Stash Report for January 2011

I intend to do a monthly stash report again this year.
Starting with a clean slate I have used the following in January:
Backing and binding a red, white & blue quilt 3 1/2 yds
Backing, borders, and joining strips for Baltimore quilt 6 1/2 yds
Making a folder cover 1 yd
Pillow case demo 1 yd
3 mug rugs and some card fronts 1 yd
Sewing machine mat 2 yds
Total used 15 yds

Bought 5 yds [for planned projects] from BSK and 1 yd [flesh] from Poppy Patch

January total Minus 9 yds, a step in the right direction!

Final stages of quilt as you go Baltimore

The final joining together of the QasUgo Baltimore quilt, is a little difficult to explain but here goes..

After attaching the purple border to the original quilt block, a larger piece of batting and the backing, pin and then sew the gold 2 1/2" strip to the front at the same time as a 2 1/2" strip matching the backing to the back. Do not cut off any of the batting.

Next sew only the gold fabric to the next block to form the border between the two blocks, there should now be two pieces of batting overlapping each other. Hand sew the backing strip down to complete the join.

When you have the rows completed, use the same idea to join the rows together.

I am sure someone somewhere must have written these instructions in a better way than I have.. if you find someone blogging about this please let me know.

Viewing Statistics

I was just wondering who was looking at my blog and since I started blogging in 2008
this is the number of Pageviews by Countries... ummm interesting.

United States 5,052
United Kingdom 4,778
Canada 656
Italy 376
Australia 239
Russia 211
Netherlands 196
Germany 193
Brazil 54
Belgium 46

UFO Challenge January #6

Having been given the challenge to finish a UFO each month on the Patchwork Times blog site. #6 was drawn out of the hat for this month, and I have finished my Baltimore quilt, which was #6 on my list.. yippee !!

I had only completed the blocks so there was a lot of work to get sashing, borders, backing, binding etc completed, but I have managed it with a week to spare.

Hamtune Quilters

Having taken on the roll of acting Chairman for Hamtune Quilters, a group that meets twice a month on the first and third Tuesdays, I decided I need to keep the paperwork somewhere safe.

A cheap file costing just 69p from Wilkinsons was transformed with a fancy cover. Inside the back cover I made a holder for a notebook and pen. It's bright enough that I should not loose it in my workroom!

Mug Rug Day

Finding myself with a free day, which seems very rare these days, I signed up for a Rug Mug swap with the quiltinggallery.com.

I really enjoyed making the two I needed for the swap so decided to make an extra one for a member of my church.

Maybe I'll make one for myself tomorrow!

What a week

What a week this has been!

Monday I went to my regular quilt meeting at Weedon and managed to finish sewing the binding on a UFO quilt.

Tuesday it was off to Poppy Patch at Gt.Doddington to attend a workshop with Helen Spence making the fuchsia cushion in Thai silk with black tape.. still have a lot to do on this to finish it.

Tuesday evening I went to Hamtune Quilt group committee meeting [ my first as a new member of the committee, determined to only take on a small roll, I left as Chairman! HOW did that happen!!

Wednesday I had visitors,

Today Thursday I attended a great day at Threads and Patches Fenny Stratford. Sally the owner arranged a day for a group of us, we had three demo's, Sally is showing how to make circles on the sewing machine, then a nice buffet lunch followed by shopping in her wonderful patchwork and quilting shop. This is a wonderful place to visit either alone or with a group. http://www.threadsandpatches.co.uk/

Stash report 2011

This is the start of a New Year and the start of a clean slate for doing my Stash Report.

I have been busy since Christmas and managed to use:

7 1/2 yds used
00000 yds added

The UFO challenge [ see previous posting] has helped reduce my stash as I had only made the blocks and have used 4 yds for backing and borders, so far. I also backed and put the binding on another quilt using 3 1/2yds.

UFO challenge NUMBER SIX

Today is the start of the UFO challenge with Judy Laquidara.

Number SIX has been drawn, which means my Baltimore Blocks, all 9 of them have come out from their hiding place.
These blocks were made in 2008, and I could not think of a way to put them together. Since then I have attended a number of workshops and today I am putting into practice a method I learnt.

1. Ruler was marked up with tape to 15 1/2" square and the middle marked, this made cutting the blocks, which all have thin batting, all the same size very ease.
2. For the block borders I have cut 18 of 1 1/2" x 15 1/2, and 18 of 1 1/2" x 17 1/2.
3. I have cut 9 pieces of backing 18" square.
4. From thin batting cut 9 pieces 22" square.

Finding the centre of the backing, batting and block pin them together, then attach the top border and then the sides. Do not cut off the excess batting.

The next step will follow shortly!!