Saturday, January 30, 2010

Baseball Swap

For nearly ten years I've been in an online group whose participants swap 6.5" fabric squares based on the results of Major League Baseball games.   For each game that the team you back wins, you get one square from the backers of the losing team, and vice versa.  You can chose one team from the AL and one from the NL, or one from each league.  For me, that's the Red Sox and the Cubs.  All the who-owes-what-to-whom is tracked by a group member. She sends us the tallies at the All-Star Break and at the end of the season.  (With the teams I back, that means that I usually get a few more than I give in the first half, but fade in the second half. :)) We send the squares, counted out and packaged in ziploc bags, to another group member who swaps everything out.

I have a acquired a great assortment of fabric squares that way which I use from time to time.  In addition to 'regular' quilt fabric, there are a lot of baseball-themed squares. 

When the Zion Area Chamber of Commerce announced that this year's annual banquet theme would be Root, Root, Root for the Home Team in honor of our new baseball team, the Lake County Fielders (http://www.lakecountybaseball.org/), I turned to the BBS box.  This jacket is the result.


Saturday, January 9, 2010

Raffle Mania!

The quilt guild had Raffle Mania at this week's meeting.  We brought quilt-related items we no longer wanted which were raffled bucket-style.  Chances were fifty cents each.  I brought two boxes of stuff (books, a box of woolly nylon thread, some q-snap plastic frames, two hoops), bought $10 in chances, and came back with three boxes of stuff!

Here's the entire haul arrayed on my cutting table.  There were five 2-yard pieces of plaids  that turned out to be poly/cotton (not suitable for quiltmaking).  You can see the bright yellow corduroy print (bottom right) that will be great for Care Bags.  I also scored several books and patterns and a roll of upholstery-weight fabric (more Care Bags).  I estimated that I got 60 yards of fabric for $4.00.


Lynn R. brought two bags crammed with scraps. Once I opened the bags the contents burst out!  I spent last evening sorting through the pieces which include strips, squares, and even some fat quarters. 

Friday, January 1, 2010

The Annual Reckoning, 2009 edition



Since 1998 I have tracked fabric used and acquired. Since 2004 I have also tracked how much I have spent.  (None of these figures includes the expense for thread, batting, books, patterns, etc.)  This is the third year I've posted (confessed) the Annual Reckoning on my blog.  I have all the calculations in a spreadsheet available upon request.
My quilting (and sewing) accomplishments this year included:
* 11 quilts begun and finished (crib-sized to queen-sized)
* 7 wallhangings begun and finished
* 6 UFOs finished (begun in previous years)
* 6 flimsies created (a flimsy is an unquilted top)
* 150 Care Bags (http://www.carebags4kids.org/)
* 5 tissue box covers (holiday gifts)
* 1 tote bag (for a community project)
* 3 jackets, 1 dress, 1 pair of slacks, 1 shirt
I used 301 yards of fabric (that includes yards given away to HeartStrings sew-ins, the NLCQG White Elephant exchange, etc.).  I acquired 353 yards of fabric (that includes purchases and gifts) and spent $1371, or $3.88/yd.
Though I didn't use as much as some years, I acquired a LOT less. The used/acquired ratio is 85%, the best yet.
I sold 2 quilts, 1 wallhanging, and 5 flimsies.  I sold many quilt books, patterns, and magazines.  I sent a box of flimsies to a church quilting group (thus removing them from my UFO list).
Whew!
What's in store for 2010?  Stay tuned!