Wednesday, March 31, 2010

wip wednesday... organizing the fabric stash

the day has come.
that my stash needs an overhaul
a total reorganization.

so you have seen my studio
and the mess my stash was last time i moved
but i've never shown you my "fabric closet"
until now...

here it is.
about 1/4 to 1/3 of my walk in closet...
isn't clothes... it's fabric.
some organized.. some not...
this is 8 years of leftovers & such.

so if you saw my recent sunday stash report...
you know that i discovered "mini bolts" by polar notions
and i'm totally hooked!

check out their site for a video on how to wrap the blots.
i've been doing my by project.. or by fabric line


i started with this pile of food fabrics...
which i'm adding to for "one day"

and turned it into this!!
one bolt of licorice.. because i have lots of yardage
and the other bolt is all the assorted yardage of other prints!


then i threw a whole bunch of fabrics...
{ mostly new stuff }
that hasn't found a home yet... into this laundry basket.

i took the basket... a bunch of mini bolts...
and went to work!

here is the result!


my favorite section so far.
by far.
is the land of tula pink
left to right
neptune, neptune, full moon forest, flutterby, nest, and more fmf on top.
i've got more... probably enough to fill an entire shelf.
i need to add plume... hushabye... nest flannel... and more

my 23 "mini blots" so far...

top shelf
chelsea's boutique by blackbird designs for moda
verna by kate spain for moda
sonnet by april cornell for moda
figgy pudding by basic grey for moda - 3 bolts

left
tula pink.. see above for details.

middle
rouenneries by french general for moda - 3 bolts
beach house by blackbird designs
love by amy butler for rowan
posh by chez moi

right
assorted snack fabrics - 2 bolts
assorted lakehouse fabrics - 3 bolts


--

i haven't decided yet where my pre-cuts are gonna go...
and fat quarter stacks...
but i'm getting there..
and happy as can be so far!!

--

how do you organize your stash?
and do you need to go back and re-do it?


hop on over to quilter's daily to join the blog along...
share your stash storage methods!

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

giveaways going on in blogland... wk13 {ended}

do you read this list all the time & wonder how to get your giveaway listed?
it's easy!!
send me and e-mail... it's best if you send it to me over the weekend or monday... so i have time to get it into tuesday's post when it posts.  i can't promise all giveaways sent to me will be listed... but i try & list as many as i can each week!
-julie

all giveaways from this week have ended!


grab this code to add the giveaway button to your blog to help spread the word!

jaybirdquilts



Monday, March 29, 2010

stories of the lancaster aqs quilt show

note: i can't post pictures of show quilts until i hear back from aqs & the quiltmakers... oh rules!

so until then...

the fantastic lynette anderson informed me via twitter that a few of her quilts would be on display in the booth of the christmas shoppe... and asked if i'd take a few photos for her.

well the booth was super busy... but the owner was nice & said i could snap a few photos for lynette... as long as i didn't ask people to move!

pond house block of the month

buttons...

santa's blessings quilt

pillows!


one of the main reasons i decided to attend the show.. 
last minute & all... 
michelle & i have been blog buddies for a while now
we are even in bee beautiful together
i figured if she was making the trip all the way from canada... i could handle the hour and 1/2 drive!!
it was so great to spend time with you michelle!! ;-)


i also got to meet michele... {with one L }
aka michele of the quilting gallery

we had to take this photo 3 times... 
apparently i blink a lot??
anyway..
michele & i are also contributors together on quilter's daily blog along
we spent lots of time chatting & coming up with new ideas for events!


michele invited me to join her for dinner... and 20+ other quilters...
how could i say no??

it's hard to eat when people keep taking your picture....


and even harder when ruth calls you out...
and embarrasses you in front of the entire restaurant...
luckily i enjoyed every minute of it!
ruth may go down in history as the only person to get me to stop talking...


i heart my new quilting family.
made up of mostly Canadians.
they even brought presents!!

edit.. blogger is working again.
so here are the rest of the photos


dinner

the after dinner photo shoot in front of the cow...

just the girls!
{yes that's me laying across the front...}



oh lastly..
i don't "rant" much...
but if i had a dollar... for every time i heard "young" at this show.
i'd be rich.
really rich.
as in... you are "young" to be quilting
or you are so "young" do you quilt?
occasionally i got the it's nice to see a "young" quilter...
don't get me wrong... i get it.. i'm below the average age... but every once in a while it would be nice for it not to be the first thing out of someone's mouth! ...and for some reason... at this show... above all others i've been to... it was the #1 thing people said!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

sunday stash..wk13

i didn't have much time to sew this week.
and i went to the AQS show in lancaster.
& despite planning on not buying much... well you know how it goes....

fabric OUT
charity block fabric
pillow fabric

fabric IN

full moon forest fat quarters
you know i can't resist tula pink.. even if it has been hacked up into fat quarters


a slew of charm packs


a few scrap bags


nest fat quarters


nest yardage


french general yardage


and some more.
oh well.. there is always next week!


one of the coolest things i bought
were the "mini bolts" by polar notions
they are 1/2 the size of regular blots... & made of acid free plastic...
each one of these has 6 1/2 yards on them!!
it's gonna take some time to get my stash onto them
and in order... but it'll be worth it!


so this week
36 in
2.75 out

YTD totals
purchased: 277.29 yds
busted: 186.08 yds
net: -91.21 yds

what about you?

Thursday, March 25, 2010

wip i missed wednesday... again

yesterday was a busy day..
so busy that i never got a chance to blog... oh well it happens!

so what have i been working on?
all kinds of things.
i keep jumping from one thing to another.. trying to knock lots of little things off my list!

one thing i like to do is sew for charity.

i made 2 blocks for the charity quilt that the members of bee beautiful are working on together... thanks rebekah for coordinating this!  you can read more about it here...


then i made a smaller star for "A Quilt for Kate McRae"
you can read about it here

and i have another small star that matches in the works for "Love for Layla Grace"
you can read about it here

and last month i made these 3 blocks for "Cancer is Sew Done"
their motto.... "Make a block, take a stand"
blocks will be turned into quilts... that will then be used to raise money for Alex's Lemonade Stand... one of my favorite charities!



do you sew for charity?
if so what groups do you sew for?
share!!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Square City in McCalls Quilting!!

i've been waiting so long to show you this quilt!
{ i did show a few sneak peeks! }
here it is... my square city quilt!!
fabric is hunky dory
by chez moi
for moda fabrics


remember back in october when i showed this picture...
of me rushing to finish binding on the airplane flight to quilt market?...
well it was the binding for square city!
& it's available in the May/June issue of McCalls Quilting!!



and not only is the quilt pattern featured...
but so is an article i wrote about my mom!!
{ see the cover above.. "get your mom to quilt" }



since i finished it on the airplane..
i didn't have a chance to take any photos of it before i left.
so last minute i attempted to try & have some photos of it taken while moda set up their booth... lets just say there was a lot of laughing... but no good shots of the quilt!!

i should have my quilt back in a week or so...
and then i'll take lots of photos!!

here is the back.
with my label pieced into a scrappy strip on the back
this quilt ended up getting hung in the moda booth..
even though i had no idea that it would be!
{ thanks modalissa! }


i hope you love it as much as i do!
oh & i did order a bunch of copies... so as soon as they arrive they will be up for sale in the shop!

giveaways going on in blogland... wk12

it's tuesday... which means it's time for your weekly does of giveaways in blogland!


while theses posts aren't getting many comments.. {probably because you are all too busy rushing off to win things}... they are getting a LOT of traffic... so thanks for stopping by!


also thanks to many of you for alerting me about your giveaways... saves me a bit of time!


if you have been enjoying these lists... and want to help...
grab this button... to spread the word!
{code for the button @ the end of this post}

thanks!


here is this week's list...

vicky @ la quilter
{ till 3/24 7pm pst }

katherine @ sevi designs
{ till 3/26 }

rachel @ p.s. i quilt
{ till 3/25 }

barb @ me & my sister
{ until 3/24 }

tammy @ karamat
{ till 3/25 @ noon cst }

denise @ count it all joy
{ till 3/26 @ 7am! }

bev @ 44th st. fabric
{ till 4/5 }

lynette @ lynette anderson designs
{ till ?? }

nicole @ our cozy nest
{ till tonight! }

jessica @ how about orange
{till 3/26 @ midnight cst }

melanie @ texas freckles
{ until 3/26 }

lisa @ u-handbag
{ until 3/24 }

the purl bee
{ all of march! }

lynne @ kansas troubles
{ all of march! }

matt @ quilter's daily
{ all of march }

know of another giveaway??
leave a comment to spread the word!


grab this code to add the giveaway button to your blog!



<a href="http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/"> <img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKI59C_Ebps/S6gvhGXtDMI/AAAAAAAAFVA/bj3olsMUESA/s1600/crafty_giveaways.jpg"></a>



Sunday, March 21, 2010

sunday stash..wk12

i've done a lot of sewing this week.
but apparent most of it has been on projects where i already counted the stash out.
no fun!


fabric OUT
8 fat quarters for a quilt for elijah
{yes another quilt}
i spoil him!

they can be seen in the back right corner.
frogs...turtles.. and some blues...greens..and brown.
i bought them week 3 of this year.
in the "road to cali" stash report
you know... the one that put me in the negative really bad!

here is a sneak peek.
the top is done.
basted.
and half quilted.

so this week
zero in!!
3.33 out

YTD totals
purchased: 241.29 yds
busted: 183.33 yds
net: -57.96 yds

what about you?
and go check out patchwork times to see how everyone else is doing on their stash report

Saturday, March 20, 2010

my bee blocks!

it's my month in bee imaginative!


so i sent these fabrics out...
{ from the fantastic beyond the reef }
and requested wonky...log cabin-ish inspired blocks...


and here are some of the blocks that have been made for me!
{click on their name to see the post on our bee blog}














i have a few back in the mail.. and can't wait to get the rest!!

{ our bee blog }
{ our flickr group }