2009 March 07 — Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara

Stash Project Success

March 7, 2009 · by JudyL

When I first came up with the idea for the stash project, it was because Vicky was struggling with pulling fabrics from her stash for the Quilt-Along. I remembered when I had that same feeling. As hard as it is to believe, like I mentioned the other day, I was the same way. I would pull fabrics for an hour (or more), stare at them for days; then go to the quilt shop and buy fabrics for the project. I just couldn’t put my own stash to work for me.

I received this email from Vickie:

Yeah I’ve completed my top..ohh how I love it Judy you have woken something in me that I never knew was there, I can make something that doesn’t have to go with this and that.

I am still scratching my head as too how this lady (you) got me to step outside my nicely shaped square…. I have enjoyed this soo much

That’s exactly what I was hoping some would realize. You can use your stash! It doesn’t have to be terribly planned; it doesn’t have to be totally scrappy. Whatever works for you is fine! No quilt police . . I heard that due to this economic mess, the quilt police have all lost their jobs! Too bad for them but good for us!

Why did you buy the fabric in the stash? To use? To save for what? To leave behind when you’re gone so your family can deal with it and sell it for nothing at an estate sale? To have it donated to your guild’s sale table when you’re gone? Hey . . sounds cruel but that’s what happens!

Make the stash work for you! You own it . . whip it into shape! There’s nothing at all wrong with buying new fabrics, to use or to add to the stash but quilters . . don’t let that stash sit idle.

Vickie did it and I’m hoping there will be many more stash quilts coming from her, now that she knows she can do it. Here’s the direct link to the top she made for our first stash quilt project.

· Filed Under: Quilting · 11 Comments

Lucky Chad!

March 7, 2009 · by JudyL

This morning I was going to write a post about how proud I am of Chad and then I didn’t because I didn’t want it to sound like . . well, you know . . like a mom! But he’s doing so good . . he comes home and works Friday night, all day Saturday and Sunday here, then goes back to school Sunday evening. He has a job in the evenings there working Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evening. Thursday is fishing afternoon!

Last week was time to pick dorm rooms for the Fall semester and his two roommates both wanted to room with him again. I had so feared that he wouldn’t be happy with his roomies. Chad has never shared a bedroom, bathroom, computer, TV or anything . . only child, you know! They have the biggest room of all the dorm rooms on the whole campus but it’s on the 4th (top) floor and they’re always hot. They sleep with their windows open but the dumpster is right down below one of their windows and the trash man comes every morning between 4 and 5 a.m. and wakes them up. There’s another room almost as big as their room across the hall but the dumpster isn’t right under the window. Chad has had his eye on that room since Day 1. He was in line bright and early and got that room so the three of them will room together there in the Fall.

The guy from Saudi . . you wouldn’t believe the deal the Saudi government gives their kids! He’s bought a 42″ TV for the room, a Play Station 3 and whatever the newest Nintendo game system is. I do hope they find time to study! So far Chad’s grades are good.

The mail man came while Chad was home for lunch today and Chad had a letter from the community college he attended here. There was a CAAP test in November and they told the graduating kids if they scored above the national average in all the categories, their names would go into a drawing for a check .. a large check . . a four figure check! And . . guess who won! Chad!! He’s so happy.

He’s on the phone telling his friend . . cell phones don’t work inside our house so that’s why I snapped a picture of him outside.

· Filed Under: Family · 21 Comments

Yardage for Recent Quilts

March 7, 2009 · by JudyL

For those doing the Bears in the Farmhouse and stash project quilts, Vicky had asked about the yardage so it could be added to stash reports. Here is how I calculated it. Bears in the Farmhouse is probably more correct than is the stash project.

Bears in the Farmhouse:
Top – 7-7/8 yards
Binding – 5/8 yard

Stash Project:
Top – 6-1/2 yards
Binding – 5/8 yard

The pattern for Bears in the Farmhouse is completely written with yardage requirements but for the Stash Project, I re-colored the drawing in EQ like this:

I then let EQ calculate the yardage:

Otherwise, I could have used the quilt as drawn for calculating yardage:

And I would have had these numbers to add up:

They may or may not add up to exactly the same amounts . . doesn’t matter because this is a pattern for using the stash. I hope this gives you another indication of how useful EQ truly is and can be for you too! I find that EQ6 is pretty accurate for calculating yardage. If you don’t have it, please check here!

· Filed Under: Quilting · 5 Comments

Spring is Coming!

March 7, 2009 · by JudyL

Yesterday I turned on the air conditioner! Hard to believe after all that snow we had just 6 days before. I went outside to check on some of my plants and the asparagus is shooting up.

And look what popped up in one abandoned bed.

There’s a bed that runs halfway across the back of my house and it has pampas grass in it. I don’t like pampas grass! I can tolerate it for a hedge type plant but certainly not in the flower bed next to my house. It’s toast! I suppose the previous owner planted anything that deer wouldn’t eat and I may be re-planting pampas grass this time next year.

Vince is going to dig it up for me and I’m going to extend that bed to the sidewalk. I should’ve taken pictures to better explain what I’m going to do but how about I just show you once it’s done. Don’t hold your breath! Vince has to dig up the pampas grass . . I tried yesterday and couldn’t do it. Anyway, I’m going to plant herbs there and let Vince figure out how to keep the deer out. Oh . . I forgot . . I’ll just grab my sign!