Fold, wrap, roll and fold

The last week I've been working in the studio doing a little cleaning and a lot of folding. I started with shelves that looked like this...

 and this...

and this!

However, I've been looking at ways that other quilters organize their fabrics and decided that it's time to take some action. So now they are beginning to look more like this...

And check this out!

Honestly, it's not quite as beautiful as it appears. Well, it looks great, but everything is much too crowded. In fact, an attempt to handle anything means contortions of mind and body to keep stacks of fabric in place rather than on the floor. One wrong move and I'm back to folding the same pieces, again or maybe again two or three times.

  
I'm working on that, too. Richard added another shelf and I'm moving some fabrics. All of my modern and specialty fabrics will go above the desk where I can see them, and that will open up a bit of space. I'm also considering moving the solids. Then there's this idea...

See how I have two sets of rolled fabric in the pink section? That, I hope, is the ticket. One row of large rolls in the back of the shelf with another row of shorter, smaller rolls in front. Not everything will be rolled. Smaller pieces are folded like fat quarters and stacked. The very small pieces will go into the scrap bins that may (or not) also go on the shelves. So much depends on the amount of space I'll have after everything is rolled and folded and stacked. I don't know that this is the best system, but for now it looks pretty!

Bloggers' Quilt Festival (#2 Tranquility)

I posted this tee-shirt memory quilt in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side. At the time I was thinking that I needed to post a recent quilt. Geez, you'd think I could think. Nope.

So anyway, choosing a second quilt was a little difficult. I like every one I make. Some more than others, of course. Tranquility is one of those more-than-others quilt. 

Lots of things about the quilt surprised me: the lime green worked, the background that looks different from my expectations, and my crazy, changing quilting motifs. Some of the motifs I came up with on the fly, right out of my own little head! 

All of it works so well, it's startling. I've promised myself I'll make another of these. (Maybe I should display it so I don't forget.) You can read more about Tranquility here.

    

	Quilt Stats
	Name:	Tranquility
	Size:	55 X 60
	Fabrics:	Scrap fabrics from stash
	Background:	Kona taupe + various scraps
	Binding:	Kona bison
	Pattern:	Improv blocks
	Quilting:	Custom free motion

Pop over to Amy's quilt festival. It's amazing how many beautiful quilts there are. The inspiration!

Tranquility ~~ a finish!

A finish, a finish. [Sing it with me, y'all]. A finish, a finish. It's the one that I wrote about here.

Finally, after sitting on the WIP table for months, then sitting on the long-arm waiting for thread and sitting while I cruised through Leah Day's website looking for quilting motifs, finally it's done. Done sitting, maybe? Ugh, no, now it's waiting on a photo shoot. 

I just couldn't wait to show you, so I had Richard hold it up...in front of his shed where dust and dirt were flying. Also, I realized too late that I hadn't even removed the markings. Yes, yes, I'm a mess. But I have a finish!

I wasn't liking those scrap taupes and beiges in the background... until I saw the pictures. Somehow they seem to float and throw shadows on the quilt. Don't be fooled--everything is pieced into the top and every inch of this baby is quilted, with the exception of the lime green bars and the smallest of taupe "droppings." 

I haven't counted how many different quilting motifs are on the quilt, but I really should do that if I can. Check out one little piece.

C

Quilt Stats
Name:	Tranquility
Size:	55 X 60
Fabrics:	Scrap fabrics from stash
Background:	Kona taupe + various scraps
Binding:	Kona bison
Pattern:	Improv blocks
Quilting:	Custom free motion

Linking up with

My Quilt Infatuation

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Crazy Mom Quilts 

Murky Waters ~~ FINISHED!

This scrap quilt is a finish! I thought it was started in 2017, but blogs tend to be a fairly accurate way of keeping track of things and mine says this was started on or before December 27. So I guess it's a 2016-17 completion. 

When I began the quilt I had one goal: to bust up some scraps. Well, that it did. Every bit of fabric in this one is from a scrap bin. In fact, the top is from the beige-to-brown bin and the bottom from the calicoes bin. I pieced the calico together.



