Final Stash Report of 2010

I know Judy counted last Sunday as the last Stash Report of 2010, but I wanted to go to the end of 2010 before starting over for 2011...

After the super week of vacation sewing, I'm ending on a good note, with a NEW WEEKLY RECORD!!!!

Stash Report: Dec. 27 - 31
Used/week: 20.236 yards
Purchased/week: 6.75 yards (to finish Trav's quilt---part of the used too!)

Used/year: 262.382 yards
Purchased/year: 228.486 yards

Net used: 33.896 yards

---

Goals for 2011:
Used / year: 300+
Purchased / year: 200-
Net used: 100+

2010 Completed Quilts

- Class Act - Baby
- A Cowboy's Life
- Kaleidoscope
- Candy Dish

- My curtains!!!!!!
(OKAY, so they aren't quilts, but do you remember that fiasco????))

- Prince in Training
- Lilly Pad Hop
- Beary Precious (x2)
- Precious One

- My Roman Shades
- Perkiomen Daydreams
- Paintbox
- Chunky Churndash

- Leapin Lizards
- Deer Camp
- American Classic
- Hannah's Rotation

- Dino Days
- UMPTEEN labels for all my quilts
- MIL's blue quilt
- MIL's Flower quilt

- Olivia Likes All
- Flower Power
- Doggy Delight
- Kool Kat

- Dizzy
- Jen's Quilt
- Moondance
- Star Struck

- Balloon Bash
- Angela's quilt
- Morning Run
- Sea Glass

- Pineapple Blossoms
- Twilight
- Jen's Diamonds
- Trav's Camo


Some Tops:
- Lilac Grove
- Moda Paintbox
- Shades of Green
- Steppin' Out Dyed


'Twas a good year!

NYE Mystery ((minus borders))

NYE Mystery (50" x 74")--minus borders

I think I'm hanging up my quilting hat for the day.....9 1/2 hours is enough for even ME to be done in :0)

I'm not ready to call this quilt quits though, despite Ann leaving it at this stage. I think those bonus triangles of mine are going to get some action for a pieced border....but that can wait for tomorrow.

To think of a name now......

NYE 2010 Mystery - arm twisted! (with updates)

LOL....Thanks to Andee, my arm has been twisted to take part in Ann's NYE Mystery Quilt via QTMysteryQuilts Yahoo group.

I had to play some catch up this morning because I hadn't even chosen my fabrics yet OR done any pre-cutting. But by 8:00 I was downstairs, starting to sift to find the perfect fabs in my not-too-large stash :0) I originally was twisted into making a crib size quilt, but I found these fabrics and had enough for the Twin/Throw size and figured I might find a perfect girl to gift this one to.

Clue #1 is completed and is sitting on top of the laptop; my other fabrics for other clues are waiting patiently in the upper left of the picture. Clue #2 pieces are to the right of the pic, next to my machine ready.

I'm a wee bit behind because of my catch up AND for the fact that I absolutely MUST double-sew the flip-method corners. I simply can't toss that scrap fabric anymore!!!!....so just a brief post for now. Need to make some toast for Candace and then I'm starting on Clue #2 (clue #3 was posted 45 mins ago~!!!)

Updates will come throughout the day. I'll be checking in with Andee from time-to-time too. I hope she's posting!

11:53 update

96 Step 2 and Step 1 units complete. PLUS 96 bonus triangles from each unit. I took a picture but there was an error reading it, so I'll try that again later. For now....on to Step #3. I'm hoping to catch up this hour considering Step #4 is scheduled to post in 7 minutes!

1:35 update

96 Step #4 (center) and 96 Step #3 (right) done. I'm still behind; I thought the mystery started an hour later than it actually did, so....I'm on to Step #5.

I'm hoping I'll catch up now that all the bonus triangles are done. 96 from Step #1, 96 from step #2, 96 more from step #4. Whew! Maybe a fancy border in the making???? OH...and it's a Toy Story day down here with me and the girls. Toy Story 1 just ended; they have restarted it! LOL...guess they like it! We watched Toy Story #2 first (LOL....kinda makes me think of how I'm doing RRCB a bit out of order too!). I hope to get Toy Story #3 underway after the repeat of #1 ends.

