Should I or Shouldn't I?

Recently I've been reading some blogs, where people are measuring the fabric in their stash, and keeping track of what comes in and goes out.  I've been thinking that it would be fun to join in, and start keeping track of how much fabric I have.  The problem is, I'm not sure I want to measure everything I have.  Since everything is packed up right now, it might be a great time to measure it all as I unpack it.  However,  if I stop to measure it all, it could take me much to longer to get my studio unpacked and set up.  If I put everything on the shelves, then I would have to take the time to pull it off, and measure it later, and that takes time away from being able to actually sew.


There was talk of weighing it, instead of measuring it. Which most have said is fairly accurate, to within a half yard or so. And it would take a lot less time to put a stack of fabric on a scale, vs unfolding, measure, then refold. That would still take more time than just taking it out of the boxes and putting it on a shelf. But that sounds like it is something I could do with out slowing me down too much in the unpacking.  

I know I'm going to have to take time to organize my fabric no matter if I measure or weigh it before putting it on my shelves.  But do I want to take more time, to find out how much fabric I have??  I can see by looking at it, that it's a lot.  Do I need to know the yardage??  Will knowing how much fabric I have motivate me to use it more? 

With the cost of everything going up, including fabric, I tell myself that I was buying as a hedge against inflation. Even while I was working, I would justify my purchases by saying, I may not be able to buy as much once I retire.  But if I'm not using it, was it really a good purchase?  Spending money on something you aren't using, isn't a good use of your money.

Before our move, I was doing better at using my stash, and not buying anything, unless I needed it for a project I was actively planning or working on.  I was able to walk into a quilt store, and not feel the need to buy yards and yards because the fabric was just too pretty to leave in the store or even worse, it was on sale, and I couldn't get it at that price again.  

Since I'm not close to any quilt stores now, I think it will be really easy to keep using my stash before running out and purchasing more fabric.  Of course, my stash has some areas where I lack a lot of variety, and I may need to supplement what I have if I'm using those colors in a quilt.   However, if I want to go to a quilt store now,  I would have to plan a day to go into town.  If I were to buy online, I don't want to buy just a yard or two, or even a few FQs, I would want to get as much as I could for the shipping charges, so I would buy more than I really needed, so it's easy for me to say no to buying online.    

I think I will not measure or weigh my fabric, I do like the idea of keeping track of what comes in and goes out. I would like to be able to look back over time and see that I used more than I purchased, and I think that is something I will be able to keep track of, especially since I won't be buying a lot.

I will leave you with a quilt I designed in Electric Quilt 8.  I wanted to create a quilt with the grey and off white fabric that I purchased.  Both were End of Bolt purchases, so I couldn't get more, and the project I purchased it for, I decided to do something different.  So I needed to come up with a project to use the amount of fabric I had, and by adding in the red, I had enough of both to create this quilt.  My plan is to bind it in red, and if I don't have enough, or I can't find it, I know what the fabric line is, so I should be able to buy more when I get this quilted.

 

 

Until next time... Happy Crafting!!

Stuio Makeover

Well, since I can't sew, or unpack anything yet, I thought I would share some pictures of what has been happening in my Studio.   

Here is a picture of the inside of the building before any of our stuff was delivered from the move.  There were some cabinets at the far end, and we tore those out and are starting with nothing but the studs.

 

Before we started getting all the supplies, we had someone come out and run electricity to the building.  The previous owner used an outdoor extension cord that was left in place, for any electricity he used, but we weren't going to take a chance with my machines using that.  Here is the trench he was digging to run the wiring.   While he had that open, he also ran a pipe for water, so I can have running water and a utility sink out there.  He dug down about 18" so that the water shouldn't freeze in the winter.  It started at the back of the house, and ran through our front drive/parking area.  The trench was filled back in, within  a few days, so other than preventing UPS from driving to the front door, it wasn't much of an inconvenience. 

After he got the wiring out to the building, he installed lights and outlets for me.  I had the outlets put in at about 4' rather than down near the floor as they usually are, so I won't have to crawl around under tables trying to plug or unplug something.  We will have all the machines in serge protector/UPS but even those won't have to be plugged in near the floor.  I have outlets on both side walls, none on the back wall, which will become my design wall.

We installed a unit that will heat or cool the space, much like what is found in a lot of hotel rooms.  This has the capacity to heat/cool an area that is larger than my Studio, so it should work well with out taxing the unit and needing to replace it any time soon.

Here are all the supplies we bought, from insulation, to drywall to flooring in the truck we rented to get it to the house. We even bought a small refrigerator with a freezer, so I won't have to go to the house if I want something cold to drink or snack on. 

 

 

 

After we got the supplies, it was time to start putting up the insulation.

And the drywall came next.

Oh, and we also bought some insulation to go on the inside of the track door, so hopefully, that will help keep the heat and cold out of the building.

This is where we are at now.  We had other things to do the last few days, so work has stopped for now.  But in the next day or two, the joint compound will be applied to all the seams on the drywall, then when that is finished, it should be ready to paint.  The flooring won't go in until everything else is done, so that it doesn't get damaged from construction.

We have an 8' by 15' shed that is coming, that will be used as extra storage, and all the stuff that is in the studio now will get moved in there to be out of the way to paint.  Then when the Studio is finished, it will be moved back, and I should be able to start all the unpacking and organizing.


Until next time... Happy Crafting!!

Dreaming of quilts to make...

While waiting for my Studio to get finished, I keep thinking of what projects I want to work on once I can start sewing again.  I have recently purchased some Bonnie  Hunter books and there are some great patterns in them.  I have more than a few that I want to start working on, to use up my scraps.  However, I have projects that were started before the move that I want to get back to work on, so starting something new may have to wait. 

I enjoy the planning stages of quilts, thinking about what pattern I want to make, which of my fabrics I want to use, do I have enough variety of this or that color to make the quilt sparkle, or do I need to supplement my stash?  Then when I have settled on a pattern and color scheme, I start going through my scraps and Fat Quarters and yardage to pull what I think will look good together.  Then comes the cutting. 

I bought an Accuquilt Go! a couple of years ago, and that helps get fabric cut much more quickly than a rotary cutter and ruler.  As long as I have a die to cut the required sizes and shapes I need, I can get a quilt cut out in no time.  In fact the first quilt I cut using my Accuquilt was this one.  The pattern came with one of my Qube purchases, it uses 4 of the 8 dies in the Qube. The fabric was left over from a Hoop Sisters quilt I made and I got all the pieces cut in less than an hour.  It took much longer to sew them together than it did to cut them.  I still need to finish the quilt... I love the piecing, not so much the finishing parts of making a quilt.

I tried finding a picture of the Hoop Sisters quilt, and don't have one that really shows it off.  So I will see if I can get a better picture of it and post it later.

My studio is coming along, the lights and electrical outlets have been installed, and all the drywall is up, and we are waiting for our electrician to come back out and run wire from the studio to a shed we are going to put up for more storage space.

The ceiling is going to remain unfinished, mostly because it's would be too difficult for one person to try to get drywall up there, and we don't want a drop ceiling. Plus, the middle area needs to remain open to allow access to the area we are going to use for storage in the rafters.

We are hopeful that he can finish the work in 2 to 3 weeks, and I can start unpacking and get back to sewing soon.

Until next time... Happy Crafting

 

A New Beginning...

We recently moved from Colorado to New Mexico.  Instead of living in the city, we now have almost 8 acres of land surrounding our house, with lots of Pinion trees and scrub.  Although we have neighbors, we can't see any of them from our house, or hear any noise they may make.  What a difference from having to listen to neighbors dogs barking at all hours, and blaring car stereos all day.  Of course, I can't just run to the closest quilt shop if I am in need of something for my current project as easily, but the benefits of living in the "middle of nowhere" out weigh any negatives of not being close to a quilt store.

I have an out building that is going to become my new Studio, and as soon as it's finished, I can start to unpack all my fabrics and machines and get back to sewing.  My first project, as I'm unpacking, is to make a list of all my UFOs and projects that I had to put on hold for the move.  Hopefully that will give me the incentive to get them finished, and add new ones to my list.

My intention is to start posting to my blog again, if for no other reason than to have a place to keep track of my projects, and the progress I'm making on them.  Perhaps, my postings will be of interest to others, and I will gain some followers along the way.  

I will leave you with a picture of a small Lone Star quilt I was working on before we moved.  It still needs to be finished and quilted, but the flimsy is done.

Until next time... Happy Crafting!!!

6 February

Today's block is similar to yesterdays block.  We make the same unit, only smaller and put 4 of them together.  This was another easy one, and I just grabbed some scraps that were on my table from another project I was working on.  They were larger than I needed, so I didn't have to go searching through my scrap bin to find something that would work.  :-)

6 Feb

I have to admit I have never made a block like this one before.  It is much easier than it looks, and no pesky Quarter Square Triangles (QST) to deal with.  It was made using all HSTs.

Today, I hope to work on another Wall Hanging from my Imagine book, and get ahead of the months needed to put on our front door.  I don't like waiting until the end of the month to do the next one... so today I'm taking a break from prepping fabric for the Stash Busters Challenge, and working on some applique.

I did get 5 Sawtooth Stars done yesterday for Stars for A New Day, and once I get the Imagine block complete, I am going to start working on the pinwheel blocks for the next border on that quilt.

