Quilting

Stash Report & Design Wall Monday, Sept. 18, 2017

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Design Wall

My leader & ender has become the main project.  It’s a scrappy Irish Chain with
everything, except the kitchen sink.  That’s right – I don’t have fabric with a kitchen sink on it!  I have about 6 more scrappy blocks to make and then I can web the whole thing unknown-jpgtogether!  Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s put a dent in my 2″ square box.  Hmmm, I think that what they say about scraps having sex and multiplying must be true!L 'n E-5

This UFO is next to be quilted … it should be a quick finish … I hope!  I’m thinking of doing serpentine diagonal lines in both directions … will see what happens …IMG_1037

Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week:     15 yards  (Irish Chain, Kansas Troubles)
Fabric Used year to Date:  136.75  yards
Fabric Added this Week:    0  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:   49.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:   80.45 yards  

UFO tally

I started the year with 47 UFO’s.  I got the Irish Chain done … a whopping 15 yards of fabric … and it was an UFO.

2017   Completed
Jan:           2
Feb:           0
Mar:          0
Apr:          0
May:          2
June:          4
July:          0
Aug:          1
Sept:         1

37 UFO’s left to complete.  Oh dear … I do hope I get this number way down before the end of the year!

Linking to:

Happy Quilting
Gail

A Kansas Troubles UFO finish!!

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IMG_1019While I was quilting my Kansas Troubles, Irish Chain,  I ran out of quilting thread … the spool you see in the picture was emptied and I had less than 1/2 a bobbin … groan … I asked a bunch of friends to find out where I could buy it.  I usually buy it from the Canadian distributer (Carola’s) when she has a booth at quilt shows.   The local stores (within 75 km) that sell Aurifil didn’t have this colour. {Although, one did contact me later to say they did have it.}

BUT:  Joy – oh – joy … Carola was doing a trunk show at a local guild meeting on Tuesday with a pop-up store.  I phoned the store and Carola brought the colour I need to the guild meeting.  YEAH!!!

I ended up winding 3 bobbins and managed to finish the quilt.   Sew, finally, my scrappy, Kansas Troubles Irish Chain is done.

In some ways, I feel like I’ve been fighting to get this quilt done.  But, with almost a steady stream of company (sometimes up to 13 people in a 2-3 bedroom house), it’s actually a wonder that I managed to get it done at all!  I know that I have enjoyed making this quilt.  It’s a special quilt to me! Not only because it’s from my favourite line of fabrics, but because my dear friend, “D” gave me the jelly roll that is the main portion of this quilt.  It’s backed with flannel, so it’ll be nice and cosy during the winter months! This quilt is 104″ x 82″.

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Here’s a look at the quilting from the back of the quilt. It’s not a great picture because the late afternoon sun was shining through the trees (that’s what the lighter areas are). You can see a close up of a feathered wreath from the front of the quilt HERE.

IMG_1029

Link-ups

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

Happy Quilting
Gail

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A little bit of sewing

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We’ve had a LOT of company over the last 2 weeks and we were away for 4 days, so not much sewing has gotten done.  I’m still working on this Irish chain.  I have about 5 more wreaths to do, then the border, make the label and do the binding.  Hopefully by next week I can call this UFO done, done, done!IMG_1018

Link-ups

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

Happy Quilting
Gail

Quilt Report August 28 ’17

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IMG_1010

I used 1/2 yard for the TV top.  No other projects completed,  No fabric purchases.

I’m quilting on the Irish Chain.  Some folks have trouble believing that I do this on my domestic sewing machine.  I do most of my quilting on a Janome 8900.  Sometimes, if the project is small I used my Janome 6500.  Here’s pictures of a wreath in progress – on my Janome 8900.  I have 14 wreaths completed – 17 more to do!

Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week:     0.5 yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  121.75  yards
Fabric Added this Week:    0  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:   49.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:   65.45 yards  

UFO tally

I started the year with 47 UFO’s.  One UFO finished so far this month.  I doesn’t look like I’ll finish the Irish Chain before the end of the month … so it’ll likely be a September finish.

2017   Completed
Jan:           2
Feb:           0
Mar:          0
Apr:          0
May:          2
June:          4
July:          0
Aug:          1

38 UFO’s left to complete

Linking to:

Happy Quilting
Gail

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Lots of “Frogging”

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Yup, 3 whole days of “Frogging” … rippit, rip, rip …  Back story:  I was merrily quilting the centre lines and the 2 coloured lines on this Irish chain and was about to put in my 3rd bobbin … and then I really looked at my quilting … and looked at it … I was using a thread colour that matched the big negative spaces and it looked absolutely HORRID.  The white thread was too much.  It was “HELLO … I’m on your quilt – look at me – plain straight lines … HELLO!”

