North Country

Quilting in the North Country

Coming out of Hibernation

Much like Quilt Harvest Judy L's Show Your Stash Challenge was just the catalyst I needed to bring this neglected journal out of hibernation.  I have been meaning to do this for about six months now but life kept getting in the way.  Given that I can't remember what I had for dinner last night remembering the last nine months is impossible but major highlights include Christmas, changing jobs, getting a promotion within 4 weeks of the new job, moving Jasper's office into town and three 14 hour car trips to the WAY north to see my sister.

Mentioned in the summary above Jasper's office moving into town has had a direct impact on my stash making this challenge very good timing. As mentioned here; the kitchen table has been my only place to sew and the stash has been in bins in the basement (it has grown to twice as many bins since that picture was taken). What was Jasper's office will hopefully one day be the Master Bedroom but some foundation issues need be addressed (hopefully next summer) which is holding up the move of the bathroom and thus the finishing of the Master Bedroom.  In the meantime that room was empty, with empty shelves begging for use so the bins got emptied and plan was formulated to make temporary sewing table.  The plan is to build the supports and table on the (Canadian) Thanksgiving weekend and between now and then clean up the shelves.  As I unpacked the totes, I put the fabric into general colour groupings but there is still a lot of work to do.

Stash 1

Most of the cottons. 

Stash 2

The flannels

Stash 3

The empty wall waiting for 6 feet of sewing space (with sleeping dog).

Posted by Ama on September 27, 2009 at 06:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Two Quilts, One Weekend

This year as been a veritable baby boom for my friends and relatives, particularly for my university roommates.  Between August and February seven babies will be born, five of which will call me Aunt (related or honourary) so there has been a lot of swaddling blankets, hats and other baby gifts being sewed.  Last weekend it was time to visit one of my new "nephews".  Every single piece of fabric came from the stash. I made three flannel quilts for Jasper's nieces and nephew for Christmas in 2004, unfortunately photographic evidence is in film and print format and not easily available. The scraps and leftovers from those quilts went into the stash and have been used only sporadically since then.  Baby Hayden's quilt was made entirely from the stash and 95% for fabrics bought for those original three quilts. I neglected to get a picture of the final product but I will be back to visit quite often so I will have to remember to take the camera with me.  I did get a shot of in progress; I was taking a picture of my dog and her "help" but you can see the quilt as a WIP underneath her.  I made the mistake of laying it on the ground, in the sun spot no less so she decided it needed to be held down.

Oakley on Hayden Quilt

As you can see Oakley takes her job of holding down quilts very seriously. The meet the baby party was out of town so  I stayed with another university roommates new home for weekend. She moved to her new house in April but I hadn't yet sent a housewarming gift so I used up some of the copious amounts of flannel in my stash to whip up a quick couch rag quilt.  I did end up buying 4 metres of fabric to finish it out.  Similar to the baby quilt I pulled a lot of flannels from the stash that I thought would go okay together.  I then hit the local quilt shop and added a few more fabrics to bring the quilt more in line with her home decor and started sewing.  I knew I would have more squares then I needed but I have a plan for the extras.  This is the first quilt that I binded instead of leaving the edges frayed. Not sure I will do it that way again or not. Dawn and tysons quilt

These two quilts are responsible for 13 metres of stash removed.

Posted by Ama on December 01, 2008 at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Stash Update 48... and an apology

I am going to guess that any regular readers of this blog follow it via a reader of some kind given my habit to check out for months out at a time.  I think I may have upped the rudeness factor when my last post was a giveaway.  It wasn't until I sat down tonight that I realised just how much the events of the last couple of months really ran me over. September and October weren't exactly stellar months around these parts but life goes on, you take your lumps, get up and and keep going.

So the giveaway is still on.  I will keep the post open for new comments for two weeks and make the draw on December 14th.   The package is sitting on my kitchen table ready to be mailed, just waiting for an address.

Some sewing occurred during my absence and I was smart enough to keep track on a multitude of little pieces of paper.  I am going to do some updates as separate posts so this will be done as a quick summary.

