Who Let the Dogs Out?

 That would be me, I let the dogs out, then let them back in, on repeat, ALL WEEK LONG! I think these granddogs get picked up tomorrow. The puppy is a full time job, which I knew she would be. Trying to keep her entertained and out of trouble was a chore. She's a sweet thing, but the older dog has NO patience left for puppies, and that made things interesting. The puppy should have been named Tigger, because she literally bounces in the yard. She chases her tail a lot too, which was quite amusing for me. 

As you could have guessed from my first paragraph, sewing was not my main activity this week, I was busy being the dog valet. That's not to say I got no sewing done. I moved my Bernina up to the living room, and made some progress on units for upcoming projects. Thankfully, the puppy was not interested in chewing up cords so the Bernina was safe. Of course, I was giving her stuff to chew on constantly, so she she wouldn't resort to chewing on things she shouldn't. 

These units will be used in a Christmas present for Miss E. Her favorite color is yellow, which is appropriate because she's a sunny child. 

The rest of the jelly roll is being used in a lap quilt. I used yardage for both backgrounds, but I was pretty pleased to get two projects out of one jelly roll. 

Today I was working on the red/cream log cabin blocks, and I'm almost done the second round. 

I haven't done any FMQ since the dogs arrived, but I did hit the halfway point on the second July deadline quilt before they got here. I'm hoping to finish the quilting this weekend, after the dogs get picked up, then I'll trim and bind both quilts. The deadline is July 14th, but DH and I will be out of town several of the days between now and then, so I'm feeling a bit of pressure to get them done. I shouldn't have a problem finishing them on time, but I normally don't like to cut it so close. 

Once I get the deadline quilts finished, I need to start cutting out Christmas presents. I'm determined to actually make the Christmas presents this year, instead of putting it off too long and then ditching the idea. I figured if I get started in July, I may have a chance! 

Janome is Back Better Than Ever!

 My Janome is back from servicing and is quieter than it's ever been, even straight out of the box it was louder. It's stitching great too! Unfortunately, my FMQ foot came back bent, and when I tried to straighten it broke. Yes, I know I could argue with the shop to get them to replace it, but I really don't like dealing with that sewing machine shop, so it was worth it to me to pay $25 for a new foot and not have to argue with them. Did I buy the new presser foot from them? Nope, I only deal with that shop when I have no other options. At least my machine was fixed well, unlike the last time I had them work on a different sewing machine. It it wasn't over 100 miles to a different dealer, I would never deal with this local shop. The local shop I got my Bernina at is fantastic, but this other shop, although they have a lot of people who like them, consistently is a miss for me. They do have a new repairman, and he seems to be much better than the last one, so yeah for that! 

Now that my Janome is back and sewing well, I quilted one of the July deadline quilts, and I've started quilting the second one. Both quilts have the same background color and backing fabric, so I'm quilting both with the same color thread, and I'll bind them the same too. The grandkids they are for share a bedroom, so I wanted them different, but similar. I used different patterns, but the same fabrics. I'll bind them both after the quilting is done on both. 

I still haven't tackled that paper pieced block for the murder mystery. I did finish the black/cool colored log cabin blocks. I'm still piecing the piano key border for the rounded four patch quilt. 

I got this quilting magazine in the mail, and I LOVED the cover quilt! I liked it so well, I've cut out two of them, except for the setting triangles since it's an on point setting. The instructions gave two methods of cutting, one using the Accuquilt, and one using rotary cutter methods. I have the correct sized dies, so I could have used the die cutting instructions, BUT I wanted to use a jelly roll for the colored bits instead of yardage. The quilt is just lap sized, and I've got some Christmas projects I'm starting to cut out. I thought I might have enough of the jelly roll left to work with one of my Christmas projects. 

Here are the pieces I cut for the lap quilt. I used the Companion Angle ruler to cut the colored triangles, and I used the EZ Angle ruler to cut the smaller triangles. I have just enough of the navy blender left from the Marshall Dry Goods box to cut the setting triangles. 