One of the ladies I sew with is notorious for taking out her quilting.  I’m always teasing her, encouraging to leave it in, telling her that when the quilt is washed – it’ll look just fine.  And for the most part, I believe I’m telling her the truth!  (Now, if she’s reading my blog … she’ll be laughing out loud! … and she’ll have a big grin on her face!)

Well, washing this quilt will not help!  So, I spent 3 days taking out the quilting.   You can’t really see it in this picture, but the dark blue/black blocks are now quilted with a dark grey.  On the lines parallel to the centre line, I’m using a gold thread.  Some of them are done.  You can see the thread, but it isn’t horrid and it isn’t shouting “HELLO”.  And now that it’s done, I’m actually pleased that I spent the time taking the quilting out.  img_1004.jpg

One day last week, I was walking by a thrift store and they had wooden TV trays out and were asking $3.15 each.  I brought one home … my husband repaired a piece that was cracked and I sanded and painted.  Today, I covered it with reflective material, batting and the top fabric.   It may double as a small ironing board, but mostly I wanted it to sit to the right of my machine for all the pieces that are ready to go through the machine.

Link-ups

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

Happy Quilting
Gail

August 21 Report

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Snail's Trail-1

The Pink Snail’s Trail used 8.75 yards.  Last week in my report, I stated that I had bought 4 yards of fabric to use for the backing.  One lovely lady said, “I don’t really consider that adding to the stash, as it does get used immediately.”  She is so correct! I’ll use the amount this time, but in the future, I won’t count it – unless I don’t use it right away, or I buy backing on speculation that it will be used in the future.

I also used up some flannel to make new covers for my magic bags. We use them a lot in the winter, so new covers will be nice!  They used 0.7 yards of fabric

snails-trail-2.jpg

Design Wall

I’m adding borders to this quilt:  When it’s finished – it’ll be added to my UFO DONE list!Retreat pics 5

Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week:      9.45 yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  121.25  yards
Fabric Added this Week:    0  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:   49.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:   64.95 yards  

UFO tally

I started the year with 47 UFO’s.  One UFO finished so far this month. The Pink Snail’s Trail was not a UFO – so it’s not counted as one.

2017   Completed
Jan:           2
Feb:           0
Mar:          0
Apr:          0
May:          2
June:          4
July:          0
Aug:          1

38 UFO’s left to complete

Linking to:

Happy Quilting
Gail

Snail’s Trail is done!

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This quilt is done and will be donated to the guild’s cancer quilt charity.  It was a fun quilt to make!  And certainly much much easier than Shakespeare in the Park!  (Click here).  But it is also about 1/4 the size!  unknown-jpg

Snail's Trail-1

Snail's Trail

Here is a close-up of the quilting.  I basically followed the ‘trail’ and then did orange peel flowers in the large white & pink blocks.  This picture was taken after the quilt was washed – so you also get the “wrinkled” affect.

Link-ups

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

Happy Quilting
Gail

Design Wall & Report: August 14 ’17

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My finishes this week is the Ribbon Box quilt (9.75 yards).  (See a picture HERE).  I did end up buying backing (4 yards) for the Pink Snail’s Trail.  There was NOTHING in my stash that would work.  However, I did find a lovely plain flannel that makes the quilt so very cosy!  It is now my current project that I am quilting.

IMG_0990

Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week:      9.75 yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  111.8  yards
Fabric Added this Week:    4  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:   49.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:   55.5 yards  

UFO tally

I started the year with 47 UFO’s.  One UFO finished so far this month.

2017   Completed
Jan:           2
Feb:           0
Mar:          0
Apr:          0
May:          2
June:          4
July:          0
Aug:          1

38 UFO’s left to complete

Linking to:

Happy Quilting
Gail

Friday’s Finish: Aug 11

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I have finished the next quilt for a wedding gift. The fabric had been sitting for quite a while and the pattern did not “wow” me.  When I saw this pattern, I knew immediately that it was the pattern to use for these fabrics!

