Author Archives: Pam

I made my first quilted item as a visual aid for a math project in 7th grade. Over the next 25 years quilting was hit or miss, but quilting took over all the other crafts I've done in 2003.

The Stash

September 26, 2009 10:04 am ⋅ Pam

Judy has done it again. She’s challenging us to show our stash and then to make a dent in it by the end of 2010. Between now and January 1 the idea is to get it organized.

Well, mine is organized, so I just need to see about making a dent in it.

Here’s the tour:

Top left – Kits. There are 2 or 3 that I bought already kitted up, the rest I’ve pulled together, but haven’t gotten to. I’m doing my best to stay focused on the UFOs and working on a kit would generate a new UFO — or at least a new top needing to be quilted.

Top Right – Scrap Basket. I have not generated any new scraps from stuff I’ve worked on since I made such progress this past summer. It’s piled high again from my friends’ generosity — and I threw the back of a quilt in on top.

Middle – Music Stash. I started collecting music themed fabric the summer of 2003 to make a quilt for my DH. The quilt top is complete and this is what I have left over. I’m going to piece the quilt back from some of this, but there is more than enough to make several music themed quilts.

Bottom – The Shelves. This is the rest of the stash. On the top of the left shelf are UFOs, the next three shelves is my primary stash — anything smaller than a yard. The bottom shelf contains the yardage. On the right tops shelf are finished quilt tops and birthday FQs, the next shelf down is thread, stabilizers, some batting and a couple of small finished quilts. The bottom visible shelf contains the precut pieces, baby and Christmas fabrics, panels and the vintage fabric. The bottom shelf holds magazines and books.

So what would I like to see happen in my stash? Reduction of UFOs – preferably into finished quilts and not just tops. Some of the kits worked up and a dent in the music fabric drawers.

We’ll have to wait and see what the next 15 months bring.

Posted in: Stash

Won a Prize

September 23, 2009 4:33 pm ⋅ Pam

Burton over at Quilting Literati ran a contest for finishing UFOs. I was one of two winners. She sent me this pincushion and Halloween panel.

Thanks Burton!

Posted in: Uncategorized

Another Block Finished

September 22, 2009 10:25 pm ⋅ Pam

I promised I worked on my DWR. I sewed the arcs to nine melon sections and added the corner stones to two of those. Then I quilted. Since this block was so easy, I pushed myself and kept working on it during the news and the first part of the Tonight Show.

Tomorrow I need to work on this week’s SBS BOW.

Posted in: dwr, Josh's Quilt, SBS

One More Row of Blocks

September 21, 2009 9:35 pm ⋅ Pam

I got an extra 2 hours of quilting in tonight with the premier of Dancing With the Stars. So, I finished up this block tonight. That leaves just one more row of blocks to quilt and I’m about 1/4 of the way through the first of the last three blocks. The question now is will I get any sewing done on my DWR?

Posted in: Josh's Quilt

What’s On My Design Wall? – 9/21

September 21, 2009 6:30 am ⋅ Pam

More rings.

I hope I’ll only be showing rings for another week, but if I find I really do have enough fabric to make the quilt bigger, this may go on for two or three more weeks.

Here’s a sneak peek of what I’ve got done so far:

6 x 7 rings. Still need to sew the 4-patches on two sides. Based on the amount of fabric I bought, I was intending the quilt to be 7 x 8 rings. I wouldn’t mind it being 8 x 8 or 8 x 9 rings, but I don’t know how much extra fabric I’ll have when it reaches the original size.

Check out other’s design walls over at Judy’s blog.

Posted in: designwall, dwr

Stash Report Week # 38

September 20, 2009 10:46 am ⋅ Pam

I love my friends. I love that they want to give me their scraps and cast off fabric. It enriches my stash both in size and by adding sparkle to my own scraps since our tastes are not the same.

However, I simply can’t sew fast enough to keep up!

In the picture above, there is approximately 40 yards. I say approximately, because I weighed the scraps and figured 4 yards = 1 pound, more or less.

On the other hand, I cut the cornerstones for my DWR, pulled and cut pieces for my Monterry Medallion and Milky Way quilt, and made two Jacob Ladder blocks to send off for a charity quilt. It just doesn’t add up to make a dent.

Fabric Added this Week: 40.125 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 280.708 yards

Fabric Used this Week: 1.81 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 72.504 yards

Net Stash: +208.204 yards (161.708 was gifted)

Check out Judy’s page to see how others are doing in the endeavor.

Posted in: dwr, milky way, Monterry Medallion, Stash Busting Report

One Block Closer

September 16, 2009 9:40 pm ⋅ Pam

It’s not like I’m doing any fancy quilting — just stitching 1/4 inch from each seam. But why does it take me so long to get it done?

I suppose not sitting in front of the quilting frame might be part of it. This week I’ve stopped whatever I was doing and plopped myself down in front of the quilting frame at 9 PM Central for an hour. Tonight I kept going until I finished this block.

When I ‘watch’ television, I can’t just sit there and do nothing. I’m reading a book during commercials or flipping though quilting magazines. Hand quilting doesn’t work for me, unless I can just ‘listen’ and look up only when it sounds like I need to see what is going on. Jay Leno’s new show is perfect for this. I can listen to the monologue and interviews and look up during the sketches.

I probably won’t try to quilt with black thread on black fabric again either. There simply isn’t enough light to make that easy. But tonight I ran out of my cheap 1/4 inch masking tape and had to pull out the 1/4 Tiger tape. That worked really well on the black dotted fabric – and my stitches are more even — not that anyone will be able to see that.

Four more blocks to go and then I can pull this quilt off the frame and machine quilt the borders. Surely if I watch Leno for an hour each week night I’ll get this finished by the October 15th.

Posted in: hand quilting, jay leno, Josh's Quilt

Mid-September Update

September 15, 2009 7:38 pm ⋅ Pam

September 15th and time to review my goals for the month. Where did the 1st two weeks of September go?

* ~~Complete remaining 2 sets of blocks for the SBS Brown/Blue Swap~~Done and Mailed
* Keep up with the SBS BOW: 3 of the 4 blocks done
* Work on Josh’s Quilt – needs to be off the frame by 10/15 – quilting while watching Leno
* Work on DWR – top needs to be done by 10/15 — 4 melons completed, 9 more need cornerstones
* Complete Finishing Instructions for both sizes of Kansas Spirit BOM – still tweaking smaller layout instructions
* Quilt a baby quilt – may give this up completely
* Keep Scraps Cut Up – don’t look in my scrap bin. I added those scraps I found at the beginning of the month — but I have 2 more weeks to get to them!

Doesn’t seem like I have much done, but I guess I really am halfway through my list. I’ll keep plugging away at it.

Posted in: monthly goals

SBS Block Due 9/20

September 14, 2009 4:15 pm ⋅ Pam

J7 – Pinwheel 2

I made this block a few weeks ago when I was picking the blocks I was willing to make for the Blue and Brown SBS swap. So, more time for me to work on my DWR this week

Posted in: SBS