2:20 update

I made up some time with Step #5; simple sewing and pressing.

Mind you, it DID help that Cassie was more than willing to help out by cutting apart the 96 units! While she was doing that, I headed upstairs to make up another batch of starch. If you haven't already tried making your own starch, check out Crazy Mom's recipe for starch. I've used it ever since I came across it! It beats spending $7 a bottle on Best Press when the bottle only lasts a day or two around here! ;0)

Okay....Step #6. Can I catch up???? I wonder how Andee and gals are doing?!?!?!

3:07 update

Making up ground! Step #6 done!

I haven't looked ahead to any steps (step #8 was JUST posted). I'm thinking this is what Step #7 will be calling for???? LOL......J/K!!!!!! I've been at this long enough to have a better guess than THAT! Me thinks those outside blocks will be the other way in order to make a star in green around the focus fabric.

OK...quick pee break and then Step #7! {{Goodness! How much coffee have I HAD today???}}

4:10 update

Step #7 went quick....and I moved seamlessly right into step #8.........and I'm THINKING that 8 hours on {{almost}} non-stop sewing is starting to get to me! OOOOOOPS!

BUT.....step #8 success. It appears all that is left is putting these 28 blocks together into the final setting.

{{insert tummy rumble sound-effects}}

Yeah----time to break to make up something for dinner, and THEN.....back down here to put the top together. Hopefully my next post will be a finished top :0)

{{tapping Andee's blog window}}.....how you guys doing down there?????
;0)

A different type of measurement for Trav's Camo.

9.4 pounds.....is that considered heavy????


**wiping sweat from brow**

Whew!

**rewinding 9 hours**

After brunch at 10:00, I headed downstairs to work on Trav's Camo quilt since DH said he would probably be seeing him tomorrow. I figured that was a perfect push for me to tackle the final steps of the quilt in order to check it off the list.

By noon, I finished up the final border placement and was ready to put the backing/batting/top together in a sandwich. I didn't have enough room to lay it out downstairs so I headed upstairs with all the layers ONLY to find out I didn't have enough room in the living room either! So....after some rearranging of the furniture (I moved one couch to the foot of the stairs OUT of the living room) I was able to lay out this 88" x 100" top (93ish x 105ish batting/backing) in order to get the tieing underway.

Three words: "Oh my fingers!" The backing is fleece, batting Warm-n-Natural, and the top....Denim! My right index fingertip is sensitve.....how many words use "u", "j", "n", "h" anyway?!!?!?? ;0)

With DH's help in the final few blocks, I was able to finish tieing the quilt by 4:00 and then moved to the binding, which I did a little differently. I didn't actually use binding; rather I satin-stitched all the way around the edge, trimmed VERY close to the satin stitch, and then did a straight stitch in 1/2" from the edge. This raw-edge appearance looks kinda cool and I'm not worried about it coming undone. A little bit of fray may occur, but I think (for a camo quilt) it'll add to the outdoorsiness to it.

Anyway.....I HAD to try the quilt out to see if it lived up to its anticipated "heaviness" request. OMGOODNESS! I already had an idea of how heavy it was by trying to manuever it while stitching the edges.....and sure enough! It feels like those heavy "aprons" you wear at the dentist when needing to get an xray of your teeth. I LOVE that heavy feeling! I jumped on the scale with and without the quilt just to see how much different there was......and that's where the 9.4 pounds were shown.

I don't usually weigh my quilts so I can't tell you what a typical quilt runs.....but this one is now officially COMPLETE ;0)

My Husband & They're Dad

So I was downstairs working on Step #6 of RRCB (pics to come later) and I hear this RUKUS upstairs. I was to a good breaking point and my tummy is a rumbling for some breakfast, so I came up to see what the noise was....

