Crazy at Walmart

Our local Walmart is making some changes. Well, apparently lots of changes. One of the many is that they are closing down the fabric department. Bad news, good news. 

The bad news is long-term: some of the elderly who sew won't have easy access to fabric. The closest is about a hour away and few drive through Alexandria to get there.

The good news is short-term: fabric is on clearance. For $1 a yard. Yes indeed, you read that right. $1. Per. Yard.

Now I'd heard that there was a big clearance. But I wasn't impressed when the sale was only a dollar off the regular price. 

But when Mrs. Flora called and told me that the store had gotten in additional fabric to clear out, I had to find out what kind of fabric. Let's just say I came away with a few pieces. For a total of about 40 yards. Oops. So much for the fabric diet. Haha. 

Some of it I have specific plans for. I cut out a skirt the same day. 

Other pieces are already folded and in the stash. 

Other pieces are sitting on the worktable waiting. I'm not sure what they are waiting for but that's okay. They are bound to start niggling at me. Does fabric sitting out do that with you? Quibble with you about just what it needs? 
(or maybe a quibble)

Stash Report for June/July 2017

Running late but here nonetheless! Not tons of quilt finishes happening, but there have been a few. Oddly every quilt I finished have two things in common: they are small and they are mostly blue. But the blue scraps are slowly dwindling.

Stash Report for June/July 2017
	Yards	Completed Projects
Used this month:	11	Come Out to Play (3 yds)
Added this month:	3	Under the Haystack (2 yds)
Used in 2017:	38	AmandaJean’s QAL (5 yds)
Added in 2017:	3.5 gift	Small finishes (1 yd)

Stash Report for April and May

I seem to be on an every-other-month schedule for giving stash reports. Likely that's because I don't seem to be getting very many quilts completed. Wait, I am struggling with getting quilts started. 

I have been distracted quite a bit lately, and I tend to quilt and read sort of in the same way--hyper-focused and unable to do anything else.  Since school ended for the summer, I've read two books and in both cases I started and finished the book within 24 hours. That's just how I roll. Nevertheless, I have finished a few projects, though most of those were not quilt related. 

Stash Report for April/May 2017
	Yards	Completed Projects
Used this month:	12.5	Tranquility (5 yds)
Added this month:	0	Summer dress (2.5 yds)
		Cotton painting (1 yd)
Used in 2017:	27	Small finishes (1 yd)
Added in 2017:	.5 gift	Shorts (3 yds)

Goodness, one quilt in two months' time. I'll have to get working on improving that! Hopefully, I'll have something to report next month.  How has your quilting been going lately? I certainly hope better than mine.

Stash Report for February and March

I'm just plain disappointed in the amout of quilting I've been able to complete in 2017. It's simply not very much. I can't say exactly why, but I'm fairly sure it has something to do with all of the little projects--the interruptors. You know those: repairs for grands, shortening a uniform, fixing a costume, and so on. 

Stash Report for February/March 2017
	Yards	Completed Projects
Used this month:	7	Roseate (3 yds)
Added this month:	0	Scrap Baskets (4 yds)
Used in 2017:	14.5
Added in 2017:	0

It's not that I don't like doing those things, because I do. It's more that those things take away from the precious little time that I have for quilting. But there we have it, only one small quilt in two months, some scrap baskets (though lots of those) and other odd bits. Not much to count, but it's all I have.

Here's hoping that you were much more successful in what you had hoped to accomplish. 

Stash Report ~~ January 2017

My first stash report for 2017 and there's very little to report. I haven't completed as many projects as I'd hoped I would. The problem, of course, is that I have to go to work. Believe me, teaching all day takes the wind out of your sails. I tend to come home and crash. 

Mind you, that is after teaching and whatever Beta business I'm caught up in. Right now Beta means getting ready for convention: practicing for the skit, helping our candidate with her speech, making costumes, working on props, backdrop and general "stuff."

Stash Report for January 2016
	Yards	Completed Projects
Used this month:	7.5	Camper Rug (2 yds)
Added this month:	0	Murky Waters (5.5 yds)
Used in 2017:	7.5
Added in 2017:	0

The Beta costumes don't count either way as we purchased felt especially for that purpose. The pillow I made for Marley early in the month is counted in with the camper rug. I have not a clue of how much fabric I used on the rug. Once it's in strips, it feels like a lot, but who knows? I'm not cutting more fabric to figure it out, but you are welcome to do so.

Finally, you may have noticed that I changed the grid a bit. No reason. This is just easier. I tend not to have very many UFO's hanging around.  How is your stash looking?

#marymarcottequilts

December Stash Report

It's time to report again. December was the month of little projects and one unplanned baby quilt. I could have made another baby quilt with the time it took to make 10 or so headbands. However I've been making these for students who need warm clothing, so it's been a pleasure.

The pincushions, well, those are just for fun. I hope you've had a few just-for-fun projects this month also.

Stash Report for December 2016
Additions and Subtractions	Yards	Projects from stash	Projects in Que
Used this month:	1.5	pink baby quilt (3)	two scrap quilts
Added this month:	0	headbands    (1)	Moda Noteworthy quilt
Used in 2016:	83½	various pincushions (½)	khaki scrap quilt
Added in 2016:	43½

I'm impressed with the amount of yardage that I used this year. Of course, I bought half as much to replace it. I'm blaming Hancock Fabrics for the purchases since I bought most of it during their closing sale. In fact, I'm still amazed with the fabric that I bought with $100.  Hopefully, I'll use more than I buy in 2017. 