I cut up the rest of the jelly roll to use up every bit of fabric, and I combined it with the navy vineyard tonal from the Marshall Dry Goods box. I've only got about 1/2 yard of the tonal left, so I'm hoping I have enough for the project. If not, I'll likely just mix in a different navy. I've got pieces for Flying Geese, HST's and squares, and I plan on using all of those in a Christmas Gift for one of my granddaughters. That worked out so well, I decided to do the same with another jelly roll, so I could get a quilt and a gift for another granddaughter. 

 The other granddaughter likes yellow best, so I grabbed a yellow from stash to be be background for her project, but I used one of the WOW fabrics from the Marshall Dry Goods box to be the quilt background for the second quilt. I have more granddaughters, but only the two sisters are getting the same project. 

I'll be dog sitting for the next nine days, and one of the dogs is a puppy so I need to keep an eye on her. I moved my Bernina up to the living room, in hopes I'll be able to get some sewing done. I grabbed a light colored thread, so I'll be working on sewing up units from the box above, and if I finish those,  I also grabbed the red/cream log cabin project.

I like to cut my log cabin logs to size, and I've found that silverware dividers work great to organize the pieces! I use drawer organizers a lot in quilting, and rather than pay full price, I usually pick them up at thrift shops like Goodwill. 

My biggest accomplishment of the week had nothing to do with sewing! I finally dug out a huge box of paperwork from the back of the closet, and got out all the paperwork that hadn't made it to the closet yet. I shredded everything I could, organized what needed to be kept, and found a better place to store the little that remained! That was a huge decluttering job tackled and finished. I'm better about not letting paperwork pile up now, so I think it should never get that bad again. Now if I can just get myself to tackle the photographs...

Paper Piecing Dread

 I know there are a lot of quilters out there that LOVE paper piecing. I do not share that love. I have indeed done paper piecing before. I even had good results with it. That in no way means I enjoyed it. I found it messy, wastes fabric (which I could probably reduce if I did it more often) and overall just not my cup of tea. 

Now, it's not the paper that bothers me. I don't mind using paper as a foundation when making string blocks, or using thangles for piecing HST's. I don't mind ripping the paper off. I DO mind sewing from the paper side when I can't see the fabric. I'm also not a fan of trimming. I like cutting my fabric to the correct size, sewing accurately, and it's done. 

The Murder Mystery Quilt designer LOVES paper piecing. A lot of the women who do these mysteries LOVE paper piecing. Last year when there were paper piecing options, she also gave applique instructions and I did the applique version. The moderators graciously give their time and create paper piecing patterns for any months that the blocks are traditionally pieced. June's block directions just came out, and it's paper pieced. The first block does have applique instructions. There are four alternate blocks that are smaller, all paper pieced. I REALLY like the look of the alternate blocks, some more than others. 

One of the alternate blocks is a Grecian Urn, and I love the musical with Robert Preston and Shirley Jones. When I saw the Grecian Urn block I could just hear the actress in the movie dramatically saying, "Grecian Urn".

So, I don't like paper piecing, but I do like the blocks, so I will attempt to do the paper piecing. That said, I am dreading doing the paper piecing. A lot of the sections of these blocks finish at 1/4 inch. The big block option is easier, so I'll do that one first. If that goes well, I'll attempt the others. If I really hate it, I may try designing similar applique blocks, and ditch the paper piecing entirely. 

I'm not worried about doing both options. The fabric colors are different for the suggested block and the alternates, so I'm not worried about running out of fabric. If I do run out of a color in the end I'll just substitute something similar. I'm not worried about using the extra blocks in the finished quilt either, last year I changed up the layout a bit, and I'll likely do the same this year. 

My Janome is finally getting picked up from the repair shop! They've had it since May 3rd, so well over a month. They are not my favorite machine dealer, but the only locally certified to service Janome machines. Thankfully I can get my Bernina serviced elsewhere, and my vintage machines I bring to a sew and vac guy for a fraction of the price. The Janome needed a whole new needle bar assembly. I have no idea what was up with that, but DH is picking it up while he runs errands for his mom. I can't wait to get it all set up, and start quilting the two July deadline quilts. One of those is basted and ready to go, the other still needs basting, but it's all laid out ready to pin baste. I'll be so happy setting up the Janome tomorrow!

