Belfrybat

Two simple prayer quilts are heading out tomorrow morning. We have a person in our group who binds them which is why they are only trimmed up. A total of 13 yards from stash! I wish the paisley one showed up better -- the fabric is a gorgeous mix of purple, teal and navy with metallic gold thread running through it.

WMUTeach

Two lovelies, Belfreybat. Remind me how your quilts are put to use or distributed. Does the church have a specific ministry that makes use of the quilts? Thirteen yards out of your stash is a good accomplishment and a grand way to warm some one with a snuggle and a hug.

Lena1952

Thanks WMUTeach and petthefabric for our new motto USABLE, USABLE, USABLE. It’s the perfect one for our group. I am currently putting together a Manx quilt I began 6-8 years ago. The blocks ave been done and then it sat waiting for hand stitching the blocks together. It’s going faster than I anticipated and it will be grand to have it off my list.

Lovely seeing what everyone else is working towards.

Peaceandjoy: I don’t think neutrals count especially if there was a gc involved. Just like the calories fall out if you cut cake, candy etc in half. LOL

Belfrybat

Thank you. Yes, we have a Prayer Quilt and Shawl ministry at my church. Some items go to members and friends of members who need a "heavenly hug" for all kinds of reasons, and then every 3 months I gather up the ones remaining and take them to a local nursing home whose residents tend to be forgotten by families or are on Medicaid and can't afford "pretties". We give out around 35 - 40 items a year.

Gemm

Peaceandjoy - good for you for sticking with neutrals. I never seem to have enough of these so my guess is that they will get used up pretty quickly in your space as well. :-)

Petthefabric & WMU - you need to tradmark/copyright that motto for us! Of course, "usable" has different definitions for different people. The scraps I see as usable are scraps that many people toss without even thinking about it. I do appreciate your comments on batting scraps - I'm on a laptop desk right now and all of the plastic-bead stuffing has come out of the cushion on the bottom - I've just found a new hiding place for those little bits of batting! :-D And Pet, glad your furbaby just shoves the fabric off the shelves... mine eats anything she finds on the floor... :-P

Belfry - 13 yards - that's amazing! Keep it up! :-)

Gemm

Just a quick still-in-progress update. The fabrics I found (photo) at the free table have, indeed, made a difference and are steadily being integrated into the quilt I'm currently working on. Yay! Progress is still slow but that's my reality and I'm happy with how things are going. I have also identified a smaller stack of fabrics I'm sure I will never use and plan to return them to the free table at the next meeting so someone else can enjoy them. Still more in than out but at least there is an "out!"

P.S. The photo shows only some of the fabrics I acquired in my latest tumble off the wagon :-)

WMUTeach

Three Cheers, Gemm. Thanks for the update. Eventually the ins and the outs will balance out and maybe your outs will grow larger than your ins. In the end, it is all about not just holding on to fabric, but using it or passing it on to someone who can use it.

This morning I pulled my bin of turquoise fabric and started sorting the odds and ends and some small yardage and cut them into 6.5" squares for a donation quilt. There is a group of gals who make fabric items for hospitals, shelters, VA Homes, etc. As I was dashing out the door, late again, I saw a charm pack, grabbed it and it became the center of a quilt in about an hour. I will add some borders from my stash to make it wider and longer. The group does not quilt the quilts but they have a couple of folks who tie them. I will return the charm square top and the turquoise top next month for the group to add the back, batting and to tie. Soon, I will add those to my "Out" column! Yea success. Whoo Hoo!

quiltmouse

Hello,

I used to be here on the QB frequently. Info says I was last on late 2023, but I think that was a quick pop in and leave immediately.

I've been No Buy off & on for years.

August 2024, I fell off the wagon and bought a pretty 18 pc FQ pack, and a 50 pc of range of color blenders.

I think 2023 was successfully No Buy. I'd have to find my excel file.

2025, good so far. Well, maybe. I was thinking about how to use the 18 pc FQ, and I decided what I would do. (posting over in the multi-challenge thread. See more there.)

Anyway...so, I decided I needed brown background for that quilt. Shopped Green Fairy, I generally try to buy one or two 15 y bolts of Moda solid in Feb during their annual sale. Then, since I wanted a backing for said quilt, slid on over to Connecting Threads. Found a brown, even lower price & they have backings, but. Hmm, ok what about Quilted Twins? Brown. 108" wide. Ok then. I bought 6 yards, enough for Backing, Binding, Borders, and Background. The four B's are legal, right?

Also bought 4 y garment fabric, which I needed like a hole in the head, but, friend, friieeend! It was 58" wide and seersucker and ONLY $10.

That's my story.

Iceblossom

Nice to see you in the thread, Quiltmouse. We are always allowed fabric we need for specific projects -- it seems like no matter how much we have we always need just one more something to put it together. So I think you did great. And when you are ordering/shipping sometimes extra stuff does slip in. It happens!

I was able to resist the urge to buy yesterday. Oh, I was tempted... so tempted... there is one piece that is still stuck in my head. Don't think we have a Valentine's Exemption??

No buying helps when my mind isn't (as now) whirling with planned quilts. Usually I am mentally planned about 10 quilts ahead. Right now I got nothing, or close to it. Have some concepts, have some works in progress, but no "need" for fabric. With my vision issues resolved, it is time to set up the new-to-me long arm I bought last spring and work on quilting instead of piecing. Because I got enough tops (backings provided and bindings already made) wanting to be worked on.

Belfrybat

Quiltmouse -- I saw your post on the Various BOMS etc. thread. I really don't think buying for a particular project is adding to our stash, which I understand is the purpose of this group. I'll look forward to see your creations.
Iceblossom -- Kudos to you for resisting.

Now, an advance disclaimer. The JoAnn store in town will be closing, so I am planning to purchase neutrals when they go on the clearance sale to use as backings and backgrounds. I guess technically that is against the goals of this group, but I either get them on sale or later have to pay full price -- and I rarely pay full price for fabric these days.