OH BOY!

I don't think Kenny Chesney has ANYTHING to worry about! {{Maybe Larry the Cable Guy has some reason to be nervous though???}}

Quilter's ADHD

LOL, yeah.....so...I kinda didn't work on ANY of my goals today!

Upon waking, Candace was begging to play with the clay she got from Grandma, so I sent her off to tidy up her area of her room first. By golly! That was the FASTEST that room got picked up EVER!!!!! I needed to start the day by running to school quickly, so while the car was warming up, I got the clay supplies out and ready. The other two girls weren't far behind begging to play, so I designated the areas they needed to clean/tidy first and informed DH of the "rules."

I wasn't gone long, and by the time I arrived back....

Candace.....oh dear. Those HANDS!!! But she was having a BLAST!!!

Caitlyn waited patiently for the spinning wheel...

And Cassie made an AMAZING fish with her clay.

I threw together an early lunch so that I could start my day downstairs.

I HAD all intentions of working on the next RRCB step, but chose to first tidy up my sewing room after all those string blocks. So, my leader-ender section was reorganized.....

...and then that lead me to cutting some more units for my Blue Ridge Beauty (BRB) leader-ender project.....

..which then lead me to see the status of my BRB units....and the status of many of my other projects on the lower shelves...

...and by this time, my former babysitter, home for winter break from college, showed up to spend some time with the girls. I didn't feel right locking myself up down in my sewing room, so I spent much of the afternoon organizing and cleaning up the living room; putting away Christmas gifts and "stuff"....

By the time she left, it was dinner time; reheated Country Style Ribs from the other night and some fried potatoes.

THEN...back downstairs....

I started by unpacking the printer I inherited from my parents (they bought a new one for Christmas). After about 20 minutes, I was too frustrated to try to figure it out anymore; I need to find the driver; thought I found the right one online, and after 10 minutes of waiting for the download, my installation stalled midway TWICE, needing to reboot each time.....so.....blah! TOMORROW!

...and then.....you see that stack of strings next to the printer??? Yeah....that was my next detour. After tidying up the strings from the 60 RRCB neutral units, I observed so many reds/blues/whites, so I pulled them. Why not make some MORE string blocks????

A couple of hours later, I have 16 blocks done; de-papered and trimmed to 7".

And let me tell you!!!!!! One of the ladies at the Quiltville Chat suggeseted using bookorder forms for the 8.5" string blocks since most phone books are smaller now-a-days. They worked GREAT! I had 8 RWB blocks partially started in my string bucket (using phone book paper). After completing those, I cut up 8 more sheets (using the bookorder forms). There wasn't any difference between sewing on either type of paper, BUT......de-papering!!! SO MUCH EASIER with the bookorder forms. The paper is slightly stiffer than phonebook paper and tore off the seams much easier! The phonebook paper kept tearing when I tried to peel it from the seams.....a bit too frustrating!
Spreading this information to hopefully aide you in your next paper-piecing/foundation units!

RRCB - Step 3 DONE! Can I get an Halleluia!?!?

After dinner, while watching the Vikings (UNFORTUNATELY) beat the Eagles (blah), I de-papered all of the string blocks of Step #3 and then took about 30-45 minutes to trim them to 8.5" inches. All 60 are now complete. Total time: whew...roughly.....6-7 hours yesterday and again today, so.....12-14 total hours on Step #3. Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie! ;0)

AND, I lied on my recent post! **gasp**

I am NOT going to use my scrappy bonus triangles afterall. I have already cut and pieced a handful of Step 5 HSTs. But, I'm pooped! Time to shut down for the day. Plenty of time to tackle this step tomorrow.

DH, myself and Cassie played a game of Yahtzee again tonight; Cassie is pretty excited that she knows how to play now. DH is on vacation for the rest of the week, so looking forward to just "chillin'" with the family ;0)

More RRCB action

Back at 'er this morning; still working on RRCB Step #3 strings. And finally, just half hour ago, I finished up sewing and pressing all the blocks, tossing them on the floor as they were getting finished.

