Sunday Stash Report - major catchup

The last Stash Report I completed was on August 14th which is a 4 weeks ago and there has been a lot of action since then and mostly in - very little out. But it was fun.

My big blow out was when I was on the Gold Coast at the end of last month when a good friend from the internet and I got to meet up in person and she kindly took me on a lovely shop hop. One shop she took me to had fabric at a very reasonable price - $11m (In Australia that is cheap!) so I bought more than I otherwise might have and then after lunch she took me to a place that was having a major sale and it was $5.95 m so I went overboard there. Jodie teased me cause the shop lady got me a trolley for the bolts of fabric I was pulling out. In total I bought over 20 metres but it was all lovely stuff and such a fantastic price. I detailed what I bought in this blog post so I won't go into more detail here. 

I also received an order from EQuilter of some Pokemon fabric (3.31m) and got a few bits from the c

I also visited a 2nd hand craft exchange in Sydney whilst I was visiting my mum and I got a few bits there too but was pretty restrained. (.82) I got a few embroidery patterns there as well.

In these last couple of days I have managed a couple of finishes - 2 quilts that I have had pinned ready to be quilted that I kept avoiding. 

The baby quilt was for my girlfriend's grand daughter. I called it Twinkle Twinkle. It was based on the Missouri Star pattern Sparkle and has been very popular with the new owners big brother. I blogged about this quilt in my TGIFF post here

I also finished off My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes. I haven't decided where this quilt will go. There are a few cat lovers in my life and one of them will love it I am sure - unless I have an unexpected need for it elsewhere.

The top is a mixture of a panel of cat pictures which have just been sashed and the co-ordinating fabric used as the centre of a variation of the square within a square pattern from Quilters Cache  Square within Squares 2  .  

The piano key border looks great I think. I love making these borders and using up leftover bits that have been cut for the top. I used 2 different green patterned fabrics in the bindng. I didn't have enough of either one to make it all from one and then I decided I really like the two different ones.

The back was a mixture of left over fabric from the front and some 6.5" squares from a cat fabric swap plus another cat panel.

I finished the quilt on the day that our cat who had been missing for 36 hours returned and was recovering from injuries received whilst he was away (probably in a cat fight) He's actually rather timid and not much of a fighter so its no wonder some other Tom was able to give him a hiding. He hasn't stirred out of the house since! It was good to have him home and recovering and I got a photo of him with the quilt

So my statics for the month last while are

Fabric used               11.12            
Fabric added             24.84  
Net                         -13.72

Year to Date
Fabric used               117.71
Fabric added               78.62
Net                            39.09

Linking up with Patchwork Times

WIP Wednesday

Wednesday again and once again I have made progress on a number of fronts.

At Handmade With Love yesterday I worked on finishing off the pencil cases I started a few weeks back. I had done more work on them on Monday so on Tuesday all I had to do was sew the inner and outer pieces. It was beaut to get them done. I also worked on a couple of other pieces from the box of stuff there - not anything that I had started by myself.

Today at Patchwork group I worked on a couple of things. First of all my friend Lindi once again helped me pin a couple of quilts - yay. Now the first of the Sparkle baby quilts and "My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes" are pinned and ready to quilt. I would love to get them quilted in time for my stash report but since I am going away tomorrow till Sunday night that isn't going to happen. I am taking my Janome Gem with me but I don't quilt on that! Actually I probably could take the baby quilt and get it done as it is small enough to work under the small throat space. I used Minky dot in the backing of it. I love the feeling of minky and the look of the dot one even more. 

This baby quilt will be for one of my Mum's great grandies as it features some of her embroideries. I have a great niece and great nephew born in the last couple of months that are "owed" quilts and another one cooking away as we speak. I also have 2 other babies, the grand daughter of a friend and the daughter of my daughter's friend, that I also plan to make quilts for (I made one for their siblings so I kinda have to) so.... after I had pinned (sorry we) had pinned the quilts I got to work putting together another of the sparkle quilts. I had made the blocks at Patch n Peace. I plan to put another border on it but the centre is done.

