Magazines

I love quilt magazines.  I don't treat them very well.

I get too distracted to actually read them cover to cover, but I like to thumb through them and look at the quilts for a bunch of reasons.  I also hate instructions.....actually, I'm one of those right-brained people when it comes to instructions.  They frustrate me and I get lost in them.  It's a good thing I can look at a picture to break down the blocks and make the quilt that way.

I still love to buy magazines.  There's usually at least one quilt in a magazine that justifies me buying a magazine.  I have my favorites that I almost always buy regardless of the projects.  I like Quiltmaker and BHG's American Patchwork and Quilting in particular.  I've also taken to buying BHG's Quilts and More.

This is what ends up happening to my magazines, though.

I buy them, look at them, dream a little, and sometimes immediately go out and get fabric to make a quilt that really strikes my fancy.  (Sometimes I start the quilt right away, but usually it all get put together and stashed.)

The magazines sit around for awhile before I get weird about worrying that I'm having issues like my mom.  I look through them one more time.  If I decide I would really never make a quilt out of the magazine, I put it in the give away bag.  I usually can find at least one project so I rip it out of the magazine and that goes into a pile for awhile.  After the pile gets big enough or messy enough, I might put in in a binder for safe keeping or away somewhere.

After a very long time....usually years....I go through my quilting stuff to decide what I really want think I'm going to use, etc.

I've been writing about cleaning up my quilting stuff in the past couple of posts.  I brought up my books and all these binders.  I've given a bunch of books away.  I went through my binders the other night.  I pulled out the projects that still struck my fancy and I'm throwing the rest of the ripped pages away.

Yes, all this is very strange and weird even to me!

If I really had the patience, I should try to save it all.  I've considered scanning things and saving on a thumb drive or something.  I actually should do this from now on with any of the magazines I buy.

I shouldn't buy a magazine unless I'm going to make a quilt right away in all reality.  I'd save myself a lot of trouble and money.

Promise Not to Laugh

I haven't made an Eclipse Quilt block in awhile and I know I need to get busy.  I some how got fixated on doing the blocks in order (a mental thing for me.....) so I've been stumped about the Newborn Army block.  I got it in my head that I needed to make it with an "army" theme and that I should incorporate camouflage fabric, nevermind that I don't even have any of the other elements figured out yet....  It's probably going to be another whimsical type of block that everyone goes, "Huh?!" and I have to explain like the boxing glove block for Punch a Werewolf in the Face.  I have reasons for doing this--people are hard for me to make in these sized blocks, I don't want to do any more silhouettes because of overkill, I need some funny in my life, and I'm stumped creatively to come up with anything else.  (No one has given me any other ideas except for Z--an overturned car and newborns--hint, hint, hint)

The irony of my situation is that with all the fabric I have (and I've been discussing), I don't have any camo fabric.

Yeah, but you promised NOT to laugh.

I went to two quilt shops--really just to visit--and the new JoAnns and couldn't find any.....

One of the quilt shops I visited was Great American Quilt Factory.....  For you shop hoppers, you know who you are, feel free to comment.  I was disturbed by how depleted their fabric stock looked.  There were only like 10 purples to choose from.  Their batik wall looked anemic.  The shelves just looked empty......  Have you heard anything about this store?!  I would have liked to buy some of the glow in the dark fabric, but with fabric at $10.29/yd I couldn't justify another stash fabric.  Any ideas on how to use glow in the dark fabric in the Eclipse Quilt?

Anywho....it looks like I'm going to have to order some camo fabric online.

It Sounded Like a Good Idea at the Time

I'm over my grand scheme to get my quilitng life back in order.  That doesn't mean I'm done, it just means that I'm "over it".

I'm tired of washing fabric and putting it away--I gave up ironing it about 10 batches ago.  (M is going to have a fit over the water bill.)  I'm tired of trying to come up with the most logical way to organize UFOs and future projects so that I can find things when I'm actually able to get back to actual sewing.  (Now I'm just putting fabric away by color and theme instead of trying to keep project fabrics together.)  I'm actually at the point where I'm asking myself do I really like quilting, what possessed me to pick up the hobby to begin with, and maybe I just want to round it all up and give it away to charity?

Kidding...sort of.

I read features in magazines about sewing spaces and I see pictures of quilt studios and I want to cry.

Think of what an amazing quilter I could be if I had a quilt studio with all of my fabric organized on shelves where I could actually easily get to it and didn't have to go down to the dungeon basement with the spiders and junk to heft 30lb totes around.  I think of having a dedicated sewing space where I didn't have family chaos playing out in front of me and on top of me.  I think about a lot of things.

As many issues as I have, I don't spend a lot of time bemoaning my sewing/quilting situation.  Hey, a girl can dream.....

