So I've been traveling! I spent a couple weeks away from the homestead trying to squeeze in the last little bit of summer after the lame August we had down here due to the fires. The weekend of August 15th found me and the fam in Portland for the PNWMQG MEETUP! In short, it was a blast!

The sad thing about camping is that it's hard to quilt. I was able to finish some hand sewing projects though. These cute little tobacco pouches I translated from German (and metric) directions I scrounged on Pinterest. Those Pendleton remnants sure did make them look real cute. The vintage fabric was also quite fitting.

On our way out to Missoula Montana, we had a couple of sidetracks. Thanks to a wildland fire at Lolo Pass in Idaho blocking our way on Highway 12 (the most scenic drive ever apparently) and then a chance encounter between a Montana rat (deer) and the front of our covered wagon (Subaru forester), we had to make out journey count.

More car trouble when we got a ride from "refugee camp" in Missoula. A non-paleo date with Ben & Jerry helped. As annoying and trying as the journey out was, I think it made the ceremony all the more sweet.

And then we had this thunderstorm and the forest lit on fire and all of a sudden we were the number one priority fire in the nation. I haven't had to evacuate - I'm about 10-15 miles from the nearest blaze - but my friends have. That and the entire Rogue Valley, because of this inversion layer, was filled with smoke that got up to nearly 290 ppm with particulates. It was pea soup!

So I'm stuck inside for two weeks with some amazing "refugees" or "evacuees" and we got to crafting. I made some cute quilt tops and started some other projects because when it's winter in July ya gotta get crafting! what do you do when you're house bound? does a stay-cation sound like an ideal vacation to you?

My current obsession (when I need a distraction from my top secret quilt I'm making for a certain someone) is stash busting! Ever since I got this bug people have offered up loads of scrappy stash pieces. I've got so much fabric now of varyin sizes that for awhile I didn't know what to do with it! Enter the stash buster.

I've got over a thousand dollars worth of "donated" fabric (or released? there are some scary prints out there people...) and as a beginner I've been drawn to patterns that lay everything out for you. The only problem is a lot of those patterns aren't exactly "fat quarter friendly" as they say. The free patterns are usually made by fabric companies wanting to show off their new super cute prints (free pattern = buy this fabric).

Enter the bake sales: jelly rolls (2.5" x WOF), layer cakes (10" x 10"), charms (5" x 5")... am I missing something? Fat quarter samplers (stacks of about 10-20-40 different fat quarters from a particular designer or fabric maker). Individual fat quarters go for anywhere from $2 - $3.25. I think it's a way to finish out a bolt of fabric. But it's also like buying a cookie at a bakery instead of a dozen (or a whole cake!).

A more fitting metaphor might be drug related because as I mentioned in the first blog post... there is something about fabric that cracks me out! Buying a fat quarter or 5 is kind of satisfying retail therapy. Until you get home and you have no plans for it (or them) and it just snuggles up with the other fat quarters on lock down waiting to be released.

So my goal this weekend is to make a quilt top for a kiddo or a nice lap quilt for those iPhone mornings at 6:00am with puppies I can throw over my shoulders when it's just crisp enough to need one. The first stash buster quilt top (Fat Quarter Fiesta) for a certain spirit niece's birthday is done! Here's a picture of that one again:

What is it about the stuff? I have opinions and dreams about it. While driving I try and picture how it will look as a quilt square or a pair of boy shorts. Could it serve as the front of a tank top? What if it was a pocket lining? Just a little peak would be all people needed.

And then there's the texture of it. I walk in to a store with clothing and I touch everything. Give it that two-finger and a thumb rub as I walk down the aisle around the racks or as I dig in a bin. How will this feel? How does it breathe? How did they do this?

As the puppies move on to wonderful new homes and the ones that are holding out for a good match grow more and more independent, I am having more free time to sew and stash bust (more on this in a later blog). During the puppy play time outside in the smoky summer days of southern Oregon, I surf the usual sites for good stash buster quilts that I can make for everyone I know, and even people I don't. My hope is to make some kid size quilts for friend's newborns, yearlings, and toddlers and after that (or before and simultaneously) make some for foster kids connected with my work or to use in the classroom reading nook.