The Stash Is Winning - Episode 4

Okay, so last time the stash ran the score up to 136 quilts that I have all of the materials for, 39 of which have been started and are therefore officially UFO’s.

Now here’s the thing about 1) keeping track of your UFO’s and 2) publicly writing about them: your friends will “help” you.  Without being asked.  And they’ll enjoy it.  A little too much.

Allow me to explain:  Among other things that I happily spend my time on is a stitchery group.  We meet a few times a month and some of the other ladies also quilt.  We had a Secret Santa exchange in December and the person who drew my name, instead of gifting me with the usual cross stitch fabric and fibers, gave me an applique wallhanging pattern with a fat quarter of fabric.  Everyone at the exchange cheered and thought they had added to my list.  I informed them that one fat quarter did not constitute the making of a new project bag, but I was jeered unmercifully anyway. 

After I got home, naturally, I started pulling the rest of the fabric for my new pattern.  Mostly because I already owned a pattern (with fabric kit!) from the same designer.  I put these two together on the project pile thinking I will work on them later in the month when my mom comes to visit and quilt.

Leading up to Christmas, with some spare time on my hands (!) I decide to try and knock out a few projects.  Do I tackle one of the UFO’s that are sitting around waiting for me?  Good Lord no.  I start in on a new project bag!  A couple of years ago I had purchased fabric to make two tote bags, one for myself and one for mom.  Since mom specifically asked me not to spend a lot of money on her this year, that’s one tote bag coming up.  And two – count ‘em two – projects not only started but also finished.  Woo-hoo!

Upon seeing mom’s Christmas present a friend, let’s call her J, points out that a mutual friend of ours, call her H, could use a nice tote like that.  Thinking that the real reason J noticed the tote is that she wanted one herself, two more totes get made before Christmas.  And mostly out of my stash.  Granted neither had been on the UFO list or the project list, but hey, it’s Christmas.

Still a little spare time before mom arrives and I decide that I could really use some cute new placemats.  Not surprisingly, I have several sets ready to go in the project pile.  Halfway through, hubby spies the progress and notes that a friend of ours would really like this particular fabric combination.  So I no longer have new placemats but I have gotten a project off the list and have given a friend a nice Christmas present.

So we’ve got one project added to the pile but three taken off the list completely.  I’m not setting any land speed records here, but I’m doing okay.

And then, you guessed it, another quilt store is going out of business.  What the (insert expletive) is going on around here?  I’ve actually lost count of how many that is in the last six months.  But can I stay away from the sale?  Well no.  I do manage to get away with just one kit and one jelly roll.  Yay, me.

So then mom comes to visit, sewing machine in hand.  We had recently realized that we had each purchased the same wallhanging pattern and fabric kit made by Dandelion Seed Designs and had decided to work on them together.  This is the same designer that was given to me at the Santa Exchange and I hope to get both tops done while mom is here. 

Over the course of her visit mom sees a bag of mine that she likes and I start looking for the pattern to loan her.  Lo and behold I find yet another wallhanging from Dandelion Seed Designs!  We’ve still got plenty of fusible web around, so why not?  Three new UFO’s, one of which was dragged onto the list by association.  On the plus side, most of the tops and matching bindings came out of the stash and I consider that a win.

Really I’m not doing all that bad (for me, at least) so I actually think about starting a project I purchased a few years ago while passing through Utah.  I have a sewing group coming up and I want to piece rather than quilt something.  I’m sure it’s somewhere in my sewing room, but it’s not on the UFO list.  Upon searching through everything twice I find the bag I’m looking for in a drawer, along with another project bag that’s also not on the list.  How did I miss these when I was counting everything up?  At least I found the Utah bag, but geez.  Two new projects and I didn’t even go shopping for them.

Come January, I have to make good on a promise which means starting on another quilt.  I had given a friend a hot ribbon applique kit for her birthday with the promise that we would meet every weekend until her wallhanging was done.  Naturally, I’m going to work on my own hot ribbon wallhanging while guiding her.  After pulling all of the fabrics out of my stash I add this UFO to the list.  At least I’m guaranteed to make some progress on it while my friend works on hers.

I still thought I was doing okay this time, I really did, and then I checked Facebook.  On one of my quilting groups someone had posted a picture of some cute little bargello-style placemats done up for Valentine’s.  Hey I could do those, I think sketching out some dimensions.  In no time flat I’m in front of the stash picking out fabrics for not just one set of placemats in red, but a second set in pink.  Egad!  Not wanting to get any further behind than I already am, I cut and quilt those placemats in a weekend.  They’re still sitting in my “bind me” pile, but they’re almost finished.

Still losing ground to the stash, now I’ve got 140 quilts on the list, 46 of which have been started.