Oh my…Remember when I went to Lacrosse back on February 10th to start my doctor saga again?  Well when I went I met up with Sally from Denim Quilts.  (Read more about Denim Quilts HERE)  Sally is so sweet and came upon fabric and was happy to share.

When she called, I never imagined she’d be bringing so much fabric.  Seriously, it was a lot.  I love it.  Sally said if there were a few pieces I wanted to keep to feel free but also feel free to donate it on.  That’s exactly what I did.

I did some sorting color wise and fabric style wise.

I’m setting a few of these aside to go with some of the UFO projects of Roxanna’s in case I need a little more fabric to finish them.  I really want to make another of this quilt…

Carver was helping me sort.  He was doing some folding.  It was so cute.  I love when he “helps” me.
He laid this piece out on the floor then asked for my camera.  It was his favorite piece and wanted to take a picture of it like I was taking pictures of fabric….how cute, sorry about the blurry picture.

I sorted these to keep and work with…. Continue reading →

I hit up the thrift store when I went to the doctor.  It’s my guilty pleasure.  In 2020 I’m making a strong effort to try to cut back on my incidental purchases and focus on bigger things.

I started that in 2017 with my “fabric diet”.  I decided that I wouldn’t buy fabric unless it was for a specific project or something I REALLY needed to finish a project.  I did awesome at that.  It wasn’t so much that I wanted to tighten my budget as I wanted to afford some bigger ticket items.  I found myself wishing for better lighting but then I would spend all of my money on fabric and wouldn’t have money for lighting.  One day I finally figured out that I could have better lighting if I would just limit my fabric spending and that’s that I did.  That year I bought this  AWESOME light I use in my sewing room at my machine.  I loved so much that I went back and bought another.  I can’t imaging sewing without them now.  I’ve thought about buying a third.  That’s how much I love them.  HERE is the link.  It doesn’t look like it could throw much light but it is night and day difference.   It adjust nicely to every machine.

That year I also got a wool mat.  HERE IS THE LINK.

Those purchases did more for my sewing room than more fabric could have.  I also went to only Olfa Splash rotary cutters.

Changing a blade on these is a breeze and since then I change the blade more often.  Silly I know, but I do.

Anyway, focusing my quilting money on big items that made my sewing life easier really paid off for me.

After that experience I started applying the “don’t spend on little things and save for the big things” to other parts of my life.  Since Kramer passed away and I’m in charge of all the money, it’s easier than it before.

I’ve been working on my freezer challenge…I am buying less food so when I do buy food now, I’m enjoying things like shrimp more often.  I’ve moved to quality more than quantity and that’s brought nice cheese which I love into our house.

Anyway…I’ve been doing this with toys for the kids and things for the house too.  I’m MUCH happier having quality over quantity.  I hope I can keep this all up as I really like it.

So back to my original thought….I’ve not been to the thrift store as often and when I go, I buy less.  It’s all good.  I spent $1.60.  This is what I got…. Continue reading →

I’m still trying to be on my fabric diet but I caved.  Last year is was well into November or October by the time I caved…but last year it was a lot easier with my life so busy.

I decided the other day that if I am going to tackle my quilting goals, I need to do what I can to set myself up for success.  I’ve learned it I have my projects somewhat kitted, then I am more likely to grab it when I’m ready to move on to a new project.

On my goal list was this quilt….

Can you believe this issue is from Feb/March of 2010??  That means I’ve been wanting to make this quilt for 10 YEARS.  Don’t you think it’s time??

The name of the quilt is Hawaiian Sunset 1845.

Well I’ve started the quilt and actually gotten a bit done but have never sewn on it seriously.  I did have all the fabric collected though.

Well other projects came along.  I think I pulled the greens when I made my Easy Street quilt.

I think I pulled pinks when I made my other Easy Street Mystery.

Yep I made two mystery quilts one year.  Crazy I know.

Well, my favorite fabrics that were in the basket to make the Hawaiian Sunset quilt have been robbed.  So I popped over to Whittles Fabrics and checked to see if they had any poison green, yellow or pinks in Civil War Reproductions.  Whittles, I’ve found are the best source online for reasonably priced Civil War Reproduction fabrics.  Most are $5.50 a yard.  They offer great flat rate shipping at $6.00.

Anyway, it is “legal”, on my fabric diet, for me to get fabric to finish a project so I ordered some fabric. (I guess that means I need to finish this quilt.  HA!)

Here’s what I ordered…. Continue reading →