I've been working on fairly random projects while I was waiting. All things that were already cut out. 

This quilt is currently on the design wall, sorry I didn't close the door so you could see the whole thing. I made a bunch of these blocks, some with that gray background, some with white. I was busting all my 3.5" scrap strips. I assembled another quilt this same size out of the same batch of blocks this week, they will make good kid quilts for Project Linus. 

I'm not finished piecing the king sized quilts I'm making with Asian-Inspired fabrics, but since they are all cut out, I am already working on busting the scraps from those. Fabrics with metallic accents are not my thing, so my goal is to bust all those fabrics ASAP. This quilt center is just hanging over an ironing board, but it still needs a couple borders. I don't have any similar fabrics in yardage, so I'll use a black inner border, followed by a piano key border to bust more of the Asian-Inspired fabrics. I've got several quilts cut out to bust those fabrics, and by the time they are done, they should be about gone. I may have a few strips and strings left, but they can be mixed in with my regular scrap system at that point. 

These blocks have been cut out for ages! I made DD#2 a pineapple quilt with the same strips, and I cut so many strips I had enough left to make a log cabin quilt. I LOVE log cabin quilts! If I could only make one style of blocks the rest of my life, it would be log cabin blocks. Even the pineapple quilt I made originally is really just a variation of a log cabin block. I am sewing on the last log to each block, and then the fun really begins, choosing a layout! I have another log cabin quilt cut out too (red and cream), and I think I'll work on it when I'm sewing in the living room starting next week because I'll be dog sitting. One of the dogs is a puppy and not trustworthy to be unattended, so I'll set up a machine in the living room during the ten days DD#2 is out of town. 

My sister and I went to Hobby Lobby today, and I saw the Sewology quilting thread. They have a 50/2 for piecing, and a 40/3 for quilting. Can anyone tell me how the quality is? If it had been on sale, I would have bought one spool of each, but I try not to pay full price for my quilting supplies. I'll likely buy some when I see it on sale, but I'd love some input if anyone has used it. I go through so much thread! 

Deal or No Deal

 I don't know about you, but lately when I go into a fabric store, I'm pretty taken aback by the prices. (Let's not even mention the grocery store prices!) Even the big box stores have had big price increases. I have a big stash of fabrics, so I mostly only buy when I need something specific, like Minecraft fabric or Lego fabric to make something for my grandkids. I did, however, already have planned to top up some basics that I'm running low on, and to do that on a budget, I turn to Marshall Dry Goods in Arkansas. 

I'm almost out of solid white, so when DD#2 asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day, I told her a gift card to Marshall Dry Goods. They were out of stock of solid white at the time, but when they got it back in, I made a big order. I ordered a 25 yd bolt of white @2.65 per yard, 2 15 yard bolts @ $5.50 per yard of 108" wide fabrics in colors I use a lot, and two 15 yard bolts of tonals, one in lime green, and one in navy. The tonals were on clearance for $2.15 per yard.  I had budgeted for this purchase, so even though it was expensive, I knew no local places could compete. One thing I love about Marshall Dry Goods is they will let you buy at wholesale prices if you are willing to buy bulk. 

I did add something I hadn't planned on buying to my order, but it was still in my budget. DH and I budgeted for several extras before he retires.  Marshall Dry Goods sometimes sells 30 lb cases of misc. cuts of fabrics. I bought one one other time, and at that time I got a box filled with solids. At the time I was a little disappointed, because I had also ordered a bunch of solids at the same time, so I was inundated with solids. I now have a theory about that, and I've used most of the fabric I got in that box so no worries. 

This time I got no solids, and I really liked what I got.

This was the assortment of fabric I got in my 30 pound box. I got 17 different fabrics, but multiple cuts of most of them. This photo was taken as I sorted the box, but since then I've measured and refolded all the fabrics. In case you are wondering if any of the fabrics were seconds, I checked over the fabrics closely, and made notes over any issues. 

Top Row-

Starting at the top left, I had three different WOW fabrics. WOW#1 came in three pieces for a total of 9.5 yards. There were dirt spots in a couple of places, like the fabric hit the dirty warehouse floor, and it looked like it would wash out no problem. It wasn't filthy, just and odd smudge here or there. The second WOW came in two pieces for a total of four yards. It had one spot on it, that might not come out. 

