Brand Spankin' New

Yesterday, I put together the January block of Anne's BOM mystery quilt. I am fairly pleased with the outcome, but I'm a bit of an A-type personality, so while I want perfection, I'm never quite able to achieve it. I don't do embroidery... well, I guess I do now. I actually had to google "stem stitch" to find out how to do it. I have NEVER been able to do a French knot so over the years of cross-stitching I have improvised my own method, which is more laborious than it's supposed to be, but it works for me. So, here is my block.

Funny story (sort of) about the background fabric. Whenever I go looking for fabric, I always have in mind what I want... and I can never find it. I end up having to settle for something similar to what I envisioned. I went to a nearby quilt store looking for a dot print, but there was no such thing. After looking and looking, I had to summon courage to ask if they had a white-on-white dot. No. Instead, I found this little print with tiny stars all over it, had the lady cut it, and left fairly satisfied. Only to get home and realize I hadn't bought enough. Sigh. So now I have to go back and get more. I know... most of you would just look at this as an opportunity to do more fabric shopping... but I have a confession. Quilt shops scare me. I am surrounded by thousands of metres of expensive fabric, the walls are hung with gorgeous quilts made by incredibly talented women, and all I want is a metre of white tone-on-tone. If I had a million dollars to spend, I would be immobilized. I wouldn't know where to start. It is a humbling experience, being in a quilt shop. Oh well, I'll just have to suck it up and go back for the rest of my white fabric. I'll wait until I regain my courage.

Today is my friend Lyra's 40th birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Lyra is the first of our "group" to turn the big 4-0. She's MUCH older than me haha. She's not a blogger or a quilter so she probably won't see this. She is, however, one of the most wonderful and kind people I've ever met. We've been friends since grade 8 and, although we don't see each other very often because I moved to the other side of the country, she is and will always be one of my best friends. We share history - lots of it - and I love her dearly. Aren't girl friends the best!?!

Today is a special day for another reason. My friend Bethany (who is a quilter, but not a blogger) gave birth to a beautiful little girl today. And she named her Jane! (I'm sure not after me, but it's still a great name.) Little Jane will get a quilt from me, of course, and that means that I will have to change my priority project list. I was planning to make the Snowman in the Woods quilt first, but then I decided to make my Mum's Union Jack pillow (so I did).


Then I wanted to finish another quilt that I had started cutting out but never got to. It's called "Let it Snow" and features three appliqued skiers skiing through pine-tree blocks (for my friend, Cheryl, who was a competitive skier and instructor). Now it looks as though those projects will be put aside because I think Little Jane needs a quilt first. I'm sure Bethany's mom will make her one and it will be gorgeous, but what kind of friend would I be if I knew how to do this and just didn't? I will have to look though books and magazines to find something special. Bethany is kind of a zany girl, so her daughter will have to get a bright, modern quilt. Oh no! Does that mean more fabric shopping? Will I have to go back to the quilting store sooner than anticipated? I know - I'll check my stash!


Have a great weekend everybody!