My Stash....

What can make me come out of blog hibernation? A Judy L. challenge, of course! Good thing it doesn't involve any actual sewing! LOL

While I do not have a dedicated sewing room, my stash HAS taken over my bedroom closet - causing my dresser drawers to be overstuffed and my shoes to be shoved under the bed. Some blouses are hung on a rung but can easily be pushed aside to access my fabric treasures. Here are some pics:

Left Side of Closet

Right Side of Closet

Detail: Top Shelf on Left

Detail: Top of Dresser

Detail: On Floor in Front of Dresser

Detail: Top Shelf on Right

Detail: Right Storage Containers

Detail: Floor on Right

ALL of those fabrics are Thimbleberries. Inside the dresser are some kits, and the plastic containers hold previous TB Club kits, fat quarters and other fabrics. The laundry basket holds all of my tops, just waiting to be finished and snuggled under. I'll get to that step one of these days...

I haven't done much sewing at all... so I haven't posted anything. I've been working on a little embroidery project I saw on another blog, so hopefully I'll have something new to show in a few days. Please don't give up on me yet!!

Diet Challenge 2009

I've been reading Sharon's blog and have decided to join her Diet Challenge 2009! After rejoining Weight Watchers right after Thanksgiving, I've been able to stay on track through the holidays and lose 12.4 pounds so far. Whoo hoo!

This Christmas my husband and I decided to get one single family gift - a Wii. The kids knew we could only afford one gift, and they were shocked when they opened it Christmas morning. Logan declared it the best gift ever! One of my sisters gave us a gift card so I purchased the Wii Fit game with balance board. It is SO neat! I've been pretty good exercising with it so far, doing yoga poses, step aerobics, strength training and balance games. Each time you 'play' the game, the balance board acts as a scale and weighs you. It keeps track of your daily weight and BMI and creates a graph to show your progress. Right now my BMI is 44+, but slowly but surely it'll get down to a healthy range. The kids' BMIs are both 'in danger of being overweight', but by losing about 20 pounds each, they'll be in the healthy range. It's good to see them excited about eating less junk and more healthy food, and that the scale is reflecting their positive changes. Who knew losing weight could be so much fun??

And Sharon, I'll post a before pic next Monday... still need to get up the courage ;) LOL

Stashbusting - Week 2/52

Ok... I missed my report last week - mainly because there was nothing to report :) Since my Fat Quarter 5 Stripe top is now finished, it can finally be removed from my kit stash! Whoo hoo!

Nothing added this week!

Fabric Added this Week: 0 yards

Fabric Added Year to Date: 0 yards

Fabric Used this Week: 7.25 yards

Fabric Used Year to Date: 7.25 yards

Friday Finish!

FINALLY had time to finish my Fat Quarter 5 Stripe. Yippee!! It is made with one of my favorite Christmas lines from Thimbleberries called Snow Country. I changed it up a little by using the border fabric in the sashings also. (The original pattern has very scrappy sashings, made using the same 17 different fabrics used in the 15" blocks.)

I don't know what took me so long (Sept. 2003 until now) but I'm so happy that it's done! When I traveled to my first retreat out in Minnesota, this was a class on the final day. I didn't get much of chance to work on it then because I was worried about missing my flight back to NJ. Even though I LOVE this pattern/kit, it just sat in a box for YEARS, with strips pieced together but not yet cut. Now to just get it quilted ;) LOL

Now I need to get working on some old BOMs. I should be posting some pics of those blocks in progress soon...

Looking Ahead to 2009...

Let's just say that 2008 will NOT go down in the record books as a good year for us. The national economic situation has directly affected our own finances as (very) small business owners and spending has REALLY been cut short. That has been especially true for my quilt budget - which is most depressing to me. But....

I've decided to look at it positively and, taking Judy's cue, make this year a true stashbusting year! I have so many kits that I've collected in the past that are just collecting dust that, honestly, could keep me busy for a while. So, I vow to make a dent in my kit stash, doing my best to purchase only the fabrics NEEDED to complete specific projects. Since I like to match fabrics exactly to the ones shown on a pattern, I'm always on the lookout for those one or two fabrics that I'm still missing for each homemade 'kit'.

One other goal is to advance with my Thimbleberries Club projects from previous years. So, I plan to dedicate the first week of each month towards this end, working on blocks for the 2002-2007 projects, plus the original BOM, Month by Month. Some parts have already been completed for each of these quilts, but I haven't yet finished a club quilt. Sad, right?

My list of projects for this year is in my sidebar. I plan to post at least once a week to report my progress, especially amounts of yardage busted. Hoping to have some good news to share next week!