Stash Report And The Forever Bag

No fabric in this week. I used a small amount adding the sleeve to the Stitch To Dye finish shown in the previous post.

Now I’m back to working on the Market Bag. This bag is taking me forever to put together for no good reason. I quilted one side of the bag yesterday, which took longer than it should have because I was learning a new quilting design.

I’ll keep plugging away at it and it will be finished…eventually.

I’m linking to Patchwork Times.

Fabric In: 116 yards

Fabric out: 24 7/8 yards

Net Fabric ADDED: 91 1/8 yards

Stitch To Dye Finish

Last weekend I managed to get my first Stitch To Dye piece into the dye bath. Dyeing is one of those things that can only happen for me on the weekends.

Here is the piece before I dyed it

and here it is after. I used Bronze dye mixed half strength.

I thought the quilt would come out darker based on how it looked in the dye bath.  The green in the background is the plastic I use to protect my counter.

I learned so much making this quilt. I can’t wait to get started on the next one.

I will do some things different the next time around. I will mix the dye full strength. I like the way the first piece took the dye, but I don’t want to interfere with process again. What happens, happens.

I will also throw a piece of muslin in the dye bath to use for the sleeve. It’s just easier that way.

Lastly, I will give more thought to how I use white on white fabric. Some of it really stands out, some doesn’t. Good to know.

I do think I got the density of the quilting about right. I’m also glad I waited to add the sleeve until after I dyed it because the bottom is now the top. It looked better that way.

I’m linking to Whoop Whoop Friday and Off The Wall Friday.

Book Experiment Round Three

Weeks ago I decided to randomly pick a book off the shelf at the library and read it. I did not review the summary on the book jacket. I just picked it up and made sure it wasn’t one of the few genres that bore me silly and then checked it out.
My first random selection was Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris. I didn’t make it through that book.
My second selection was River Road by Carol Goodman. This book I liked. I had a few issues with the characters behaving in ways that didn’t fit their personalities, but overall I give it a thumbs up. I would read this author again.
My next selection was The Book of Peach by Penelope Stokes. I have not read this author before. She published a dozen books before this one, but I have never heard of her. I never heard of any of the authors that provided those little positive blurbs on the back cover either, which makes me think this book is well out of my normal reading zone.
Either I will like it or I won’t. The experiment continues…

Stash Report And Readjusting

No fabric bought or used this week.

I went to one quilt shop on the road, but it was small and everything was at least six or seven years old. I’ve never been to a shop that had nothing current, not a book or pattern or pre-cut. It was like the past several years passed that shop by. I honestly could not imagine how she stayed in business.

I had guild yesterday but only bought a couple books at the thrift. I like the appliqué and embroidery book a lot. It’s one I haven’t seen before.

I’ve had a hard time getting back into things since we returned from vacation. I almost finished a bear block, which leaves me with one to go. Today I will make myself go into the sewing room and do something. That first ten minutes is the hardest. After that the fabric and the projects work their magic.

I’m linking to Patchwork Times.

Fabric In: 116 yards

Fabric out: 24 3/4 yards

Net Fabric ADDED: 91 1/4 yards

Back!

We returned from a vacation of hiking in Red River Gorge in Daniel Boone National Forest today.  The trails were brutal in places and we had a blast.  I have some amazing pictures from scenic overlooks, but my PC wouldn’t boot, so those will have to wait for another day.

The food in the area was amazing and so inexpensive.  We never had a bad meal, and only once did we have less than exceptional service.  Even if you don’t hike or climb, I would still recommend the area for scenic drives and those awesome overlooks.

I was a little disappointed not to see more wildlife.  For all the bear warning signs all over the park, we only once saw signs that a bear had been there before us, in the form of scratch marks on a tree.  They were fresh enough to still ooze sap, but the bear was long gone.  We jumped a grouse on one of the trails and saw lots of lizards, but not much else.

We also visited my husband’s family graveyard.  This is a new concept for me as my relatives are buried all over.  There were markers there back at least four generations, and they still bury people there today.  I was amazed at his ability to find it.  We basically drove to Morehead and headed another hour out of town to the top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere, and there it was, right where the GPS said it would be.  I have pictures from there too.

I will post pictures as soon as I can, hopefully later this weekend.

 

I finished quilting the Stitch to Dye piece yesterday and made the binding.

I don’t usually count fabric out until the quilt is finished, but I know I will bind it today so I am counting it. This is the piece I will dye, probably next weekend.

I’m very happy with it. The quilting went quickly because I didn’t fuss with it. This piece is the first of many experiments and I wanted to see the effect of different motifs. It lies flat, so the quilting must have evened out.

There is one show off fabric that might have been better left out, but I’m hoping the dye will tone it down. The dye color I plan to use is Bronze. I’ve had it for years and never used it and have no idea what it looks like. That adds a whole new layer of fun to the dyeing process.

I’m linking to Patchwork Times.

Fabric In: 116 yards

Fabric out: 24 3/4 yards

Net Fabric ADDED: 91 1/4 yards

Book Experiment Round Two

A few weeks ago I decided to randomly pick a book off the shelf at the library and read it. I did not review the summary on the book jacket. I just picked it up and made sure it wasn’t one of the few genres that bore me silly and then checked it out.

My first random selection was Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris. Ms. Harris tells an interesting story, but I only made it about a third of the way through the book before I gave up. I disliked the main characters so much that I did not want to read about what they did next. That has to be a first for me.

Not to be discouraged, I moved on to a different section of the fiction shelves and chose River Road by Carol Goodman.

Although Ms. Goodman has authored a number of books, I haven’t read any of them. I have hopes that I will enjoy this book better than the last one.

I admit I’m having enough fun with this that I will continue, even if I never choose a book I like. Based on the law of averages that isn’t likely, but no matter. I like the surprise of it all.