Figgy Tree

With all that's been going on these past months, I kind of fell off the wagon of reporting what I was using or busting from stash and what I was buying. Well, for a while I was doing neither. But, I have been hitting it hard, finishing up quilts for my show, getting samples made. So, I've been busting quite a bit of stash and have been keeping track of it. It kind of is like a habit, use fabric, write it down in my little black book. hahaha I don't know if it's too late to jump back into that Stash busting line up, but here's what I have done YTD:



Used YTD: 273.25 yards

Bought YTD: 153.25 yards

Net total: 120 yards busted!



Not bad, considering I fell off the wagon early on this year with Kaffe stuff! Here is the latest that just rocked my boat and begged me to buy it. I loved this pattern (edit. note: the pattern is a free download on the Hancocks of Paducah website http://www.hancocks-paducah.com/Item--i-M-PS-30180 and just a hint: if you like the fabric, it's about $30 cheaper to get the kit vs. buying the fabric individually--too bad I found out AFTER I did it!! LOL) the minute I saw it and thought about trying to use my Christmas fabric--and I have crappy Christmas fabric, ya know? So, I bought some and it has made me happy ever since. It didn't stay in the stash very long...like 2 days? I cut it out right away and sewed it up, so in it went to the count and then right out again. I probably could have just omitted it totally but I like to see how much I really buy a year, keeps me honest!

Stash Busting Week #7

Busy week last week and then I hosted my quilt group's retreat at my house/studio. I so wanted to work on NEW stuff, but with piles of UFO's and a whole stack of flimsies to quilt, I decided to be good and machine quilt all weekend. PLUS, it busted a lot of stash making up the backings and bindings! I really needed that because I went to a quilt store final days where ALL fabric was $3/yard! (no--it wasn't the Kaffe Fasset fabric--darn!). So I had to do something that would counteract that. And it was a very good weekend--although "Kathy" (my evil twin) made an appearance and wasn't very good. But more on her later. :)

Stash IN: 12 yards
Stash OUT: 12 3/4 yards

Stash IN YTD: 22 yards
Stash OUT YTD:31 yards
Net Total: 9 yards

I'm not sure about the totals for the last week, somehow I got all confused--I'm not used to buying fabric that when I have to add it to my totals--it gets me all flustered! LOL So my totals now are accurate. I finally got a little cheap planner and keep it at my cutting table so I can record daily and have a count. I used to do it on an Excel program, but that's in the house and then I'd forget, so this will be better.

Shout Out and struggling with my evil twin

First of all--a SHOUT OUT to my friend, Vickie, who is now a featured designer on Moda's Bakeshop --cute little projects using their charm packs, jelly rolls, etc. And now her second 'recipe' is on there. Go check all the darling projects. Congratulations Vickie!!

Second, I've been having a bit of a struggle with my evil twin, Kathy (why Kathy? I don't know, but a lot of people call me Kathy by mistake--maybe it's when her naughtiness flares up??). Vickie mentioned going to a quilt shop and getting Kaffe Fassett's fabric and a lot of other neat fabrics for 50% off!! The whole entire shop is 50% off! Whoa--now that is some sale. So, 'Kathy' starts scheming to make the 1 1/2 hour trip over there to check them out. I mean, that's a darn good price! She had ALL kinds of reasons why it was a good idea. Great price that you rarely see, I LOVE that stuff, great prices, I love it, you know the story. She pretty much had convinced me that it was okay to go over and buy more fabric, because it was a really good price! I was all set to call my friend, tell her to get dressed and we're going on a road trip. Then the real me emerged and told me to get over to that studio and take out ALL the Kaffe fabric I have and figure out exactly where I'm lacking. Well........first there is this little tub--and oh look, a few projects that were started and forgotten about..........hmmm, here are the NEW bags that hubby got for my birthday..............oops, here's that pile I got what? 2 years ago?? And then there is the basket full that I got maybe 4 or 5 years ago? And I need MORE? ROFLOL. Nope, can't justify it. NO matter how I tried, I knew it was wrong, just plain wrong to go buy MORE to store in my room! And now you can understand my need to BUST stash--not increase it!

So, "Kathy" slinked back to the house and then reminded me of the local quilt store that is closing her doors in 2 more days and ALL fabric is $3/yard! I did go for a friend, HONEST! But... I did buy (3) 4 yard pieces for backings. All legal, according to Stashbusters. And my yardage is low--so I feel confident it will get used. So--I guess you can my evil twin won a little battle, but that's more justified than buying more, just cuz. And tell "Kathy" to quit pouting.