So that one dime sized spot in four yards. 

WOW#3 came in two pieces for a total of 3 yards, and I didn't find anything wrong on it at all. 

The next fabric in the first photo is a Cream on Cream. It came in two pieces for a total of 6+ yards. I'm using a plus when it's less than a half yard, but more than a couple inches. No imperfections at all.

Next is the black/white buffalo plaid. I had five pieces of it for a total of 7 yards. The I think the smallest piece I got in the whole lot was just under a yard, so know that none of these are 6" strips or somesuch. Again, no imperfections anywhere. 

The next fabric is a small scale blue gingham. I got two pieces for a total of 7 yards. I didn't find any issues with it. 

The black and white checkered fabric on the end came in 2 pieces for a total of 3.5 yards. No damage. 

Second Row-

I grouped the blenders together. The navy blender came in three pieces for a total of 4+ yards.

The lime green blender had this marker mark right by the selvedge. That few inches of marker was the only spot on the two pieces I got with a total of 5 yards.

The olive blender was perfect, in two pieces that totalled 6 yards.

The pink blender was also perfect, in two pieces that totalled 3.5 yards.

The light blue cracked ice tonal came in 4 pieces, and totalled 7 yards. The smallest piece had a small dirt spot on it, again, it looked like it hit the floor and would easily wash out. 

I only got 1 piece of the gray cracked ice tonal and it was 1 yard. No issues with it. 

The last fabric on the second row is the navy vine tonal. I got one piece of 2+ yards. No issues with it. 

Bottom Row-

It's hard to see, but the first fabric on the bottom row is a black tonal. It came in four pieces for a total of 10.5 yards.

There was a stray thread on top of the fabric during printing, so there is this 6" line that didn't print correctly. This is the only spot on the entire 10.5 yards. 

Next is the purple pindot.

One of the three pieces I got had this misprint along one side. It was only on this one piece, but did go the entire length of that, the other two pieces were fine. I got a total of 6.5 yards. 

The pink pindot is last, it came in 2 pieces with a total of 9 yards, no misprints of issues with any of it. 

So how much fabric did I get in total for the 30 pounds of fabric for $165? I got 95.5 yards, probably a bit more since I didn't count anything under 1/3 yard. That brings my average price per yard of this mystery box to $1.72 per yard. Was it a good deal? I think it was. A lot of my stash has either been given to me, or I bought it at thrift stores, or I dug through the clearance fabrics at a quilt shop. I've bought much more expensive fabrics that had things spilled on them, or had been stepped on, or even had holes in it. The misprint on the purple pindot? It's pretty straight down the whole thing, so I can get a nice strip between the selvedge and the misprint, cut the misprint off (or even throw it in the strings) and the remaining fabric is fine. For $1.72 a yard, I'm OK with having to deal with that. You know what I'm not OK with? Buying custom fabric from Spoonflower at over $20 per yard, and having a four inch wide white selvedge. At that price I want the whole width printed correctly. 

Now, are you ready for my theory? The only other time I ordered one of these 30 pound mystery boxes, I had also ordered a bunch of solids, and they sent me all solids in my mystery box. This time I had ordered a bunch of blenders, plus a bolt of white. The colors of the blenders I ordered were green, purple, navy, and lime. What did I get in my box? A bunch of WOW, and mostly the rest was blenders and tonals, and I happened to get green, purple, navy and lime. Maybe it was just coincidence, or maybe they try to send you things from the remnant bin they think you will like. I don't know the answer to that, and with DH retiring, I don't know that I'll order another mystery box, even though I was quite happy with this one.

Once he's retired, if I really want a mystery box, Marshall Dry Goods has a bundle of 100 fat quarters for $59...

DD#1 and family are looking at moving out of state, and I'll be very sad to see them go. They used to live in South Africa, but they are staying in the USA so I'm super happy about that. What area are they looking at, mainly at an area within a couple hours of Marshall Dry Goods! I have been to their store once before on a road trip, and if DD#1's family ends up there, I may get to go there again!