Monday, August 6, 2018

Weekly update: vacation fabric, stash report, design wall

I splurged on souvenirs this vacation -- four t-shirts, two mugs, a stack of postcards, embroidered patches, and refrigerator magnets. The patches and the magnets have become a routine and the postcards are handy.  I actually needed to replenish t-shirts.  The mugs will replace some that are irredeemably stained.

Is fabric a souvenir?  I suppose not, though sometimes when I cut a particular piece I can remember when and where I bought it.  On this trip I went to three shops -- Golden Gese in Concord, NH; Quilted Threads in Henniker, NH; and Fabricate in Bar Harbor, ME.  I also went to Marden's . (Marden's is a surplus and salvage chain. I remember the very first time I heard about it -- my hairdresser in Auburn said she'd gotten wallpaper at "Maahd'ns" and I had no idea what she was talking about. I soon learned. I still have fabric and, I confess, needlework supplies, from those days. In the 24 years since I moved away they've expanded fabric departments tremendously -- imagine designer fabric (Kaufman, Michael Miller, Benartex, etc.) for $4.99/yd.!)

The Maine Quilts show had an extensive vendor mall.  Some of the sellers were familiar -- Sew Batik from North Dakota, for example -- but there were many who were new to me.


Here's the entire haul.  Batiks, novelties, some Australian prints, some typography prints, a few white-and-black prints.

Included in the stack are FQs of colorful shweshwe prints from South Africa. I have a collection of blue, red, and brown shweshwe. I didn't know it comes in other colors!  (The vendor is Susan Sato of Easy Piecing . The website doesn't include the shweshwe, but she carries it!)




The stash report for July:
Fabric in (all from vacation):  43-3/8, $263.11 (avg. $6.06)  (Is that all? It seemed like a lot more.)
Fabric out:  27-1/4
YTD in: 203-5/8, $706.37 (avg. $3.75/yd)
YTD out:  365-5/8
Net decrease: 162 yds

 It was far too hot to do anything outside this past weekend so I read and sewed. (Oh, yes, and spent much of Saturday writing the travelog blog posts.) 

When we left for New England I had six maple leaf blocks on the design wall. I used some of the new batiks in the additional blocks.  The blocks are 6" and I don't think there will be a border.  This will be a wall hanging or a runner for the silent auction at the quilt guild show in September.  Finishing it is my One Monthly Goal for August. (Whew. I linked up just in time!) 

Monday link ups: 
Monday Making
Oh Scrap!
Design Wall Monday
Moving It Forward







11 comments:

  1. So colorful with autumn backgrounds. I am anxious to get into my autumn stash which I seem to be collecting since last year, but need to finish some of these projects first. As always, you make the most interesting scrappy pieces. This will be a silent auction favorite.

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  2. Great color choices for those leaves. Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

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  3. Love the leaf blocks. Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and good luck with your project.

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  4. Beautiful! Seems we're all in agreement ... ready for Autumn! The colors are so rich in nature and in your quilts.

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  5. headed for marden's myself in a few days...and i love your maple leaf blocks...been thinking about some of those myself but smaller, like 4" blocks...nice new stash!

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  6. Nice haul from your vacation. You'll have lots of fun with them. I like your Maple leaves.

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  7. I bought a maple leaf pattern some years ago. I think my skill has grown to match it. Will have to look for it

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  8. Ah, yes, Mardens! A trip through Maine isn’t complete without stopping there! Nice haul! Glad you enjoyed your vacation. I’m heading down there next month for a wedding. Love your maple leafs. I have to look again!

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  9. 365 5/8 yards out? Amazing! Astounding! Fabulous. Good work.

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  10. Your leaf blocks are gorgeous! Thanks for sharing with Moving it Forward.

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  11. 43 yds fabric a souvenir? I'd say absolutely. Would love to see them up close and personal. Love your maple leaves. Almost inspiring me to make another maple leaf quilt.

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