That Thrifted Quilt Just Kinda Jumped In My Basket

Somehow I managed to buy a quilt the other day. I wasn't shopping for a quilt. I hadn't been planning to shop for a quilt.

But somehow I ended up with a quilt!

I guess that's what happens when you go to the thrift store! At least, it's what happens when I go to the thrift store. Ha.

Admittedly I do always cruise the linens to see if I can score any vintage beauties -- hand embroidered pillowcases and that sort of thing. So it was inevitable that I would discover this cheery little quilt tucked in among the 80's comforters.

It's not fancy patchwork, it's just cheater cloth. And the ruffle, while adorable, is way too puffy for the couch. There's a couple of holes and the ruffle has some damage.

But I can't help it, I just love it anyway. Look at those cute little bows! And it's all hand stitched. You can just tell that someone's mama or nana made it for them with lots of love.

Of course, no matter how charming it is, in the end it has to work in my home. SO (brace yourselves), I'm going to cut the ruffle off and put a regular binding on it. Since I'm using it on the couch, folded up when not in use, the ruffle is a bit unwieldy, you can see here:

And, as mentioned, damaged:

But don't worry -- the ruffle isn't going to go to waste. It's going to trim the curtains for the very same room, so it'll all be in there, just not, you know, attached to each other.

Either way, this little red quilt will get to live on in our home, where my kids can snuggle under it and play peek-a-boo with it and build forts with it, and it'll be very loved.

No wonder it jumped into my basket!

Best,

P.S. Do you guys hesitate before altering things like this? Or do you just chop and go?

Cutest Pins Ever (Posie Pin Swap)

I am a person with great plans. There are so many sewalongs, swaps, themed linky parties... I mean, there's just SO MUCH going on out there! And I want to join in with it all, you know? I really do. But of course, like many people, my eyes are bigger than my crafting time.

But when I saw these adorable Posie Pins, I just couldn't help myself. I had had had to join in! When Becky over at Patchwork Posse put up the post with the Posie Pin Swap (and Tutorial), I took one look at those adorable little pins and I was hooked.

Aren't they cute?

Of course, I still don't have enough time, so I am a rotten swap partner and haven't sent out my swap yet (sorry, Marilyn!). But I will, I will. I have to!! Because look at these adorable, scrumptious, perfect-for-me posie pins that my swap partner Marilyn sent me!

They came with this very cute, feedsack-inspired pincushion. Marilyn asked me what I like, and boy, does she have my number!

They're all so cute, I just can't stand it.

But I have to say, I think my favorite one of all is the yellow and pink one.

Sigh.

I have mine mostly done, just finishing up the pincushion. I promise, Marilyn, I'll get them send out this week!

(Bad swapper, bad!)

You know, if I actually followed some of Marilyn's great organizational tips, maybe I wouldn't have this problem. Hmmmm.....

What about you? Do you have any crafty swaps/parties/sewalongs that you started but haven't finished?

Best,

It's Possible I've Misplaced My Better Judgement

Last time we talked about my leaders and enders quilt, "Hello, Yellow," I said I was going to do a Half-Square Triangle (HST) quilt to join in on the Triangle Madness project over at Goddess in Progress Quilts. Of course, I was planning to follow her example and go with a nice, big 4" finished block. Because that would be sensible.

And we all know that I'm nothing if not sensible.

Hahahahahahahahahaha.

Okay, so I'm totally not. Which might be why I've finished so few quilts, but we'll save that discussion for another day.

The point of today is that I decided to do 2" finished blocks instead. So, instead of looking like this:

The quilt is going to look like this:

Great, huh?

Of course both my husband and my best friend seriously questioned by judgement (rightly so), so to be absolutely sure, I made up a couple of samples. That's some of the 4" (finished) units on the left, and the 2" on the right:

I think I'm gonna love this quilt.

And with all this scrummy yellow fabric, who wouldn't, I ask you? Who?

Seriously.

What about you? Do you have good quilting judgement?

Best,

Stash Storage

Given that it's the start of a new year, many people are talking about stashes. Stash reports and so on. Some people are even photographing their entire stash and putting it on their blogs. Which seems kind of risky. I mean, how are we supposed to keep the volume of our stash a well guarded secret from family members if we put it on our blogs?

I kid.

Mostly.

Anyway. When I saw Liz at Goddess in Progress Quilts post showing her stash, I thought, why not? So here's mine.

Most of it is in this armoire I got (for free) in my studio. The top shelf has the smallest pieces, and it's stacked double back.

I also have four (no, wait, give) large bins of fabric hidden under desks and so on. I took pictures of those, but really, they're not much to look at. Just a big clear-ish bin with fabric inside. Flat-folded so you can't see it from the top. Probably NOT the best way to keep it because I can't get to any of the pieces on the bottom very easily. Hmmmm....

And of course, we can't forget all the fabric stored with the WIPs & UFOs.

And you already saw my scrap storage.

So that's most of it. The bins really are a problem. I don't have enough space in here and I keep tripping over them. So, my goal this year is to not buy any new fabric until my entire stash fits in the armoire (minus batting). I give myself permission to get fabric if my project requires a certain color and I don't have enough of that color. Like, I need white and have no white. Not to be confused with, "I have no Kona and really want Kona, but could go ahead and use that neutral calico that I've been avoiding using for five years but would really work fine." I mean, just to be clear and all.

So, what about you? Does your stash fit in the space you have for it (does anyone's?)

Best,

New Scrap Bins!

This year is the year I'm going to make my studio both functional and beautiful. I don't know why it's been such a struggle for me thus far. Well, I do know a little. I have too much stuff for one, and it's in not very pretty containers for two. So I'm trying to fix that.

It's slow going (did I mention I have a lot of stuff???) but I'm making progress. Something I just did was create a new way to store my scraps. Before they were all just jumbled in a box. On the floor. Under the table. Where I kept kicking it. It wasn't working.

I thought maybe I should sort them out by color, and then I could put them in bins or something on the shelf above my desk. It's a long low shelf close to the ceiling, so it's great for a collection of boxes.

The best part is that I already had a bunch of these cute photo storage boxes laying around. I bought them years and years ago at Jo-Ann's, thinking they were cute, but never really knew what to do with them. Now they are on my shelf, open so I can chuck scraps in as I go. Major thing for me, open tops. Otherwise nothing would ever actually go in the scrap bins. Hah.

Since they're not clear I wanted to know which color was which, so I just grabbed a representative scrap or two and clipped them to the end of the box so I can see them.

Here's the absolute best part. I, somehow, managed to totally not be OCD about this project. I had six boxes, so I made six color divisions. The boxes don't match (some are flowered, some are not), but I used them anyway. The binder clips don't match (some are black, some are silver), and I... wait for it... used them anyway. (Seriously, who are you and what have you done with Angela?)

You know what? I think it looks kind of cool! I have to say, I think that aside from having an armoire for my fabric, this is one of the cutest things in my studio.

Yay for cute!

So, what about you? How do you store your scraps?

Best,