Fat Quarter Stars Quilt along

Well, I put that unexpected free day yesterday to very good use. The Batman quilt was loaded onto the machine, and, if I hadn't goofed on the backing, it would have been done. But, when I got to the end of the top, I'd run out of backing about 3 inches too soon. Oops. Now I have to take it off the machine, (am I ever glad have have zippers on it), sew up another strip of batman fabrics to add to the bottom of the backing, load it back on, (did I already say I'm glad I have zippers on it) and do the last bit of the quilting. (sigh) While I was waiting for the batting to relax after taking it out of the bag, I pieced together the first square of the Fat quarter stars quilt along 
and I like it. I like the way the small star seems to float in the centre of the large one. If all the stars are like this one, it will be quite a lovely quilt. And now, I have to run and get ready for work.

Almost did a rant....

I was just about to do a rant about the differences in prices between the States and Canada, but then I decided I'd better check my facts first. Yesterday I went out in search of a specific yarn to make this scarf Somehow I had it in my mind that I could order it online for about $20.00. So when I got to the store and found out that they wanted $38.00 for it, I nearly choked and fell over in a dead faint. However, I was wrong about the $20.00 online. It is $30.00 online, so it isn't a huge gap, but it is still way too up there in price for me. So I settled on a sort of more economical choice. It's a 50% merino wool and 50% silk and it is just so soft and will feel so nice on my neck come the winter cold.  I got home, and started in on making that drop stitch pattern, only to decide that it looked really blah in the plain colour, so I ripped it out. I only had maybe 4 inches done, so it wasn't that big of a deal to rip out. But then I had to come up with another pattern. I got to thinking about how textures always look better with a plain coloured yarn, so that's what I started looking for, and I have this 
done so far. I am quite liking it.  I have 3 balls of this stuff, so we'll see how long it will be after all of them have been used. Hopefully long enough to fold in half, and then put it on with the 2 ends pulled through the folded part. I like wearing scarves like that. And it is so soft, that I'm stopping and petting it every so often as I knit. (giggle)
Anyway, enough of that. I didn't get any of my quilty goals done yesterday, so I'm going to try again today to get Noel's Batman quilt loaded and started, and the  Fat Quarters Star quilt along block done. Somehow I had it down on my calender that I had to work today, but it turns out that I don't. I feel like I have a bonus day off, so I'm going to go and have some fun with it. And, even better, I don't have to cook today, either, because I made  Chicken and Dumplings yesterday, (thanks Denise), and there is more than enough for leftovers today. Bonus!!!

Surgery Date set.....

Well, I saw the eye surgeon yesterday, and received quite a sort of pleasant surprise. Although the wait time to get in to see the eye surgeon was six months, the wait time for the surgery is one week. So, I am booked for the right eye to be done October 5th, and the left eye on October 19th. The doctors says, that with the new lens implant, I should be able to go without glasses, except for reading and close work. That boggles my mind! I've worn glasses since I was 13 years old, although there were a few years in there that I went without. I might get them to make me a pair that I can keep on all the time, though, just so I don't become one of those people who are always searching for their glasses, which would definitely be me. He had to warn me, though, that because I'm quite far sighted, my vision in between to 2 surgeries could get wonky, because the 2 eyes will be very different, and I won't be able to see out of my current glasses with the eye that has already been done. Something tells me there won't be a lot of sewing or quilting done until the second eye is done. That means, I have to find something else to do with my hands in the meantime. I think that will involve some knitting, which is going to involve a trip to a yarn/fabric store later on today. There is a really cool, easy scarf pattern that I really like, and I love the yarn it has been done with in the picture. The yarn shop I want to go to carries it, so I'm off there after I finish this. Then, I think there is some quilty stuff I should get done before the surgery, Noel's quilt should get done, and I have a couple of customer baby gifts to do. And the first block for the Fat quarters stars quilt along has been posted, so I'd like to do that. And do some more crumbs. But, if I'm going to get anything done, I'd best get moving.

