderful blogs quilters are posting. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie