Net Stash Reduction Goal for 2008 - 150 yards
Net Used to Date - <42 yards>
Net Yards To Go - 192 yards

Thanks to all of you who have written about the tornadoes.  The severe damages started about 50 miles south of us and went farther south and west of us. We had bad weather in the forecast and we knew it was coming, so I made sure we were all home and prepared to sit in the basement if needed but we never had any bad weather right here in our town.

For the stash report, I only used 4 yards this week but at least I didn’t add anything.  That’s a good thing, right?

Fabric Added This Week - 0 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date - 191 yards
Fabric Used This Week - 4 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 149 yards

How’d you do this past week?

Net Stash Reduction Goal for 2008 - 150 yards
Net Used to Date - <42 yards>
Net Yards To Go - 192 yards

This week has gone by so quickly! I was going to follow Vicky with a Motivation Friday post but dang it, I didn’t get much done in the form of quilting. It isn’t that I didn’t get a lot done — just nothing quilt related. Today I got my herbs and tomatoes planted in containers up on my deck, hopefully well out of reach of the deer. I picked up my 10 cases of jars at the hardware store but the clothesline poles got sent back. They were in three or four pieces and you put them together and they were very flimsy. We’re going to find someone who welds and just get our own made.

Since making pizza from Nicky’s blog, Friday night has become pizza night at our house.

It’s working out great because I make a full recipe for the dough, freeze half of it and then I don’t have to start from scratch every other week — just take it out of the freezer.  This week I forgot to take ground beef out of the freezer and Chad wasn’t real happy about that!

Every week before, I’ve had a bit less than half of  the pizza left over for snacking on Saturday.  Vince and Chad must’ve been hungry tonight!  Here’s what’s left!

For those who have asked what’s in the jars — everything!  I’ve had a mild case of pantry moths but I’ve about decided there’s something in the garage attracting them.  There are still some boxes in the garage that haven’t been unpacked and who knows if the packers stuck a cake mix or something in with a box of bowls or pots and pans.  I occasionally find a little pantry moth in the house but  I’m finding them in the garage almost every day.  We’re going to have to go through every box out there and see what’s happening but anyway, I figured it was safer to store food in the sealed jars than in bags.  I’ve always bought rice in 20 or 25 pound bags at Sam’s.  We use a lot of rice!  Last month when I heard there were some limits on rice, I was in Paducah and I mentioned to Vince on the phone that he might want to go to Wal-Mart and get a couple of 10 pound bags.  By the time I got home, there was 120 pounds of rice in my  kitchen.  That’s all been put in jars but I also put powdered sugar, brown sugar, powdered milk, potato flakes (both of which are used in my bread making), yeast which I buy in bulk at the Amish type stores, dry beans . . those kinds of things.

Remember that we eat almost every single meal at home and we live about 70 miles from Sam’s or any major grocery store that has good specials.  When I find staples that are on sale, I stock up.  Earlier this week while at Wal-Mart, they had dried pinto beans on their mark down row, usually .90/bag for .55/bag.  They had 10 bags so I bought them all.  I love any kind of dried beans.

Today while at the grocery store, I bought a big roast (I think it was “eye of round”) on sale for $2.57/pound.  Monday I plan to smoke a chicken, a brisket and the roast (I’ll put the chicken on the bottom rack because we don’t want chicken drippings on the other meat), then I’ll put the roast on the middle shelf and the brisket on top.  The fat from the brisket can drip down on the roast and keep it moist.  I don’t usually keep my chickens or my briskets in the smoker til they’re done.  The chicken skins don’t get good and crispy in the smoker so I put them in the convection oven for 30 minutes or so right before we’re ready to eat them.  I put sauce on the brisket, wrap it in foil and bake it at 250 for a couple of hours.  So, I’ll put the remote thermometer in the roast and when the internal temp gets between 130 and 140, I’ll just take everything out and go from there.

Tuesday the slicer will arrive (if everything goes like the tracking info says it will) and I’ll slice up roast beef and maybe brisket, depending on how much is leftover from dinner Monday night.

