If it's Summer...

...I must be working on quilts.  I don't know why, but when it gets hot outside, I want to create quilts.

At the moment, I've joined a couple of exchanges on FB.  In these exchanges, you make one 12" block for each person that has signed up and then mail them out to each person.  Here are some of the squares I made for the June/July exchange.  The colors were chosen but we each got to pick out what block to use them in.

I chose the Wagon Tracks block from QuiltersCache.com.  These were the last ones I needed to do for June/July.

For August, there were so many of us signed up, we got divided into smaller groups.  My group has 11 people with one person doing 2 blocks so I had to make 11 blocks total.  Our group was totally random for the colors and the block choices (as long as it finishes at 12").  This time I picked the Mosaic block from PatchworkSquare.com.  Since I had been running behind on the previous exchange, I wanted to make sure I was on the ball for August; my blocks are already done!  Here are the blocks I did:

These were a lot of fun to do!  The big squares in each block are 5" and the little ones are 2".  I have bins of both those sizes already cut so that saved a bunch of time.

I've been trying to tame my fabric stash while I've been making these quilt blocks.  I'm also doing a leader/ender project as described by Bonnie Hunter.  I've folded almost all of my fabric yardage (again, using Bonnie Hunter's technique) and rearranged it on my shelves.  Here are the before and after photos:

Now, I just have to deal with a few more yards and all the pieces that are less than a yard:

The first photo is mostly yardage.  The second is my "fat quarters" and scrap pieces.  Not all of the fat quarters were fat, they were smaller.  True fat quarters (18" x 22") are all getting folded the same way and put in a drawer together.  All the other pieces are getting cut up into:

• 5" squares
• 2" squares
• 2½" strips
• 2" x 3½" bricks
• strips narrower than 2½ for string quilts
• little bits smaller than 2" for crumb quilts

As I'm working on managing all these fabric chunks, I'm doing the Caroline Chain from Bonnie Hunter's book Addicted to Scraps as my leader/ender project.  It's the first one in the book.  I'm thinking about just doing every one in the book.  I'll get back to you on whether I do or not.  Here's what it looks like in the book:

I've been cutting a lot of the 2" squares and 2"x3½" bricks for this one.  I've been cutting 5" squares from my fabric chunks first and then I do a bunch of the smaller squares and bricks for this quilt.  I've been throwing the dark and light sets into these two baskets on the floor but I guess I needed some help from Spooky.

The shoebox tubs have the brick and squares in them and I just grab them at random to piece together.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

Major Destashing

I went through my impressive stash a couple of evenings ago and pulled out all the "stuff" that for one reason or another, I'll never get around to doing.

The resulting stack of books, magazines and patterns is about 1½ feet tall!  Even with all that removed, my stash is still impressive.  ;-)

For those of you who stitch for holidays, especially Christmas, the upcoming items for sale are for you!

I've already started creating the listings in my Etsy shop, XedStitches.  I'm going to enter all my items and then start them all together.  At the moment, I have 104 items listed.  I don't know if this destashing will put me up to 200, but we'll see.

Stay tuned and Happy Stitching!

Stacy

Update:  So far, I've got 26 magazines and patterns ready to list.  There are a few more of those and I haven't even started on the books!

Stash Clean Out!

Well, it wasn't one of my stitching New Year's resolutions, but I just did a major de-stashing (is that a word?) of my cross stitch stuff.  I probably didn't get rid of all that I should have but like Gollum, "It's my Precious!".

Anyway, 30 "Preciouses" have been listed in my Etsy Shop, XedStitches.  Hopefully, they'll all find new, loving homes!

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

Recent Quilts

Thanks to my joining a great online quilt group, I've really been quilting up a storm lately. For anyone interested, the group is StashBuilders and you can find them at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StashBuilders/

StashBuilders organizes quite a few swaps, a couple in which I have participated. The first one that I did was a Happy Block swap.

Those participating are divided into groups of 4 or 5 people. I chose some fabric, cut it into 4" squares (centers) and then mailed 6 squares to each person in my group. As each person received my centers, they kept 1 square for themselves and then sewed 2½" borders around the remaining 5 centers. The now bordered centers (Happy Blocks) were then mailed back to me for me to keep. In the mean time, I was receiving centers from the other group participants; putting borders on 5 of them and then mailing them back to their owners.

Here is a picture of my Happy Blocks quilt. It's in a hoop while I hand quilt it. I'm doing a heart stencil in the center of each block and then just quilting in the seam lines around the entire block.

The second swap that I joined was a String Block swap. I signed up to do 2 sets of 6½" blocks. Each set consists of 12 blocks. The theme for this one was purple & green. When I had my sets done, I sent them to the swap hostess along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope. She kept the blocks until all the blocks from each participant had arrived. Then she mixed them up and sent each member the same number of blocks that they contributed. The blocks that I received back were not my own but done by a mix of other members.

Here is my finished String Quilt. I have it hanging at the top of the stairs in my craft room. I machine quilted it in a grid so that there is a 3x3 grid going through each square. I hate doing binding, and due to the style of the quilt, I thought a Prairie Point edging would be appropriate.

Currently, I am receiving blocks from another Happy Block swap. I've already finished and sent all the centers from other members, I'm just waiting for mine to arrive home.

While I'm waiting, I couldn't resist starting another quilt. See? I'm addicted to quilting too. I saw this pattern in these fabrics at the Quilt & Sewing Expo I attended in November 2007 in Puyallup, Washington. As soon as I saw it, I went directly to the lady running the booth, pointed and said "Where do I get the pattern?". It took me awhile to get the same fabrics but God Bless Ebay!!

The pattern is from Strip Delight - 10 Fabulous Quilts from 'Jelly Roll' 2 1/2" Strips - #5321 . The pattern is named for the fabric line called Decadent Victorian (from Moda).

Here is the main body of the top laid out on my quilt design wall in my craft room.