July 12, 2015

Piggy Bank Challenge results

By    8:52 AM // 2 comments
Last year I joined in on the Piggy Bank Challenge over at Val's Quilting Studio.
Val's Quilting Studio
I'm a few days late reporting how I did but here it is.
My collection jar sat on the shelf in my studio right next to my bobbin winder and a few other goodies.
This is how it looks today, not even 1/4 full.  To be honest I didn't remember it much throughout the year, just when the change in my wallet got too heavy would I think to dump it all in the jar.
Here is what I managed to save.  After counting it up, it comes to a whopping $30.85.  Not great but not totally shabby either.
So what am I going to spend it on? Nothing.  All of the change went right back into the jar and the jar went back onto the shelf.
I'm going to keep adding to it until it is filled and then I'll spend it.  I'm going to try and remember to add to it more regularly but I'm not going to formally join the challenge this year.  Hopefully I'll be able to fill it in less than 3 or 4 years. :)

July 10, 2015

July 7, 2015

I've been spending

By    6:06 AM // 10 comments
I confess. I've been doing a little shopping lately but complete truth be told.....it is all for planned projects, not just new additions for my stash. The bonus tidbit about it is the fact that a lot of this was "free" because I sold a bunch of pantos and used that cash.  

First up are the Kate Spain Charm Swap cuts. Half of these are mine and half are my sister Tina's contributions to the swap. These are all from Kate's Solstice line.
There are still some spots open in the swap (surprisingly) so it's not too late to join in on the fun. All of the details can be found here.
I wasn't looking for this at all but when I saw it on a Facebook group I just had to buy it.  I have a friend who love the Disney Villains and this soon will be turned into a fun little quilt for her.
Halloween prints has been my shopping focus lately.  These are for a really fun upcoming project (that you just might want to make too).  Details to come soon.
In preparation for that project, I took all of my Halloween prints out of my stash dresser and put them in this tote.  As you can see, I really need more prints with White, Yellow and Green backgrounds.  This project will be a scrappy riot of Halloween colors and I don't want the Orange and Black prints to take over.
If you happen to come across some great sales on White, Green or Yellow background Halloween prints, please let me know.

This little kit I didn't spend any money on at all.  It was actually part of my birthday presents from my BFF. Yes I know that my birthday was in the fall but we hadn't seen each other since last summer.  This will get made into a wall hanging for hub's train room.
My other new purchase was a "just so happen" surprise.  You see, my scraps were all crammed into this 3 drawer bin along with the other items that you see...the best press, the extra fabric markers, the stabilizers, etc.  Finding anything in there was certainly a challenge but thanks to a recent purchase, this is how the 3 drawer bin looks now.
This is the reason for all that space for accessories above.  It is a 5 drawer bin on wheels that I snagged off of Craigslist for a whopping $10.  Now each bin only holds 1 or 2 colors instead of 5 or more.
On Saturday afternoon, once we were home and dry from marching in the rainy July 4th parade, I maneuvered this one next to my bookshelf and slipped the shorter one next to tit tucked right under my cutting table.  Much better!
Of course, that means I have plenty of space to store more scraps.  In fact the basket you see in the corner of the picture is almost full from the most recent projects so soon it will be time to sort them into the bins by color.  I made a great dent in cutting some colors into usable sizes over the winter but have stalled on that project recently.  Now that I can actually open the bins, I'll probably get back to doing that in the evenings when I'm not in the mood to sew.

Having great storage solutions is so important to maintaining a relatively neat studio because I can't create in the midst of chaos.

July 4, 2015

Some sewing but no quilting

By    3:09 PM // 3 comments
This is the only sewing that I've been able to accomplish this week.
 This was in preparation for today's July 4th Parade.  Of course she earned another patch today for participating.
Here are the members of my troop that braved the wet weather.
They did great, walking the entire parade route without complaint (other than that they were hungry). 
Now we are home, warm and in dry clothes so now I get to go and sew.
That is my kind of holiday!
Enjoy your July 4th!

July 2, 2015

I'm surprised!

By    2:52 PM // 1 comment
People must be away on vacations and haven't yet heard.  That is the only reason that I can think of why the Kate Spain Christmas Charm Swap still has some spots still available. I'm sure they would be heartbroken to learn later that they miss out on their chance.
Do you love Kate Spain fabrics like I do? Do you want to make a fun modern-ish Christmas quilt like I do?  Do you want it to be full of awesome fabrics and colors like I do?
 
Then you should join the charm swap.  All of the details can be found in my announcement post. Just email me all of your information and I'll add you to the list.
 
Feel free to share this across all social media platforms.  In fact, please do.  The more people that hear about this the better.  The faster the charm swap is filled, the sooner I'll receive all of the packages and the sooner all of your yummy charms are on their way back to you.  Thanks for your help in making this charm swap successful as the others have been.

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