Stash Busting

Yesterday I didn't want to sit down and stitch so started working on cutting up my stash of fabrics for a scrap quilt or two. Last winter I had sorted out fabrics I thought I would never use in a quilt project, especially the miniatures I make now almost exclusively. I loaded up a tote with them and put them in the basement thinking I would use them for donation quilts for the different projects our guild does each year. Right now I am cutting them up in the following sizes; 9" squares for a scrappy workshop the guild is having in October, 3" squares to use for 1/2 square triangles, 2 1/2" squares, 1 1/2" strips, 2 1/2" strips and 3 1/2" strips. I am putting them into light and dark piles as I am cutting them and will put them in some sort of boxes when I finish or quit cutting for now. As you can see from the photo below I have lots and lots of fabric to choose from.
We had a wonderful program at quilt guild last Thursday on using up our scraps so was inspired to start working. The gal that did the program used the blocks below and made 4 wonderful very scrappy quilts from them. She used the 2 1/2" squares, and the 3" squares to make the half square triangles. She also used 1 1/2 strips for borders and used them in blocks too. The quilts were stunning!Another reason I am getting busy with using my stash is because of the challenge for our guild this year. It is called "25 Yard Dash". We are all challenged to use 25 yards of fabric from our stash, new fabrics purchased after the meeting will not count. We have to bring the completed projects to a meeting to count towards our total. The VP has a formula to figure out how much fabric was used in a quilt - ball park figure but that is good enough for me. I figured with only making miniatures I will never get 25 yards used and may not anyway with my plans for stash busting but I am going to make a gallant try to use at least some of it up. They are allowing us to count projects already started so I am planning on finishing a few large quilts that have been fermenting in my closet. That is the term I am using for UFOs started many years ago.

Better get dinner on the table - for you city people that is lunch to you. Farmers call it dinner and want a bigger meal at noon as they need more nutrition to sustain them with all the physical work they do during the day. We eat a smaller meal at night and call it supper.

Until Later,
Lynn

Rain and Quilting...They do mix

Yesterday was so wet and rainy most of the day. Had to go out in the afternoon for a while but made a dash from the car to the places I was going to keep from getting wet and managed pretty well. It is on days like this that I really like living on a paved road. It has been only 3 years since we moved here and already I am loosing my skills driving on muddy roads. Another advantage to living where we do is I don't get the car plastered with mud every time it rains. Remember sometimes the how the wheel wells on the car would get so much mud in them that I would hear a scraping noise when I turned corners after it dried some. Washed the car when the roads dried out but sometimes that could be a while. I am so glad we didn't get any snow like they did in western Nebraska yesterday. It is supposed to be spring and I think Mother Nature forgot to flip her calender over the last two months.

I did get more of my leaves prepared to applique on the mystery quilt yesterday but may have to stop doing that for a while. The China Luncheon/Bed Turning our guild is having is next Saturday and I am having trouble getting a center piece figured out for my table.

My original idea was to hang the stars I made from branches stuck in a vase but the more I thought about it I decided that would block people's vision across the table so back to square one. I guess it is back to square two as I do have my large stars all made and am going to use them no matter what as it took me so long to make them!!!

I went to our local antique/flea market store and bought a couple of glass pieces that I am fiddling with now. I stuck one on top of the other and may hang some smaller stars from a branchy thing I found in the basement that I once had hung small Easter ornaments from. Thinking about having the large ones scattered on the table around it. So last night I started making smaller stars using the same patterns as the big ones but about half the size. Am getting faster at making them now so have one done and another ready to cut out. I score all the lines before cutting them out so the folds will be sharper, plus they fold easier. Takes a little time but is well worth it.

Today I will include photos of a lap quilt I made my mother for Christmas. I took a photo of a quilt that intrigued me at the State Fair this year and figured out the divisions and drafted it in EQ6. I used all blue fabrics from my stash to make it and then machine quilted it.

I am really making an effort to learn to machine quilt well as it irritates me that my stitches are sometimes wobbly and not consistent in length. I tend to get tense and forget to move the quilt and get a bunch of stitches in one place. It is getting easier with each thing I finish but you will notice a lot of wobbles in the close up photos.

With rectangle pieces of paper I figured out how to quick piece the blocks and saved the left over triangle squares to use around the border. The back is also pieced since I rarely buy more than fat quarters and used most of the light blue on the front that was a larger piece to start with. Each rectangle is 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" and the finished quilt measures about 45" square.

Lynn