Then I started making some more blocks for the next baby quilt - this one for the great grandie due later this year. Fortunately Lindi was at a loose end and she was a great help pressing the blocks for me. I'd snow ball one corner, sew the second seam (to make a half square triangle out of the bit you snip off) and she would trim to hst off and then press the corner out so I could snow ball the adjacent corner. I sewed the second seam and she snipped the hst off and pressed it again. With her help I was able to get ALL of the squares done quickly. Now I can make the blocks whilst away this weekend. 

Since I got home from Patchwork I have worked at trimming the HST from the first three quilts I made. I now have a lovely pile neatened down to 2.5". I think I will make a border out of them for one of the baby quilts. Not sure that there is going to be enough for more than one but we will see. I didn't do the HSTs from today's efforts as they were still in the car, ready to take away with me. Hopefully I will get them trimmed whilst I am away.

I have put together all the bits I need to make the final sparkle quilt - well the 5th one for this batch. This baby lives in Iceland so I have chosen Australian animals to be the centre of the blocks and fabric from my Australian wildflower collection to be the snowball pieces for the blocks. Instead of working with white background this time, I am using beige as it tones in better with the colours in the blocks. (lots of yellows and tans and browns).

I sorted through fabrics and Handmade With Love yesterday. I was looking for scraps of Christmas fabrics to make circles to Cap the bottles of savoury peanuts I have made. Instead I found some gorgeous fabrics, too nice to chop up for caps but perfect for  table runners. I bought some home and if I can find my pattern I will make some of those this week for the Christmas in July craft fair at the end of next month.

These will make a lovely table runner I think.

I will get the caps for the jars out of this fabric I think although I might think of something more creative

So how has your week been? Have you made good progress?

WIP Wednesday

Busy week this week. I got those quilts I was working on last week done... one in time for Stash report on Sunday and one since. Yay. Go me.

Then I got sucked into the vortex known as fabric baskets. Found a great pattern and have made 6 since Sunday. These are all going to Handmade With Love (I have a blog post half written about them) I got the pattern here from Tina at Seaside Stitches

Today at Patchwork I finally started working on the backing for "My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes" a 72" almost square quilt. 

As is usual putting the back together has taken me almost as long as the front (well not quite but still.....)

I was discussing my backing making with another quilter one day and described it as.. constrained improv... I don't really know what I am going to do with it... just that I want to use certain fabrics and that I have to make it to a certain size.

I built it gradually - putting together strips of similar width fabric pieces. The first strip was about 20" wide.

 The next one was made from a combination of whole fabric pieces and "made" fabric - left over pieces from the piano key border. Some were 3" wide, some 4" and some 5.5". I also made a strip out of 2.5" squares. 

The final pieced strip was based around a panel featuring some kittens playing. 

The rest of the strip was made up of 6" squares featuring cats. 

These were from a swap run at a patchwork retreat years ago. The two sides strips were plain green fabric. They extend the back out past the width and length of the top and will be trimmed down. I'd rather trim down non pieced fabric rather than the pieced stuff. 

All in all a great busy week with much accomplished

Wip Wednesday

I have been working on Square in a Square variation for the quilt that I call My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes. My kids had a much loved book by this name and its so true of cats. The fabric in the quilt features cats... its a panel and co-coordinating yardage. I'm sorry I can't tell you the name of the panel or line as I bought it a few years ago and don't have the selvedge here with me to read (I prepped it all at home before we left on our holiday.)

I had the panel cut up, the yardage cut up as well as all the pieces for the block, the sashing strips and corner stones all prepped and ready to go in little bags in a plastic clip top carry box. 

The panel had 8 different cat pictures about 10" square and I fussy cut the yardage which featured the same cats scattered about to be the centre square. I based it on a pattern from Quilters Cache called Square within Squares 2  but I varied it a bit.

