By the time Sunday rolls around I'm ready to take a break and relax. By that I mean figure something out. If an idea has been rolling around in my brain I usually need to put some effort into evaluating whether I can pull it off, it has enough interest to keep me motivated, if I have suitable supplies, or who will it benefit.
In the spring I pulled all my fleece blankets and scraps & fused them together into batts measuring 72 x 86" roughly. My intent was to have a stack of usable batts ready when needed. I stacked them in one corner of my guest room.
This year my guest room became the dumping ground for my Poshmark clothes, bags of art market items, stacks of finished quilts and the ever-growing stack of batts. This week I decided I wanted my guest room back. I also have been thinking about a new bedspread (as mentioned in a previous post). Once I unearthed the bed & looked at the quilts I've already sewn for myself this year, I realized there were 3 that would be perfect for my guest room. With new resolve I worked on the room and it's almost finished. I'm contemplating using it for the winter months. Just a little switcharoo to keep my life exciting. (Ha! ha!)
I've been spending quite a bit of time looking through my fabrics again. Some of the boxes on shelves have not been opened in 5 years. New to me fabric has taken over the once open aisles between the shelves. There are tubs with all kinds & varieties of fabrics; enough to keep me busy for the rest of my life. The tubs are roughly divided between fabrics & clothes to use for patchwork clothes & fabrics for quilts.
In a broad way I am asking myself if I still like the fabric and could I see myself using it in the future. Mainly, the answer is Yes.
I have some foot locker sized tubs containing home dec fabrics my friend gave me about 8 or 10 years ago. They are taking up a lot of space and I really want to use them soon. They are valuable because they are 52 -54" wide, just a little heavier than quilting cottons and the miscellaneous colored batts will not show through them.
My biggest disadvantage is not having any white batting. I could sew cute quilts with the 5 tubs of quilting cotton fabric my friend gave me last year but I don't have white batting.
So I am limited to fabrics where I can use the fused batts. I like a challenge. It's all good.
One of the Houston agencies of interest for my quilt ministry is Houston Furniture Bank. They have a current initiative called "No Kids on the Floor" where they aim to provide 100 twin mattresses to Houston children each month. Through various social service agencies families are able to work with Houston Furniture Bank to "Make Empty Houses Home", including a bed for children. In Houston alone, it is estimated that 300,000-500,000 children sleep on the floor nightly.
I had a casual conversation with the Houston Furniture Bank social media director about the possibly of providing quilts for the kids' beds. I would start collecting quilts in 2020 when my commitment to Angel Tree ends. I'll talk more thoroughly with HFB to see how my goals will align with their initiative when 2020 arrives.
I can be a bit of a math head when needed. As I was eyeing the stack of batts ready for use, I decided to do the math & see how many quilts I could expect to provide with those batts. Turns out it would be 8 quilts. By the time January rolls around I will have another stack of scraps to fuse into a few more batts.
Then I decided I needed to figure out the most efficient and personally pleasing way for me to sew these quilts.
That way would be the flip & sew method on the longarm.
The row lengths are sewn together with a domestic machine, the rest is all sewn with the longarm. It's great fun to see it develop!
I'll use the longest lengths of the home dec fabrics (at 50-52" wide) and add another long length to get the 90" width. I easily have pulled about 25 yards already. I'm trying to stay gender neutral.
I decided I needed 17 yards of fabric roughly 90" wide for the backing. I'm planning to sew a long length and load onto the longarm. Then I can compose and sew the face of the quilt as I want with scraps and yardage. I'll need roughly 34 yards of scraps + yardage.
Optimistically I'd like to think this will put a big dent in my fabric supply. I can be naive at times.
With my current quilt obligations, I won't be able to start the twin quilts immediately. Working through this scenario has helped me decide what to do with a ton of fabric. I needed to take time to figure that out.
***If you would like to plan ahead & contribute to the Houston Furniture Bank's initiative "No Kids on the Floor" with me, I am designing quilts to be 60 x 85" (or as large as 63 x 90, if you are so inclined). Fairly gender neutral but certainly not required. ***
In the spring I pulled all my fleece blankets and scraps & fused them together into batts measuring 72 x 86" roughly. My intent was to have a stack of usable batts ready when needed. I stacked them in one corner of my guest room.
This year my guest room became the dumping ground for my Poshmark clothes, bags of art market items, stacks of finished quilts and the ever-growing stack of batts. This week I decided I wanted my guest room back. I also have been thinking about a new bedspread (as mentioned in a previous post). Once I unearthed the bed & looked at the quilts I've already sewn for myself this year, I realized there were 3 that would be perfect for my guest room. With new resolve I worked on the room and it's almost finished. I'm contemplating using it for the winter months. Just a little switcharoo to keep my life exciting. (Ha! ha!)
I've been spending quite a bit of time looking through my fabrics again. Some of the boxes on shelves have not been opened in 5 years. New to me fabric has taken over the once open aisles between the shelves. There are tubs with all kinds & varieties of fabrics; enough to keep me busy for the rest of my life. The tubs are roughly divided between fabrics & clothes to use for patchwork clothes & fabrics for quilts.
In a broad way I am asking myself if I still like the fabric and could I see myself using it in the future. Mainly, the answer is Yes.
I have some foot locker sized tubs containing home dec fabrics my friend gave me about 8 or 10 years ago. They are taking up a lot of space and I really want to use them soon. They are valuable because they are 52 -54" wide, just a little heavier than quilting cottons and the miscellaneous colored batts will not show through them.
My biggest disadvantage is not having any white batting. I could sew cute quilts with the 5 tubs of quilting cotton fabric my friend gave me last year but I don't have white batting.
So I am limited to fabrics where I can use the fused batts. I like a challenge. It's all good.
One of the Houston agencies of interest for my quilt ministry is Houston Furniture Bank. They have a current initiative called "No Kids on the Floor" where they aim to provide 100 twin mattresses to Houston children each month. Through various social service agencies families are able to work with Houston Furniture Bank to "Make Empty Houses Home", including a bed for children. In Houston alone, it is estimated that 300,000-500,000 children sleep on the floor nightly.
I had a casual conversation with the Houston Furniture Bank social media director about the possibly of providing quilts for the kids' beds. I would start collecting quilts in 2020 when my commitment to Angel Tree ends. I'll talk more thoroughly with HFB to see how my goals will align with their initiative when 2020 arrives.
I can be a bit of a math head when needed. As I was eyeing the stack of batts ready for use, I decided to do the math & see how many quilts I could expect to provide with those batts. Turns out it would be 8 quilts. By the time January rolls around I will have another stack of scraps to fuse into a few more batts.
Then I decided I needed to figure out the most efficient and personally pleasing way for me to sew these quilts.
That way would be the flip & sew method on the longarm.
The row lengths are sewn together with a domestic machine, the rest is all sewn with the longarm. It's great fun to see it develop!
I'll use the longest lengths of the home dec fabrics (at 50-52" wide) and add another long length to get the 90" width. I easily have pulled about 25 yards already. I'm trying to stay gender neutral.
Optimistically I'd like to think this will put a big dent in my fabric supply. I can be naive at times.
With my current quilt obligations, I won't be able to start the twin quilts immediately. Working through this scenario has helped me decide what to do with a ton of fabric. I needed to take time to figure that out.
***If you would like to plan ahead & contribute to the Houston Furniture Bank's initiative "No Kids on the Floor" with me, I am designing quilts to be 60 x 85" (or as large as 63 x 90, if you are so inclined). Fairly gender neutral but certainly not required. ***
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This only wants me want a longarm again! I would love to do some things like that with the tons of fabric I have around here, and donate to your cause or some cause locally. But, I will continue to think about making tops to send you instead. =)
ReplyDeleteSending tops is a valuable contribution too!
DeleteMaybe you can help me network through the various blogs too.
We can brainstorm later.