Stashbusters! Long Overdue!!!

Recently joinged the Yahoo group Stashbusters. I stopped counted my UFOs as I neared 100. We recently moved, and I have fabric and projects in rubbermaid containers, boxes, bags and in every nook and cranny.

My New Year resolution was to get more organized and get control of my stash and UFOs (UnFinished Objects).

Well it's now Feb 1, and I've made some progress; but have a loooonnnnggg way to go.

I've ramped up my eBay store and have started putting together some Fabric Kits for auction, starting at .99 each. We'll see how that goes. Mostly I'm starting with flannel, in kits that will make nice lap size throws.

Cleaned up and organized my studio! Wow, was that an undertaking! Found a lot more stuff that I plan to auction off as well. Look for some nice LOTS of cross stitch items. Already sold several lots of longarm thread. Still have a couple to go. Think they would do better if I didn't put them all out at once.

Reorganized the eBay room! Have found all sorts of new quilting supplies that I just didn't have time to list, and am now getting those listed. Most of these are listed at about 10% off. Have you ever noticed that all the 'How to sell on ebay' reports tell you to sell things, but not how to do it efficiently? Maybe I'll write an ebook on how to do that! LOL

Next room to tackle is the Master Bedroom closet. Basically the whole floor is covered with shoes. I'm going to IKEA and see if I can find some shoe racks and clear those out. Then I'm going to use those Space Bags that I bought several years ago, and actully put stuff in them! (Not a lot of need for wool clothes here in Houston!). Also, since I've been losing so much weight, I'm going to purge those clothes that are getting too big.

To reduce (or limit) the growing stash, I'm really going to limit the new purchases of fabric. That INCLUDES buying BOLTS of fabric for personal use!
Here are the new rules:

1- I will SHOP my stash first!
2- I will stop browsing the vintage quilt tops on ebay
3- I won't be afraid to use the 'last' of a fabric.

Whew!~ that's enough to start with.

Busting my Stash!!

A new year, and a new routine. No longer working at the 'day job' and can now focus on my home business full time. In addition to being able to spend more time on quilting for others, I can now expand that business to include some natural offshoots that I haven't had time to do before. Look for news and pictures to come!

Meanwhile, I have been ramping up my ebay store. Adding lots of new inventory, and many new auctions. Think I have the first copies of the 3rd in the series of Turning Twenty! It's called Turning Twenty around the Block. Uses focus fabrics, or you can fussy cut a block or make a photo quilt! Check it out!

Well, back to Turbo lister!

'Tis the Season!

First of all, I want to say Merry Christmas, not Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings... But MERRY CHRISTMAS.

As usual this season zooms by so fast that I hardly know which end is up. We just got back from Atlanta over Thanksgiving where practically everyone from my side of the family showed up at my daughters home. We had people sleeping in just about every room (nobody was sleeping in the bathrooms or kitchen!)

Learned something new about cooking turkeys. My sister in law Laurie suggested that we cook that 20 lb. turkey at 500 degrees, that it would cook in about a third of the time. After looking on the internet a little we compromised on the 450 degree method, and I do believe this was one of the most juicy and tender turkeys ever!

Having smaller number of family coming at Christmas. I don't have much left in the way of vacation, so will be sticking pretty close to the house except for a short trip up to Tulsa to visit Jon's family. We're not planning much in the way of decorations this year. Jon has turned a bit bah-humbug and no longer feels the need to do outside lights since we moved to Houston. Oh well.

Print Your Own Quilt Labels

OK, making your own quilt labels is pretty simple, but there are a few important steps to acheive the Permanent for these labels.

Start with some regular muslin (bleached or unbleached), (and I would leave the Downey or other fabric softeners out for these)

Get a 13"x9" glass cake pan (or a kitty litter pan) I have to emphasize that you should not use these pans for eating (or the kitty) after this process.

Put one or more layers of the muslin in the bottom of the pan.

Pour Bubble Jet Set over fabric, making sure the fabric is totally wet.
Squeeze out excess Bubble Jet Set and let the fabric dry.

Find a container, mark contents with permenant marker, pour the excess Bubble Jet Set in it. (don't use anything you might store food in).

After fabric is dry, iron onto freezer paper.

Using your 'Paper' Rotary Cutter, slice your fabric and paper into 8.5" x 11" sheets (use a sheet of printer paper as template).

Following your printer instruction (i.e. face up or face down), print your original label design in color or black and white. With some advanced preparation, you might fit more than one label on the 8.5 x 11 sheet.

After giving the the ink a few minutes to dry (you can use a hair dryer), iron with a hot iron - no steam, but do not scorch.

Here is the important part that is need to make it permanent.

After peeling off the freezer paper, pour some 'HOT' water into pan. Add a teaspoon of Retayne. Swoosh it around in the solution. I would just put one sheet of labels in the water at a time - don't stack or let the fabric fold back on itself.

Soak for about 10 minutes (don't get excited if you see a bit of the ink/color leach out). Remove the fabric and rinse it in cool water. Dry it, cut to the desired size (don't forget to leave seam allowance if folding under) and attach to your quilt. If you have more than one sheet of labels, you might need to add a little more of the RETAYNE to the pan.

The secret ingredient is the RETAYNE solution, but is much easier to use than the ash and other chemicals that dyers use. (I usually have it available in in EBay store).

Goin' to IMQA - Machine Quilters Showcase

Just one more day then we hop the plane to Kansas City. The annual show in KC for LongArm Quilters. Going with 3 of my best buddies for several days of classes, lectures, shopping and quilts! What could be better?

This is a great chance to just get away, overdose on quilts, and getting totally inspired to take on new projects and improve the skills. Since our move, I haven't had a chance to get the machine going again. Finally decided that nothing was going to happen til I got back from this trip.

My daughter just finished up the artwork for our local quilt guild quilt show that is coming up next March. Ta - Da .. Here it is: