Sunday, August 2, 2020

Weekly update: the stash report, what a gift!, and OMG August



This little bunny scampered across the street during my early evening walk on Friday.   I was two blocks from home when this happened so I'm confident he was not going to plunder my garden.  The encounter was right in time for "Rabbit, rabbit!" on August 1.  (Here is the explanation of the superstition.)

Stash report for July:
 Fabric IN:  280-3/8 yards for $197, average 70 cents per yard
Fabric OUT:  101 yards

YTD fabric IN:  686-1/4, $865, $1.26/yard
YTD fabric OUT:  622-1/8
Net GAIN: 64-1/8

I was doing really well with stash reduction -- but on Wednesday my AAUW friend Paula P. called me. "I'm downsizing," she said. "Would you like some fabric?"  She lives on the far north side of Chicago so we compromised and met in the parking lot at Old Orchard shopping center in Skokie.  That 30-mile drive was the farthest I've been from home since early June.  We recognized one another despite masks and sunglasses.  The handoff took ten minutes.

The five bags were neatly packed.



The fabric weighed 55 lbs so that's 220 yards.
From the way it was folded I could tell that a lot of it came from Vogue Fabrics in Evanston. They are known for fabulous fashion fabric, but in recent years their remnant section has a huge assortment of quilting fabrics.

Nearly half was batik including some really interesting Indian prints and some 3- to 4-yard pieces.

There were some oldies.


The ad is the back cover of a 1980 issue of Quilt World. (I've been going through a milk crate of Quilt Worlds from that time frame.)  The pink print was one of the Friday acquisitions.










I wish RJR would reissue the Jinny Beyer blenders of the late 1990's.   I think they'd be extremely successful.  (These are FQs.)



This 4-1/2 yard piece was fun.   Yours Truly is Marti Michell's company.  I used her "Quilting for People Who Don't Have Time to Quilt" books when I was a newbie.

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I assembled the random HST geese.  I  had enough HSTs to make almost all the blocks -- just 8 HST short. It was easy to make a few more.

It's 60 x 72 and used 5-1/8 yards.

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It's time to declare my One Monthly Goal for August. Easy:  make three wall hangings -- two for the past co-presidents of the Zion Woman's Club and one for my partner in the 2020 Teal Mini Swap hosted by Beth Helfter.   I've got one wall hanging all pieced (see Friday's post).

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I finished two books this week.
Detective in the Dooryard is a compilation of Facebook posts by Tim Cotton of the Bangor, Maine, Police Department. He is the FB voice of the department and the BPD page has thousands of followers.   In this time of "defund the police" Tim provides ample evidence that many/most police departments do indeed "preserve and protect" to make our communities safe. His tales also show how officers serve other roles--like being social workers.

 The Kidnap Years is about the kidnapping spree of the 1930's. The Lindbergh case was the most high profile and the forensic investigation set a new standard for expertise.  But at the same time more than a few lawyers, doctors, and industrialists, and children, too, were kidnapped by amateur crooks as well as notorious criminals.  J. Edgar Hoover's FBI proved its worth (well, to Hoover) with their interstate searches. 
            A couple of years ago I toured the Cuneo Mansion in Libertyville, The docent pointed out the barred windows in the bedroom wing, saying they were not to keep people in but to keep kidnappers out.  Now I understand the Cuneo family's fears.

Linking up with One Monthly Goal
Oh, Scrap!
  Monday Making
Design Wall Monday

P.S.  A heron preceded me when I walked at Illinois Beach State Park early in the week.  The lakefront was closed this weekend because the beaches have gotten too crowded for good social distancing.

20 comments:

  1. She really did have some of the oldies in those bags of fabric. The Ely and Walker Quadriga calicoes were some of the very first actual quilt fabrics available in the mid 1970s. Everything else was considered clothing fabric and of course we used it too but to have some actual quilting fabric was so rare. I drove all the way to WI to a quilt shop by Millie's Pancake House to get some of it.

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  2. Jinny's palette fabrics have stayed in production. Occasionally there are updates to colors and prints but there are still well over 200 fabrics in the collection. Always available at jinnybeyer.com. I'm bummed that she has decided not to reopen the retail store, will be online only from here on out.

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  3. What a worthwhile drive and meet up! And thanks to the link for Rabbit Rabbit - I had honestly never heard of that superstition.

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  4. I heard about Rabbit Rabbit several years ago, but have never once thought to do it! I often see mention of it several days after the fact and go "oh, yeah... rabbits"
    And what a wonderful fabric haul you've got there!

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  5. Oh yes! I have a backing sized piece of the pink calico... and the rust Marti Mitchell is finally reduced to scraps. Both were inherited from my mother's stash, along with much, MUCH more. Enjoy your gift, and let me know if you need anything, haha!

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  6. what a haul nann! so many vintage fabrics too...and i agree about the RJR blenders...they are very nice....you are a lucky gal indeed...no doubt your mojo is in overdrive...and i do love the geese!!

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  7. My goodness, such a wonderful gift from your friend!

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  8. That is a lot of fabric. Have fun playing. Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

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  9. WOW lucky you. Enjoy sewing with those gorgeous fabrics.

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  10. Jackpot!!! How wonderful of your friend to add to your stash, you are going to have so much fun!

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  11. What a lovely stash enhancement-- woo-hoo--what fun looking at it all!!
    That is a gift that keeps on giving;))
    Your random hst-geese are looking great...so nice and scrappy...
    hugs from the sauna that is SE CT today Julierose

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  12. I have at least two of the Beyers, same print but different colour. One of them I used for log cabin centres because she said that she would keep the line going so I thought I could always get more if I ran out. I will now go and see if that's true after twenty some years (not that I have run out yet).

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  13. What a great trip through memory lane on these fabrics. I loved the Jinny Beyer blenders, and the tiny calicos of those years. Thanks for the nature walk pics! I haven't been more than 10 miles from my house for months either...

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  14. Wow, like 5 xmases all rolled into one! Love the top too!

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  15. You hit the jackpot! I agree that those old blender fabrics would most likely be a big hit with today's quilters too.

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  16. That is quite a bit of fabric. It should keep you busy for a few months at least. ;-)
    Your HST geese and Cathy's HRT quilt remind me of each other. What a great way to use up those triangles. And I have a small pile taking up space...
    The egrets have all hatched and are busy in the streams here. We had a blue heron last year but I haven't seen him this year.

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  17. You are one lucky lady to be the recipient of that downsized stash. Lots of treasures! Like Gayle, I always remember “rabbit, rabbit” about two day too late! Your HST quilt is looking fabulous!

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  18. Bunnies and herons, what more could one ask for? Lovely! Wow you made quite a haul with fabrics!

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  19. Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and good luck with your project.

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  20. What a score! I'm sure it was a lot of fun looking through all those bags.

    Andrea in St. Louis

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