Questions answered

So I caught a little bloggy heck *cough*Amy*cough* for not detailing my fabric cutting adventures. Please allow me to clarify.

I try to keep my scraps in order. My style is similar to Bonnie's.

If the fabric is a yard or larger, it gets folded and stored in a bin. If it's smaller than a yard, I cut it into:

10 1/2 inch squares, used for quilt backs and in place of layer cakes:









The 5 inch squares are used for tossed nine patch quilts and in place of charm packs:

The 2 1/2 in strips are used in scrap quits or in place of jelly rolls:

The 2 inch squares are used in scrap quilts:



The 1 1/2 inch strips are used in scrap quilts and in place of honey buns:

I wish I could say that all of my scraps are cut and neatly stored in this manner but they are not. I haven't had many stress-induced cutting sessions lately. For that I'm very grateful.

Design Sofa Monday

I just spent a great week at the Vermont Quilt Festival. The quilts were gorgeous and the people were fantastic. My hotel was nearby and made a perfect sewing room. I brought boxes of five-inch squares and used over 1,000 of them!






Three finished quilt tops and blocks pieced for a fourth.

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

Friday finish -- James' quilt

My son and his wife have been married for a year, but they grew up together. Our families go to church together and we are probably closer than most in-laws.

My daughter-in-love's brother graduated from high school this year. Here's his quilt:



I think this is the 6th in a series. A few years ago my parents had some health problems and you know the old saying, "When the going gets tough, the tough cut fabric?" No? Well, I've made all 6 quilts from the fabric cut that week, and there's still more. And my parents are doing well, too. It's a win-win.

Design Wall Monday

Fortunately for me, my quilt holder was home studying for a final. I made him take a study break so I could show you this:



I finished piecing this top for Quilts of Valor. The design wall is currently empty, but I'm sure I'll remedy that soon.


I am journaling while I'm making this Quilt of Valor so I can send the journal to the wounded soldier. It makes the whole process more personal for me as the quilter and hopefully for the recipient as well.


I'll show more photos as I get this quilted, bound, labelled, and in a pillowcase.

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

Friday finish -- Veggie Totes

Yesterday, my daughter-in-love and I went to the Quilt Basket and made To Market To Market tote bags. For the last few weeks, I've been agonizing about which vegetable to pick for my tote bag. Eventually I chose broccoli and my daughter-in-love chose carrots.

Sue taught the class and we learned so much!

Isobel chose eggplants for her bag:

Our family belongs to a you-pick CSA. Today the bags went to the farm and carried home swiss chard, kale, bok choy, strawberries, black currants, and peas!

Guess what's for dinner?

Design Wall Monday

I pulled a bunch of Americana colored strips out of my bucket of 2-1/2 inch strips.
Jaybird Quilts has a tutorial on making a hexagon quilt. I pieced up a bunch of hexagons that will become a Quilt of Valor when they grow up.

Sunday Stash Report

Fabric in this week: 13 yards (backing fabric + a bolt of cream)
Fabric in this year: 22.5 yards
Fabric used this week: 9.75 yards
Fabric used this year: 136.5 yards

STASH BUSTED: 114 yards

This is the first time my total has gone down. Hopefully I can reverse this before it becomes a trend.

Friday finish -- Nikki's quilt

My apologies! It's been about 5 weeks since my blog has seen any action. I've seen plenty of action, though. I've been in 14 different states since I last posted. When I wasn't travelling, sleep somehow seemed more important than blogging. Again, my apologies!

Back to quilting:

This afternoon, a lovely young lady is getting married. I finished her quilt six entire hours before the wedding.



It's another split-nine-patch in 30+ shades of cream.

I will not be at the wedding, however, since I will once again be..... on the road. Off to pack!