Monday 1 February 2016

Checking In...

Folks, February has arrived. That means I have survived a whole month of The Stashpocalypse; so far so good.

I bravely ventured into a fabric shop on 5 occasions in January:
 1. I popped in to Patch in Halifax to pick up fabric that was being supplied for the class sample. I was focused on the mission at hand and managed to get out with just a small bundle at no cost to me! 
2. A few days later I literally ran in to Patch and practically threw the finished Sampler at Chris...blinders on, parked illegally in a snowbank and late for boxing class. How easy it might have been to skip class and poke around instead...
3. The dreaded behemoth that is Fabricville; definitely not my go-to-cotton-patch...but hey, I've been known to leave behind a little credit card carnage there on occasion. I (brace yourself) took on a commission for a giant t-shirt quilt and needed stabilizer for the jersey shirts. 
4. Fabricville again. More stabilizer. Have I ever mentioned that I HATE t-shirt quilts? But money is money and this stash slayer is broke. 
5. The Robot requested a giant cone of white thread so I popped in to Sew With Vision for a visit. Always nice to catch up with Bonnie and see what they're working on in there...and she's got great prices on Signature quilting thread and offers a discount to guild members.

No poking around, no fabric petting, no Visa charges...just get in and get out. 
Took. Everything. I. Had.
But, mission(s) accomplished. 

Now, just 11 more months to go.

It helps that The Enabler left behind a stack of Tula Pinks Eden in purple. We're going to surprise each other by creating a flimsy for the other with the line. She's got the same stack for me in the pink colourway. She picked up the fabric when It's Sew Time had their open house Christmas sale, so I'll be quilting both of them.


What else is new?

Well, my first Bloggaversary slipped by quietly on the 28th of January. In the words of my favourite author, "It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags!" I had totally meant to do something to mark the grand occasion, but turns out I'm often less like the Grinch and more like Pooh...even when I try to remember, I forget. Oh bother. It's hard to believe a whole year of rambling at you fine people has passed. Time flies! 

We had a little sew-in here all weekend...sewed our hearts out, ate our faces off...you know how it goes. Saturday The Robot and I quilted The Enablers kinda-quick-curve-ruler project she calls Curvy Girl. It's beautiful...but do ya think I snapped a photo of it? No.  On Sunday, Adrienne was working on a new class sample for Patch and I busted out some stash fabrics and made one along with her. It's done, just needs binding. Super cute and fun project...it's got some Dr. Seuss fabric in it...I guess that's what got me going on the rhymes.

Star Bright quilt designed by Katie Blakesley at Sew Bike Quilt

I even pieced the back in true scrap-a-palooza style. I had a big chunk of the grey Robert Kaufman sheeting that I had cut off the bottom of the Gravity quilt, so I sewed that up with some other leftovers...and voila! After everyone had left for the day, The Robot & I quilted it up using the "Bubblicious" pattern downloaded by The Enabler some time ago from Intelligent Quilting. See, I even have digital demons to fight in this Stashpocalypse...sigh.


Once my wee star quilt was done I blew the dust off a long forgotten project: Pointy, by Elizabeth Hartman. How could I have neglected this rainbow of Kona and linen for so long? The kit came and served as a bit of retail therapy around the time I hit the deer on the Fatboy...I had even cut it all up and had some of the piecing done! Clearly my fire blazed off in a different direction and I took a different path. Gravity, maybe? Anyway, yesterday I stitched up one arrow and was satisfied enough with it to put the pieces in the Jack Daniels tin. Once that happens, it'll probably get done...or at least carted off to a sew in and worked on.


And that, my friends, is all for now.



9 comments:

  1. I had been wondering about Pointy. Nice to see it. Your courage on this stash busting journey is epic. Well done for January.

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  2. Me too (see comment above)! I have been keeping my eyes peeled for a glimpse of Pointy in this space :) My daughter and I decided it was our favorite pattern on the rack when we went popped into Patch last weekend. Apparently I am the counterweight to this year's stash-busting craze!! I didn't buy Pointy, but "some" fabric fell into my shopping bag...

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  3. I am SO glad that you've been blogging for a year ... and congrats on staying the no-stash-buy course for a whole month!

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  4. A tumbler ruler happened my way last week. Five hundred tumblers later, the stash has been reduced and one baby quilt produced. Just found enough blue and yellow ducks, polka dots and what not for another quilt. Val, Val, remove this ruler from my house. Love your posts and choice of words. It was all because of gift cards that new fabric arrived in January.

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  5. You did well not to be tempted or should I say resisted temptation. Love your star bright quilt , great job !

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  6. Oh my goodness! I am so impressed by your strength, your courage, your will power, and your wonderful projects! Love your star quilt with those e3xcellent fabric choices, and the Tula fabric is just so gorgeous. Can't wait for your next post...and happy blogiversary!

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  7. OHHHHHH! I love the arrow........

    Congratulations on you first blogiversary! I have to check mine......must be 8 or 9, heaven's forbid if 10 passed already and I didn't realize it.

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  8. Congrats on blogging your heart out for the past year. You make it such a pleasure to read about your quilty antics. You have a way with the words girlie. Can't wait to see what you do with the Tula.

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  9. Congrats on the non-purchases. Let me know how the t-shirt quilt goes. I'm planning to make one.

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