Sewing or Stashing in March

March always starts out rough for me and this year was no different, the anniversary of meeting my husband falls between dates of great loss in my life. So to try and feel better about things I often buy fabric or over indulge in food (this year I went for both).

My first purchases of March were from Quilting Quest in Lexington and Mary Joe's in Gastonia. The shop in Lexington is closing shortly and I wanted at least one more trip there before they did but I didn't find many things that I really wanted but Mary Joe's more than made up for it and my total purchases for the day was a whopping 17 yards, but I felt good about them because nearly all has an intended project.

Next up in March I decided to finally join the Forsyth Piecers and Quilters guild and it was just in time for the guild yard sale meeting. I have been wanting to join for some time but the dates didn't line up for me but this was a great reason to put forth more effort into joining them. I sold approx 50+ yards of fabric and over 2 paper boxes worth of other stuff. (This is the left overs that will be heading ot the Guild meeting in April.)

March is coasting right along with swaps getting sent out and some other pay it forward type mail this included 2.5 yards more fabric.

I went to the Charlotte Quilt Guild show and bought a charm pack and a yard worth of fabric -- pretty good for me. I also got that really cool vintage piece that looks like the start of a pillow, I'm thinking about trying some hand quilting on it (GASP!!). (+2)

Trailer Stash had it's grand opening I got a great new shirt from Patchwork Threads, a pattern and half a yard of linen.  

Hubs and I went to the mountains once this month and stopped at a lovely shop I had found last time we were there -- it resulted in a 15 yard purchase. I just couldn't pass up 10 1/2  yards of Flea Market Fancy for $10 -- and the other 5.5 yards of lovelies that I acquired. (+16)

Trailer Stash Fabrics came by Triad Modern Quilt Guild and Gina did a great job speaking about this awesome endeavor that she is undertaking with the love and support of her husband and family. I decided that I wanted to get some Voile for an upcoming quilt back -- it's my first time with really buying Voile so I sprang for +4.5 yards of some delicious Anna Maria Horner that I will be using as my inspiration for when I attend a Workshop in June for Allison Glass' Tessellation Quilt. 


So after a slow start there was some making this month..... 
My bee blocks -- about a yard
I pattern tested a bag -- another 2 yards.
Made another Sew together bag for a shop I will be teaching at next month -- 2 yards.
I pulled fabrics for upcoming projects --

• Alison Glass Mini Quilt -- 2 yards
• Spring Mini Quilt -- 2 yards
• Stash Bash Secret Sister Swap (2 items and extras) -- 5 yards 
• Tote bag for me -- 3 yards 
• Sewing mat, sew together and thread bin for me -- 5 yards 

March's totals are 74.5 yards pulled / used, 40 yards purchased -- a -34.5 yard use for this month. Putting that with January (-8) and February (-3) I am currently 45.5 yards lighter in my stash. 

Since I will be heading to Stash Bash in a few short weeks I am continuously thinking about the projects that I want to take with me -- they need to be containable to my work area so I am thinking that this will be an excellent opportunity to work on my Swoon Quilt, Lucky 21 quilt and perhaps pull fabric for another new quilt. April might be a month of great progress.

Triad Modern Quilt Guild will be holding our Yard Sale in April and hopefully I can purge out the rest of my pulled fabric then.