How is it that every time I go into the stash, I find more calico? Do they somehow multiply and toss bits and pieces into the stash? I pulled what I thought was all of the calico out and move them to a separate pile on the other side of the closet. Yet, I find more and more of them in the stash.




But I digress (and do not solve the mystery). I've decided that this quilt shall be named Murky Waters simply because it reminds me of bayou water--murky, brown, muddy, messy and sometimes smelly. 

At 54 X 56 it will make a nice lap throw or small bed quilt. I don't have a particular person in mind to give it to, so it may go into the donation pile. 

I took it outside into very bright sunshine and laid it on Richard's woodpile, thinking the browns would complement each other. A few minutes later Rich walked up and offered to hold the quilt for me, which I greatly appreciate. 

One of the nice things about making a quilt totally from scraps is that any quilting motif will do. So I used this one to practice some motifs that are difficult to quilt. The problem? Because of the many different pieces, it is difficult to see the stitches and analyze how good or bad they are, but at least the person who eventually gets the quilt also won't be able to see any bad stitches. 

Quilt Stats
Name:	Murky Waters
Size:	54 X 56
Fabrics:	Scrap fabrics from stash
Background:	none
Binding:	Kona Bison
Pattern:	none
Quilting:	practice quilting with variety of motifs

Linking up with

Crazy Mom Quilts

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Stash Report: April 2016

Are you aware that Hancock Fabrics is closing all of its stores? Yes, this could be a problem. In addition to the fact that many are losing their jobs, an icon is ending its run, and sewers will struggle to find fabric, there's yet another problem: I can't resist the temptation to purchase still more fabric! 

I have enough. Really, I do. I cannot possibly sew every bit of it before I die at the ripe old age of 118.

My enabler, though, has to take some blame for the most recent purchase...he insisted that we go! I mean, I intended to go. I knew I'd be buying some Kona solids. I actually hoped there's be plenty of Kona. There was. Photos and confession tomorrow.

Tonight, a stash report that shows I am almost breaking even with purchases and uses. I don't know how this is good or bad, but I have a feeling...

Stash Report for April 2016
Additions and Subtractions	Yards	Projects from stash	Works in Progress (not in report)
Used this month:	10	Memory Quilt (9)	Circle Quilt (WIP)
Added this month:	20	Small Projects (1½)
Used in 2016:	39	(bags and painting)
Added in 2016:	36

How has the recent announcement that Hancock Fabrics is closing affected your stash? 

Customer Memory Quilt ~~ Finished

Welcome to TGIFF! I am very pleased to host Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday and especially want to thank Fiona for her help and support. What a nice gal!

I've been working on a customer quilt that took longer than I expected. One of the reasons for the extra time had to do with my playing. I always do that. Play with the quilt. 

Maybe I'm afraid that quilting will become work if I don't get to play. I do enjoy the playing part!

I pulled motifs from the shirts to create the quilting designs. That was so much fun that I played on the entire quilt...spending much more time on it than I should have. 

This quilt is heavy. As in weight kind of heavy. The shirts are synthetic and heavy despite the fact that many are mesh. Of course, because they are mesh, I had to add a quilting-weight cotton under them. To reduce the weight of the quilt, I cut away the backs of the shirts and as much of the bottoms as I could.

But mostly I played. Did you notice the extra work I did with the red and white uniform? The undershirt is quilted, but the sleeveless over-shirt is not so that it can be buttoned closed or left to hang open. Rather cool, don't you think? I played a lot! But I had fun doing it.

	Quilt Stats
Name:	Sports Memories
Size:	84" x 88"
Fabrics:	customer shirts, Kona solids for front, natural muslin from backing
Binding:	Kona Olive
Pattern:	improvisational design
Quilting:	custom free motion quilting
Completed:	April 2016

The fabric yardage was included in last month's report with all the other purchases, so this month it get counted as usage from my stash. I have no intention of counting purchased fabrics twice! Of course, you don't think that the report will show a wash, do you?

So now it's your turn! What have you been working on? What's your finish for the week.  Click the link and I'll be visiting your blog in the next few days.  

An InLinkz Link-up