FINAL Stashbusting Report--Woohoo!

Wow--my closet sure doesn't show it but I busted a net total of........

358.25 YARDS!!

I didn't post a report all of December cuz I was busy!! Sewing lots of purses, sling totes, tote bags, fabric baskets, quilt for in laws, class samples AND vacationing AND had Christmas! LOL But I kept tally all along. Here's the final report:

December in: 0

December out: 17.75 yards

TOTAL YTD in: 39.5 yards

TOTAL OUT: 397.75 Yards (I was really hoping to hit 400, but ran out of time)

TOTAL NET OUT: 358.25 Yards!!

My friends are all amazed at this former Queen of Quilt Shopping!! I really had to use restraint in not buying fabric, just because. I did break down at Paducah and bought a bit of new fabric and my favorite quilt shop in Pawley's Island had a 50% off sale and how can you pass that up? The only thing I don't count is if fabric has been given to me (a friend bought me a jelly roll and hubby surprised me for Christmas and bought me some--I really didnt' think he would). But I count everything else. Oh wait..I don't count it IF I buy it to make a gift and then make it within a month, so it really never hits the stash. I know that in Stashbuster's, you can have 'legal' buys of the 4 "B's"...backing, borders, backgrounds and bindings..but I even count those, unless it's a gift and only had to buy something twice because I had nothing that did not work.

It all really doesn't matter, because I do this for me. I am out of room in my closet and really do have a nice workable stash. I think another year of really sticking to it will be good for me. I love the new fabric, but I have pretty stuff too. My original thought was to get it all way, way down. But the more I think of it....the reason I can make so many quilts without buying a thing is because I do have a nice variety. And I love that I can pretty much make whatever I want without too much effort. Oh, a few times I sure wished I could have gone out and bought something, but it made me be a bit more creative. And I love the challenge of making quilts with what I have. Okay, I have a lot, so it's not too hard. Some of my friends that are newer into quilting don't have that luxury of shopping a stash. I tell them that I couldn't do it either if I hadn't bought so much along the way. AND that they are the ones who need to keep the quilt stores in business. I did my share..now it's someone else's turn! LOL

All in all, I keep track for myself and actually enjoy the challenge. I might think different later when fabric starts getting depleted to the point that it's more work that it's worth. So..for now, I'm going for another Stash bustin' year. At one point I was trying NOT to buy ANY fabric at all, for any reason, but that is just too much. So..keeping it under 40 yards is a real coup. It's actually only 10% of what I busted, so that's good. I wonder if I can hit 500 yards this year? Wow, that's a lot...but who knows? Who thought I would have used almost 400 yards?

Now....here's a picture of me covered in the new fabric hubby got me...and I did not ask for it and he knew what I was trying to do. I asked him about it and he said he just loves the look on my face when I get some new fabric. He said, "I don't get it...but to see your face, it's worth it!" I guess since when you have been a little lean in new fabric, it makes you appreciate it when you do get some! He loves Fat Quarter Shop! heehee..me too!

A good quilty get away

Since I got here to SC, I've been a busy girl! I promised a friend of my mother's that I would hand sew bindings on a few Amish quilted quilts for her that were done in 1991! Got out one of the 'Karen' kits (when we bought our vacation home, I vowed to myself that I would not accumulate the stash, etc. that I have at home. And to save myself toting projects back and forth, I made myself 'kits' of projects to work on while I was here. Remember the Stained Glass quilt I posted about this summer? That was one of them). Anyway, continuing on..I finished a quilt top from Thimbleberries fabrics--and that tells you it's an old project! I haven't bought TB fabric in eons! I thought it would be a nice charity quilt. Then I found a "Montana Cartwheel" pattern and found that I had most of the spiked arcs already done! Woo hoo! So, spent time finding fabrics to finish the blocks and sewing those lovely curves. My friend and I were talking about where we got the fabric and we came to the conclusion that we must have shared stash with one another.We do that a lot--really extends your fabric selections! Some fabric in our quilts are the same, but then others I recognize from a purse, another quilt, really OLD fabric, etc. I don't have enough here to finish the blocks, but I'm close enough to take them home now and finish them up. Another 8+ year old UFO!