A total of 13 metre's were bought, 2 metres for some colouring bags of which only half was used, 8 metres in charm packs (I know), and 3 metre's to finish a rag quilt for a good friend.  On the plus side 24.5 metres were used, progress was made on old UFO's (in one case just finding it constituted progress) and some an old UFO and other fabric was donated to the local reuse centre.

The tally:

Added to Stash this Week:  13 metres
Used from Stashed this Week: 24.5 metres

Added to Stash YTD: 54.5 metres
Used from Stash YTD: 67.5 metres

Total: 13 metres removed to stash

Posted by Ama on November 30, 2008 at 07:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

100th Post

A quilty web tradition is to give have a giveaway on your 100th post. This is my 100th post and I always love a giveaway. I originally was going to give away some yardage from my stash of Christmas prints but then one of my favourite designers brought out a new line in my favourite colour ways and I figured it was kismit. So the giveaway; leave a comment and just say hi and I will put your name in a hat for the following: ten fat quarters from the Buggy Barn In the Pink 2 and a laminated copy of the free pattern that accompanies it.

Giveaway

And here is to a hundred more posts.

Posted by Ama on September 13, 2008 at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Stashbusting Week 32

I have discovered I can either have a house that is clean and tidy with no laundry or chores waiting or I can sew all weekend. Lately I have been choosing the house over the sewing machine but this weekend can tell by the tumbleweeds of dog hair and the dishes piled up on the sink the sewing machine won.

I sewed for a total of about 15 hours this weekend but believe it or not nothing came out of the stash. This weekend it was all about UFO's. I got some more quilting done on Ayla's quilt but ran out of the thread I was using so have to pick some up tomorrow after work so I decided to work on a very, very old UFO. The blocks are pieced and put together so it just needs borders and a backing and can be dropped off at the long armer. I am 90% certain I still have the border fabric and backing in my stash.

So nothing in, nothing out.  Tomorrow night I have to make a bag as a gift so that will hopefully come out of stash, then I head to my home town to help a dear friend who will be having a baby and moving to a new home on the same weekend so I don't expect much sewing to get done.

The tally:

Added to Stash this Week:  0 metres
Used from Stashed this Week: 0 metres

Added to Stash YTD: 41.5 metres
Used from Stash YTD: 43.0 metres

Total: 1.5 metres removed to stash

BIG NEWS!! I just realised my next post will be the big 100 so in its honour I think I be a big copy cat and have a give away. Stay tuned, and check in again and I will have the giveaway posted (hopefully tomorrow!)

Posted by Ama on August 10, 2008 at 09:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Why

Judy asked a bunch of great questions and I thought I would answer them here as well.

1.  Why do you quilt?  

I quilt because I enjoy the process. I love making something out of fabric and a pattern. I also love the fact that you are making something that will both be used and “kept”.

2.  How long have you been quilting?

I officially started in the summer of 2002. I bought a sewing machine and made a couple of half square triangles to make a tree before I set it aside to make a rag quilt. The sewing machine didn’t come out for a bit as I was working 4 days a week in another city for a time. Eventually I ended up taking a class in winter of  2003/2004 and got back into it. The quilt from that class is still unfinished in my basement.

3.  What made you start quilting?

I wrote about this before here.  It started with an impromptu trip into a quilt shop while waiting for our table at a restaurant in the same complex. I also needed a hobby – desperately, one that could be done during any time of the day and was also quiet when I was doing it during what was night time for most people. I was working shift work and didn’t have a television or a car. Sewing and quilting was perfect fit, plus it was an excuse to spend time in quilt shops.  My grandmother was a sewer as well, she stopped quilting when it became cheaper to buy blankets in the 50’s so there is also that connection.

4. What sewing machine do you use mostly for piecing?

I started with a Pfaff Hobby 1030, now my sisters machine. About five years ago my family pitched in together for a Christmas gift and I was gift a Pfaff Expression 2046. I love it, it’s a great, sturdy machine that can stand up to the beating it gets when I take it all over the province with me.

