The Year of Not Buying Fabric

You guys.
Omg. You guys.

It's three quarters  through July


and


I HAVEN'T BOUGHT ANY NEW FABRIC.


(yet)

No really. I've made a sort of deal with myself that I need to clean up and get through my stash this year.
It's...too much. When I'm moving bins and bins of fabrics around (but I do know exactly what's in each bin, y'all... I really do) and still having to go buy more fabric....I think it's gone past the Stash phase and I'm teetering dangerously close to Hoarder status.

So.
I decided last year to Not Buy Any Fabric.

The exceptions:
Vintage sheets at thrift shops
Any extra pieces needed to finish a work in progress (meaning if I run out of yardage and I need the same thing)
Custom costume orders
Notions (which don't count anyway) like thread, bobbins, binding, etc

And guess what.
SO FAR:::: This year I've only bought thread.

Just.
Thread.

"OH, what self control" you must be thinking.
No...what it means is I had TOO MUCH CRAP IN MY SEWING ROOM.
I'mma be real here.
I even went BIN by BIN and discarded TWO GIANT garbage bags of fabric. Before you clutch your pearls...I donated it all. Except for tiny off cut scraps that let's face it, should have stuffed a pillow a long time ago.

So. Slowly but surely. I'm working my way thru WIPS and UFOs. I found my sewing mojo again and I finally finished my dufflebag. (Blog post on that to come).) I repurposed some shirts. I continue to get back into the groove and find inspiration from what I have.

Anyone else? What tips and tricks do you use when you've had fabric forever and can't remember what amazing project you bought it for???

Catching Up with Photos

I

Yep so here it is May. 

And I barely wrote a word last month.
Well that's not entirely true.

I started teaching again and that meant two adjusted scripts to write, and I'm working on a new Murder Mystery for THIS:Murder on the Train . AND...we had a new addition to our family and she needed a lot of loving care. 

I also got very, very sick; some sort of bronchial thang that really knocked me out.

And sometimes....I don't know about you...but sometimes, I just don't have *it* to write. Ya know?

And then, it was so long since I'd blogged - I was a bit overwhelmed, like, where to start...!?!?

So... A Picture is worth a Thousand Words so.....here we go.

 Mr J was feeding a feral cat colony all winter. We managed to trap most of them.

This is a VERY pregnant Jumper.

Two days after succesfully trapping her; FOUR babies!

This is Zazi. We were fostering her, socializing her, so she'd be ready to be adopted.

She was so very tiny. She's about 6 months old.

Three weeks of playing, and reassuring her in the bathroom.

There was much playing of string. She was my total focus; and Mr. J was a saint for dealing with a messy house!

Wasn't too sure about the RC mouse.

In just a month and a half with us; she's grown twice her size and has completely taken over our house.

A new addition meant trips to the vet for all. Vamp and Mikie were not impressed.

 They got over it. Laugh.

 A surprise snowstorm in April, and NEW patio sliding doors!

Some outdoor fabric options

April 10th is my birthday, and I made cake!

Celebrating with my FAV sparkling wine. "Sofia". Yummmmmmmmmmmmmy.

And there was Cherry Coke and Ketchup Chips!

Mr. J gave my a wonderful present...the Ninja blender I've ben coveting for months!

It's getting a lot of use.

Starting cleaning up, really cleaning out my sewing space. Some vintage stuff to go on my Etsy shop.

Working on some childrens' costumes for my Etsy shop.

Getting the garden ready; and we needed some birdhouses!

FINALLY made one of my Mary Maxim cowl patterns. Love how it turned out.

Couldn't find a dress I liked in stores anywhere. Decided to design and make my own!

Pattern drafting

Fabric thoughts

Muslin pattern mock up

First fitting of dress!

I was laid low with a serious bronchial chesty thing. So I cleaned the sewing room.

Really cleaned. Oops! Looks like I left Muffin plugged in. LOL

All the fabric sorted by colour and notions all neatly stashed.

It started to get warmer!

The back shade garden started coming alive.

The front yard has some serious damage from salting the sidewalks. But the new tulips came up!

Birdhouses are out!

Visiting with my Mom !

Had a fun girls' night doing the Paint Nite thing.

I did this! And it was so easy!

There were lots and lots of donuts for Mother's Day weekend

......................and.....I'm planning my WEDDING!!!! WOOT!

Less than six months!

So there's that. Lots went on.

And I'm back to sewing and making messess; I'll keep updating more often, I promise!!!!