Monday, February 12, 2007

Where does time go?

Man, it's been over a week already since I last posted! So, what have I been up to?
Sunday--our local quilt shop had their annual Super Bowl Sale (40% off!) and I volunteered to work (I also teach there) as there is never enough help. Heck, at those prices, she is busy!! I was a little worried that I might break my own rule of NO fabric buying period--I don't even include the 4 B's in my rule (backings, bindings, borders and ??-can't remember the 4th right now). It was hard, and I did end up buying fabric for my Quilt 24 Challenge (a coordinate ONLY--the ones shown are what my hubby gave me for my birthday) and fabric for a friend who is making a baby quilt. My challenge required solid fabric and I just do not have solids in my stash. And, I choose 4 yards total of something that I do not need, but absolutely wanted! It's a deep fuschia with orange dots on it. I thought it would make a great border. I got 3 yards of that and 1 yard of a wonderful batik orange to go with it. Now, I am not counting it as buying fabric--because the quilt shop owner pays us in yardage when we work--so I literally worked for that fabric. Okay--so it's kind of pushing the limit--but hey--it's my own rule AND that is the FIRST fabric I acquired (notice I didn't say "bought"! LOL) that is purely a "want" since last July! So, was I a bad girl? No, I don't feel bad. I did need the first fabric I bought and the other, well.... So, now the debate is, should I put that Fabric Diet button on my sidebar? LOLTaxes--ugh! It gets worse every year. Things get more complicated the older we get. I used to love doing taxes! Yeah, that was when my hubby just got a W-2, and I was a SAHM. :) So, now I spread out all my stuff and work 3-4 hours daily on it. I am going on a 3 week trip with Kirt and then on a 9 day trip with some girlfriends and I would like a lot of this tax stuff done before I go.

Making samples.........cleaning my sewing room. It lasted all of one day! My hubby came out right after I cleaned my work table off and was impressed--until he saw it 2 days later and wondered what happened! never mind, just never mind! LOL I also started to work on my Calendar quilt. I saw it posted last year on Pat Sloan's website, but the year was too far gone to start it. I unfortunately didn't remember until last week, so I'm playing catch up with Jan. But basically it's like a string quilt--you add a piece of fabric EVERY day to the row, usually a strip. And you make 4- 91 strips per row and put sashing inbetween the rows and you have a quilt. My original intentions were to add strips of whatever I was working on at the time. Well, I decided against that for a number of reasons. I might not have enough fabric to "give" to that project. What if I have a spell where I'm not piecing but catching up on quilting (which I DESPERATELY need to do!) and my fabrics would be all over the board. So, I decided to do a "theme" per month. January will have all blues/purples in it, Feb. will have pinks/reds. March will have greens, April will be florals, etc. Now, the question is: will I continue to do this all year? Time will tell!

9 comments:

Silverthimble said...

I also looked at doing a calendar quilt as a result of looking at Pat Sloan's blog. I never did get started. I thought about setting aside a strip of each new fabric that I work with and then I would have some "seeds" to start one of these quilts for next year. Keep going on your calendar quilt and be sure to show us your progress each month. When you know you have to report in with the rest of us, you stay on track! *LOL*

The Calico Cat said...

I have that fuscia with orange - LOVE it!

Clare said...

Love that orange. I like the idea of a calendar quilt. Will take a look at Pat Sloan's website. I know it is too late now, but perhaps next year?

quiltpixie said...

being paid in yardage is not BUYING fabric -- is bartering for fabric which is completely different... If I were to give you a quilt from my collection and you were to "pay me" in comparable fabric I wouldn't have bought fabric. Exchanging your work for fabric is the same.

Love your idea for the calendar quilt. I thought about it, a lot actually, but decided that I'd find one string a day a pain and either constantly be playing catch up or working ahead... But youridea of themed colours makes a lot of sense...

Samantha said...

When I used to work at a quilt shop, I got paid in cash, but always spent it right back at the store. At least, we budgeted it that way so it was okay :-) Love your new fabrics! Good luck on the taxes...

Melzie said...

Very pretty fabrics :) xoxo melzie

Darlene said...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Shelina said...

That is beautiful fabric - your collection as well as the fabric you acquired.
Sounds like a good plan for the strips.
I hope you enjoy your trips, and have some quilty things planned for them.

SuBee said...

In a nice chatty entry with so much happening, I kept going back to one thing - your hunny got you fabric for your birthday!! How cool!!