Friday, June 17, 2011

Depressing fabric stash...

Yesterday evening I was outside with Hunter and sat down on a old tree stump, I looked down and what did I see? Do you see the little yellow dot in the center of the photo? That is one of my stick pins! Hmmm....still not sure how it got out there and this stump is over next to one of the horse lots. Oh well...Snapped this photo of Hunter while he rolled around in the grass. Silly boy has a long sleeved shirt on! I promise that he dressed himself. LOL! And my precious little Smokey rolling around too! Isn't he soooooo cute? I love him so much! He is the best little dog and not a minutes trouble. Last vet visit he weighed a whopping 5.1 pounds! Now to show you how creative that hubby is! See this rusted steel? He is in need of another trailer. Living on a farm you always need several trailers for different things. Buying one is not an option for us right now so what does he do? He gathers up some old rusted steel that he had in various lengths and started cutting and welding. This is just the start of it but I will take another photo as he gets more of it done. After it is all welded and gets the axles on it he will sand and paint it. He is pretty handy to have around! :)Now on to quilting...I haven't had a chance to load that antique top back on the frame yet. Hunter has a friend over and he is a VERY active friend! So going out there and machine quilting is not an option tonight. Still not sure what to do with it yet.


I think I am finished with my string blocks. I now have 120 of them finished. Now to peel the paper off and sew them together in some type of design. Not sure about that yet either.I realized something today.....MY STASH IS VERY SORRY LOOKING! :( If you have read my blog for a while you will remember that hubby got laid off December 2009 and is currently going to college! :) He will graduate June 2012 with a degree in Nursing, I am so proud of him. I know it was hard for him to go back to school after so many years. ANYWAY....I have been on a LOW BUY since then with fabric. I have purchased some but not enough to amount to anything. I guess that is one good thing about having a stash, without it I would not have had anything to sew this past 1 1/2 years. Don't get me wrong I do have fabric but nothing that I want to use! LOL! I have some yardage that goes from 2-3 yards and I try to save those for borders and don't want to cut into those for piecing. I was digging around in my fabrics today and realized just how low that I actually was...

This drawer has my greens in it! Not much there, right? Actually I have some of them out I will show a photo of that later in the post. The other row of fabric is some novelty stuff and panels. I don't actually use a lot of that stuff. This drawer has my blues/pinks/reds in it and a few solids that are in the back. These drawers hold fabrics that vary from 1/2 yard to 1 yard cuts. This last drawer is a little mixed up, it has browns, blacks, purples, yellows and oranges in it. I really need to sort this drawer a little better don't I? I also have scrap tubs that have been cut down to strips, strings and 2.5" squares. I'm not sure how everyone else selects fabrics for scrap quilts but if I don't have it precut, I always go to my scrap basket first, shown hereMy scrap basket has pieces that are smaller than fat quarters but pieces that I'm just not ready to cut down yet.

After I sort through my scrap basket for pieces I then go to my fat quarters. I didn't get a photo of them but I probably only have somewhere around 25 of those.

Then I head to my drawers that I just showed photos of. These drawers hold cuts from 1/2 yard to 1 yard. If possible when I cut into these pieces I cut a fat quarter out and put it in the FQ tub.


I also have a very small stash of Civil War fabrics that I LOVE and a small tub of neutrals that I use for scrappy backgrounds.

I guess I do have a stash and I am thankful for what I have but just depressed that it is not what it used to be! LOL! I'm sure I will live! Now on top of this I have a zillion UFO's that I need to finish but they just get on my nerves anymore and I don't want to mess with them.

I mentioned earlier in this post that I had some of the greens out of the drawer, here they are.


I'm not exactly sure what I will do with them but I'm just not real crazy about medium/lights. So I would like to use them up and get them out of there. I tend to go more for the darker fabrics. I'm thinking that I want to make something fairly simple with them and be done with it. Oh and I did pull some darker greens out the other day to plan a quilt with, just haven't used them yet. I guess I am finished complaining for now. Anyone else ever feel like whining about their stash? Hubby said that I was just being "hormonal" today! :(


Kristie

7 comments:

Becky said...

I hear you Kristie! My husband got laid off too and I find my stash not very exciting too. But, I am like you and have a kabillion UFO's to work on. I only purchase fabric if I don't have it to finish the UFO. Sometimes it is irritating, but with all the world's troubles.....if this is the worst that happens to me, I'll be ecstatic! Hang in there.

Honey Bear said...

I have been frequenting thrift stores and finding good fabrics at very inexpensive prices here in Texas. Some is quilt store quality and others Walmart quality but not the really thin fabric. I got 26 yards the other day for less than $1.22 a yard. Very nice. I am behind on updating my blog but will put what I got out there soon.

Yvette said...

Guess what? I don't have a stash. Yes, you heard that right. I have a tub of Civil Wars and I do add to it but I am using them almost as fast as I use them. I also have a tub of 30's fabrics that I am saving for a quilt. I do have a bin of leftover strings from other projects but I really don't count them. I would love a large stash but I am space challenge.

Darling Jill Quilts said...

I think you have a great stash! You just need to pick one of Bonnie Hunter's designs and sew it from your stash. :)

Vesuviusmama said...

I get frustrated with my stash because almost exclusively only have scraps - no real yardage to speak of. Granted, most of my quilts are scraps quilts, but sometimes I want a a focus fabric to reappear throughout the quilt and I often can't do that. I also don't have that bright modern fabric that is out there these days, and I am itching to try some, but too frugal to buy it. Hence, all the giveaways I enter. Do you enter the giveaways? With luck that is a way to slowly add some variety to your stash. Keep your head up - you have many blessings.

Me and My Stitches said...

Ok...I really want to know how that pin got in the tree! I can't complain about my stash...it is too big if you ask my husband! I know how you feel with UFOs too - I have to be in the right mood to work on them and that doesn't happen very often!

Unknown said...

Yes, complain if it makes you feel better :) I understand if you are worried, as Richard won´t start working until next year!