I have the centre of the quilt complete. It consists of the panels cats cut up into individual pictures and 17 of the square within squares blocks done in a scrappy design. I sashed between the blocks in brown with corner stones of different colours used in the blocks. 

I got that together last night and today I have been making piano key borders from the same fabrics used in the blocks. I am not sure if I have made enough.... tempted to measure it tonight but it is getting pretty late so I have stopped. I didn't have the strips precut as I wasn't sure what I was going to do for a border. In fact I think I bought the left over yardage (well fat quarters and yardage) to go into the backing. Whatever I have been trimming strips as I got. I cut a whole heap and sewed them together (matching strips of similar length) and then pressed the sewn strips and cut them into 6.5" pieces which I sewed together. I couldn't work out why it wasn't going together faster ie the 4 strips for the sides wasn't growing as fast as they usually do ... then I realised. Usually I make 5" piano key borders and this time I opted for 6.5". Doh

I am continuing to enjoy sewing in the caravan. We have had some lovely days exploring the countryside we have driven through and I have a long blog post about our travels that I haven't finished off yet to post... still wanting to add some more photos but will try to get that up tomorrow.

Today we have been in Forbes, an historic goldrush town. We have done a little exploring but mostly we have been catching up with my lovely nephew who lives here and his wife and gorgeous daughters. Today (Great) Aunty Pip has bounced on the giant pillow thingy, 

climbed a play gym and gone down a slippery dip, 

played with Barbies, my Little Ponies, 

read a story to someone sitting on the toilet (!!!) and had lots of delightful conversations with a bright and bubbly four year old and had some snuggles with a little 8 month old bub.

Tomorrow we head for Orange and another house full of cute great nieces and nephews. Travelling is fun!!!

Sunday Stash Report and Goal update

There was some purchases made this week! But to offset it just slightly there was also a completion - just one small thing but at least it used some of the fabric that was purchased.

The purchase was some fabric from Vinnies (St Vincent De Paul shop - 2nd hand charity shop) I saw some that would enable me to complete a project I had with me so it was a necessary purchase although if I had planned properly I could have brought some suitable fabric with me from home. I bought some tan/gold star patterned fabric (1.5m cause that was the chunk), a bundle of 49cm square calico pieces, and a chunk of ivory coloured fabric. A total of 3.59m)

My finish was a casserole carrier for me. I used up some orphan blocks I had been given at some stage - a total of 5. They must have been from a block swap as they were all creams and maroon and the same pattern. I suspect they weren't used in the quilt that was made as they might have been a bit small (and wonky) They ended up 12" unfinished and probably should have been 12.5". I used 3 blocks for one piece of the carrier and 2 and some of the calico for the other. For the lining I used the star fabric. Its not quite finished as I need to add the velcro closers and buy the dowel for the handles. But its near enough and so I counted it.

So

Stats from Weeks 17

                 Fabric used            1.63m

                 Fabric added          3.59m

Year to Date                 

                 Fabric used           35.00m                 

                 Fabric added       32.37m

Net Used                                  2.64m  

Linking up with Patchwork Times

Now for an update on my monthly goals

We are 3/4 of the way through this month.

Goals

• work on handmade with love projects No further progress on these. I have some casserole carriers cut out with me but haven't sewn them
• sew left over hexies into strip for backing This is complete. All the left over hexies that I could I have made into either a strip or a block that I will use in the backing of the quilt
• cut fabric for Square with in a square (now called My Cat Likes to hide in Boxes) The project is all cut up and is in a project box ready to go when I next get a chance to sew
• cut fabric for T Intersection quilt The centre of the T Intersection quilt now called Onya Bike is sewn. I am now working on the piano key border... well I have sorted the fabric for it... haven't started sewing it
• Complete A to Z blogging challenge This has been going pretty well. All the posts have gone up on time as per schedule. The remaining posts are written and scheduled (some photos only remain to go on the last one). I have been keeping up pretty well with visiting other blogs as well and commenting as much as possible. I could say this one was done.