I did have a peek at the paper though to see just what the ad said. It looked like a one day only sale so I presumed I had missed it.
Then the phone call came this morning–from the quilting friend that had left me the phone message from the previous day. She told me that I really should head over there–there was so much fabric when she was there on Saturday that she was sure they would still have the sale going on.
I phoned Liquidation World only to find out that they were indeed open on Sunday and yes, they still had that fabric sale going on. My daughter and I were headed to town anyway for other errands so we decided we would stop in.
The sale was 70% off everything, so it was easy to adopt fabric! This is what followed me home:
Fat Quarters: 22 black and white, 12 beige, 11 novelties.
Fat Eighths: 6 novelty prints
Cuts of fabric (minimum 1 m cuts): 19 meters of fabric in all.
Included in my fabric cuts were these: a wonderful chicken border print that will go with an existing fat quarter collection from the same line and these two pieces of Laurel Burch cat fabric that will also go with an existing fat quarter collection of the same fabrics.
I also brought home two kits: the first kit is a chenille scarf and the second kit is a cat quilt.
The first item on the left in this picture is a rooster needle punch kit, the second is a pattern from Maple Quilts called, Long Lines, the third item is a pattern to make quilted sweatshirt jackets, and the last pattern is a Christmas Rooster.
The last purchase was a book that I have been wanting some time, One Block Wonders.
So you see, I confess…I did not bust any stash this week, I did not quilt at all this week for myself, and I did not stay away from the temptation of purchasing new fabric. I hope I have time to prepare my defense before the Quilt Police come knocking on my door! LOL
If it helps, my purchases totalled less than my quilting friend’s purchases. VBG
December 16th is my Dad’s birthday.
We are fortunate that my parents now live in the same town that we live in. For so many years, communication was by phone with 800 to 1,200 miles between us (depending on the year and where everyone was living at the time). Visits in person were jam packed with activity, limited to a few days at a time. Now we are able to pop over to Mom and Dad’s for coffee and visa verse. We are thrilled with this arrangement! Saturday night we headed to Mom and Dad’s to enjoy birthday cake with my Dad.
For as long as I can remember, a birthday cake was an angel food cake. That is why this cake looks remarkably like the cake we had on my birthday.
Happy Birthday, Dad!
I couldn’t resist including this picture. This picture was taken by my mother of my daughter and myself taking pictures of Dad with his cake. At one point, Dad said, “That’s it, enough pictures.” I told him he had to sit still for at least one more because I had only taken one so far–the rest had been taken by the other shutterbugs in the family! I heard my daughter tell her boyfriend that this was part of the tradition, getting your picture taken with your birthday cake.
I love tradition and love even more that my kids are picking up on the traditions and sound like they will continue on with them.
The last customer quilt for Christmas delivery is finished and off the frame! Picture me doing a happy dance!
As I scan through the pictures of the customer quilts that have been finished recently, I wonder how many of these quilts will be under the tree this year, ready to surprise friends and family, ready to wrap the recipient in a warm hug………
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I have discovered the most wonderful product–Shout Color Catchers.
“Shout® Color Catcher™ sheets absorb and trap loose dyes in your wash water, safeguarding your clothes from color bleeds and helping to preserve original colors. ”
I now launder all my quilts with this wonderful product to keep dyes from bleeding or running onto other fabrics in my quilts. I have also started using these sheets in some of my regular laundry loads and I just love them. However, I started to accumulate a stack of used color catcher sheets that I couldn’t bear to throw away. What do you do with all those used sheets once they have trapped all that loose dye? I use them as foundations for string pieced blocks.
I am a long arm quilter and I don’t like to throw away the bits of left over bobbin threads left from quilting customer quilts. When I am finished a quilt, I take the bobbin out of the long arm and throw it in this basket.
The bobbins that fit my long arm do not fit the bobbin area of my DSM. However, those bobbins can be used on my DSM in place of the top thread. Because I am going to use these threads in a “stitch and flip” technique to piece my string blocks, the colour of the thread does not matter. The object of these blocks is to use up threads and fabrics that would otherwise be thrown away.
These are some of the color catchers after they have been through the wash cycle. Yes they are different colours–remember they are used and are finished their intended purpose which is trapping loose dyes in the wash cycle.
This is my current box of strings.
To start, I lay a string the approximate width of one of the color catchers across the middle of the color catcher.
Then I lay a second strip on top of the first strip – right sides together, aligning the edges of the strips on the right side of the strips.
Sew a 1/4″ seam down the right edge of the strips. If your seam is not quite a perfect 1/4″, don’t worry. This is a very forgiving technique and as long as the fabric is captured in the seam, you will be fine.
Once that first seam is sewn, press the strip to the right and continue adding strips to the right of the last piece sewn in place.
Stitch and flip, press, and repeat until the right side of the color catcher is completely covered with fabric strips.
To further maximize your thread usage, work on more than one block at a time and chain piece through the machine.
Once the right side of the color catcher is covered with fabric, turn the color catcher and add strips to the left hand side of the color catcher in the same manner that you covered the right side of the color catcher until the entire color catcher is covered with fabric strips.
This is what a finished block looks like–a little ragged on the edges.
Flip your block over so that your color catcher is right side up. Align your ruler and trim the block to the size you want. I have been trimming my blocks to 4″ x 9″. No special reason for the size–it just seems to make the best use of the color catcher.
These are some blocks ready for trimming.
Before you know it, you have a stack of blocks ready to be set into a quilt top.
This is an excellent technique to use up fabric and thread that would otherwise be headed for the trash. This is also a technique that is a little “mindless” and works for those evenings that I am too tired to concentrate but when I still have a “need” to piece or sew.
