Using up stash

So I've been working on some various projects to clean out my stash. This makes me happy on

several levels. Being creative and using what I've collected.

This one was inspired and made using Cluck.Cluck.Sew. tutorial. I loved the little offset boxes, so I had to make my own. I built this quilt around the dark pink bird fabric. It's hopscotch by red rooster. After I got my blocks finished I threw them up on my design wall. For like a month. I moved them around and then I moved them around some more. I finally came up with an arrangement that I was happy with. But I was just not feeling the sashing. I just thought white would be the color. But it was boring. It didn't pop. I just happened to have some brown left over from a different project, and I threw that up on the wall.

Totally different. That makes me really happy. So I went with the brown. I"m pretty sure the color is "Coffee" by Kona. I've got it all sewn together, but didn't take a picture of that. So you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see that. Now I'm just stuck on the backing. Do I piece it together? I've got the light pink and some birds left over that would work, but I'm not sold on that yet. It's hanging on my wall, so I can stare at it for a week or so. :)

1 week old

My nephew Mason!

Quilt By me. Photo and Baby by my SIL. :)

Fixing...Messing with...

Whatever you call it. Tweaking maybe? I don't know. I'm playing with my blog layout, so if you notice anything really crazy, I'm sorry. I'm working on having that fixed. My old set up was weird for posting pictures. They could only be super tiny. So I grabbed this template so I could post them a little larger. Easier on the eyes I think. Now I'm just tryign to make it my own, with my very limited html know how. :)

Cheater Cheater

I made this for a friend that had a baby on Monday. She is not a pastel kind of person. When I saw this panel, I knew I wanted to make it. Then I found out she was preggers, so I knew I had a match. I feel totally like a cheater cheater pumpkin eater because it's a panel. I still quilted it and everything. But still. She loves it and that's all that matters. I used Kona Honey Dew to bind it off. I didn't get a pick of the back, but it's a pink and burgandy print that matches the colors in the urchin.

Pictures!

This is one of the quilts I put together while my hubby was in San Diego. I had seen some on flickr like this, and decided to make up one of my own. I cut 2 1/2 inch strips and sewed them together. Then I cut those strips 7 1/2 inches. I slapped another strip on the top and bottom and done! I used some fat quarter I had laying around from a baby quilt I was going to make oh.. 5 years ago. :) The border is pieced from the leftovers. So much fun! I quilted it in white thread, just going about 1/4 an inch on either side of the seams. So it's a grid pattern. Simple, but striking I think.

What? You love it? You want it? Well, Lucky You! It's up in my etsy shop.

Also. I went and did something crazy. I started a bee. You know, a quilting bee? The theme is Solids. Just using solids. No prints. It can be a single color, or a rainbow of them. But only solids. Head on over to Solid Bee Block for more details and to join! Right now there are 2 peeps that have joined, so there is room for 10 more. Hurray! Act Today! No Delay!

Thoughts about Stash.

Since I don't have photo editing software on this thing yet, there are no pictures to share today. Sorry. Instead, I've cracked my skull a little, to let the crazy out and you guys (okay. You guy. My one faithful reader) in.

So I've been thinking about my stash, and stashing habits lately. Why I stash, what I stash. You know. Deep Thoughts. I have come to a realization that I am a collector. A hoarder if you will. My thoughts are along the lines of "I love it. I must own it all. If I use it up it will be gone forever." So, it sits. Lovely yarn or fabric just sits and waits. Which, after further thought, seems really dumb. Because if I USE it, I get to enjoy it while I'm knitting. Or put it into a quilt and then have a finished quilt that I or someone else will love and see all day. Instead of sitting in my craft room. Waiting for their full potential to be met.

While my hubby was away, I re-did my craft room and now I can see what I have. I pulled out 3 garbage bags of fabric that I no longer love, and won't use. People. That is just crazy. Now, granted I bought alot of this stuff years ago, before I had a husband, a kid and a house. But really. How long should I keep holding on to this stuff that I'm never going to use? So I was honest with myself, and got rid of a bunch. I also made it so I could see what I have, instead of hiding it away in rubbermaid tubs. If I can see it, I can use it. If I see it, I won't buy new stuff that I don't need. Well, that's the hope anyway.

A good example is fabric I'm cutting for a quilt. I bought a bunch of black and white fabric, wanting to "someday" make a black and white quilt. I bought that fabric before I starting dating my hubby. 7 years ago. I think 'someday' has come. I starting cutting into it last night. I didn't break out into a sweat. It didn't kill me. Hell, there is nothing special about that fabric. It's just fabric. I'm even throwing tiny pieces away, instead of saving them. Shocker!

When I was in college, I learned that once people went from a hunter gather society to a more settled lifestyle, they didn't need to hunt to live. But people still do. Those are the people that hunt for toys from their childhood. Baseball cards. Stripey Sock yarn. Whatever floats your boat. They hunt, they find, they collect. No reason really, except to fill some deep seated instinctual urge. Well, I'm breaking that habit. Mostly because I don't want to turn into my Grandmother, who couldn't throw anything out. She was a child of the depression, and saved everything. When she died and they cleaned out her house, she had 3 garbage bags of the waistband from men's' underwear. 3 bags. Of worn out elastic from Grandpa's skivies.

So. In my rambling way, I guess I'm saying this. I am going to start USING what I have. Knitting up that pretty sock yarn, instead of petting it and dreaming about the socks it will make. I will make those socks. I will cut that fabric. I will make a quilt. I will keep it and love it, or give it away and be happy it's making someone else happy. There will always be new yarn to love and pet. New fabric that is just the right shade of pink. Why am I saving all of the goodies? Wouldn't it suck if I died tomorrow, and my husband just sent it off to the salvation army? (Don't worry. My BFF Rose has strict instructions as to what her job is when I kick)

Use it or Get rid of it. Then get new stuff. That's my new motto. :)

Thoughts? Comments? Hints and tips?

Hello Blog World!

Okay. Let me whine a moment. I cut the heck out of the tip of my index finger yesterday fixing the ac and it hurts! A band aid doesn't want to stick and of course, it's right were I type. argh! But the ac is not leaking water any more, so that's a plus. *end whine*

While Michael was in San Diego, I finished 2 baby sized quilt tops. Of course, I left them at work when I showed them off to the girls, so I haven't gotten pictures yet. I work tonight, so I hope I'll remember them this time.

I cut out a wonky block quilt top and sewed it up yesterday. I just need sashing and it's finished.

Now. here's the funny part of the whole being productive thing. I cleaned out my craft room and it's lovely in there. But I've found if I haul my cutting mat or sewing machine upstairs and work in the kitchen during nap time, I get a ton done. I think it's because I can hear the kid when he wake ups, or I can sneak away while he's playing trains and cut a bit. So. Lovely craft room= no work. Working on the kitchen island = work done.

I think if I ever get these tops quilted, I'm going to toss them up on etsy. Maybe they'll sell. If not, I've got a stack of baby quilts ready for when all those people I know pop. Seriously. I think I know about 15 people birthing babies this year. Anyone else out there overwhelmed with babies? Not everyone I know is getting a quilt. Some are getting knit hats or flannel receiving blankets. I have a system. Blood relatives get a quilt. Good friends get a blanket and friends/coworkers get a knit hat. I have a bunch of hats to make, but they're super cute, made out of sock yarn. Hooray for using up leftovers.