And continuing on with my Quilt a top on Thursdays, I brought my Bargello quilt and batting and backing and borrowed my friend's HQ16 (the one in the sit down table) and got it quilted. Whoa! It's been a while quilting on a quilt sitting down. LOL It took a while to get my groove back! Oh well--someone will love it, I'm sure. Notice the sexy legs--not included with quilt! And did you notice that you can't see the quilting? LOL--it's one of those 'hang it high and keep it moving" quilts. I also finished a little quiltlet that was my turn to quilt in our RRBloggers group. I ended up doing it on a domestic machine-the HQ was just too big and fast to control on such a small piece. Sorry Julie--it's your quiltlet, so no sneak peeks. :)

Stash busting for the week: I already counted the fabric for the backing of the quilt I just finished, so no fair counting it again. AND....the quilt store in Pawley's Island is closing, so we made our farewell trip and found a couple of FQ's and a few half yards that will fit my need for aqua and reds fetish that has been going on in my little brain. So--I had to ADD 2 yards to my totals IN this year, but that's okay. I don't feel bad because there were some awesome batiks I REALLY wanted to buy, carried them around the store for a while before I put them back. I'm sure those bolts were hoping I'd come back for them.

Our friends from our softball world arrived last night from Holland, so I doubt if I get any more quilty stuff done this week. But--it was a great week and now I can get some sun!

More finishes and stash busted!

Woo hoo--good week (really the last two) for finishes and busting more stash!

Stash IN for week (2) -0-

Stash OUT for week (2) 30 3/4 yards!!

I don't have YTD totals as I'm leaving in 7 minutes for the airport--headed to SC for 10 days. So must hurry. Writing my blog was last on my list before going. :) Editor's note: this post was written on Monday and the pictures would not load..so it was saved. I am now just getting them done on Sat. What can I say? It's been a busy week! More on that later....

I made 4 purses--one for my daughter, Mom loved it,so made one for her. An Amy Butler bag, Birdy Sling-oops forgot to take pictures of all those and the last one was an OSU purse. I had taught an OSU quilt class a few weeks back and I went through the trash and gathered all the toss outs and made some 'crumb' blocks, mixed them with some embroidered blocks and used some sample fabric (a nice velvety microfiber) that my hubby brought home--and Voila!

This is the other baby quilt that I made on the 'two for one' post. Bound and labeled. I am still on my quest to quilt a top on Thursday. This was a top from my Quilt 24 Challenge a couple of years ago. It's been aging nicely and it was time to get it done. It's bound and labeled. I used a Baptist Fan pattern on it.

Have a great week! Karen

Humidity and quilt markings

yep, you guessed it...I hauled my hand quilting project (first one in over a year!) to SC last weekend to work on. I never got to it...so I brought it with me to San Antonio. I pulled it out of the bag and guess what? Most of my markings are gone!! ACCKKK!! I knew it was hot and humid, in fact, the TV said it was 100% humidity. Doesn't that usually mean it's raining? I guess not--but it was wet enough to make my markings made with a WATER erasable pen disappear. Now I've had AIR erasable pen markings go away after less than 24 hours, but never the water ones. And of course I had marked all my cables at home (stencil not with me). I did have a small ruler with me, so I could mark the straight lines. And on a side note to self: don't take so long inbetween hand quilting sessions--the lack of quilting is showing up in my stitches! AND the callouses will come back.

I did get a chance to go visit a few quilt shops in San Antonio. All I can say is Thank Goodness for TomTom's! Set with addresses loaded in, I took off from the downtown area. First stop, Creative Sewing Center. Nice big store that sells Berninas, Brothers and HQ16's, they had a nice selection of fabric. I'm not an Oriental lover, but they had more than I have seen in one location. Of course, lots of variety everywhere. I limited myself to a yard and a half of fabric for an apron (I got the pattern free if I bought the fabric--good deal, huh?) and then started the argument with myself after drooling over some yummy black and whites. And a gorgeous white on white that would be awesome for backgrounds. I bet I spent 1/2 hour debating whether I should get some fabrics--just because. I've been so good all year...using up so much stash.... but I have a whole closet full of pretty fabrics..and on and on in my head. I finally ended up buying 1/2 yard pieces of 8 different blacks/whites and 3 yards of that yummy WOW (background, ya know?). So..I added 7 yards to my total. Do I feel bad? a little--but I'll get over it! :)

Second stop: Seventh Heaven..a little bit deceiving when you see it and walk in the store. It's a deep store that keeps on going. They did have the new line of Kaffe's fabric, but I demonstrated great will power and resisted. I did pick up a fall charm pack--not bad.

Third stop: Plain Jane's....I thought I blew it on this store--I was in an Industrial area with all kinds of warehouses, etc. Tom said I was there--and the address was correct, but all I saw out front was a wooden shutter. As I was turning around, thinking it must be out of business, I saw the sign sitting on the ground..Plain Jane's. What a quaint store! Lots of antiques, old suitcases, shutters, and the neatest old small wire carts (like little grocery carts), all chock full of FQ's, jelly rolls and Layer Cakes. Admittedly a "folk art" store with lots of homespuns, civil war reproductions, it was still a fun store to poke around. One of the owner's was there, cutting up FQ's--she said they have a booth at the Houston Festival and they have to get a good jump start. No wonder they look familiar, I'm sure I've seen them before. A bonus: they had a sale bin and she had a bundle of FQ's of bright's from a line of Citrus or something that was 1/2 price! I picked up a bundle to go with a charm pack that I've had for a while. Add 2 more yards to the total...oh well. :)

Fourth stop: Memories by the yard:(sorry--no link for them) another warehouse area and when I walked in, all I saw were home dec rolls. But quickly saw quilt fabrics in a nice bright area. There were quite a few samples and had great eye candy. They recently had a Shop Hop and they had a nice looking quilt featuring Texas style blocks. One of the few sampler type quilts that I actually liked. I was tired by then and was a little worried about getting back to the downtown area before rush hour began, so slipped out of there empty handed.

All in all, a good day and not too much damage to my stash busting efforts. And was able to enjoy another city's selections of quilt shops. I missed a few, but I figure that means I might have to return one day!

BIG TIME Stash Busting!

Woo hoo! It's been a really productive week for me and busting LOTS of stash! Although I cut out lots of new projects, #1--it was ALL from stash and #2--there were some class samples in there as well, so I'm getting a head start on the fall classes. These were for 9 quilts--no donations. It's amazing how much it adds up in numbers--but yet does not even leave a DENT in the stash closet! How does that work?

Stash busted this week (and last week since I forgot to post it) 50 1/2YARDS!!

Stash brought in: 0

Stash busted YTD: 269 yards

Stash brought in: 9 yards

And I didn't even count this as stash busting...cuz it was SCRAP busting! It called for a 1 1/2 yards for sashings/cornerstones, but I was able to dig up scraps and use them.

I'm leaving for VA on Sunday morning for a girlfriend retreat. Most of them are not quilters/sewers, but I got permission to bring my machine. :) I love to lay out and read, but I think my fingers would start getting itchy after a few days of that. If I could just sew for a few hours each day, I'd be in heaven. Of course I'm probably taking way too much, but better that than twiddling my thumbs. LOL I post what I got done next week.

Bucket purse: this is from ??? (help! My printer wasn't working the day I stumbled across this site, so I just wrote the instructions down and THOUGHT I saved the blogsite in my favorites. I gave up looking. Does anyone know who's blog site this is?--thanks!) great instructions. I had the pattern and it made no sense, but her blog photos helped. So easy and used 65 3" squares.

(Editor's update: thanks to Rose Marie and Joyce who kindly directed me to Andrea's site, where her directions made this bucket purse easy to do. http://welshquilter.blogspot.com/2007/06/bucket-bag-tote-part-4-last-one.html)

Finish,cough cough, finish

Finishes in between the coughing. I'm ready to be done coughing--the medicine I am taking is really good about stopping the coughing, but then I find myself on the couch sleeping/snoozing/napping. LOL My choice: no meds, cough my head off--take the meds and sleep half the time! And then I somehow got the OTHER type of flu with it coming out both ends this past weekend. But here is what I got done BEFORE the flu hit last week:
Coral Brick Road..at least 2 years old and all I had to do was add the borders! I quickly finished this one up so I could have it for a practice quilt for my "Zoe" students (I'm teaching others how to use my HQ16 so they can rent my machine). They just did an allover meander and didn't do too bad, considering there were three people doing it. I finished up the binding last week, so it's another 'done' quilt!

This is finally done! I've been working on hand stitching the 'Bubbles' with a utility stitch using different variegated Perle Cotton threads. I'm going to keep it here for my newest granddaughter. All the grand kids have their own quilt when they come to Nana's. Here's a close up of the stitching. It was hard to determine where to stop! :)This is a quilt that a student request I teach. She really wanted to learn how to do the lettering. So I taught the class and showed them how to make their own lettering and personalize their quilts. This was a free pattern here. "Nana's Sweet Shoppe"And a close up of the machine quilting. I used Superior's MonoPoly Thread and did a 'wood grain' design in the bookcase. And my last Stashbusting report: (geez--I'm getting later and later doing my report!)

Stash busted last week: 11 1/2 yards (mostly for backings and bindings)

Stash purchased last week: 0

Total Stash busted YTD: 218.5

Total Stash purchased YTD: 9

Net total busted: 209.5 yards!

I'm back!

No, I did not fall off the face of the earth--I just got buried in kitchen remodeling stuff--it's ALL over the house! All the stuff from my kitchen is everywhere and then add a nice thick icing of dust and you can imagine what it's like here. I had lots of design decisions to make, paint color...handles (80 total!!)...lights, etc. And then I left for a week to SC with some friends to just get away from it all, the snow and mess here! They are not quilters...BUT I got them into a quilt store and they bought fabric! Heck, if I can't buy it (honoring my stash busting commitment), I can sure help those that can! LOL I'll write more in the next post about that. So, obviously there is no STASH BUSTING report--good or bad. But soon..soon I'll be back sewing. The kitchen is almost done now, so a few more finishing touches and then taxes and then I'm free!!
I just have to share this pictures...my daughter just sent a bunch to me with Little L..who just turned 2. He loves to eat and found some cookies...but dang, can't quite get the package open but if I try hard enough, I might get something..


I got something!!

yeah, it's good!

uh-oh, I don't think Dad is too happy..

Dad--don't take them away!!

That kid is always looking for food-he loves apples well, the first 4 bites anyway!

and to give the others a chance to shine...here's the Divine Miss M on Easter..

and finally Miss A, who is now 5 months old! I wish time would slow down, this might be our last little one and I LOVE the little ones..it just doesn't last long enough!

Stashbusting Sunday 3/9

Okay--did fairly well getting rid of the stash and no NEW stash again. But let me tell ya, it's VERY dangerous to have a free 1/2 hour roaming the internet! You won't believe all the new stuff I saw and loved! SOOO tempting, but I'm being strong.

Stash added this week: 0 yards
Stash added YTD: 0 yards

Stash busted this week: 12.5 yards
Stash busted YTD: 70.5 yards

Boy, it sure helps not going to quilt shops, Super Bowl Sales, quilt shows or staying away from Internet sites! But Paducah is next month--that's when the real test comes in. LOL What's sad is that 70 yards sounds like a lot--but there is no way you can even see a dent in my closet. :( I wonder how much you have to 'bust' before it's noticable?

Stashbusting Report and Finishes

Thanks for all the good wishes for my anniversary, sans hubby. :) We'll celebrate when I see him again--not until Mar. 20 though. :( And yes--I was a child bride! I was 17 and he was 19--I got engaged when I was 16 to him. Like WHAT were my parents thinking? LOL Although we were young, we vowed we'd make it no matter what. At first to show up all the naysayers! And then comes the kids and then grandkids and now it all just seems like a few years ago! Time flies when you are having fun!

Another good week--even with 2 grandkids here! I finished 3 more quilts and finished 3 UFO's to the flimsy stage--so that darn list is never going to go down! I'm going to try to keep up the pace, but taxes need to be done sometime! LOL

"Cross My Heart" --part of my Girlfriends 24 FQ challenge"KF Stepping Stones" one of my original 24 FQ challenge quilts. This is a free pattern from Bonnie's site. Picture below is a close up of my free motion quilting. I'm trying to continually push myself to do different things and not be in a hurry to just finish them up. This was on my design wall "Bright HST"(a quilt from about 5 years ago--I messed up the sewing--done at a friends house and we were talking WAAY too much. So came home and put it away) and my granddaughter decided that should be her new quilt! We had just discussed that the quilts they have here at Nana's house were getting just a bit too small for them and I would have to make them new ones. When she walked into my Studio--she immediately fell in love with it! How fortunate for me--that she liked an old UFO! Now the others want bigger ones too and thought I should have them done in a day like hers! I'm going through my UFO's now to see if any would fit the bill for them. Not looking good for the little boys--I just don't do that many 'boy' type quilts. But I guess I'm going to have to now that I have two grandsons!Backing for quilt above--she picked out the backing fabric and there wasn't quite enough--so she picked out two more to add to it. More stash busted! And that brings my 2008 finishes to 15! Pretty soon I'm going to run out of easy ones or ones that are ALMOST done! LOL And we'll see the rate drop.

