With a little help from your friends

So a while back, I asked the members of our Sit n Sew group if anyone would be interested in a community projects sewing day. This was to get rid of several boxes of fabric/scraps that had been given to me. I personally didn't want the stuff, although a good part of two of the boxes was brand new untouched and very good quality fabric. Even a couple of brand new kits. HUNDREDS of dollars worth of fabric in those boxes.

In my mind, I had earmarked that those boxes of fabric needed to be made into community project quilts. The boxes have been sitting near the long arm and totally neglected. I had also received kits from a couple of other people and quilt tops that some people no longer wanted. Needless to say, it was getting to be a mess and I needed to deal with it.

Hence, the e-mail to the Sit n Sew group. I had four people respond but only three were able to make it and myself, making four.

Here's what happened. OH -- I should say that the door to the large storage area and the stash room were wide open all day as we dug through boxes of fabric and what we couldn't find in the boxes, I dug out of the stash room. There was NOTHING (well pretty much nothing sacred) yesterday. We were four ladies on a mission.

Door to the large storage room - wide open

Door to the stash room - wide open

This is the shelf in the large storage room that is designated as the community projects shelf. All the fabric on those shelves is scheduled to be made into quilts and out the door. Actually, there's one more tub with three quilts in it that I added after the group left yesterday. I added another container filled with cut strips that I found and I know there's at least one, if not two laundry baskets filled with strips for string pieced quilts.  I must dig it all out and get it all in one spot. Just getting this much done was HUGE.

Fabric for community projects quilts

I didn't really know what to expect so before anyone came, I dug out all the quilt tops and some larger pieces of backing. I thought if we could get through that, it would be awesome.

Quilt tops to be processed

Then Helen Anne arrived and took charge!  She started off by measuring the tops, finding an appropriate backing and binding, and calculating how many binding strips each one would need. Each was labeled with a meticulously detailed note.

As she called out for a particular fabric, I dug through the boxes and in most cases found something that was appropriate. If not, I dug into my personal stash to find something that would work.

Well, it didn't seem to take too long to tame that pile. We eventually dumped the contents of the boxes on the left of that shelf onto the tables and before they left, Helen Anne had the fabrics sorted by color and style.  I found the pattern for a couple of quick patterns and she was making kits.

Diane and Helen Anne shopping in the fabric pile

While Helen Anne was measuring, sorting, and labeling, Lynn and Diane were each working on finishing the projects. Some of the quilt tops were a bit small and needed borders. We followed the same process - we looked in those boxes first and if nothing, I pulled from my stash. I FREELY pulled from my stash. There was no hesitation. Let's get this done!!!!

They were awesome! I can't say enough about the three of them - A HUGE THANK YOU TO Helen Anne, Diane, and Lynn. We worked well together and it was super, super fun and a very productive day.

Diane and Lynn were so keen that they left their projects that they were working on as they'll be back on Sunday for the Sit n Sew and they're going to finish their projects then. Never mind that Diane took a quilt kit home and is going to come up with something different as there was too much work in the pattern that came with the kit. A different Diane has a kit that she's working on at home.

Machines and projects all set up for Sit n Sew on Sunday

So what did we accomplish???  There are six quilts of varying sizes in this box. All of them have binding and backing and are ready to be quilted. It seemed that I made miles of binding yesterday, but I think that's a bit of an exaggeration.

A box of quilt tops (with their binding and backing) ready to be quilted

There was also a stack of quilt tops with their backing and binding fabric that still need work. It could be the binding has to be made, or the backing needs to be pieced. I think there was an entire box of that as well as some bundles of fabrics that need to be cut to make kits.

However, if you take into consideration that Diane took a big kit home and four projects are sitting on the table waiting for Sunday, and we removed six quilts, those darn boxes appear to be as full at the end of the day as when we started. Now, what's going on here????   Seriously????  OK - maybe one of those tubs (or hopefully several) aren't full. They all look full! I was hoping we would have emptied at least one tub.

Looks like we did absolutely nothing

First thing in the morning, I was running between the long arm and the sewing machine as I was quilting my third Quilts of Valour quilt for the week. It's now off the long arm and needs to be trimmed and bound. I made the binding for all three and just waiting to be put on the binding machine. OK - that's just a regular sewing machine.

Quilts of Valour quilt

Again, I can't thank Diane, Helen Anne and Lynn enough for the amazing day (even though I got stuck on a conference call for a bit). It was so much fun and so rewarding.

While most of the fabric that we touched yesterday did NOT belong to me, some of it was and I'm happy to see the fabric being put to good use. I spent years accumulating that stash and now it's time to play with it. I'd much rather do this with the stash than give it away. I can thank the fabric while we're assembling and quilting these quilts and then it's gone! What's left after 10 years (or whatever time frame I have before it's time to downsize) will be given away. But I think I can use a LOT in 10 years if not much new is coming in.

In case you're wondering, NO - we don't need donations unless you have batting. I have three rolls of batting already designated for these quilts - I'm sure that'll go fast once I get started. The ladies were invited to add to the donated pile if they had unwanted tops, kits, and fabrics at home. This is not about us using YOUR stash to make quilts, this is about us using OUR stashes to make quilts. If you want to help, let me know. But we found the small group worked perfectly in that large space.

Doing this with my fabric feels so right. I would feel guilty if I were to just donate this mess to someone else. While I'm happy to give stuff away, I do NOT want it to go into someone else's stash. I want it to be used! Speaking of which, I have more stuff slated to go out the door today. Happy, happy, happy!!!   So, if you're in the same mess as myself, why not organize a sewing day with a couple of friends and make community project quilts. Pick EASY quilts to make or get those tops that you no longer want and make them up and quilt them. Then donate them!

It was a super day and I'm so excited about our progress. I already have another 15 community quilts that I put together a while back that need to be quilted. They are at the long arm. My goal is to get one quilt done a day. Some are big, most are small, so I don't see why that should can't happen. The next quilt is on the long arm and it belongs to a customer! I do have to get those in as well. I seem to be much better at getting to the long arm if I load the quilt in the evening and then I just have to turn on the long arm in the morning and start quilting. Whatever works - do it!!!!

On that note, I'm out of here.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!