In Progress

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

Nothing is finished this week, but there's plenty that isn't.  I'm quilting the first Razzle Dazzle quilt on my electric Pfaff, and it's coming along okay.  I'd like to get all my Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts done by the end of the year.  I admit, it may not be realistic, but it's a goal to shoot for.

Here's another RSC project in progress, the 16 patch blocks made of multicolor prints plus a solid.  I'm sewing them into rows, and then into a twin sized top.  My treadle sits under the window in my sewing room.  I can see the driveway when I sew in the morning, so I know when my daughter arrives to drop off my littlest grandson for babysitting.

Besides the quilts in progress, I am also trying to better organize the sewing room.  Here's one of the reasons why:

This is just PART of what I bought at a quilt show rummage sale in early October.

Picture a regular sized classroom at the quilt show.  Three of the walls were lined with tables and there were double tables down the center of the room.  All of these tables were piled HIGH with fabric and there were overflowing boxes underneath.  Some of the larger pieces or kits were priced separately, at around $3 to $4 per yard.  All the rest, about 90% of the fabric in the room, was priced at $10 per grocery bag full.

I filled one whole bag with flannel, mostly large pieces for backing baby quilts but some cute smaller stuff for piecing tops.  I stuffed the other bag with cotton prints, plus a heavier print for a zipper bag and four or five full feed sacks.

Adding this to my haul from the rummage sale at the quilt museum in June, some of which is seen below:

...plus stuff I picked up at flea markets and antique stores through the year made reorganizing the fabric storage absolutely necessary.

I even got this wild print at the Quilt History retreat!
 

Like many quilters, I store my fabric both by color and size.  I have bins of quarter yards, half yards, and one yard pieces, and I was able to just squish the right size new stuff into those, but the bins in the closet hold the bigger yardage, and they were ridiculously full.  Expanding into bankers boxes helped. .

This bin of light fabrics is definitely overstuffed!  I need to use some of it up soon or change to a bigger box.

Light fabrics are ALWAYS on my list to search for at sales.  I always look for backing fabric, colors I'm out of or low on, and (of course!) novelty fabric for the kid quilts.

So the fabric is better organized now and it's easier to find what I need.  I also added a Some Assembly Required box for finished block sets, and another box for projects I want to finish by the Quilt-As-You-Go method.

Now to organize what I work on!  I bought a white board, and Hubby very kindly put it up for me above my cutting table.  So far, I'm really liking it.  I can keep track of deadlines etc., and the magnets will hold paper patterns while I'm cutting the pieces.

It's not perfect (yet?) but it's a good start.  A work in progress.

Last weekend we went to see a local theater performance of The Music Man, featuring our oldest grandson. It was so much fun!  He has three more performances this weekend.  Break a leg, G!

We got some real snow this week, but only about 2 inches total.  It's been cold, so it hasn't melted yet.  The big maple tree looks weird with both leaves and snow.

A new family member joined us on Thursday!  We adopted Snicklefritz from the Humane Society.  It's amazing how someone so tiny can turn everything totally upside down.  The grandkids love him, and so do we.  Our dog is putting up with him really well, thank goodness, but I'm already tired of a kitten waking me up to play at 5:30 in the morning! 

Next week, it's Thanksgiving!  We're hosting, as usual, and I'm doing as much cooking ahead as possible.  Next stop after that is Christmas!  Just thinking about it is making me tired.  It's a good day for a nap with a furry friend.

Have a lovely week, whatever it brings.

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy