Leap Day and Taking Chances

Being leap day yesterday, I decided to take a leap myself and go on an adventure.  For a little over a year I have been wanting to take a trip to a fabric store that randomly came across on the internet.  Being in an area that I am unsure of, having never ventured there, I kept putting it off.    I almost talked myself out of going yesterday as well, but then decided to live in the moment and go for a drive seeing as how they are not open on the weekends.  Off with my trusty Garmin I went!   I had 2 options of how to get there, either by taking the country roads or taking the highway, which was roughly 5 miles longer.  I of course took the country roads being from the country.  Surprisingly, it only took me about 25 minutes to find the shop. 

The outside is neat and tidy but with really no decoration.  There is a handpainted sign at the entrance declaring a "Fabric Shop", and only one car was in the driveway.  Upon entering, you instantly could tell that this was a shop with history.  They still had fabrics from the 70s and 80s all the way up to decorating fabrics, some apparel fabrics, and of course quilters cottons.   I was taken aback at first on how much fabric there was, but then I came to my senses and started looking and looking and looking.  The fabrics were so reasonably priced.  The same fabrics that are selling in quilt shops and on the web for 8-10 dollars a yard were 4 and 5 dollars a yard!!  I was needless to say in heaven, but being a good wife and telling my husband before I journeyed out that I was not really in the market for anything in particular, I decided to shop in moderation - for now.

 I added these Marcus Brothers fabrics to my collection of Civil War prints.  These were all priced at $5 a yard, so I splurged and got half a yard of each. 

I also got these cream-on-cream pieces to go with my Civil War collection, though they were not specifically labeled as such.  These were between $4 and $4.50 a yard.  The orange batik was a steal at $4.98 a yard and with orange being my favorite color, I knew I had to get a yard to add to the pile.  My total was just over $28 and I could not have been more pleased.

So, I guess I learned a lesson. Sometimes it's a good thing to act spontaneously and "just do it".  I plan on going back and adding to my collection, but I think I will wait for a few more weeks.  The owner, an older gentleman, said that he is taking a trip south in a few weeks to purchase more fabric.  I told him I would definitely be back, and that I would spread the word about his store (though surprisingly he told me that his business has picked up a little more recently). It's just plain and simple, and I am very happy to have found a new fabric store not too far from home with a great selection. 

Rainy days and Mondays always get me down

Happy Leap Day! 

I know it's not Monday, but it is raining cats and dogs here today, so much so that the dog will not even leave the porch long enough to do his business.  He trots off nonchalantly at first and then when he is in the yard for a minute, he runs right back onto the porch and gives me that look like  - you want me to do what out there in this rain?!!!  What are you nuts?!     Good news is that it is supposed to get colder so the rain will eventually let up.  Bad news is that it is possible for getting messy out there later with ice/snow.    Good news is that it has been a mild winter. 

So in my perusing the blogs the last few days I see everyone talking about taking advantage of this extra day this year to work on some projects, take some time to pamper yourself with this extra day, etc...   Honestly, this day has started out like any other day in my house, so I can only hope that there is time this evening to sew.  I wanted to take a quick trip to a new fabric store (well new to me) not far from home, hopefully getting done with work a little early to as to make it there before closing, but I can't tell as yet if that will happen.  They are only open weekdays, so Saturdays are out.  I have been wanting to go there for a while, so I hope I can make time to get there. 

My current project is a string quilt inspired from this blog site : http://heartstringsquiltproject.com/.  I have had some blue, white, and yellow fabrics in my stash for quite a while waiting for just the right quilt to come along to use them, and this is what I decided to try.  Another idea I came across on the web was to use old phone book pages as the foundations for these squares.  I decided to give it a try and I love it.  It tears away so easily afterwards.  I started out with a 7-inch square and then folded in half on the diagonal.

After cutting strips various widths from my fabrics, I then decided to make yellow the focal point of each middle of the square.  

With the yellow pinned down in the center of the square on the diagonal, I could then add my other strips to either side, working on one half at a time.

I chose to press (not iron) as i went along.  Once the square was covered, I could then trim down to size.  I chose 6-1/2 inches as my choice of size.  Using a square ruler this exact size made this trimming a cinch.  Lining the ruler up on the square, making sure that the yellow strip was centered and that the square that would be cut out was also centered over the paper backing, I trimmed away.

I now have 48 squares completed and I am thinking of arranging them 6 squares wide by 8 squares long and then achieving the size I am happy with by adding coordinating borders.    That's my project for now.  I will try to keep it updated as I progress. 

Enjoy your leap day and the extra time it hopefully brings to you!

Postage Stamp 2012 Charm Swap

So, I've been wanting to make a postage stamp quilt for years now, but I don't want to do the tiny, tiny 1" squares. I am going to stick with 2" squares. Last fall I tried putting the word out on Facebook that I was collecting scraps, but only got a few responses (thanks so much to those that helped). I never realized peeps were so reluctant to part with a scraps, but nonetheless I still kept the idea in my head, convinced I was going to get this quilt made this year.

Imagine my surprise when lo and behold Mary of The Curious Quilter had a post on this very project and it includes swapping fabric. I'm in!!  I've been cutting like a mad woman. I just have to remember to keep at least 1 square of each fabric for myself. That would not be a good thing to have done all the work of cutting and not kept any for myself and have to do the whole process over again (though I only thought of this after 3 hours of cutting last night).

Imagine having a comforting quilt to use in the cold winter months while watching TV or curled up reading a good book - or taking it on a picnic in the summertime.  The photo below is not my quilt but is a photo from Mary's blog.

It's a year-long project with swaps throughout the year.  Can't participate in the swap this month?  Then join the next one in April. So hop on over to visit The Curious Quilter for this and more!