Earlier this afternoon, I took a break because my mind was shutting down on the strings. I pulled out my box of bonus triangles and dug through them to see what I might be able to use for Step #5. And ya know what.....I'm gonna use 'em all! Goin' total scrappy!!! Otherwise, they'd continue sitting, collecting dust. I haven't counted how many I have at all...just looked. AND, next to the box are the 24 Step #3 string blocks I pieced yesterday and de-papered last night while watching Monday Night Football.

I came upstairs just a bit ago to see what the girls were doing and to start de-papering the 36 string blocks I pieced today. The girls were watching Toy Story 3. I haven't seen it yet, but found myself watching the last 30 minutes with them....GOSH! I didn't even see the whole thing and I was crying away at the end! What a sap I am! Are you too? Seriously! The littlest thing can get me teared up! ie: singing Silent Night at the Christmas Eve service last Friday. Now I think I understand why Pretty Woman (Julia Roberts) cries while at the opera!

Anyway---girls are begging to play games. I taught Cassie how to play Yahtzee last night. Caitlyn and Candace got a Yahtzee JR. for Christmas (princess version) so we all played that as well. Not sure what they have in mind right now, but I'm game ;0)

UFO's

1. Star Struck Blues
2. Rolling Star
3. Scrappy Logs
4. Jade's Hearts
5. Pineapp Blossoms
6. Blue Ridge Beauty
7. Seven Shirts
8. Wafer Cookies
9. Snuggler
10. A Scrappy Picnic : {{hours logged: 5.25}}
11. 2010 BOM
12. Grandma's States

My goal is to update this with some dates/times (started/FINISHED) throughout the 2011 year.

2010 Running Log

Please just scan/skip this post---and understand that I'm sooooo embarassed about these numbers!

I am vowing right now-----2011 WILL be better! Gosh, 24.08 miles (plus a few more that didn't get recorded).....PSHT! I ran that in one RACE in 2008.

Anyway---in 2011; I will strive for 200-300 total miles!

Total: 24.08 miles
sadly pathetic, huh?

---

8/4/10: Mileage
1.83 miles (18:20)

8/2/10: Mileage
1.83 miles (18:52)

7/21/10: EZ Mileage
3.26 miles (38:51)

7/10/10: MACC RUN
3.01 miles (37:20)

6/10/10: AI x3
2.88 miles (31:37).

6/9/10: Strength
{{full body}}

6/5/10: EZ Mileage
2.38 miles (25:28).

6/1/10: Mileage
2.01 miles (21:30).

5/29/10: AI
1.34 miles (14:42).

3/18/10: AI
2.16 miles (23:38).

3/16/10: Mileage
1.54 miles (17:28).

3/15/10: Mileage
1.84 miles (20:19).

2/22/10: Treadmill
no mileage clocked.

---

---

2009 Running Log
Total: 54.63 miles
2008 Running Log
Total: 308.8 miles

---

RRCB Step 3 action; Country Style Ribs

I took my time perusing everyone's blogs before actually getting downstairs this morning to start my work on RRCB Step #3. By 9:00, I was getting organized, enjoying my third cup of coffee (doctored up with some sugar and Peppermint-Mocha flavored creamer). I began by digging through my string bin, 1.5" bin and 2" bin. The thought crossed my mind to see what my 2.5" bin had, BUT I figured if there is anything in there worth using, I'd use them for a scrappy binding.

It's mid afternoon and I've taken a few breaks (lunch, referee'ing girls, tidying presents as they get unpacked/opened). I have 24 sewn at this point; not de-papered yet....

...I did a decent job diminishing my pile from this morning and have replenished it with what I found in my 3.5" and 4.5" bins (cut down to smaller strips, of course).

But knowing that dinner was looming in a few hours, I took a small break; checked the fire and dug around the chest-freezer to see what sounded good for dinner. The chest freezer is PACKED (no pic), so I grabbed what was closest to the top: "Country Style Ribs". Hmm.....don't recall 'country style ribs' from the pigs last year.....so I went to Google-land to see what I could find....


