A LITTLE RETAIL THERAPY

Well I have to admit, I didn't find A tape measure.. no problem says me! The best way to find the tape measures or anything else you have 'put somewhere safe' is to go out and buy a new one.. so that was the plan.. I went to a local store (Hi Alison) and they had a 25% off sale.. now I did restrain myself, and managed to get some fabrics to finish off a quilt top or two, the chenile top is now done and the backing is soaking as we speak.. left the store with my purchases and had a "DOH" moment.. forgot to buy a new tape measure... so no problemo..

I'll go the LONG way home and there is another quilt shop on the way (fancy that?? not as good as the first one, and staff not as friendly!!) found some crochet lace I needed and a few other things and made my way home.. and guess what? forgot to buy a new tape measure at that store! LOL.. I have been measuring using my cutting board, which is fine if its under 22".. but the top I dropped off at the quilters well I thought it was 76-80" well its not, alas, I cannot make a single quilt to save my life.. its 88" long by 67" wide.. This is for my friends birthday, I hope he likes it, as I am probably going to have to mortgage a kid or sell a kidney to get it quilted! Its a very simple quilt, made it in a day.. it will be commercially washed and dried as he is in hospital for a little while, so I didn't want to make an epic quilt.. had some drama's with the fabric I used for the backing, not bloomin' long enough.. it was EXACTLY the same size as the top, so I have had to add a few strips to the top and bottom of the backing, but hey, its a SCRAP quilt! :O) I seen this idea on another website awhile ago, and it was called a "Lasagne Quilt".. you use layers of fabric, I cut 2.5" strips width of fabric (some were FQ's) and off I went.. I used all stash fabrics, civil war repro's, except for the purple border, which I got from the first shop I went to today.. it was the first one I picked up and it looks great.. it has a teeny black pattern on it, so I am going to use black binding on it.. It should come home in about two weeks time, plenty of time for my friends birthday!

The other top I finished was the chenille quilt... I also managed to get some more from the first shopI went to today (Rags to Riches btw @ Cessnock, its a great shop, about 30mins from here).. How lucky was I?? Alison let me raid the secret stash for some more blue, it was a bit too girly pink for my liking.. but I am super happy with it.. chenille does have a little bit of stretch in it so a couple of blocks are a bit puffy.. This will be the first quilt I will bag, and then I'll tie it down with some of the 1000's of vintage buttons I have stashed around this house.. that is, if they are hiding out with my tape measures!

I just dragged out my Bendigo Retreat Signatures this morning, and I am not 100% sure on how to put them together, have seen a couple of WIP quilts from the same swap and my idea seems dumb.. the oriental fabrics are too cute too cut up too small (IMHO) and thought about using the tumbler template I bought awhile ago.. not tumbling block, but tumbler, looks like a thimble.. just had a go using a scrap, and I can get 1 1/2 tumblers out of each block, so this idea could be a go-er.. anyways, I better go and start my day.. its 11am and I am still in my flannelette lingirie..

Happy weekends to you :O)