CQJP 2012 February Block

I have finished my February block for the CQJP 2012. It is as much of a surprise to me as it is to you. With each decision I make some new thing emerges. I'm not experienced enough with CQ to have an idea before hand of what the block is going to be. There may come a time when I plan (map, diagram) the block beforehand but for now,it is really fun, exciting and a little magical.



February CQJP 2012 Block

 Part of the magic, for me, is that it all depends on what is in your stash and what jumps to the hand to be used. Accumulating stash is one of my favorite activities.  Money is not plentiful enough for me to buy for each project as it occurs. I am not usually able to make large investments in stash. Rather, I take advantage of thrift stores, garage sales, and repurposing.

I talked about how the fabric for each of these blocks is from table linens collected. The lace is all found treasure. The large blue flowers are from a lei that was 29 cents. Even the yo-yos were bought at a thift store. There was a small bag of them for $1.99. The small butterfly was crocheted from a blue and white varigated 30 weight ball of thread from the thrift store. I also have a pink and white, yellow and white, and green and white that I have a feeling you will be seeing more of. I will probably add another 2 or three butterflies to this block as I get them crocheted.  The heart pattern was found on the internet for free.

I will concede that the threads were bought new, but they were not bought for this project.  There was a sale and I stocked up on stash. I have limited supplies that are hard from this project, but the buttons on my ort bags were collected from the thrift store and so was the sewing thread.  Last time I went to Joann's I bought a spool of all purpose white sewing thread for $2.49.  How I appreciate the gallon zip log bag of Gutermann thread for $5.00 that I found last year. Even the decorator fabric used on my turtle was from the thrift store.Well I am posting this at the end of the first full day of Daylight Savings time. I better close up shop and go to bed.  It a work day tomorrow.

More Thrift Store Finds and More Butterflies

Some of my favorite memories are going to garage sales and thrift stores.  When my mother was still alive, we went out every Saturday morning.  We would end the day by going out for lunch.  We didn't need a lot of money.  Usually we would have about $20 each.  My mother always bought more than I did because she liked decorator items.  I was always looking for books or craft supplies.  I no longer have my mother to go with, but I know she would be happy to know that I still love to find a bargain.

Tuesday morning I had a doctor's appointment.  When I got there the receptionist told me I would need to reschedule because the doctor had an emergency.  Instead of wasting my time out, I stopped at a thrift store near the office.  I had a lot of fun.  Here is what I found.

Thrift Store finds 06/07/11

If you look close you will see that each bag is marked as $3.00.  Let me show you what was in each bag.

Tatting Threads




First I was able to find these tatting threads. 


I checked at Herrschners tatting threads and each one of these are going for $1.99.  I got 19 skeins for $3.00.





Floss on cards



 

This picture is of floss that has already been wound onto card bobbins.  There are approximately 40 cards. There was even an extra supply of bobbins.



Floss Skeins



And this picture is of the loose floss skeins.  I counted them at 71 skeins.  I was at Michael's the same day replenishing my red #321 and paid $.35 a skein.  At 71 skeins that is $24.85.  If you include the floss already wound there are 100 + skeins.  100 skeins would cost $35.00.  This floss cost me $6.00 for the two bags.

I also got 5 crochet hooks for $2.00 and 3 bobbins of lace for another $2.00   This was another great shopping experience.

Now for more butterflies....

I have been crocheting butterfly bookmarks.  They go together pretty fast and it seems like everyone who sees one wants one.  I didn't get pictures of all that I have made but here are two of the ones I have kept for myself.

Butterfly Bookmarks

This pattern looks really good in variegated thread.  I have made a dozen already and have plans for more.  In fact, at work each year there is an arts and crafts auction that is a United Way fundraiser.  I hope to have a dozen to include.  I need to have two more done by Saturday since my friend would like one for her  for birthda y!  Another friend wants one for her daughter's birthday.


This butterfly bookmark link will take you to the free pattern.


I found a nice tutorial on Bookmark Tassels on wikiHow.


Here are some more crocheted butterfly links:


Butterfly Handkerchiefs
Butterfly Shade Pulls
Dainty Butterfly
Fancy Crocheted Butterfly
Pineapple Butterfly
Small Crocheted Butterfly
Thread Butterfly


Progress on my Butterfly Pillowcases has slowed.  I have been spending my time finishing up an ornament for a summer swap.  I will have pictures of that next time after the recipient has received it.  I still plan to do this in chain stitch and it's variations.  I have been trying to achieve a consistent and uniform look to the chain stitch.  It does give the butterfly an interesting texture.  I am looking forward to having more of it done soon. Here is a current picture of the project .