Design wall Monday Sept 26

 Monday again, and lots of inspirational, fun, and wonderful eye candy to be found over at Judy's Patchwork times I'm linking this post up there, as well. I mentioned last week that I was contemplating starting a new project, not because I need another, but because I wanted to. Well, I did it, and now have one Swoon  block sewn together, and 2 more cut out, and ready to go together. I had some fun novelty food fabrics hanging around, and I'm liking the way this is looking so much, that I've ordered more. It will end up being a really fun quilt, I think. The pieces in this quilt are a perfect size for showcasing this type of fabric, 3 inches finished, and the centre block of the star is 6 inches. So it goes together quite quickly. I'm still working on the RRCB, and am up to 36 or 37 of the string squares done, a couple more than what I had yesterday. After I finish here, I'm going to go do some more of the strings, until I have to go to work this afternoon. Tomorrow is my appointment with the eye specialist to find out about surgery for the cataracts. Here's hoping that the wait time isn't too long.

Stash Report Week 39

I did some major internet fabric shopping button pushing last week. But, since the packages won't arrive for a week or two, I don't have to count them yet. I'm having a lot of fun working on my novelty food fabrics Swoon blocks. That's why I have new fabric coming in. I liked the big print fun food thing so much, that I ordered more of them. And of course, each food print needed it's own coordinate, so that added up to more........ (giggle) These blocks are actually quite a lot of fun to do. It takes longer to cut the fabrics out than it does to sew them together. I can fully understand why there are so many version of this floating around blog land. Here's a sneak peak: 
Each one of these squares uses up 21 inches of fabric, and pretty quickly, too. It takes longer to cut them out, than to sew them together. And then there are the crumb blocks. I've decided that I'm going to count them as each using 63.4 squares inches of fabric each. That's taking the size of them, 6.5 inches, and adding 50% to allow for seams and trimming. Anyway, on to the numbers:

Used this week:                     2.8 yards
Used this year:                   105.5 yards
Purchased this week:              0 yards
Purchased this year:           121.5 yards
Balance:                               16 yards more purchased than used.  

I'm linking up to Judy's Patchwork Times where there are a bunch of other people keeping track of there ins and outs.       

Crumb Along....... I'm hooked

The instructions for the second part of the Crumb along went up today, and I felt like playing today. These things are a blast to make. I'm totally hooked. I've done 5 of the stars, and still need to do the hearts. But I had all kinds of stuff there to do regular crumbs with, so I've made a bunch of 3 1/2 inch crumb squares, that I've sewn together to make up 6 1/2 inch squares to go with the geese and the stars. I have no idea where this is going, but it sure is a lot of fun, and is making a teeny dent in my crumb and string pile. I'm figuring out the stash usage for these by figuring out the number of square inches for each of these squares at 6.5 x6.5 to equal 42.25 square inches each. Then I'm adding 50% to allow for all the seams and the trimmings, for a total of 63.5 square inches each. Figuring that out for 14 squares, gives me approximately 2/3 of a yard used up. It sure doesn't look like I've used up that much fabric. And now, I think I'll go back and play some more, and make up some crumb hearts this time. Fun, fun, fun.......

Design Wall Monday Sept 19

I have a couple of things up on my wall right now. Most of it is components for Roll roll cotton boll. The black and purple half square triangles on the right side are parts of the churn dash squares for RRCB. ANd under those are the 5 crumb blocks. But, I'm stalled. I want to start something new. But I'm not sure just what. I've been watching different quilts in the 36 patch quilt along for the last while, and have totally fallen in love with Kathy's I really, really want to do one of these. And then there is a collection of fall themed fabrics, for one of the quilts out of Judy's book Weekend Quilts, that I want to do. ANd then there is Swoon I've seen all kinds of different versions of it, and it is loudly calling my name. I have some novelty fabrics that I've been looking to do something with, a lot of them leftover from making Matt and Becca's Wedding quilt.  Here's a pic of some of them, paired up with some
coordinates. The more I look at them, the more I think this might be it. There are others that are a bit more girly and pastels, as well, but I'm not sure if they will work with what I've got so far. To see other design walls, hop on over to Judy's patchwork times where there is lots and lots to see, and cause temptation to quilters wanting ideas and inspiration for new projects, even when not needing ideas and inspiration for new projects. (giggle)