5.  What machine do you use mostly for quilting?

One of my goals is to learn how to free motion quilt with the 2046. I mostly do straight line/in the ditch type quilting with it.  I have hand quilted two baby quilts and taken one to a long armer.  I have at least two, possibly three more quilts that will go to her. I think she is booking for March right now so I really need to call her and get the tops finished and delivered to her.

6.  If you could have any sewing machine you want — money isn’t an issue — just get anything you want . . what would you get?

I would get a Pfaff embroidery machine and possibly the Bernina Quilters Edition because I love some of the features of that machine and a long arm like a Gamill or an APQS.

7. When you buy a sewing machine, how long do you expect you’ll keep it?

My first machine – the Pfaff Hobby, I knew I might only be keeping for a few years if I really got into sewing and quilting and would out grow it. I bought that particular model because I wanted a "good" machine but didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a sewing machine because I wasn’t sure if I would stick with it or if it would be added to the plethora of crap in my basement from the other hobbies I have tried and abandoned over the years. I fully expect to keep my 2046 until it doesn’t sew another stitch and any machine I buy from here on would be the same.  I feel very strongly about buying a quality built item that will last for years, if not my lifetime and not a cheaply made item that will have to be replaced in a few years.

8.  On a scale of 1 - 10, how much do you love your stash?

I would say a 6. There are definitely some parts of my stash I love, mostly the flannel. But there is quite a bit – at least more then half of it that I wouldn't miss if it suddenly disappeared. I don’t like some of the fabric (quality amd/or colour) and really don’t like the sizes.  I have way more fat quarters then I know what to do with. I wish I had more yardage.  In order to use up some of the stash I am going to have to embrace fat quarter friendly quilts. Of course fittingly, I don’t like most fat quarter friendly quilts.

9.  Why do you have the stash?

Mostly it came about because of time. I travel a lot for work and use to make an effort to check out new quilt shops to kill time at night, I usually left with some fabric that I hadn’t seen before  - most often fat quarters and patterns because they were easy to pack.  Lack of time is also  a big cause for stash. I constantly buy fabric and patterns to sew up and then realize I have no time to do it. Between working, traveling for work, renovating the house, taking car of the housework (the absolute minimum I assure you) and all of the other things in my life that take up time I never get to that project, then it goes into the stash and I start the process all over again. Tracking my stash additional and removals has really shown me how the stash has grown over the past eight years.

10. When we talk about “stashbusting”, what are your thoughts?

I want to use enough stash that I don’t feel guilty every time I go downstairs to the basement and see where the fabric is stored. I also want to use up what’s there just to free up some space. I want to stop buying fabric just because as its clear that I will always find something else that will be just as good if not better.

 

Posted by Ama on August 09, 2008 at 04:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Stashbusting Week 31

This week was sort of a wash. The local quilt shop was having a sale and I picked up 3 metres of flannel on sale for 75% off.  Most of it should be used in an upcoming baby quilt but quilt quality flannel, in colours I am not compromising on, at 75% off - I am not even going to feel guilty over that! No sewing at all but hopefully with tonight and having tomorrow off I should have some progress on that front next week. I have a bunch of projects I want to do in the next couple of months and I think I am going to have to go through the stash and see whats there because I don't want to buy more then I really need to get them done.

The tally:

Added to Stash this Week:  3 metres
Used from Stashed this Week: 0 metres

Added to Stash YTD: 41.5 metres
Used from Stash YTD: 43.0 metres

Total: 1.5 metres removed to stash

Posted by Ama on August 03, 2008 at 06:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Day 1 Round Up

One of the reasons for the manic cleaning yesterday was because we were expecting company this morning.  Company left not to long ago and dinner is on the bbq.  Once thats done I think I am going to settle in for a long night of sewing because none if it got done yesterday.  I manage to get almost everything done on the list but the sewing and ironing and one of the dogs beds still needs to be washed.  The problem with them is that they each have to be done individually (and there are way too many) and the washing machine has been going pretty much non stop for two days now.  No run was planned for today because I knew by the time the company left I would be bagged - and it might be too late. Tomorrow - my last day off is all about washing the car, doing a trail training run with the dog and maybe some sewing.  Actually that sounds pretty close to heaven to me.

