Sunday, August 24, 2008

A broken stash diet!

I have been on a stash diet all this year. It has been a year of trying to finish many of my stitching WIPs and quilt UFOs. And there are many to finish. Having taught quilting in the past as well as having to come up with projects for my quilt group means many things just sit unfinished on hangers. My goal this year was to finish as many as possible and not allow myself to buy any new stitching or quilting supplies unless I needed them to finish a project.



I decided a couple of months ago that I would break my stash diet when a few of the ladies in my quilt group and I went up north to an open day at a quilt shop. I set a limit for myself on what I could spend and stayed well within what I had planned only buying 5 half meters of fabrics. The second fabric looks like a plain white but it is a really sweet cream tone-on-tone fabric with a pretty floral motif. The letters I will use to applique onto something for my grand niece.


I bought these fabrics at a second quilt shop that we went to. It is only 15 minutes from the first and we rarely go there since it is far away but all wanted to take advantage of being nearby. This shop is set up in an old Dutch farm and has very honest prices on their quilt fabrics.


One of the things about this shop is that they have set it up in a way that they are able to always have quilts exhibited on the walls. Being a farm, it has the advantage of space. You can see the shop on this link.

I loved the quilt above as it is a clever way to use lace, knitted items and various sewing accessories. Click on the photo to enlarge and really see all the fine details. I would love to make something similar to place my bobbin lace practice pieces from my classes on.


I adore the autumn as I am sure you know as a regular reader and loved this quilt not only for the pattern but for the color.


Sunbonnet Sue's washing day. It is mine too come to think of it. *grins*


Isn't this a great use of pattern!


Cheerful and nostalgic Dutch plaids.



If you enlarge this photo, you will find a playful way of breaking up this simple pattern with tiny sailboats.


Historic Dutch chintz (Hollandse sitsen)! I have all of these beautiful fabrics waiting to be made into a quilt. Another part of my stash diet is also a start diet. I am not allowed to start a new project until I have finished a certain amount of the UFOs. This is on my list of new starts though.


And finally, I took this photo after we sat and had a cup of tea. We talked about how cute the little kimonos are around the center block.

Having driven up north on Friday with my friends, Jos and I decided to stay home this weekend. I really missed Cranberry Cottage and sewing a new quilt block by hand. We worked very hard to redecorate our laundry room and I tried my hand at creating a large wooden rack for the wall in there. It has turned out really well and I will be sharing that later this week. For this reason, I am behind on reading blogs and hope to catch back up with all of you this week. In the meantime, I am now off to my quilt studio to trace the templates for the next block which I am going to put together tomorrow. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend?

20 comments:

hazel c UK said...

Hi Heidi, What a wonderful time you must have had with your friends and the quilts are amazing especially the one using just triangles so clever and the little sailboats are a lovely addition. Thank you so much for sharing.
Warm hugs,
Hazel

Annemarie said...

Heidi, thanks for posting pictures of these amazing quilts! My favourite is the Dutch red white and blue, though I love the one you're going to be making, too.

Nancy said...

Every one I looked at I thought oh I like that one and so on. I settled on I love the Dutch Plaids best. Second I like the circles. I like most of them though. lol. That was a great idea to use the lace. Sounds like you had a fun day. Hummmmmmmm, wonder what Zoe will become?
Love you, Mom

Suzann said...

My goodness those quilts are simply gorgeous! It sounds like such a lovely day. I so adore autumn, so the quilts in those colors caught my eye. Thank you for sharing your day and your lovely photos.

Rhonda said...

All the quilts neat to see. Boy, do you have will-power...not starting something new until you finish several UFOs. Good for you.

Joni said...

What a great day you guys must have had! I fell in love with the Dutch plaid and the Hollandse Sitsen. Are you making the chintzy one for me? I'm sure you won't tell me because it's going to be a surprise, right? Anxiously awaiting your next hand-pieced block. Take care and don't work Jos so hard on those weekends. Poor man needs his rest!

Anonymous said...

Hallo Heidi,wat een mooie quiltwinkel is de Naaidoos he?Wij zijn er in het voorjaar ook geweest met de hele Quiltclub(zie mijn log op 18-4)Je moet daar toch wel wat stofjes meenemen?Ook altijd mooie exposities...:-)))

Brigitte said...

Oh my ... Looking at all those quilt pictures and clicking the link to the quilt shop you were at I can easily understand that you had to break your stash diet. These quilts are fantastic! Thanks for sharing.

Saskia said...

Love the quilts.
And loved showing the centennial blocks to each other this afternoon and to share some of our fabrics.
Can't wait to start a new block.
You're landrey room turned out very pretty! I know where to turn to (for helping hands)when I finnaly have a new house;-)
hugs Saskia (and rover)

Clare said...

An inspiraitional post Heidi, you certainly had a wonderful visit. The stash is lovely too!

Sweet Cottage Dreams said...

This was a fun tour!! Of course, I loved the sailboat quilt the best....being as I seem to have a nautical theme going on right now.

Heidi, it looks like you had a great trip. Nothing is more inspiring than to see the creations others have made with their hands.

Now run along and get a needle in your pretty hands!!

xo
Becky

Joanne said...

I loved the pictures of all the quilts you shared. My two favorites were the one with the lace and knitted pieces, and the one with the sailboats. You must have had a wonderful time ~ and I can't believe that someone could go so long without buying stash. *gasp* :)
Hugs, Joanne

Meari said...

Oh my... Oh my... L@@K at all the pretties!! What a great time.

Look on my blog :) A surprise for you.

Sharon said...

A stash diet? Oh how difficult that must have been, Good for you though and this shopping trip was surely worth going off that diet. Lovely fabrics you got there. The quilts are just fabulous, I love them all. Glad you had such a wonderful time with friends. xoxo

Carolien said...

Sounds like you had good fun together! I love the quilt with the sitsen fabrics. Thanks for sharing the pictures, it was a pleasure to see!

Hugs, Carolien

Christine said...

Heidi you did good on your "diet". Like any diet I probably would have on lasted a day or two :-)

Thanks for the quilt show. I love them all! Love the pretty fabrics you purchased.

Looking forward to seeing your laundry rack. I bet it will be awesome.

BTW...I put off buying a new machine because I was torn between a Pfaff/Husqvarna Sapphire and the Bernina. Both awesome machines. The fantastic sale price on the Bernina was not much more than the Pfaff.

Saskia said...

Hi,
I was curious how your appointment went last monday.
And i was brainstorming about more themes for christmas.
what about;
winter, animals, trees, box or squares, chocolat(sweets), books,holland, water/river/sea, baskets, garden.
Saw free pattern sites, maybe that will give you more idears.
http://www.freequiltpatterns.info/

hugs Saskia
http://www.freequilt.com/

Pondside said...

Well, Heidi - if you are going to break your diet, my doctor would tell you to make sure that you're breaking it with something that you really love - and I think she'd approve! You'll have such fun with the new fabrics.
I look forward to seeing what you've done with your laundry room!

Rhonda said...

Beautiful quilts, thanks so much for sharing them!

I think the only fabric I have bought this year was the the black and red for DILs quilt.
Funny thing, I have been sewing lots, but my stash does not seem to be shrinking much!

Lelia said...

What lovely quilts -- and so sweet to see sunbonnet sue, they always melt my heart : )