Threads

So, my dear friend gave me a Christmas gift yesterday - four spools of incredibly luxurious thread, high-end quilting needles, and a gift certificate to a local quilt store. I feel so spoiled!

The spools are from Essential and the needles are John James. She said she bought both at Connecting Threads. Apparently, both brands can be difficult to find. After she purchased the thread, she said Essential has mixed reviews. I am not a picky thread user, so I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

She gave me a range of browns, from a delicious cream, to a dusty gold, to deep chocolate. I am planning to use the cream (or maybe the gold!?) on my Oh, Frannson Modern Sampler, which I will most likely stipple. 

And so my stash is growing, but it is in all good ways. I plan to go shopping with said friend on Saturday to spend my gift certificate (combined with another gift certificate from a different friend... they know me well, right?). The big question is, what should I buy???

Happy New Year's Eve to anyone who stumbles upon this blog...

Modern Quilt Along

I stumbled across this quilt along from Spring 2009 by Oh, Fransson!, one of my absolute favorite blogs to read. The theme is "modern sampler."

(image from Oh, Fransson! blog)

There are 6 different blocks she walks participants through - A through F. Her directions are delightfully clear and comprehensive. As a newer quilter, I am having no problems keeping up.

I cut for this quilt this weekend out of Studio E's Gabrielle and Anna Maria Horner's Good Folks. The directions instruct to select a dominant and "other" fabric for the best outcome. My dominant fabric is purple and my "other" is blue. We'll see how that comes together. I'm not 100% sold on my choices.

So far, I have completed piecing blocks A & B and am working through C, which is probably the most time intensive. C is the one below with all the little squares. 

I'm thoroughly enjoying this pattern and will post updates as they happen. Oh - and I have to confess that I did order more fabric ... for the back of this quilt. I ordered it directly to size as called for on the pattern. Boy did it feel good to click "buy." Ever since I've been on this diet, all I've wanted to do is consume yarn & fabric. The temptation is unbelievable! 

Anyway, happy hump day! Talk to you soon!

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

I made this quilt for my mom for Christmas. It's out of Moda Pashmina. 

I used a Moda Bakeshop pattern Sultry Jelly Roll. 

I stitched in the ditch for the entire project except the very outer boarder which I split in half with a straight line. This got very tedious by the end and was happy to get it off my machine and complete the binding.

Alls well that ends well; my mom loves the quilt and I can move on to something else! More on that to come!

Check out pics of past quilting projects in myFlickr account. 

What a Mess!

As promised, here are pictures of my studio at it's lowest point.

These were taken this weekend - the day after Christmas 2009. 

I've only been quilting since July of this year and already have piles of scraps.

Knitting is a different story; I've been knitting for four years. My stash isn't nearly as bad as some - I pretty much buy based on projects, not on impulse. Still, I have a handful of shoe-box sized bind filled with fiber, many partial skeins. 

I'm still working on quantifying what I have. More on that to come. Until then, happy Monday!

Welcome!

Now that it is post-Christmas, I am thinking about my New Year's Resolution. This year, my resolution is to lose stash weight. An avid knitter, quilter, and sewer, I have accumulated a respectable stash of yarn and fabric (and notions). I'm making a public resolution to not buy any more supplies until I have used 50% of what I currently own.

Impossible? Maybe. I decided there need to be a few rules and loopholes. As follows...

1. I can purchase new materials for gift-making. After all, I wouldn't want to short-change somebody by giving them something made from OLD materials right? That's almost like re-gifting in a way...

2. I can buy notions to complete projects using stash fabric and yarn. For instance, I can buy thread to match fabric for quilting or a needle size needed for a knitting project.

3. Fabric or yarn to complete projects can be completed but only in the lowest quantity possible. For example, if I make a quilt and need backing, I can buy this but only enough to finish that project. 

Sound fair enough? I'm excited to get started. As you will see from my photos (will post soon), I pulled out all of the fabric I own. By some standards, it probably doesn't look like much. There are many bloggers I read who own mountains more. To others, it may look excessive. For me, it is enough that I have started to feel guilty and need to purge before adding new.

What is my reward? For every completed project out of stash, I am going to pay myself $5. I'll save that money up for a huge fabric buying spree once I've eliminated half my stash.

How will I know I've reached 50%? I am in the process of identifying what I have in terms of yards and ounces. I'll post that soon and start a count down so you all can track my progress along with me.

Thanks for joining me on my stash resolution. Looking forward to your comments and encouragements!