Final Stash Report of 2016

Every year I have the same goal as far as my stash is concerned:  I want to use more fabric than I add.  I fell short this year, though, and bought 17.5 yards of half-priced fabric last week.  I have plans for most of it already, but I need to be really aware in 2017 of how much I buy.  I want to be a quilter, not a fabric hoarder!

Used this week: 2.0 (Stars Around the Corner borders)
Used year to date: 83.5 yards
Added this week: 0
Added year to date:  104.375 yards
Net  Added:  20.875 yards

2016  20.875 yards added
2015   6.357 yards used
2014   2.5 yards added
2013   9.5 yards added
2012   20.25 yards used

In June, I realized that I had 22 unquilted tops.  That is too many!  I decided that by the end of the year, I should get it down to 20.  By donating 5 tops to charity and getting a few more quilted, my unfinished tops now number 15.  My goal is to get the number down to 10 unquilted tops by 2018 and keep it at no more than 10 unquilted going forward.

Finally, I finished nine quilts this year:

Scrappy Mountains Majesty:

Daybreak:

 Jamestown Landing:

Mod Bear Paw:

Second Project of Doom:                                                                                                               

Red and White Ohio Star:                                                                                                                      

Science Fair:                                                                                                                                       

Trent's Bargello Quilt:                                                                                                                      

Wild & Goosey:                                                                                                                          

Seven of these quilts were gifts.  Sometimes it feels like I do a lot of piecing and never finish a quilt.  This year, though, I got a lot accomplished!

Stars Around the Corner With Borders

I finished the inside of Stars Around the Corner last spring.  It was 79 x 99 inches which was an ok size for a full quilt, a little skimpy widthwise for a queen.

  Another issue I had with it was I don't like to run my binding right up against piecing because I cut off a lot of points that way.  Also,  with pieced setting triangles, my edges aren't always as straight as I would like.  Since the quilt was already 99 inches long, it really didn't need a border on the length.  So I just let the top sit while I decided what to do.

Here is my solution:

I added a 1.5 inch border of dark purple around all four sides of the quilt.  That takes care of any uneven  pieced edges.  Then I added a 7 1/2 inch border to the sides and bottom of the quilt.  The proportions are better now for a bed quilt,  95.5  x 107 inches (small king or large queen).  

 The quilt already had a 1970 vibe with the bright pinks, oranges and purples.  I don't believe I could have found a more perfect border fabric for this quilt, and I love the way it looks like a piano key border, minus all that piano key piecing!

I used a faux miter on the outside border, a big HST in the corner.  It is quick and easy and looks better than any mitered corner I can sew.

So glad to have this quilt top complete!

Stars Around the Corner was Charlotte's 2016 mystery quilt.  She is doing another for 2017, and that one looks pretty easy so far.  I've done all the cutting, and there are no triangles!  Her mysteries are a great way to use up your old and/or ugly fabric scraps.  For the 2017 mystery:  http://scrapitudequilts.com/time-to-get-this-show-on-the-road/

Linking up:  http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2016/12/rainbow-quilt-complete.html

Emily's Quilt

My niece loved her Christmas gift!

This is Science Fair by Jaybird Quilts, quilted by Vicki  Johnson of Threads That Bind Us.

En Provence, Clue 5 Et Al

This week's En Provence clue was super easy:  64   half square triangles.   Again, I don't have the variety of dark blues I'd like to be using, but I want to use up scraps, so I'm not buying anything else.

It left me time to  cut all the scraps for Charlotte's mystery quilt, Surrounded by Scraps.  http://scrapitudequilts.com/time-to-get-this-show-on-the-road/

These scraps are from my scrap trash, the wadded up, unsorted fabrics I haven't wanted to deal with.  I also got all the background cut for this quilt.  I chose to use one fabric for the background, which made the cutting go a lot faster than it would have if I'd used scrap trash for the background too.

And I worked on Dawn's Early Light.  This is a quilt I started this summer and have been using as a leader and ender project.

I have 37 big string blocks, 74 small string blocks and 58 friendship star blocks.  I don't know how many I need since I haven't decided how big I want this quilt to be or what the layout will be.  I'll just keep making units for a while.

Linking up: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2016/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-5.html

Stash Report,Charlotte's New Mystery

My stash numbers for this year were looking pretty good until I walked into a quilt store Monday afternoon.  There was a sale that I couldn't pass up.  $5.99/yard!  I ended up buying 17.5 yards.  I have plans for all of it but 2 yards. Most of it will go to finish up a couple of UFOs.

Used this week: 2.125 (backing and binding for Mod Bear Paw)
Used year to date: 81.5 yards
Added this week:17.5
Added year to date:  104.375 yards
Net  Added:  22.875 yards

I have spent this week making caramel popcorn for the neighbors, 3 batches so far,   I use a Southern Living recipe that includes pecans and cashews.  I make it every year for Christmas, and the bunko ladies request it every time I host.  It is buttery, salty and sweet and  doesn't have the burnt sugar taste that you find in a lot of caramel corn.  

I also made 2 pecan pies, one for the neighbors, one for us.  Sugar cookies for the cookie exchange.  Fudge Puddles (soft peanut butter cookie shell filled with chocolate) for my boys. And a sweet potato pie with pecan pie topping for me.

The only thing else I need to make is mashed potato casserole for our Christmas Eve dinner at a friend's house. I'd much rather  cook than clean, but I had to do some cleaning too.  

I've also been doing the cutting for Charlotte's next mystery quilt.  There are no triangles to cut for this one!

