What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Settle in for a long post about a lot going on, things to see and read, and projects where you can participate. Around the feeder we have a lot of pretty birds, and hungry birds! This week there has been a variety of avian friends chowing down on the seed and suet, including some newcomers. When two new species showed up for the first time this year, I had to do another bird count and send it in. Here, a red bellied woodpecker shares the seed with a two goldfinches and two titmouses (hanging off the backside).

The bluebirds are ...

Every year in January I make some time to clean out something. This year it seems like so much more than ever before can just go. After the year of lockdown in 2020, and tentatively venturing out in 2021, this past year has seen more activity, but still not the way it was before covid. And I doubt it ever will be again. I don’t see us ever going back to having dinner parties, or even overnight guests much, although I am looking forward to having a long time friend visit from Wisconsin in March. My Sweet Babboo keeps ...

Today is the final check in for Stashbusters, reporting your December monthly totals and the final year to date. December was busy with holiday fun, so I didn’t get a lot of sewing completions done.

I did finish the Christmas Quilt. I was able to use not only a panel brought into the stash in September, but also six red and green blocks I’ve had in the stash for some time. Extra fabric out for the borders, backing, and binding made this one a true stashbuster. Finished size is 48 x 68-1/2. Fabric out, using my calculation ...

Well, I thought I was being cute on Tuesday with the video, but it didn’t get the response I thought it might. It was supposed to be a clue to let you all know a new mystery quilt along is coming in January, but only a couple of readers figured that out. I couldn’t do one last year, and I was hoping to get everyone excited for a new design. So, here is the announcement for real, coming in January, Scrap Dance Quadrille Mystery Quilt Along! The pattern is done, I just have to finish sewing the first ...

It is the last Stashbuster check in for this year, and our final one will be in January. This has been a fun way to concentrate on reducing the stash, only buying what is needed to finish projects. I had a bit more out than in this month, thank goodness!

Last week I got the moose quilt done, just in time to count the fabric out! Total out for panel, borders, backing and binding = 3 yards.

The London Quilt was finished, and will be auctioned off next weekend. Fabric Out = 3-1/2 yards. I am still looking for leftover fabric ...

Back to Stashbusters, I hope you have some Autumn Jubilee finishes to add to your totals! Time to tally up the last two months of fabric in and out, and see where we stand. If you need to remember where you left off, see the Stashbusters September post comments.

I have the two finishes for Autumn Jubilee. First, for the Quilt Along, the table topper busted 3 yards. The Sew Along was a small project. I am counting it as 1/4 yard for the top, backing and binding. The wool projects don’t count. One more time, here is ...

Time for Stashbusters check in! Have you had a good month of sewing in August? I did pretty good this month with my Quilted Jacket project and two small quilts.

For Fabric In, I did well, only coming home with three fat quarters from a guild game. But I also donated three fat quarters to the same game, so it was a wash. With one of the FQs, I made a potholder as was requested for our holiday party, and turned it in at the area meeting yesterday. I made a second one from the leftovers from this one. This ...

Time to check in for our Stashbuster Challenge! Once again, I had to add fabric, but that is OK. We all have to do that from time to time, and we have to keep the fabric shops in business. I did manage to get more ‘out’ than ‘in’ this time.

For fabric in, I got two yards of the Enchant fabric line for my Quilted Jacket Sew Along.

Then, I have to count in the three fat quarters from Shop Hop.

For Fabric Out, I am donating these fabrics to our area for our secret project, 6 yards out.

Then ...

Another month has gone by, and we are halfway through the year of using up some of our stashes. Did you do well this past month? I had a momentary lapse, but did get a little bit done.

I picked up my Dahlia quilt from Asheville Cotton’s charity show, and took the opportunity to spend the gift certificate I won. I seriously considered getting a new ruler, or a book, just so I wouldn’t have to count fabric in, but ultimately caved when I saw these beauties on the sale rack at 70% off. So I bought what ...

How’d you do last month? I was back on track during the month of May, with more sewing time after the show was over.

I finished up a small quilt from the leftover blocks from our Safelight Quilts project.

I quilted it with a pantograph called Geisha in white cotton thread so it would be suitable for a child. The size is 48-inches square. It will be donated to Project Linus later this year.

It is bound in the same red as the backing. I’m only counting out the backing and binding, as the blocks were from readers ...

When I was on retreat, I put this top together from leftover blocks from our Safelight Quilts. Since I had enough red and blue, it made sense to use them in a Quilt of Valor. This is the mountain peaks setting of the block. If you’d like this pattern, click on Scrappy Quilts. Needless to say, this would be a great Stashbuster for our challenge, too.

Anyway, even though I have made several of these and bound them without borders, this time I wanted it just a bit larger, so borders were in order. I had this wonderful star ...

Up early last Saturday, I wanted to find a way to use the rest of a bunch of jelly roll strips, odds and ends, bits and pieces of patriotic prints. You can see part of the messy pile on my table. I had some larger 12-inch nine patch blocks, and some small 6-inch nine patch blocks for the center of the stars in my To The Nines quilt pattern. But I have made so many of this pattern, I wanted to use up the leftovers with something new.

I had an idea of using the jelly roll strips in large ...

Time to check in! Whether you’ve been with us from January’s post, or you are just starting today, all are welcome. We’ll post our totals for the previous month or weeks on the first Friday of each month. You can use a calendar month, or count from first Friday to first Friday no matter how many days that turns out to be. Whatever works best for you. Every comment with a Stashbuster report will be entered into the monthly drawing, and in the final grand prize drawing at the end of the year. The February post had ...

This year, I want to reduce the size of the stash in my sewing room. It is so easy to buy beautiful fabric, and then have a hard time cutting into it. Ever feel that way? It is almost that I am afraid to make a mistake in how I choose to use it, that I might regret cutting it up for a particular project, then wish I had it back for a different design. I think maybe this is why I design so many scrappy quilts, as I cannot go wrong using the bits left over, and I have ...

Recently, my blogger friend Jeanie at Marmalade Gypsy and I were chatting on email and she made a comment in frustration that I thought was a brilliant idea. Christmas was so busy and was going by so fast. We both were lamenting that there was no time for cards when she said “I swear, next year I am going to make New Year’s cards and just take the pressure off me!” As the holiday approached at breakneck speed, I kept thinking about her comment. Why not do that this year? So, here we are, the week after Christmas, I ...