So time to get to work....

Until next time.. Happy Crafting!!!

5 February

Yesterdays block had more 1/2" HST units, and it took me a good part of the morning to get that block made.  However, she promised that it was going to be the last one for awhile.  After I got it completed, I had to get busy with a few other things, and didn't have time to write my post.  So here is yesterdays block.

4 Feb

Today's block was an easy one, and I had it finished in a few minutes.  We used an extra HST unit from an earlier block, and sewed it to create another unit.  We only needed one unit for today, and were told the other one would be used at a later time.

5 Feb

I am still working on prepping fabric for my Stash Busters 2019 quilt, and have selected all of my 72 fabrics I want to use for that quilt.  I still need more neutrals, and I haven't decided if I will buy more fabric to have a different neutral for each block, or reuse some of what I have.  I have been able to stick to my no fabric buying so far this year, but I also said that if I need it for a project I'm currently working on I can buy what I need to finish that project. So buying more neutrals wouldn't be breaking that promise, since I am working on that quilt, and my neutral stash is almost non existent as it is.   I will probably start picking up a few extra FQs of neutrals as I can, instead of trying to get them all at one time, so I can spread the cost over a number of months. I have to keep reminding myself that this is a year long challenge, and even though some people have already made enough blocks to make a quilt top, I am not trying to win any prizes for getting it done as quickly as I can.  And I have plenty of other projects to work on, until I can get more neutrals into my stash. So once I finish prepping what I can, I will get some blocks sewn, but then I will be getting back to my other projects that need attention.

I have made a few more Sawtooth Stars for  my Stars for A New Day quilt, and I need to get busy on those pinwheel blocks, for the next border.  And in the next day or two I want to work on the next Wall Hanging for March for our front door... so lots to do beside working on the Stash Busters quilt.


Until next time... Happy Crafting!!!

3 February

YIKES!!!!!! 1/2" HST units went into today's block!!!!!  That is the smallest I have ever made, and boy were they tiny!!  I did use my triangulations papers, for them, but that doesn't help when sewing them to the units next to them.  I thought I was being very accurate and precise, and while I was making this block, it looked to me like it was not going to finish at 3".  As I was sewing, I contemplated making it again later in the year when I didn't have so many other things I wanted to work on, or perhaps, changing it up a bit so it was easier, or not even using it at all in my final quilt top.  But once I finished it, and put it on my table to see if it was 3.5" it was almost perfect!!!!  I did trim up the edges, and that helped a lot with it looking much better, but it was exactly 3.5" when all those seams were complete.  

3 Feb

One thing that does help, a lot, when working with such small sub units, starch!!! Starch your fabric before you cut it to sew something this small.  It will help keep your fabric from stretching and then not ending up the correct size.  I try to starch all my fabric no matter what size I will be cutting it.  It just seems to work out better to be accurate when the fabric is starched, especially for units that work with bias edges like HST units do.  

So, even if things aren't looking like they will turn out correctly, keep pushing through to the end, and see if things don't turn out like they are suppose to.  Even if your quilt block doesn't end up the way it should, learn from what you did.  What can you do different the next time, to get better results?  What did you do that caused it to not turn out the correct size?  It is never a waste of time or fabric, if you learn something from the process, even if you don't end up with a quilt block that you want to use in your final quilt. 

And remember, unless you are making a quilt to enter into a show, it really isn't going to matter in the end, if all your blocks are "perfect" or if you chop off some points, or your seams don't line up.  Your quilt will be beautiful, because YOU made it.  It will still be appreciated by someone, and it will keep them just as warm, as a quilt with "perfect" points and seams.  Enjoy the process!!!  If you want to work on precision, go for it, but don't stress out over it, if things don't turn out like you expect them to.  Finish the quilt, move on to the next one, and keep working on your precision, if that is what you want to do.  If you don't care about how precise you are, then just enjoy each and every quilt you make... and don't listen to anyone that says something about your points or seams not being as they should be.

Until next time... Happy Crafting!!!

2 February

More tiny HST units!!! These finish at just 3/4"!!  I am glad I have my Triangulations CD to print out the papers to use for sewing them.  Not sure I would even want to try doing it with out paper.  But I hope these blocks get back to being a bit easier.   

2 Feb

Didn't get any finishes done yesterday to share, still prepping fabric for my Stash Busters blocks and another quilt.  It seems to take forever to get the fabric cut and ready to sew, and just seconds to get it all sewn.  :-)  I am adding more fabric to my scrap bin as I'm cutting up Fat Quarters to use for these two projects.   But it will be a few more days before I have enough ready to start sewing  on them.  I will be glad to be at the machine again.. and not standing at my cutting table.

Until next time...Happy Crafting!!!