Country Style Ribs are prepped and the first stage of this recipe is under way.

Off to start either another batch of RRCB Step 3's OR maybe I'll see what I can find for Step 5.

Too Good to Cut Challenge - Wrapup

Rosewillow posted for us to wrap up the Too Good to Cut Challenge, and since I never really put together a final post, today is a good day to do this.....

First:
* Rosewillow's Wrap up post
* Rosewillow's Original Guidelines

I can't believe the year has gone by already!!!!

and even more-so, I can't believe I completed it, but

I COMPLETED IT!

June 30th, gifting to recipient, Dolly for her retirement

January 1, 2010: Day 1
The first day of my challenge, I was so gung-ho and excited to start! Although I was only able to find the "perfect fabrics," it was enough to call it a start.

May 31, 2010: Challenge start {{see end of post}}
Five months laters, {{LOL}} I finally was starting the actual challenge by cutting into the fabrics. :0)

June 11, 2010: Top Done
Then, once school was out for the year, I lunged full-speed-ahead and had the top done within my first week of summer vacation!

June 29, 2010: Quilting
Quilting commenced on June 29th once I determined a recipient for the quilt (and her retirement party was the next day) ;0)

And on June 30, 2010, the quilt was completed just in time to be gifted to a dear coworker. When I shared the story with her about the 'Too Good to Cut' challenge, she had even a bigger appreciation for the quilt knowing I deemed these fabrics too good to cut.

Project wrap up:
* Size: 54" x 79"
* The pattern is by Jennifer Chiaverini: Johanna's Collection.
* The fabric line mostly used was Robyn Pandolph's Moondance.
* Quilting pantograph: Feather Me
* Quilting time: 5-6 hours

My overall feelings/thoughts:
I LOVED THIS CHALLENGE! Those fabrics would still be stashed away in my stash, too pretty to cut in to, if not for this challenge. But now, they are in the hands of a lovely lady who has a wonderful appreciation for the final product. {{and have you noticed that the banner at the top of my page is of this quilt???}}

GOOD MORNING!!!! Day 1 of vacation

Ahhhhhh......
not even 7:00 am yet, but up and raring to go! VACATION OFFICIALLY BEGINS TODAY now that the holiday partying and traveling is over!

We arrived home around 9:30 pm last night after watching the Packers WIN BIG :0) {{oh yeah, and Christmas #3 with DH's family}}. I think we'll have one more small Christmas, date-to-be-determined-later, with dear family friends up at the farm; most likely sometime in late January.

Sheeeesh! I should have taken a picture of the entryway as DH kept unloading and unloading and unloading the truck last night. Golly! I didn't realize a whole STORE was bought out this year! I did my best to unpack some of the gifts and store them away already, but.....most of them just ended up under the tree, left for the girls to put away play with for the rest of the week.

Coffee is perking away, almost ready to drink. YUM!
And then.......today.......is a ME day! Total ME day {with some feeding of children at one time or another too}.

Tomorrow I'll worry about the house getting back into a decent state.....psht.....would it be so bad to wait until Friday for that too?

Anyway, I'm rambling....

Today; IF I feel up to working on Trav's Camo quilt, I may do that, but I'm thinking that I'd rather do some RRCB catching up!

Ahhhhhhhhhh.......
Happy Monday! {{A true true apology for anyone needing to head back to work today -- like DH}}

Halleluia

Vacation has finally come!!!

bags are packed for traveling to G'ma/G'pa tomorrow;

presents are wrapped and packed for the trip AND for a surprise visit from Santa tonight.

We can't be home for Christmas Day this year (we seldom are); BUT I worked out a deal with Santa. He is willing to make the trip one night early---he's going to swing by before hitting Europe since he knows we're heading out. SO, hopefully, we'll have some happy faces upon waking tomorrow before needing to head out for Christmas with the Grandparents.

