Stash Report March 27

As I mentioned last week, my quilt guild's quilt show was last weekend and like a good little quilter, I supported our vendors. I'm signed up for our annual mystery retreat in northern California and found some lovely Civil War prints just right for it. Aren't they pretty?!

But I did work on 3 projects that used a total of 1 1/2 yards so I wasn't all bad. Two were applique projects which used tiny pieces but I did have fun with my new ruler gadget and used up a Charm Pack plus borders.

Fabric added this week: 8.25

Fabric used this week: 1.5

Fabric added YTD: 63.75

Fabric used YTD: 53.25

Total: -10.50

Go on over to Judy's Blog and see how everyone else's done this week?

New gadget!

I bought a new ruler-gadget at our quilt show yesterday and tried it out today. It's the Lil' Twister ruler and here's my progression through the process:

You take 5" squares (perfect for charm packs of which I have many!) and make 9-patches out of them.

Add a 3" frame around them making a 14" block.

You take this little 3 1/2' Lil' Twister ruler and lining up the lines on the ruler with the seams you've just sewn, slice up the nice little blocks leaving this behind:

But what you get are these cute 12 1/2" pinwheel blocks that would make a lovely baby quilt, which is what I'm making this for--

You might think there's a lot of waste but you can cut the remaining scraps into 2 1/2" squares. I used 36, 5" squares for this quilt center so have 36, 2 1/2" squares to use for the border or whatever. They also make a larger one of these rulers to use with "layer cake" charms. I think I might buy one!

Oh, and I spent 2 1/2 hours on this project. I plan to add sashing and borders and am thinking about making it Minkee!

Stash Report March 20

We had a terrific storm last night and our electricity has been out until now so I couldn't post!

As I reported last week, my quilt guild's quilt show was this weekend. Since I won't be shopping until later today, I have ZERO additional fabric for this week! However, we are encouraged to "make our vendors happy" so we do like to buy from them and I intend to comply.

I quilted my UFO, completed by BOM and prepared applique leaves for my Civil War quilt so didn't use much fabric--only 1/4 yard for the binding for my UFO and 1/4 for the leaves. I don't use a double binding, only single, cutting 1 1/4" strips. I learned that in a Darlene Zimmerman finishing class. Most of my quilts are for show and won't get a lot of use so why struggle with double binding? Of course, if it's for a college kid or a baby or a quilt that will get a LOT of use and washing, double it up. Otherwise, save your fabric and make it easy on yourself, especially if you're doing a curvy or wavy edge you'll be cutting on the bias!

Stats:

Fabric added this week: 0

Fabric used this week: .5

Fabric added year to date: 55.25

Fabric used year to date: 51.75

Totals: -3.75