Though I may tweak my report, I've decided to keep track of my fabric usage again this year. I've discovered that it's a good way to encourage myself to use more fabric than I buy. In fact, I was encouraged to avoid buying all together--until the store closing--so it's a good way to stick with that goal. 

Are you planning to keep a stash report? How does it help you?

Camper Rug ~~ Finished! and a tutorial

A week or so ago I wrote about trying to use up some of the many scraps that have been building up (click here).  I've been working on a scrap quilt and a rag rug for our camper.

 For the rag rug, I decided to use some of the cheap, thin poly-cotton that I've had in the stash for some time, years and years, decades. Most of it is in a separate pile, which makes it easy to pull and cut.



CUT: This is an easy project for anyone who wants to get rid of lots of scraps or cheap fabric. I didn't really measure as I cut: I just stacked several layers, eyeballed (an inch or less) and cut. If everything was straight, great; if not, it doesn't matter--it's for a rag rug!

TWIST / BRAID: There are a couple of ways to approach the next step. I chose to twist the strips but it's possible to braid them instead. (It's just like braiding hair with either three or four strips at a time.) My strips are long and braiding would mean handling those long strips which tend to catch and tangle with each other. Twisting just seemed easier.

TWIST: Begin with two strips, preferrably of different lengths. Match and tie the ends together (#1 in the collage below). Twist one of the strips until tightly twisted (#2 white strip). Hold the two ends and pull the strip tightly to help set the twist (it's a little like pressing the fabric). I use a Clover clip and to clip the twisted end. That keeps the twist from falling apart when I let go of the strip to work with the other strip.

Move to the second strip and tightly twist in the same direction as the first (#3 black strip) following all the steps that you did for the first strip. Now you'll have two twisted strips wanting to curl and tangle. Pull them again and rotate the two strips around each other in the opposite direction (#4). I rotate the shorter strip around the longer one. Twisting in one direction and rotating in the opposite direction allows the rope fabrics to lock together as they loosen. The more times you rotate the rope, the tighter it will be.

CONTINUING: What to do when you get to the end of your rope? Simple: add another strip. Again you have choices: sew the strips together, tie them together, or twist the new strip into the previous one. I use all three, but definitely twisting another strip to the old one is my preferred method: overlap at least an inch of the new strip on the old strip, fold them together, and twist tightly. 

TEST / REPAIR: There have been times when the twisted strips didn't grip each other and came loose when I pulled on the rope to test it. That is ridiculously heartbreaking, but it happens. If the fabrics are unraveling, I tie them together. If the fabrics are still in pretty good shape, I stitch them together with a needle and thread that I keep close at hand. I try not to cut the ends off because the strips will then be too short to repair easily. Of course, you could always just trim off whatever is ravelled and start over. 

STORAGE: I've found that the rope is easier to handle if I roll it on a recycled spool. You can use the cardboard core from papertowels or giftwrap. Any cylindrical or rectangular shape will work for storage. I've used a Pringles can and a milk carton, for example. 

SEW: For the rug, I just zigzagged the rope in an oval shape using the Bernina. It is really easy once you get into a rythym: squeeze the rope pieces together and zigzag making sure you catch from one rope to the other. I made an oval shaped rug, but a round rug would likely be just as easy. When I got to the end of the rug, I tucked the rope ends in and made certain to add a few extra stitches to hold them there.

The rug needs to be blocked since it is not lying flat It may also shrink when I wash it, but I have lots of rope to add to the rug, if necessary. 

What would you make with your rope? 

Linking up with

Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts

November Stash Report and More Headbands

I don't know about anyone else, but I had a good month of finishes. Four quilts total, and though two are small quilts, it may be the best month of finishes I've had. 

Stash Report for November 2016
Additions and Subtractions	Yards	Projects from stash	Projects in Que
Used this month:		Les Batons (2.5)	two scrap quilts
Added this month:	2	The Quarry—Quilty 365 (6.5)	Moda Noteworthy quilt
Used in 2016:	83.5	LSU (wallhanging) (1)
Added in 2016:	43½	Solicitude (2)

The pink and purple ones are for students;
the red and white one is for a teacher.

This week I also started making warm, fleece headbands for students. I asked one of my students to borrow her headband so I could look at it and get ideas for a pattern. After making the first one, I brought it to school to have a couple of the girls check my pattern. I wanted to make sure it would fit my girls without letting them see it.

Prototype

The pattern is pretty close to what I wanted. But, it turns out, the girls at school loved it. Four begged me to make headbands for them. Then one of my teacher friends saw the prototype and also asked for one. Tonight I have three of the five completed. 

This weekend I'll make the other two--they take only a few minutes--and then I'll be able to concentrate on the ones I want to make for my girls. The little grands will need a smaller pattern, so maybe I'll start there. Regardless, I've no doubt that I'll enjoy my weekend of sewing between the family commitments of a birthday party and Sunday lunch. What are your weekend plans?

Linking up with:

Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts

Fabric Frenzy Friday for Fort Worth Fabric Studio

Off the Wall Fridays at Creations Quilts Art Whatever