Charm Packs

Is everyone enjoying a good belly laugh?  Everyone who knows me knows my least favorite color is pink!  I was one of those children who did not have hair until I was about four so I was dressed in pink.    Mother thought if people saw me wearing pink they would think I was a girl instead of a boy.

Knowing my aversion to pink why the pink quilt?  I am blaming it on my addiction to charm packs.  My love for charm packs far out weighs the dislike for pink.  One of the many reasons I love charm packs is because of the great variety of fabric, design and colors.  However, there is usually one color in the charm pack which does not sing to me.  You guessed it, it is usually the pink one.

Being a creature of habit, I bring the charm packs home, allow my eyes and fingers to enjoy and start thinking of projects and choosing my favorite ones.  Almost immediately, if there are any pink ones in the pack, they get discarded to the pink pile.  Over the years as my collection of charm packs has grown so grew the pink pile.  In my goal to reduce my fabric stash, I came across the pinks and the growing number!  Sewing the 5" charm squares together and setting them on point seemed like a simple and quick way to eliminate to reduce the pink stash.

While purchasing fabric for the sashings/borders, the kind ladies at the quilt shop told me the quilt was not pink.  They said:  it is the pink family of red.  They were as convincing as Mother dressing me in pink so people would think I was a girl.

Stash Reduction

One of the goals I have set for myself is to reduce my fabric stash.  I was looking for something the other day and realized I had several 5" squares from charm packs.  One of the ladies in the Jo Morton class had made a quilt using squares from a charm pack and this seemed like a good way to utilize some of the fabric from my stash.

While laying out the squares I also found fabric I can use for the borders.  The only fabric I will need to purchase is fabric for setting the quilt.  In order to restrain myself from purchasing more fabric, I will be wearing a rubber band on my wrist and each time I see a fabric I want to purchase I will use the rubber band to remind myself the goal is to reduce my fabric.

Naming this quilt is not going to be a problem--I'm calling it the Bepto quilt.

Look what I found on my road trip

One of the good things about road trips is the side trips along the way.  To break up the monotony of the driving, I make frequent stops during the trip.  I should have one of those signs on my bumper which says "I brake for garden centers, quilt shops, needlework stores, antiques and coffee shops."  Of course, I might also need a stretch limo to encompass a bumper sticker this long. 

During my Mother's Day road trip, I stopped at Little Blessings quilt shop and look what I found!

Charm Packs!  Moda Seasonal Little Gatherings by Primitive Gatherings charm packs!  When I saw them at Little Blessings I thought I had hit the Mother load!  Yes, I did purchase two packs:  one for myself and one for my quilting partner in crime Carmen. 

The second charm pack which I purchased was Barbara Brackman's 1862 Battle Hymn.  I will be using these charm packs in my Pottery Shards quilts.

I also picked up a couple of fat quaters TeaTime by Nancy Davis and Moda Civil War Reunion Memorial Hall 1840-1870 by Barbara Brackman. 

Jo Morton quilt class is on Saturday--my work is incomplete.  Time for me to get busy and get Pottery Shards pieced!