Posted by Ama on August 03, 2008 at 06:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August Traditions

Somehow, in the past seven years we have lived in this house the August Civic long weekend has been the weekend "when things get done" around the house.  Not big things, all the little things that get put off till you have time to do it.   If you check out the August 2006 archives you can see another work weekend documented on the blog, mostly so I had documented goals I could work towards. So in that tradition I am going to do it again.  I am going to check in every night with what I accomplished and what is on deck for tomorrow.

Day 1 of the weekend is half over so I better get myself into overdrive to make a respectable dent in the daily list.

The list:
1. Clean the bathroom
2. Clean the bedroom
3. Clean out bedroom closet
4. Clean out bedroom dressers
5. Get the laundry done
7. Wash the dogs beds
8. Fix the clothes line
9. Run 6 km training run
10. Finish quilting on Ayla's quilt
11. Get diaper bag material ironed.

Posted by Ama on August 02, 2008 at 03:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lemonade Stand Doll Quilt Swap

Back in April - the wonderful Mortimer's Mom, a fellow crafty Canadian who I have been reading since 2004  started a no stress - no worries Anyone Can Join, All Skill Levels Welcomed, Might Be Used By An Actual Child, Doll Quilt Swap. Having never participated in a swap before I figured this was the perfect opportunity to get my feet.  I signed up, found the perfect pattern and bought the fabric.  I started working on the quilt at the retreat mentioned in that link and was in good shape for the May 31st due date.  Then it all fell apart.

First of all I started to panic about what size a doll quilt should be.  I searched everywhere on the internet and finally decided on a ball park size by examining hundreds of quilts on flickr and measuring the quilts and comparing its size to other items in the picture. A process so swimming in the deep end of crazy that I am not even going to try and explain it.  Then I didn't like the pattern and started to second guess it - especially when I started to see sneak peaks of other participants doll quilts posted on their blogs.   Fortunately the spiral of crazy was cut short when I got sick in May.  Mentioned briefly in June I ended spending some time in the hospital, followed by a long period on the couch with what ultimately turned out to be complications from salmonella poisoning. It turns out I shouldn't have had those raw tomatoes on my salad the last night at my mom's place in Vermont.

Needless to say I missed the May 31 deadline as it we the middle of June before I could sit up without being in horrible pain. When I was feeling better the doll quilt was the first thing I tackled and got it in the mail only to have it bounce back to me because the custom form was missing.  It finally arrived at its new home on July 15th - 6 weeks late.

So if you clicked on the doll quilt swap link you will notice the rules could be summed up nicely a) don't be an jerk (FAIL - delivery 6 weeks late), b) don't stress (uh FAIL) and c) try something new (FAIL).  In my defense of item C working with once inch blocks was definetly new for me and I would love to do it on a bigger version... some day.

The quilt:
Doll quilt swap

To see the quilt with its new owner, click here for Wendy's site. For more excellent doll quilts that blew me away check out the flickr group.

Posted by Ama on July 28, 2008 at 10:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

»

Recent Posts

  • Coming out of Hibernation
  • Two Quilts, One Weekend
  • Stash Update 48... and an apology
  • 100th Post
  • Stashbusting Week 32
  • Why
  • Stashbusting Week 31
  • Day 1 Round Up
  • August Traditions
  • Lemonade Stand Doll Quilt Swap

About

Subscribe to this blog's feed
Blog powered by Typepad

Regular Reads

  • A Walk in the Woods
  • Be*mused
  • Covered Porches
  • Fibermania
  • LA Quilter
  • Lakeside
  • Lazy Gal
  • Mary Beth - Quiltr
  • Perennial Passion
  • Quiltville
  • Running Stitch
  • SouleMama
  • Spiral
  • Starfishy
  • Stashmaster
  • Sunshine Quilts
  • Thimble
  • Tommy
  • Turkey Feathers

Archives

  • September 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008