Joel & Heather

Here’s a close up of some of the quilting. And yes, there were a LOT of ends to cut off.  For the most part, I used my walking foot and a special anchor stitch on my machine at the beginning and ending of each straight section. That way I didn’t have to bury any of the threads, just had to cut all the ends off.  Then I FMQ the swirls in all the background areas.

Update

IMG_0974

The pdf for the sewing mat tutorial is now smaller and won’t take as long to download.  You can find it HERE.

Link-ups

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

Happy Quilting
Gail

A Year of Blogging

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Wow!!  I can hardly believe that I’ve been blogging for a year now!  There has been 110 published posts.  I’m surprised that I wrote that much!  Especially since I don’t even think about the blog while I’m away.

Away and back again

IMG_0956I was away for just over a week.  Went up into the interior of BC.  There are over 120 wildfires burning in the province and I had to take detours in order to get there and back home.  The detours added between 2 and 4 hours to the 12 hour trip – one way.  Mostly because with the longer drives, I need to stop more often.

There is a total of 591,210 hectares burning right now.  To bring it into perspective: that’s bigger than the province of Prince Edward Island, one and a half times the size of Rhode Island and almost the size of the state of Delaware. That’s a lot of land!

This picture was taken in the Cariboo, north of Williams Lake.  It’s usually a beautiful view looking down the valley, but all you can see is smoke, smoke, smoke.

Quilting

I’m busy quilting another wedding gift or at least trying to!  IMG_0828

My machine needed to go to the doctor – it was skipping stitches and apparently the timing was out.  It seems to happen quite often with my Janome 8900.  Sigh!  Hopefully now, it will work perfectly as I have a pile of quilts that need quilting.

img_0974.jpgAnd I’ve almost finished a smaller machine mat. I need to buy a pair of scissors and find the button so I can attach the thread catcher.  All the sewing is done.  And yes, it’s the same material as the larger one, except I used purple instead of yellow on the flange binding.

Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week:      2 yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  95.30 yards
Fabric Added this Week:    0  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:   45.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:    51.8 yards  

UFO tally

I started the year with 47 UFO’s.  No UFO’s finished yet this month.

2017   Completed
Jan:           2
Feb:           0
Mar:          0
Apr:          0
May:          2
June:          4
July:          0
Aug:          0

39 UFO’s left to complete

Linking to:

Happy Quilting
Gail

Sewing Machine Mat

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Here is a picture of the sewing machine mat with the thread catcher attached with a loop and a button.

I wrote a tutorial.  Click on the PDF file below.

IMG_0952

Sewing Machine Mat.pdf

If you make this mat, I’d love to see pictures of it!

Linking to: Let’s be Social  Go and see the CUTEST giraffe quilt!

Happy Quilting
Gail

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July 24 ’17 Report

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IMG_0938Not a lot to report.  No fabric shopping.  I did finish the large sewing machine mat.  I have a smaller one in progress.  Using almost the same fabrics.  Am thinking about using purple instead of yellow for the binding.

I have also made a small thread catcher to go on it.  I’ll show a picture when it’s completed. The large mat used 2 yards of fabric.

Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week:      2 yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  93.30 yards
Fabric Added this Week:    0  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:   45.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:    49.8 yards  

 

UFO tally

No change in my UFO tally.

2017   Completed
Jan:           2
Feb:           0
Mar:          0
Apr:          0
May:          2
June:          4
July:          0

39 UFO’s left to complete

Linking to:

Happy Quilting
Gail

Sewing Machine Mat

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I love having a sewing machine mat under my featherweight.  I needed one for under my “big” machine when I go to retreats … I also needed a project to highlight binding by machine – so I put the two together and voila!  Here it is:

IMG_0938

Link-ups

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

Happy Quilting
Gail

My first blog award!!!

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I was nominated for the Liebster Award, 2017 by Kathleen who blogs here.

If you take a wander through Kathleen’s blog, you will find many interesting things.  She did a maple-leaf QAL that is absolutely gorgeous!  There is a neat trick to hemming long seams (using a manila folder)  Believe it or not, her first quilt was made totally by hand and took her 15 years to complete.  She has come a long way in her quilting skills!

Liebster Award 2

You can find the official rules of the Liebster Award Here.   If you read through the rules, you’ll find that I did not follow them to the letter.  It was difficult to find other quilting bloggers that have less than 200 followers.  And I wanted to pass on the award to someone who’s blog I enjoy!