STASHBUSTING REPORT:

Stash busted week of 2/25/08: 22.5 yards (includes 11 yards donated to church quilt group)

Stash bought week of 2/25/08: 0 yards

Stash busted YTD: 58 yards

Stash bought YTD: 0 yards

Net stash used: 58 YARDS!

Happy 33rd Anniversary to my hubby

Thanks honey for the flowers and chocolates--but I'd trade them for you being here!

Hubby is on a round the world business trip--he's been in China and Vietnam and is now in India--and today is our anniversary. I had a busy day at the Studio with classes/open sew and Zoe being used. My daughter didn't want to go on 'a date' with Mom, so I'm home working on cleaning out my files to do taxes. I could give myself a good swift kick in the behind for getting lax with my paperwork, etc. I do really well entering everything on the computer, and then come summer--I just stuff everything in a file. And now I have to deal with it again! You'd think I'd learn! LOL You see, I have this passion for quilting.....and it's taken over my life! :)

This is a bag full of fabric (about 10 yards) from MY STASH that I gave to a local church. My friend got a call from her former church and they are desperate for fabric. They have people coming in to quilt and no fabric to use. So she called me and I quickly filled a bag for her. It will be added into my stashbusting report! Yeah!

Stashbusting Sunday, albeit late!

I can't quite seem to manage the Sunday report on time! LOL I'm pooped at the end of the week and I had my grandkids all weekend and still do. I really do forget how much they wear you out. Another good week of using stash and getting UFO's done.

Stash used: 6 yards for backings and bindings
Stash bought: 0

Stash used for year: 37 yards
Stash bought for year: 0

Avoiding all quilt shops in person and online really helps! Plus, I'm staying off the computer and spending most my time in the studio working on finishing things is helping. :)

Stash Busting Sunday-late!

I'm a bit late on my Stashbusting Sunday report. I was at my quilt groups' semi-annual retreat. I did bust some stash for backings (I was short on the one quilt backing last week--I even had it on the leaders ready for my machine when I realized I was way short--like 2 yards worth! LOL) I wondered how I got that fabric to go so far! Anyway, I used the stash for backings, bindings and a few borders.

Fabric USED this week: 5 3/4 yards
Fabric BOUGHT this week: 0

Fabric USED to date: 32
Fabric BOUGHT to date: 0

Stash Busting and Delft shoes

I know I'm a day late this week--but finally have time to start joining the countdown on our stashes! In January, I was able to bust almost 5 yards of background fabric for these adorable little embroideries. I meant to make them for my friend and me for Christmas and didn't get them to her until later. The collection was called Holiday Redwork by The Stitch Connection. I LOVE their CD's, I have several of them, including the Snowman Collector one. Yes--done on a machine--but they look darn good! This is just a sampling of what I did--there were 37 blocks total x 2 (I did a set for each of us).

5 yards for January, 0 yards bought

Next, last week I had two classes on how to use Zoe, my HQ16. I plan on renting her out--does that make me a quilting pimp? Eww--no--I am 'sharing' her with other quilters to get their quilts done! :) Which meant that I had to have quilt tops and backings ready for them to practice on! So--the first class quilted my Puzzle Pieces top for me--requiring about 4 yards for the backing. The second class quilted Gratitude for me and I pieced 6 yards of fabric for the backing! I also marked a small quilt and cut the backing which was 1 1/4 yards.

February to date: 11 1/4 yards busted, 0 yards added (**see note below)

I had to show you these shoes--aren't they perfect for a Dutch girl like me? They are rubber clogs, done in Delft style and are perfect for my LONG walk to my studio. LOL(picture taken from the side door of the garage of my house--looks kind of dreary this time of year) Crocs don't get it when there is snow on the ground! It goes in the holes!

**Okay--I forgot that my friend (same friend who I surprised with the embroideries) surprised me with a birthday gift of some fabric--a couple of yards and a jelly roll (plus a needle minder, a handmade card and the cutest sun catcher in my favorite--flip flops in MY colors to boot--perfect, I tell ya!)So....how do you count that for stash? If we don't buy it, it doesn't count? Or--ANY new additions, no matter how they join, is still stash?