Truly Truly---Have a wonderful Christmas to all of you out there! Hug your loved ones extra tight and let them know you love them.

Merry Christmas to each of you!
-Amy

OH! I almost forgot! The winner is......

With 40 commenters, my random number generator chose commenter # 12........


Gari said...
Hi, I am from Alabama. I made 36 placemats for Christmas. They are all done, some are wrapped, and some are ready to be mailed, well almost. I hope to have them on their way Monday. The others will be hand delivered. Merry Christmas and happy 600th.
-December 11, 2010 10:34 PM


Yayyyyyy Gari! Email heading your way.

Thanks for everyone for commenting and making me feel better that there ARE others out there burning the midnight oil working on last minute Christmas gifts!

Happy Sunday!

Another finish; do I have ONE more miracle in me???

Oh, what a day!!!
Packed full and I'm still feeling like I'm going strong.....
Up and revin' the engine by 8:00; hitting the Statistics books until 3:00. (YUP! 7 hours almost non-stop; it's to be expected by now....How far away is January 21st????)

BUT, at 3:00, I literally went from one table to another.....
the dining room table was replaced with my quilting table.....Jen's quilt was a callin'!

Jen's Diamonds (86" x 96")
My SIL and brother have a queen size bed, so this baby will be just the right size! It's pictured on my king size bed.....freshly laundered and ready for packaging and wrapping.

And here's the backing I mentioned yesterday. I burned through a nice amount of stash for this one. The quilting is VERY simple! Horizontal lines! That's it. My SIL wanted it "floofy" {{lol...still love that description}}, so I used polyester batting and VERY little quilting to keep it "flexible." At least it was a quick one to quilt up.


So, I'm wondering....can I pull off a miracle before next Sunday when we celebrate Christmas with DH's family???

I pulled out the fabric I purchased last month for BIL's (DH's brother) quilt. He made his wishes very clear. Simple. Camo. and Heavy! SO! Heavy denim camo was purchased as well as black demin. This fabric is QUITE different sewing than the typical cotton. I will NOT be loading this top on the frame when I get to the quilting point. My plans: purchase a queen size black sheet, cut batting to fit and TIE this quilt.

I took a personal day tomorrow so I could make Caitlyn's Christmas Program at 1:30; I haven't taken a personal day in quite a while, so.....I don't feel too guilty about this one. {{although my Statistics students were pouting that I'm giving them a test tomorrow---on a MONDAY---and I'm not there to answer any questions they may have.}} Anyway....I'll be up to take Candace to before-school care and then I'll be back home working away on Trav's (BIL) quilt. If I get this top done before I leave for my family Friday morning, it will be VERY likely to be completed by Sunday's celebration with DH's family. I have ALL DAY Saturday with no plans other than relaxing at my parent's house....so....PLENTY of time! :0)

Ooooooooo......I'm liking this week's stash report!

Stash Report: Dec. 13 - 19
Used/week: 14.25 yards
Purchased/week: 0.0 yards

Used/year: 242.146 yards
Purchased/year: 221.736 yards

Net used: 20.41 yards

Happy 5 days 'til Christmas!!!!!!!!!

Some evening progress...

Truly, truly, I had NO intentions of finishing up step #4 of RRCB tonight when I headed downstairs. I merely wanted to prep for it. But...psht.....by the time I had the fabrics cut and organized, my movie of choice still had about half the time left, so....I starting strippin' away. I finished step #4 while watching New Moon AND even had time for a snack break! {{I made a pan of Rhubarb Crunch this afternoon---yum!}}

It was only 9:00, and I wasn't really tired yet. I was up for some mindless piecing.......

I grabbed the hourglass units for In Flight that had been lain aside a month ago. I finished piecing them into these pinwheel units by 10:15.

Before I completely closed up shop for the evening, I took another 15 minutes to sort the units on the design wall. It's been empty for weeks!

Hmmm...still not overly tired. Wonder how much caffeine was in that tea I had this evening!??!!?!?