One of the official rules for this blog is to answer some questions.  Here goes:

  1.  What is my favourite blog?  Quiltville’s Quips and Snips … you can find it HERE.  This is Bonnie Hunter’s blog.  The queen of scrappy quilts!  I love her mystery quilts that she offers every fall.  I have been following her blog for almost a decade.  She certainly is an encouragement to scrappy quilters around the world.
  2. If you could meet one Quilt Personality, who would it be?  Well, I have already met Bonnie Hunter and was enthralled to take a workshop with her.  Next on my list would likely be Eleanor Burns.  Her sense of humour is an absolute riot!
  3. What is my preference when quilting?  It varies.  I love sewing with my quilting buddies!  I love silence! and I love listening to audio books.
  4. Do I have a favourite snack while quilting?  Nope … don’t want to get food on my quilts.
  5. Do I look for quilts while watching a movie? Of course!
  6. What comes first when you make a quilt:  buying stash then look for a pattern or buy the pattern first and then the fabric?  I have enough stash to last for years and years – most of my patterns are either self-designed or in a Bonnie Hunter book or free on the internet …
  7. What is your favorite quilt/sewn project/craft? My favourite quilt is usually the one I’m currently sewing on.  My current favourite is on my last blog post. (Click HERE).
  8. Hand Quilt or Machine Quilt?  When I first started quilting (in the 80’s) I hand quilted.  When I re-started quilting in 2005, I started machine quilting.  Most of my machine quilting is done on my Janome 8900.
  9. Favorite Color?  Blue!
  10. Favorite Quilting/Crafting Item? My feather weight sewing machine!  It (or an antique hand crank) travels with me and I do most of my piecing on them.
  11. Do you work on one project or many?  This is a silly question … will all of my UFO’s isn’t it obvious that I work on many projects at the same time?
So I now nominate Judy Hansen at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.
You may have visited her blog if you go to the blogs I link up to.  Judy very kindly took over the “Design Wall Mondays” and provides opportunities for bloggers to post links to their own blogs.  It’s a fantastic way to see what others are working on!
Judy also provides a look into her quilty life. From antique inspired quilts to others that look a little on the modern side.  Enjoy your wander through her blog!

Happy Quilting
Gail

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July 17 Update

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A finish!

Quilt #14 of Grandma’s fabrics is done!  And I LOVE it!  It has a flannel back and is oh, so cosy!  If it hadn’t been made for “C”,  I’d be keeping it.  But it was made for “C” and it will be in the mail to her very shortly!Quilt 14

Here’s a close-up of the quilting of one of the centre blocks:quilt-14-1.jpg

 

Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week:      10 yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  91.30 yards
Fabric Added this Week:    0  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:   45.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:    47.8 yards  

UFO tally

I started the year with 47 UFO’s.  Quilt #14 was not a UFO, so my UFO count does not change.

2017   Completed
Jan:           2
Feb:           0
Mar:          0
Apr:          0
May:          2
June:          4
July:          0

39 UFO’s left to complete

Linking to:

Happy Quilting
Gail

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It’s getting there

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The top is finished, borders are added and the quilting has started.  I decided to do feather wreaths in the negative space.  I’m liking it – a LOT.  And since I love doing feathers – it’s a lot of fun to quilt!  I still have most of the outside partial wreaths to do and the small segments that you can see in the bottom corner and upper right.  Hopefully it will get done this weekend!img_0904.jpg

Link-ups

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

Check out the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop Here 

Happy Quilting
Gail

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My Update

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Thank you to all who commented on Sarah’s quilt.  She wrote, “super excited about everyones reaction! I will send pictures of my other quilts and hopefully new ones that i will make.”  You can see here quilt HERE.

Design Wall

This is Quilt #14 made from my Grandma’s fabrics.  I need to add a few borders and quilt it.  It’s an “Uneven 9 Patch.”  I know that I was getting really low on Grandma’s fabrics, but when I did my clean-up, I found this piece of yardage that I had been given years and years ago.  I know that it’s a true vintage fabric, not from just when I received it, but because it is only 35″ wide!

IMG_0891

A Feline Finish

This quilt showcases “cats”.  I started it earlier this year.  It will soon be on it’s way to an aunt that LOVES cats and needs some quilty love.

IMG_0895

Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week:      9 yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  81.30 yards
Fabric Added this Week:    0  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:   45.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:    37.8 yards  

UFO tally

I started the year with 47 UFO’s.