I do see the end in sight.  I know I will be better off for getting all this done.

As I go through stuff, I have felt little pokes of returning enthusiasm overcoming my general state of being overwhelmed by all the fabric I have and my quilting despair the past year.  I've taken some trips down my quilting memory lane as I look through books that I purchased when I was first starting out that I kept for nostalgia sake despite getting rid of so many over the past years.

I hope to get back at it tonight.

Did I Say I Had a Problem?!

I did what I could in the basement today.  I need to buy more totes to replace those that were broken, etc. but that will have to wait until next payday.  I knew I had a ton of fabric, but man!

I use the 58qt size.

I've got:

x2 red
x2 black
x2 blue
x2 pink
x2 green (need to replace one)
x2 neutrals (need to replace)
x1 purple
x1 orange
x1 yellow
x1 brown
x1 tourquoise/aqua
x1 white


x2 novelty/I Spy pieces, squares, FQs (I need one more)
x1 baby fabric
x1 holiday
x1 Christmas
x1 Halloween
x1 fantasy and under the sea
x1 animal
x1 transportation
x1 space
x1 farm (need to replace)
x1 circus
x1 bears (need to replace)
x1 cowboy (need to replace)
x1 frogs/bugs
x1 Sports

All of the these are at least half full, but most are packed to the gills.

This doesn't count all the ones I have with UFOs or project kits I've put together which I didn't count because I need to go through these or the six upstairs with Christmas projects, other recent projects, and Twilight fabrics and patterns I've been using.

I'm absolutely NOT bragging.... 

Yeah, I have a problem.

I should have everything organized and back into shape in the next couple of weeks.

Stashbusting Boobs

Did I get your attention?  I'm sure I will be even more unpopular with my take on stashbusting and all the cootchie coo feeling out there about it.

I'm having a hard time figuring out what all this stashbusting fuss is all about.  I know I've talked about my stash.  I've even discussed what I'd like to do about it.  I wondered if I should get in on the craze.

I have a huge stash.  I don't particular like it because I'm not proud of what it represents.  The yardage I have accumulated to make quilts was very secondary to the reason I made purchases to begin with.  I like fabric.  I like the way it feels.  I like the designs and the colors.   I like shopping at quilt stores for the recognition I get walking in the door and the rush I get buying something.  I collected and collect fabric.

Instead of going to the bar, I bought fabric.  Instead of buying something to eat, I bought fabric.  Let's not forget the times I thought I was going to be this amazing quilter who managed to make quilts and sold them, gave them away, or covered every bed and wall in the house.

The "in" thing to do is to be a Stashbuster.  "Oh, woe is me....I have so much fabric.  What in the world should I do?!  Let's come up with ways to bust through our stash gals....." by making stashbusting types of quilts, pillowcases, aprons, wallpapering our walls or whatever.  Don't get me started about U.F.O.s or P.H.D.s.  (The projects I have abandoned will probably never get finished.  I abandoned them for a reason--most of the time because I was sick of making the quilt or it wasn't turning out like I planned or the reason for making it was well past.)

No, I'm not proud of my stash.  I can't bear to part with it, though, no matter how much I try to talk myself into giving it away or using it up.  I don't buy any of what I used to because I simply can't afford it.  That doesn't mean that when I want to make a new quilt that I don't go shopping first instead of shopping my stash.

I recognize my stash for what it is:  a product or symptom of my psychosis.

I wonder how many people are really being honest with themselves?  I guess it's really none of my business.

What am I up to today?

I am down in the dungeon basement going through my stash.  I thinned it out about 3-4 years ago of all the fabric I bought before I knew what quilting fabric really was and most of the kits and FQ sets of any value when I was unemployed.  I had everything organized into totes by color and theme.  Over the years it's become a big mess.  Some totes are broken because they got knocked over.  I was lazy and didn't put things away the right way.  I just got through washing  two loads of homespuns and I'm ironing between doing other jobs around the house.  I don't know if I'll keep them, but I couldn't even give them away in the state they were in.  I'm also bringing up all my books and magazines.

I'm considering a yard sale, but who knows what I'll do?!  You'll be the first to know....

Slam

Even with this I'm blogging!  I can still type with both hands.

I'm one who occasionally slams a door to get her point across.  M hates it....  Tonight someone slammed the door on my finger.  I was exiting the bathroom and A was rushing in.  For some reason I had my hand too close to the door on the hinge side.  He slammed the door shut, but my pinky was in the way.

A heard all kinds of swear words.  I think I scared the crap out of him.  Thankfully he opened the door very fast.

It's not broken, but it's black and blue on both sides.  My acrylic nail survived.  I'm glad it was my left hand.

Sinking Realization

What to do with the sinking realization that what you did WAS REALLY WRONG.