I looked at roast beef in the deli and it was $6.50/pound.  My roast will shrink up a bit during cooking but I still think if I compare $2.57/pound to $6.50/pound, I’m spending a whole lot less for sliced roast beef and I’m probably getting a healthier, better tasting meal.  OK!  OK!  The slicer cost a few $$ but it will be around forever so I’m not factoring that in.  That’s how I do things around here!

It’s almost 8:00 and I wouldn’t mind going to bed but . . maybe I’ll find some sewing to do.

Net Stash Reduction Goal for 2008 - 150 yards
Net Used to Date - <42 yards>
Net Yards To Go - 192 yards

Remember when you were in school and you wanted to do something and you always said “everyone else is doing it!” and my mom’s response was always “If everyone else jumps off the bridge, are you going to do it too?” I don’t think mom would use the bridge example with me these days but back then, I wasn’t afraid of bridges. Every day I expect to hear my mother say “If CJ jumps off the bridge, are you going to do it?”

It all started with the smoker. CJ had one and talked about all the yummy things she smoked and I just had to have one too. We love the smoker so much that CJ could’ve recommended almost anything and I’d go out and buy one. She did sell her home and move into a 5th wheel for a few years and I had no desire to do that and she did buy a few new Bernina sewing machines and embroidery machines and I have no desire to do that so Vince should be real happy that there are limits as to how much I’ll do that CJ does.

CJ had her grain mill for quite a while before I got mine but eventually, I had to have a grain mill too. When I made homemade bread from homemade flour, Vince was thinking CJ is pretty special too.

Then it was the food sealer (although I didn’t get the same model she bought) and the half gallon jars. Speaking of those, I’ve filled 10 cases of jars and have 10 more cases in at the local hardware store (along with my clothesline poles!).

This is a downstairs storage closet.

This is the bottom part of one of my kitchen cabinets upstairs.  I’ll finish putting everything in jars once I get the new load of jars picked up.

While lunch was simmering and I was waiting for Vince to get home, I went to CJ’s blog and she’s talking about a meat slicer!   I’m not going into details about my experience in the deli at a local grocery store but it’s very similar to my pizza story and I will not buy deli meat from the local grocery store any more.  There’s Wal-Mart and while I’m not 100% against (just 99.9%) shopping at Wal-Mart, ours has to be one of the dirtiest, nastiest Wal-Marts I’ve ever seen.

Just yesterday I was in Wal-Mart getting deli meat and cheese and thinking . . I have to come up with a better way to get deli meat.

So, back to CJ’s blog . . she’s talking about her meat slicer.  Vince walks in and I said “CJ . . ” and I can see him thinking I wish you’d stop reading her blog but I explained the whole situation — we can smoke our own roast beef and ham and whatever we want and slice it ourselves and not have to buy it from the deli — and he agreed.  So, this has been ordered and I’m never reading CJ’s blog again.  Just kidding!

Net Stash Reduction Goal for 2008 - 150 yards
Net Used to Date - <42 yards>
Net Yards To Go - 192 yards

I just scared the heck out of myself! I upgraded WordPress and couldn’t post pictures. I read everything I could find and not sure what I changed but it seems to be working now. Just what I need right here before the Quilt for an Hour starts!

This is a second Shadowy Stars quilt I finished today and have on the longarm now.

You’ll notice that I’ve added a little box over on the right entitled “Quilt for an Hour Bloggers”. If I’ve missed anyone who already wrote me, or if you want to be added, please send me an e-mail with your name and blog address and I’ll get you added to the list. You do not have to have a blog to participate in the project but you do need a blog to be added to that list.

Sunday afternoon Vince and Chad decided to get some yard work done. When those two get busy, they can get so much accomplished.

Saturday Vince even got the riding mower out! Guess where the keys were . . attached to the steering wheel with tape. I guess the mower had never been started! And, he filled it up with gas and cut the yard with it. Our almost 3 year old lawn mower has finally been used . . once!

Chad and Vince got all the vines out of the trees in back. These trees had been right on our back property line so we left the vines last year, kinda as a buffer between us and the land behind us. Now that we’ve bought that piece of land, we wanted it all cleaned out. I’m still working on where I can have a garden back there. Spring is so pretty!

It’s nice to have someone young and agile around to do the things old men don’t feel safe doing.

Wonder why Chad was at the doctor Monday morning to get a shot for poison ivy?

Since I’ve had lots of thinking time the past few days, I came up with the idea to sell some things, in addition to my patterns and book, over on my Sunshine Quilts website. I’ve added extra wide backing fabrics and EQ items. It will take me a while to get the shipping costs worked out. I never charge more than what it actually costs me for the envelope and the shipping so if you order, just pay whatever Paypal tells you to pay and then I’ll refund whatever the difference is if it’s more than $1.00 for the shipping charges.

I prefer to use extra wide backing fabrics for my own quilts because (1) it’s easier to get everything straight and square and (2) for the most part, I like using my stash fabrics on the front of the quilt. We’re all entitled to our own preferences but the wide backing fabrics are my preference. I posted six fabrics that I currently have in stock (I always keep it for my longarm customers) and will add more if it seems to sell.

I sell it by the inch. If you have a quilt that is 75″ x 96″, the backing fabrics are about 108″ wide so you would only need to buy enough for the width . . which would be 75″ plus enough for shrinkage if you wash it and the extra needed for the edges.

About EQ, have you seen that they have the “Quilters Newsletter: Best of 2007″ which will have 31 designs from 2007 issues of Quilters Newsletter? The quilts can be resized, redesigned, recolored, and I understand this works along with EQ or as a stand alone program. I am offering that program, the upgrade from EQ5 to EQ6, along with a couple of their new books.  I absolutely love EQ and I don’t hesitate to recommend it to all quilters who have even a little bit of computer knowledge.

Check it out and if you’re so inclined, I’d appreciate the business. Thanks!

The quilt measures 53″ x 75″. Blocks are 9″ finished. You will need the Tri-Recs ruler. If you’ve never used the Tri-Recs ruler, you may want to make a few practice pieces before using your fabric for this quilt. It isn’t hard and I almost guarantee that you will love it once you get used to using it. My Tri-Recs tutorial may help you.

Light Background Fabric - 76″
Dark Background Fabric - 66″
Brights for Star Points - 12 - 3-1/2″ x width of fabric strips
Binding Fabric - 17-1/2″ (7 strips cut 2-1/2″)

The measurements listed leave no room for straightening the fabric or for mistakes (not that anyone we know would make mistakes!)

If you don’t have enough of any one fabric for the light background or dark background, here are some drawings I did using a couple of different fabrics.

See the tips that I posted last week to help with choosing your star point fabric.

Net Stash Reduction Goal for 2008 - 150 yards
Net Used to Date - <46 yards>
Net Yards To Go - 196 yards

Thank goodness for the front part of the week or I wouldn’t have used anything!

The first four months of 2008 are history.  How’s everyone doing?
Fabric Added This Week - 0 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date - 191 yards
Fabric Used This Week - 14.5 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 145 yards

Net Stash Reduction Goal for 2008 - 150 yards
Net Used to Date - <46 yards>
Net Yards To Go - 197 yards

I still haven’t posted the yardage requirements for the Quilt for an Hour project.  This “24 hour bug” has turned into at least a 72 hour bug and I’m definitely ready for it to go away.  There are some tips I want to give so no one has to go out and buy fabric . . so you can make it work with what you have, but I’m just not up to writing a coherent post right now.  I’m sorry  I didn’t get the yardage posted when I said I would.  We’re not starting sewing til Monday, May 19, so you’ll still have plenty of time to get your fabric. Hopefully by Monday I’ll feel much, much better.

Net Stash Reduction Goal for 2008 - 150 yards
Net Used to Date - <46 yards>
Net Yards To Go - 197 yards

Vicky mentioned Motivation Friday that we used to have on Alex Anderson’s message board where we listed our accomplishments for the week. My report will be kinda weak since I was sick yesterday and haven’t felt great today but . . I’ll be back to normal by tomorrow I hope.

I pieced half of the top for the second Quilt for an Hour top.  That’s it!  Next week I’ll do better.