2017   Completed
Jan:           2
Feb:           0
Mar:          0
Apr:          0
May:          2
June:          4
July:          0

39 UFO’s left to complete

Linking to:

Happy Quilting
Gail

 

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Sarah’s finish

/ quiltinggail / 13 Comments
I have been away in Alberta at a wonderful wedding and have not finished any quilts in the past few weeks.  (And yes, the bride & groom loved their quilt! See the quilt HERE)
However, my sister sent me this picture of a quilt made by a 16 year old friend, Sarah.  I am totally impressed with the colour choices that she used for the sashing and border!

Here’s what Sarah has to say:
Yes I made this quilt last year in the quilting 4-H project. The inspiration I had for this quilt was when our family would go down to the Kitchner area to visit relatives, I would always see tons of Mennonites and they have always fasinated me. I brought the quilt this year to the 4-H Regional Fair in Thorhild and won first place which I was really happy about. I also brought it to the Westlock quilters guild show last year. 
I would love for you to put it on your blog! I hope that it will motivate people of my generation to take up the hobby of quilting, a skill that has been slowly dying in the past few decades.
So Sarah – here’s your first quilt on my blog. I’m looking forward to featuring more of your quilts!  To my readers: Let me know when you show this quilt to other people of Sarah’s generation and I will pass it on to her.
sarahs-quilt-1.jpg

Link-ups

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

Happy Quilting
Gail

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Cleaning: the good, the bad and the ugly

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Cleaning

What starting my cleaning frenzy?  My daughter gave me a book, “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying” by Marie Kondo.  I could hardly walk in my sewing room, so I felt some-what inspired – to do SOMETHING.  Not totally though, because obviously the author is not a quilter and does not know the value of a fabric stash!

The Ugly

The ugly fabric – mostly poor quality quilting cottons, polyester fabric – it went.  A few flimsy scrappy tops that definitely did not give me joy & the thought of finishing them gave me dreaded horror thoughts.  Some garment fabric, some old patterns and 2 boxes of polyester stuffing and batting have disappeared from my sewing area and my house!

Bad

In sorting through all of my sewing stuff, I found more STUFF.  Actually UFO’s!.  I found 9, yes NINE, more that were not on my list … they have been added to my current list.  GROAN!!!  For most of them, I have no idea when they were started.

The Good

One of the first things that the author (Tidying) suggests is that for each category – you gather everything, yes everything, into one spot.  So, I gathered all my fabric together.  The next thing you do is ask yourself “does this item give me pleasure?”  Well, for most of my quilting fabric, the answer was a firm “YES!”   I took 4 bags and 2 boxes to the guild meeting.  I came home with 2 boxes (the odd fabric stuffed into one box).  YES!!! YES!!!  I’m so happy that most of it found new homes!

I was also able to organize my latest purchases (of the past 5 or so years) into appropriate containers.  Theoretically, I should be able to find what I’m looking for very quickly!  Please note: I did say “theoretically”! unknown-jpg

Design Wall

No progress on this:IMG_0882

Have started quilting this:

IMG_0890

Stash Report

No fabrics bought this week.  I did get rid of some quilting fabric (panels and a few other odd items), but I did not measure them and as I don’t have a total of all the fabric I possess, I’m not going to worry about the numbers.  Besides, I got rid of it – I didn’t use it!

Fabric Used this Week:      4.8 yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  72.30 yards
Fabric Added this Week:    5  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:   45.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:    26.8 yards   Still doing a happy dance!

UFO Tally

I thought I started out the year with 38 UFO’s.  But with the discovery of 9 more, I actually started out with 47!!!  Oh me, oh my!  

I have given away 3 UFO’s … lowering my final number left to complete!  But my end tally is more UFO’s than I started the year with!  Oh well – perhaps it’ll be more inspiration to complete them!

2017 Completed
Jan: 2
Feb: 0
Mar: 0
Apr: 0
May: 2
June: 1 + 3

39  UFOs left to complete

Linking to:

Happy Quilting
Gail

Friday’s finish is my sewing room

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Friday’s finish

I’ve been working on sorting through all of my fabric.  I don’t have a ‘before’ picture, but I do have ‘middle’ picture.  It went from this: IMG_0883

to this:

IMG_0884

You can even see some of the floor!  I actually amazed myself that I was able to organize things as well as I did!   It did take a lot of time and I haven’t done a stitch of sewing.

And yes, there is other fabric stored in the closet and containers in this room.

I will write more about my clean-up next week.

Link-ups

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

Happy Quilting
Gail