Monday, May 15, 2017

Back Again

Life sure has a way of getting busy!
I took a "Trip in a Zip" class from Ann Tully at Lucky 2B Quilting shop in Pecatonica a couple of months ago and managed to not only finish the top, but it's quilted and bound and ready to be gifted.
This is one of the kids quilts we make for the homeless, or needy.  I cut the tumbler fabrics with my Go! cutter and pieced one, and then our quilters at church pieced a few more.  This is one someone else pieced and it's waiting for me to quilt it. (It is quilted now!)
Our little church quilting group took a road trip to Bloomington, IL (about 2 hours away), because the Treadle quilt shop has big sales (all the time), and this time it was fat quarter packs for 1/2 price, plus an additional 20% off if you paid cash, so those 3 FQ packs are from there.  But while I was thinking about that sale, I started to think about all the FQ's I already have, not to mention a whole lot of yardage that's just aging in the cabinet.  So, I decided to start cutting it all up.  These piles are waiting to be cut.

These are two almost full bins of cut up fabrics and I haven't made a dent in the cabinet, although I did clear out a three drawer plastic file stuffed full of FQ's!

The plan is to cut 7" strips, 5" strips, and 2-1/2" strips.  I don't save anything smaller than 2" strips because I don't use anything smaller than that, and if I do need something smaller, I can cut from the 3 sizes of strips I have. I have a container of 3-1/2" squares of mostly kids fabrics, but if we need more, I can cut them from the 7" strips.
All of this fabric will be used for our charity quilts -- its so nice to use quilt shop quality fabric instead of some of the super cheap stuff that is sometimes donated to us.  And, when I want to make something for myself or others, I'll go buy the fabric! I mean, how many years of fabric stash do you have?  I started my collection in the early 90's!  So, I now take out a stack of fabric, press it one day, cut it the next time, etc.  It may take awhile, but I'm glad I started doing this.  We can cut the strips into rail fences, or just squares, or whatever pattern we want to make.

Until next time....blessings.
 
 

2 comments :

Melody said...

Lovely!

Connie said...

A fun quilt for someone! I used to live not far from Bloomington. Never knew about the treadle shop. Sounds unique.