If you have every thought about doing a mystery quilt but are intimidated by Bonnie Hunter's, try one of Charlotte's quilts:  cutting instructions ahead of time and one clue a month.  Here are her first 3 mysteries:


2016 Stars Around the Corner:

2015  Scrap In a Box:

2014 Scraptiude:

http://scrapitudequilts.com/time-to-get-this-show-on-the-road/

I'm going to post this stash report post early since Christmas is Sunday.  

Mod Bear Paw On the Wall

I've had my Mod Bear Paw Quilt bound for about a week, but I wanted to get it on the wall before I showed it here.  Lorna of Sew Fresh Quilts designed this pattern, and she offered it for free in a quilt along this fall.

 https://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com/p/modernitional-mod-bear-paw-quilt-along.html 

Lorna's directions were clear and easy to follow.  The hardest part for me was keeping the pieces straight because where her fabric is brown, mine is white; where her fabric is white, mine is gray, and  where her fabric is  gray, mine is blue,  I cut a few pieces wrong, but after the cutting was done, the assembly wasn't hard.  I will probably make another of Lorna's pattern's next year.

Vicki Johnson of Threads that Bind Us ( http://www.threadsthatbindusquilting.com/home.html)   did the longarming, and I'm very pleased with the pattern she chose.  I asked for swirls or snowflakes, and I got both.  She quilted this piece densely because I told her it was going to be a wall hanging.

This will probably be my last finish of 2016.

Linking up: https://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com/2016/11/mod-bear-paw-qal-linky-party.html

http://busyhandsquilts.blogspot.com/2016/12/finished-or-not-friday-linky-party_23.html

http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2016/12/straightforward-quilt-complete.html

En Provence, Clue 4

I finished clue 4 today.  I didn't have as many dark blues as I would have liked, but I didn't want to buy any more.  This clue seemed to go together very quickly.

I had some extra time this weekend and a messy sewing room, but instead of organizing the mess, I decided to reduce it by making a bunch of string blocks.  I got over 20 string blocks done for Dawn's Early Light. It was a lot of fun, mindless sewing.

Linking up: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2016/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-4.html

En Provence, Clue 3

I finished my 168 four patches for En Provence today. Bonnie used 2 shades of purple.  I love purple, but I don't have enough purple scraps to make this quilt from my stash.  So I'm using blue.

Linking up:  http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2016/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-3.html

Penny Rug

Last January, I took a penny rug class at VGN.  It was a simple project, just wool applique done with blanket stitch.  I chose to do the St. Patrick's Day colors because I didn't know if I would have time to get it done in Valentine's Day colors.  Well, eleven months later, I've finally finished it.

I worked on this while I was waiting for my car to get new tires and brakes.  It was the perfect travel project since it didn't require a lot of light or magnification.  My stitching is far from perfect, but I decided that added to the folk art feel.  I think it is supposed to be a candle mat, but I'll probably use it as a coaster or trivet.

I have dozens of little VGN projects that are half way complete.  Not all of them would be good travel projects, though, and they generally get pushed aside because I'm more interested in other projects.  I should make a resolution to finish one a month, but I know I wouldn't keep it.  Here is my official apology to my kids, who one day will have to go through all the little bags of linen, beads, floss, half stitched projects and unfinished ornaments.

Linking up: http://www.supermomnocape.com/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-88/

En Provence, Clue 2

After a cutting mishap (I switched the neutral and colored pieces), I finished the units for this week. As usual, I skipped the tri recs, a ruler that always gave me problems and used Deb Tucker's V block ruler. This technique makes slightly over sized blocks that need to be trimmed to size, but my accuracy is so much better with the V block ruler, that it is worth the extra step for me.

The fabric I had intended to use for this clue was not this bubble gum pink printed with magenta kangaroos.  It was supposed to be a mottled purple.  But since I cut the purple wrong, I picked one of the few pieces of fabric in my stash big enough to use.  Most of my stash is fat quarter size or smaller.  In any event, I plan to make the miscut V blocks too and use them in another project.

I actually e-mailed Bonnie Hunter when I discovered my mistake and she let me know that switching the colors in this unit would change the look of the quilt significantly.  She suggested I make them and decide later if I wanted to remake.  I thought about that, but in my mind, that would put me behind in the clues.  I know I will get behind closer to Christmas and New Years and didn't want to get further behind.  I really appreciate her input!

About the only quilting goal I have for December is to keep up with these clues.  I'd also like to get one more quilt bound, but if it doesn't happen this month, that's ok.  January will be here soon enough!

Linking up:  http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2016/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-2.html

VS Gingerbread House

I've been working on my Gingerbread Stitching House by Victoria Sampler this week. This is a long term project that I usually pull out in November and work on through December.  I'm making good progress, considering the few hours I've put into it.  After my Scream House finishing fail this fall, I am motivated to get this piece together.  I can already tell from the finishing instructions, that this one will be easier than that one.

My son gave me the linen and embellishments several years ago, so I want to make sure and get it done.  He checks on my progress every now and then, and that keeps me motivated.  The linen was a giant piece, so I chopped it in two to make the stitching easier.

The front, back, biscornu and fob:

The sides:                                                                                                                                                

I had to order more pearl cotton for the roof and finishing.

Linking up:  http://www.supermomnocape.com/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-87/

Drew's Birthday

Missing my son Andrew, who would have been 25 today.  He has been gone for over a year, but some days it feels like it just happened yesterday.