My sewing area

My very first post to my blog was about organzing my stash and scraps. For 20+ years, this fabric has moved all around the country with me in big garbage bags. When kiddos #4-6 came along, I had to stop all my sewing/crafting as I didn't have any time. It has only been the past few years that I have been able to pick it all back up. Anytime I wanted to do a project, though, I would have to go buy more fabric because it was too daunting to go through those bags of wrinkly, odd shaped fabric.
Then I discovered Bonnie Hunter and her scrapsaver system over at Quiltville. I just loved this idea and took off with it. I washed all those fabrics and scraps and then organized and cut them up into the desired sizes.
I started off with this:



Now I have this!



What a difference, huh??

Here are my fat quarters separated by lights and darks, then the bigger yardages also done by lights and darks.

On this side are the bins of precut pieces and strips.


Here is a peek inside one of the bins. Most size strips are separated by lights and darks, but on the sizes I don't have as many, they share the same bin, I just keep them neatly piled up.


Here is a pic of my sewing area:


On the wall next to me when I sew, I keep these two blocks:


They are the same exact pattern, just with different number of fabrics used and different placement. I love that!!
Last but not least, no sewing room of mine would be complete without a cat or two to keep an eye on my progress. Here is Buddy making sure the flimsies stay safe!


I just love being able to sit and sew whenever ready. I was shocked to see how much usable material and scraps I had in those bags that I would never have used if I didn't invest the time into getting them organized. Big undertaking, but so worth it!!!

Love this table topper!

I am not sure if you know it, but I am by day a pharmacy technician at Target. Yes, I am a drug dealer. Or, more accurately, a pill counter. Anywho, tomorrow is one of my pharmacists birthday, so I made her this table topper:

Here is a darker shot that shows the quilting a bit:

I really hope she likes it. I made it completely from stash, including piecing the batting together as I didn't want to cut into one of my big rolls. First time I have done that! I cut out enough pieces to make two of them, so in the next few days I will complete the second one. Hmmmm...I just jight have to keep the second one. I really like that way it turned out. It's kind of funny, because looking back at the quilts that I have made over the past year, you would never know I really am a traditionalist when it comes to quilts. I really love the old patterns. Yet, most of my projects for this past year don't really have that look to it. Guess that is my favorite part of doing mystery quilts. They cause me to try patterns I probably wouldn't have done if I knew what the pattern was from the start, but I end up loving them! It's good to expand your horizons!
I didn't get the pics done of my fabric organization yet, but will soon...hopefully tomorrow!
Good night and happy stitching!

Last Day of Christmas vacation for me

Here is Christmas Lights all done:

Now I am off to make a tablerunner for a friend as a birthday gift. Hopefully it will go together quickly for me.
I do have exciting(well to me) news! My fabric and scraps are now all playing nicely with each other and are all organized!! When I am up there, I will take pics for you to see. It isn't a very impressive stash compared to some I have seen, but I like it! Like it even better now that everything is folded, cut into predesignated sizes and ready to rumble! I really hadn't been in the sewing mood over the holiday (who would be when they have the most amazing family all around to spend time with!!), but I did use small amounts of time to get in there and finish this project up. I swear, I think I could never sew again if I was able to just go in and touch and feel and play with my fabric!
Well, I will check in later, hopefully with lots of pics!!

Frugal tip of the day: Use that water you boiled your potatos in to water your plants. Why just toss it down the drain?

The finale

Well, Christmas Lights is all quilted!!! Yes, yes...loud fanfare is allowed!! It went sooo much faster than I expected. Kinda worries me. Hmmm..maybe I am not doing this free motion stuff right. It looks good. Stitches are still irregular, but better than the last time. Doesn't seem to have too much distance between stitches. Well, I'm not going to second guess it. It is done, it looks good and I am happy! I even got the binding all cut and ready to go. I was going to start putting that on tonight, but I think I am going to just call it a night and quit while I am ahead. Another quilt almost ready to move off the to do list to the completed list. Oh...guess what?!! This is the second quilt done since I made the promise to myself to not start another top until I got 2 quilted!!!
Wooohoooo!! I am FREE!! Oh, wait. This getting stuff completed feels purdy doggone good. Hmmm..maybe I will sandwich and quilt another top before I start another one. Who woulda thunk? Had you told me a few weeks ago that I would not JUMP at the chance to start another top, I woulda laughed. lol...such dilemmas!! Stay tuned for the next exciting episode!!

A little quilting

I know I should be kicking my sewing and projects into high gear, especially if I want to end the year with a few more quilts done, but I just haven't been able to get into it. I have actually spent a few nights reading, something I haven't done in a long time (Thanks, Marie..your new book was GREAT!!), watching Gilmore Girls with Hannah, watching Christmas shows with the whole family, and just relaxing. I did fit one night (after 4 nights of needles breaking, tension being messed up, and ripping out TONS of quilting) quilting my Christmas Lights quilt. I am going to work on it again tonight and will, hopefully, end up with it being at least 2/3 done. Then, just one more evening of quilting it, one of binding and I will actually have my Christmas quilt done before Christmas! Here is a pic of it while being quilted:

I really love the way it turned out. A) it was a mystery so you just never know (even tho Bonnie Hunter is generally pretty reliable with great quilts, I know some were not happy with this one) and B) other than the red, it was made completely from stash, including the back which I had to piece together.
I am still practicing my free motion quilting, so I am just doing a large meander on it with the occasional free formed star.

I have a long, LONG way to go before I could be considered good at free motion quilting, but I am starting to enjoy it and relax with it.
Here's to hoping you are all enjoying and relaxing this holiday season!!