SCORE!!!

Not too much sewing has been taking place with the start of school.  In a boarding school environment, it is possible to literally be on duty from 7:45 AM until 11:30 PM, particularly during the first few weeks of school.  I AM EXHAUSTED!

But I did squeeze in some time for myself on Saturday.  I went to the 27th Annual Home Sewing Exchange as a vendor, bringing with me some 1 yard cuts of fabric, some skeins of yarn, and some notions that I was willing to part with.  My goal, beyond clearing out some of my stash, was to earn back my $20 registration fee and make enough money to pick up some neutral fabrics from the other vendors, since I blow through neutrals like nobody's business.  I thought my goal was lofty, since I was selling the fabric for $2/yard and selling the leftover yarn from my yarn shop for $1, $2, $3 and $5/skein, but I was thrilled at the end of the day when, not only had I earned back my registration fee, but I cleared $125.00 over that! 

I allotted myself $10 to go shopping.  I went over by $1.50, but look how much I got!!!

First, I shopped the table of the woman next to me because she was great to talk with and she bought quite a bit from me - scissors, rulers and the like for her eight-year-old granddaughter whom she is teaching to sew.  She didn't have much in the way of neutrals, but she had some others that caught my eye.

As I went around, I found some big chunks of neutrals, mostly between 3/4 yard and 1 yard cuts.

And then I hit paydirt - 15 fat quarters for $5!!

The neutral that the fat quarters are laid out on is 2.5 yards!

All told, I got about 15 yards of fabric for $11.50.  Woo hoo!  Now if I can just find time to sew it up!

The Skeletons in My Closet

My husband and I are switching rooms again, his office and my sewing room.  I'm not-so-secretly THRILLED because that means I'm moving back into the room we originally planned to be my sewing room when we finished our basement: it is bigger, has much better natural light, has a closet and has walk-out doors to the yard.  Happy me!  Except moving all my sewing supplies is a lot of work, taking time away from actual sewing.

However, the beginning of the year is the time to re-assess and re-group and clean anyway, right?  I've been feeling a little overwhelmed in my sewing space, so time to get my act together down there. As I moved things over to the new room, I took time to organize them and make lists.

Oh, boy.  Making lists illuminates so much, sometimes things that you'd prefer to remain obscure.
Like how many UFOs I have: 28
Like how many completed tops I have that need quilting: 25
Like how many quilts I am currently quilting (I'm a hand quilter): 7

Top shelf = UFOs, middle shelf = flimsies, bottom shelf = being quilted
(ignore the defunct water softener in the yard outside the window - it is headed to the dump)

I know that I am a process person, not a finisher - that's no secret.  But this is a bit out of control, don't you think?

On to the fabric stash.  Much of it is contained in these drawers, neatly enough for me.  Then there's another HUGE drawer of a dresser that is also full of assorted yardage that doesn't fit in these drawers.

The smaller drawers are sorted by color - the larger drawers are for novelty (2 drawers) and multicolor florals (1 drawer)

But any of you who know me knows that I work primarily with scraps.  They make my heart SO HAPPY!  They are the first place I go when I start a block.  I pre-cut scraps into various squares from 1.5" to 5".  They are relatively neatly organized.

No worries - I won't be leaving these in the window for long; they are just here while I rearrange and figure out where to put things.  There is also a big drawer full of 5" squares and a baggie full of 3.5" squares.  I have the same system at work, with about as many pre-cut squares, but that's at work so it doesn't count, right?

BUT (and this is a huge but), I am a bit behind on my scrap cutting.  These 3 tubs, box and plastic bag are scraps (hangs head in shame).

Ignore the mess ON the futon - that's just stuff I haven't put away yet.

And then, there's one more skeleton in the closet that needs exposing.  Remember how I'm a process person?  Sometimes I make just one block.  For the process, not to make a quilt.  Or I abandon a quilt idea altogether after making some blocks.  So I have some orphans.  Or more accurately, HUNDREDS of orphans.

To be fair to myself, I did INHERIT some of these orphans, and I also dumped all of the bonus triangles I have sewn into this drawer, too.

But no worries, I have a plan!

1. I will dedicate a minimum of 15 minutes a day cutting scraps.  I recognize that there will be days when I don't get to cut scraps, and that is OK, but it means I'll need to make up for it on other days.  I have already printed out a calendar to mark on for this, and have been keeping track since January 1.  I am giving myself the winter to get my scraps under control.  When spring arrives on March 20, any untamed scraps must leave my house!
2. I have joined Aunt Marti's UFO Challenge (the challenge is at the bottom of the post).  Hopefully this will help me get 12 UFOs to the flimsy stage. 
3. I will participate in Block Lotto again.  I've enjoyed this in the past, and it gets me using my scraps.  Plus, all the blocks I make LEAVE THE HOUSE instead of staying here and adding to the lists.  (of course, one time I won Block Lotto - those blocks are all together now on the UFO shelf)
4. I will post at least 2 pieces of yardage for sale in my ETSY shop each week to help me de-stash.  Honestly, there's no reason to keep holding onto fabric without ever using it.  I actually started this a month or two ago, and have been headed to the post office at least once a week shipping off fabric.
5. I will finish an orphan quilt by the time the Drive-In opens this season (end of March).  I made an orphan quilt years ago, and loved taking it to the Drive-In movies and on road trips.  In fact, it never left the car until it went missing.  I have plenty of orphans to make another.  I will tie it like I did the last one, not quilt it.  I can do this!
6. I will finish quilting at least 4 quilts by July.  I owe quilts to two babies.  I'm working on one for my mother (shhhh...don't tell!).  And I'll need an entry for the local quilt show like I do every year.  That's a month and a half for each quilt.  The baby quilts and the one for my mother are small-ish.  Not sure yet which I'll choose for the quilt show.

