Much Needed Stash Manifesto

Ok. So I've been away from my sewing "den" let's call it, for about 5 days while being away for my work. I've been primary working from my stash for the last six months or so. But I have also been purchasing a few fabrics here and there still. I enjoy buying fabric and quilty things. I will not deny anything. But I realize that my fabric buying has pushed my sewing "den" to the capacity limit. I've even taken pictures of the proof of this. I'm starting to feel like a hoarder....

Evidence Picture #1 - 4 shelves full of fabric...see that second shelf from the top, I have to reach between the fabric piles to turn on my heaters.....

Evidence Picture #2 - These shelves are not as plentiful but still hold an abundance of fabric. There are also 2 quilt tops on this stand that need to be quilted.

Evidence Picture #3 - This is my under the bed tote packed with FQs....Can you guess why I left the Bargain Lover's Club?

Evidence Picture #4 - Here is where all my flannels reside and a few cotton panels.

Evidence Picture #5 - A Layer Cake and some other "Special" fabrics.

Evidence Picture #6 - Fabrics for one particular project. 

Evidence Picture #7 - These are my scrap bins. I actually have 9 scrap bins...some are hidden in the picture. 

So after seeing the hard truth of my abundant stash, I've decided that I NEED to make a Stash Manifesto. These are going to be quick and simple rules.

1. Pull from my stash at every available opportunity while doing a project.
2. Backing, batting, thread and fabric will be purchased when needed to complete a project.
3. Fabric may be purchased to fulfill the Birthday Bonus Club if I cannot pull from my stash.
4. Vacations will have a fabric budget (I may regret this one)
5. If I happen to slip, I will pick myself up and continue on.

Linking up with Jenn @ A Quarter Inch from the Edge

Goal #4 Quilt Top Done

Well I have just finished my Quilt Top for Meadow Mist's Midnight Mystery Quilt-A-long. I am beyond excited. I was a few months behind with the pattern but managed to catch up in the last couple of weeks. It was such a fun quilt to make!

Here are some progress pics.

And finally the finished top!

I'm hoping to get some outdoor pictures tomorrow depending on the weather of course. Not sure how I will quilt this one. I'll be putting it aside to work on another top that needs to be quilted. 

Feels really good to be working towards those 2016 goals! Goal #4 is almost complete!

Positively Simple Quilt Revealed!

Well now that the holidays are behind us, I can reveal another quilt that was made for my sister and her husband. She is the mastermind behind Jill's Quilting and Appliqué blog. This quilt was finished in the fall so I have some pretty good outdoor pictures :)

I changed up the quilt pattern for this one. It is the Positively Simple quilt pattern from Fons & Porter. I used the Elementary Collection by Sweetwater for moda fabrics. I know my sister loves this collection so about six months ago, I had an opportunity to get a Layer Cake. And knew that I was going to make a quilt for her and her husband out of it.

I couldn't resist taking this quilt to a local park that is just a walk away. I also did this on a weekday where the kids would be in school. I don't know if they would have been happy about me taking over their playground to snap some pictures.

I didn't have a chance to sew during the week but the weekend was more productive :) I finished 6 Mosaic Tile blocks for the block exchange between me and my sister. I don't want to post pictures yet since they would be in the mail as I write this ;)

I am also trying to catch up on the Mystery Quilt Along hosted by Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs.
So much sewing happening over here. Hopefully I'll have some more pictures to post in the coming days. Hope your weekend was as productive as mine :)

Julia

Working towards Goal #12

12) I also want to dust off my embroidery machine. I haven't been using it nearly enough to justify owning it. I've purchased different products for it and haven't even taken them out of the packaging! 

That above goal is listed in my Goals for 2016 post. I've spent most of my vacation cleaning and 

organizing my sewing room (and cooking an insane amount of food!) that I hadn't done much sewing until yesterday. While the ham was cooking in my slow cooker, I decided to try sewing on my Topaz 20 machine. My husband bought me the circular attachment for this machine over a year ago for my birthday.....sadly yesterday was the first day I used it.

But I did learn how to use it and finished a quick pillow cover :)

What you can't see is the circular attachment underneath the fabric. You can make perfect circles with this tool! And Petals too but I haven't tried that yet. I do have some ideas to use the petals in for a future quilt. 

You start off by using the template and drawing your center point and circle around the point. In reality, this step isn't really needed but it is a bit helpful as you sew the circle. 

The reason why one corner is cut so much more than the other is that my first circle was horrible! I used the wrong stitch and then tried to remove the stitch. While trying to undo stitches, I went through this pretty Kona fabric.....So what I decided rather than throw the piece of fabric away that I would cut the piece on the corners. And the different sizes may be considered a modern pillow cover....

Here's the finish :)

And finally with a pillow insert.

The colours are bold but I think that's what I liked about it. Not sure if I'll keep this or not. I really don't need any more pillow covers. I just wanted to test out my circular attachment. I'll have to think about it. For now, I'll remove the pillow insert and put the pillow cover away for another time.

What do you do with projects that are just practice pieces turned into a finished project?