Time ticks bye

Well, it has been a week since my last post. Still waiting on the mail to arrive, but that is OK. It has been a busy week. I think the life of any Momma is busy. The week was filled with the usual toddler days of playdates, teething (those back molars), walking everywhere and taking the time to admire all the cement trucks, back hoes, tractors, garbage trucks, buses, trams -whatever catches the eye of a little boy, playing with play dough, coloring, building block towers, etc. etc. etc.

I have ordered a few scrap quilting books - and no, I do not remember the titles off hand, but I know that when I looked at the sneak peaks on the internet I loved them all. Oh yes, one of them is the Dear Jane book. I know, ambitious project. No, I do not plan to used color co-ordinated fabrics. I am just going to piece these blocks together as time goes by and we will see what develops from there.

I posted about my 30 yard quandry to stashbusters (a great yahoo group of quilters, all in pursuit of using their stashes). I am really wondering what I am going to do with such a strange assortment of fabrics. Anyway, I posted for advice about how to go about creating a usable stash and have received responses that have made me step back and think. From now on, I am going to be a bit more "thoughtful" about my fabric purchases. So, here is my new plan for fabric purchases:

1) Keep a notebook with notes about quilts I want to make - including total needed yardage, yardage and colors that I already have that I think will work and then what else is needed, where I have the pattern filed away anyway (magazine name, issue and page, internet print-out, etc.). I think this is a good system and plan to use it indefinately. Shop from the notebook! I get carried away with that little icon - Add to basket!

2) I will experiment with this idea - when purchasing fabric, get 1 yard cuts of fabrics that I like for color splashes in my tops. Buy 2 -3 yards of the fabric if I plan to use it for a background, filler or to piece the blocks. After reviewing some patterns that I want to make, I see it would have been better to order 2 yard cuts of some of the background fabrics.

3) I need more background fabrics and because I like scrap quilts, I am going to go ahead and buy a few fat quarter bundles of these to get me started over here. I don't usually buy fat quarters becuase I find better value in 1 yard cuts, but I figure there is not much value if you don't actually use the fabric, right?

4) Definately cut out some quilt kits from my main stash when I return to Canada, include extra fabric, the pattern, etc. in the bag and then it will be ready to come to Austria with me for next year.

OK, that makes four new things for me to try out, all of which I think will help me make more quilts and have them come out the way I envision them.