I can DO this.  Just putting my hands on everything as I've moved has been inspiring to me.  I'm itching to get down there and sew, now that it is more organized and I'm in a bigger space.  GO ME!!

Adventures in shopping

Even though it was Saturday, I woke up at 5:45 AM and couldn't go back to sleep. So I hopped out of bed and paid bills for the month. Imagine my delight when I discovered that I had paid my credit card bill twice last month, so there was a credit! I can't have that now, can I? They aren't about to send me a refund. So, on my way to the airport to meet students that I was flying in from all over the country to visit the University where I work, I made a slight detour to visit a quilt shop. My QUICK QUARTER tool had broken last week, and I needed a replacement. (Do you use one of those to make half-square triangle blocks? I love it, and have used it regularly since the day I bought my first one 6 or 7 years ago.)

Anyway, I walked in the store, and the notions were right there, front and center. I found what I needed within 20 seconds of entering the store, which is both good, and not so good. I didn't want to turn around and leave with my purchase without actually getting to browse! So, I started my first pass around the store, admiring fabrics, but being oh-so-good about not buying anything. Until I hit the sale rack. A bright paisley nearly jumped off the rack and into my arms. But it was on sale, and I had a credit on my card, so two yards of bright paisley packed its bags to come live with me.

However, that fabric peeked outside and saw the snow and the brisk winter wind and pleaded with me to pick up another fabric for it to huddle together with on the journey back to my house. I am a sucker for a pleading paisley, but I am trying to be fiscally responsible, so I asked myself, "What do I really need?" (I'm using the term "need" loosely.) And it hit me, I've been wanting to make a quilt with a black background, so I headed over to the black section. Of course, none of that was on sale, but I did find a mottled black that I liked, so three yards of that wrapped itself around the paisley to keep it safe and warm. On my last pass through the store (you don't just look at everything once, do you?), another sale print sidled up to me suggestively, and I carried it to the cutting table, but I had an attack of conscience while waiting my turn for cutting, so I took it back. I could hearing it crying dejectedly all the way through cutting and check out and out the door.

At the end of the day, though, I am happy to report that my purchases didn't even half the credit on my card - I am the picture of restraint! And here is a picture of my purchases:


Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! I have to work, but I am determined to do it with a smile on my face and a bounce in my step, because I have a whole family of valentines waiting for me at home at the end of the day. May your days be as blessed as mine!

A snippet of my daily life

Yesterday was my husband's birthday. I called him as I was leaving work to find out if he wanted anything special for dinner. When he answered the phone, he said, "Erin, I think we have a problem here," and proceeded to relay this story:

"As I was shaving this morning (remember, this is my husband's story, not mine), I glanced out the window and saw the biggest pile of dog poop ever (we have a yellow lab with a hefty appetite). As I turned back to the mirror, however, it moved! I looked again, and realized that it was a turtle. So I rushed outside to get it and put it in a shoe box so I could show the boys when they got home. The trouble is, I just got home, and the shoe box is still here on the bookcase where I left it, but the turtle is nowhere to be found!"

I had to laugh as I first pictured my city-boy husband handling a turtle (turns out, he armed himself with leather gardening gloves), and then his horror when he thought that it could be ANYWHERE in the house. He found it before I arrived home with the boys - it had crossed the living room and was hiding in a corner behind the furniture. You will see from these photos that there were some dust bunnies in that corner; I'm pretty sure that I've shared before that I am not a model housekeeper. It looks like the poor little guy has whiskers!



Obviously, the kids were thrilled with this discovery. After that excitement died down and they reluctantly put him in the garden (might as well, nothing is growing in there anyway), I directed Jason's attention to the mail he had received - squishy mail! I was so covetous! One of the lovely ladies on this blog saw that he had won a ribbon in the quilt show and sent him some fabric to start his stash. You can't tell how thrilled he was in this picture because I caught him in mid-sentence, but THANK YOU, KIM!!! You made his week!



He told me that he needed a place to keep his stash. Eventually, I'll probably just get him a little plastic chest of drawers (I told him he could just add it to my stash, but he didn't fall for it!), but in the meantime, there was a box in the car that he could use. He dashed out to get it, then carefully folded all his fabric into the box.

Fast forward to this morning. After seeing the turtle covered in dust from my floors, I got up early to sweep and mop the downstairs before work. As I wandered into the kitchen for a glass of water to fortify me, I noticed that my passenger side car door was open. I knew in an instant that it had been open all night. It also rained all night. I am always fussing at the boys to close the car doors when they get out, and apparently, I forgot to close my door when I got out my purse yesterday. It is a perfect teachable moment, right? As the kids and I were driving to work and the entire inside of the car was moist and smelling a bit like cat (I found one of them on Donald's car seat when I went out to close the door), I told them what I had done and that even grown-ups make mistakes. After all, I want them to be able to own up to their mistakes. After a few seconds, Jason spoke up. "Actually, Mom, remember I came out and got that box for my fabric last night? The box was on that seat. The car door was closed when I came out here, but I don't think I closed it when I went back inside." Huh? Well, lesson learned, I guess.

I love my kids.