Over on Stitchin Fingers, Pat Boggins is hosting a Post a Photo of Chain Stitch challenge.  You can see the photo's at the Chain Stitch Photo Link.

Theresa E.

Thrift Store Finds

I had one of those days when it would be appropriate to speak of “Stash Enhancement Experience” as SEX. I went to the thrift store for my weekly visit. The anticipation is addicting. When my daughter was younger we played a game during the drive there. I would start by asking her,”Can't you hear the treasure calling you? It is saying, “Come and find me”. She would continue to sing - speak it during the rest of the drive. “Mom, your treasure is calling. It wants you to find it.”

It was easy to find a toy, dress up article, or book that would make her feel she had found her treasure. I always found something to treasure too. Threads, yarns, buttons, doilies, beads, fabric – I could always find something.

Sometimes, I would have a great find. Once, I picked up baggies full of Peaches and Cream cotton yarn. There was 10-12 full skeins in a bag that was marked $2.99. There were about 15 bags. I stashed all of those bags in my basket.Then I agonized, did I have enough money?, I would ask. Then I would put half of them back. I would then ask, can I afford not to get them? Finally, I loaded them all in my cart and headed to the checkout line. When I got there, the cashier told me that it was my lucky day. They had a special going – 5 bags for 5 dollars. I got out of there only paying a dollar a bag. That was a great treasure find.

There is also my favorite story. I went into a thrift store with my husband. He is always in a hurry and doesn't like to take his time looking through stuff. In their household bins, I found several bags of crochet thread. There was 6 skeins in a bag and the bag was priced at $1.99. I don't remember how many bags there were but I picked up 2 of them. At the time, I was giving embroidered pillow cases out for Christmas gifts and I could use the thread to crochet an edging. I wanted to pick up more, but my husband starting saying, “You don't need more.You have tons of that stuff. You could open a store now. Let's go – I don't want to spend all day!” I wanted them all, but I walked away with the just the two bags.

When I got home, I put the baggies in my crochet thread bin and that is where they sat as I was not quite ready to use them. One day, several months later, I decided to organize my crafts and I ran across those 2 bags. I opened the bags and found that each skein had the beginning of a project tucked inside. Imagine my surprise as I pulled out the first one and unfolded the project to see a $100 bill tucked inside. As you can imagine, I went through the rest of the skeins and each one had money in it. I ended up with $900. Later, my husband told me that he stopped back in the store to see if they still had any bags left. Of course, they did not.

Well, Friday was one of those kind of days. When I got to the household section of the store, I found bag that had a number of spools of metallic thread. I smiled and thought to myself that I found my treasure today. I looked again and there was another one. I found 10 of these bags. They were each $2.99 but I had a 20% off coupon. This meant that each bag cost $2.40. Each bag had specialty threads. This time, I took pictures.



What I started with.



This was my metallic

thread stash before today's find.



Balger Threads



I knew that I had quite a bit of new threads, so I pulled out a drawer and emptied it. I now needed a dedicated drawer. I opened each one of my bags and sorted them. As I started to organize and put away, I found these Balger threads.



Add Kreinik



  

Then I added the Kreinik spools.

   

DMC added

  

That is not all. Next I put in the DMC spools.

and more

I wasn't done yet. I found these metallics too.

still more

There is still more!

This picture includes some suede,

some satin, some corded,

and even some glow in the dark!



even more

This picture has some variegated threads and some thread that I am going to crochet with. The four spools in the middle. I think they will make very pretty flowers. There are threads that I believe are used in Candlewicking. One states on the package that it is fuzzy thread to use for beards and other fuzzy items. There are sequins, Gutermann thread and Scroll Frame Knobs.

I took one final picture of my metallic stash.



Look at my stash now!



Once I started this blog article, I found that DMC Light Effects belong here, as well. Naturally, I have each one of their bundles too.

Here are some interesting links that I found.

DMC Light Effects Color Card

DMC Light Effects Free Patterns

Needlework Tips for Light Effects

Secrets of Blending Filament

Tips for Stitching with Metallic Threads

Thread Conversion for DMC Light Effects to Kreinik #4 Braid

What is Corded Braid?