Listening to Nature

Do you ever have days when you "think" you have just way too much to do? And maybe, just maybe you might even have a slim chance of getting about 1/2 of it done IF you forget all about sleeping, taking a shower or eating? Add a chattering pre-schooler to the mix and what is a Momma to do? Prioritize!

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First off, my desk will probably always look about like what it does. Although - this is an old photo of my "desk" while my work space was in transition - I DO have a desk with the pull-out keyboard tray so everything is at the correct height, etc. AND, I've added different "filing" ideas to my office in order to help it at least "look" more organized. Despite how this desk area looks - I am actually pretty organized when it comes to my paperwork. Not perfect. And I struggle with simple things like balancing a checkbook, but at least I think I am efficient enough to run a household and business from here. And, as my Mom used to always say - if it weren't for deadlines, alot of things wouldn't get done. How true. And this is just my desk area, a small fraction of what I handle every day.

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But somedays, well - I look at it all, I look at my son who just doesn't have any concept that Momma has paperwork to do, and I think - well, I could get up earlier tomorrow and do it while he is sleeping. It is not like I will ever, ever be caught up with my paperwork because just when I get sort-ov to the bottom of the pile - the daily mail arrives! On the otherhand, my son is growing by leaps and bounds. So, I get up earlier - 5:30 was working pretty good in August, but now for some reason I am up at 4. No, I will NOT start doing paperwork at 4, but I can have a cup of tea and do some things for myself. Like Blogging. Because when I flip through my archives I remember things that otherwise I might have forgotten. And, I want to remember. I seem to have a problem with my memory. I can remember, in great details, many silly little things about my past, like the wallpaper design in my childhood home's dining room, but then I have great big, huge blanks when I just don't remember anything, or else I will have some sort of vague recollection of events. This summer someone asked me for my phone number and the only number I could think of was the number for a house from when I was little - I am talking years and years ago. After a moment, it hit me, that was not my phone number! I had to think for a moment to remember what my own current phone number is. Then again, numbers aren't really my strong suite - I actually remember phone numbers by the pattern you "type" on your phone. So, it makes sense to think my phone number is some old number that was drilled into my head when there was no "pattern" because we had rotary phones back then. So that would be the "number" I would know to "tell" someone without having to look at a phone to "see" the "pattern". Get it? How weird is that? I once made all the blocks for a queen sized log cabin, put them in the closet and when I cleaned out the closet I was so surprised to find them - I have no memory of ever making those blocks! But I do remember when and where I bought the fabrics! Then again, mindless chain sewing of log cabin blocks doesn't really take much "thought" for me, it is more of a soothing process. But buying fabric - well that takes careful consideration so it makes sense that I would remember that.

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But anyway, never mind about all of that. The title of my post is "Listening to Nature". So, back to the topic at hand...

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The more overwhelmed I feel, the more my son will pick up on any stress vibes. He gets chattier and chattier, his voice louder and louder and the pitch - well the pitch reaching those very high notes that only the Vienna Choir Boys Chorus can seem to achieve. My little angel. Of course, while he is sitting on my lap, just in case I thought I was going to get anything done. What can I do? I can stop. Close my eyes. Smell the sunshine and love in his hair. And say - let's go for a walk.

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He slips his little hand into mine as we walk along and we listen to nature. The birds. The red squirrel. The waves lapping at the shore. I carry the camera and he points out beauty for me to photo. He is delighted by things like - a slug on a rotting apple that has fallen to the ground, mushrooms hiding in the shade, and - finding the trail markers along the way. He is curious. Plant names, bird names, different bird calls, insects, butterflys. If I don't know - we take a photo and I try to look it up in a guide book when we get home. And as we walk along, he calms down and I calm down and we enjoy ourselves, sometimes not talking at all, but listening to nature. It is a gift my son has given to me, and for this I am grateful. Prioritize.

Rest & Relaxation!

Is there anything better than a little R&R away with your family?
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You can click on the photo collage to enlarge...



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We went to an apple orchid, the beach, the playgound, we made sandcastles, had a family picnic, went bike riding, bought a pumpkin and just hung out around the grill cooking up wonderful food and visited with friends in the area (yup, my favorite get-away so that we are actually getting to know the neighbors!). I guess I am a creature of habit - once I find a place I like - I just keep going back. Because at least I know where the grocery store is, right? Not that I don't love exploring new places, because I do. But for me, this trip was all about getting a little bit of a rest and not playing tourist.

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My son loves the playground at the beach - although I must wonder - whoever thought to put a playground right at the entrance to the beach? Hello! really, Momma wants to go to the BEACH (which is just right over this little path behind the playground), but no, that slide is just too much temptation and we must stop. At least I go prepared now - I keep a book in my bag and can sit on the bench and actually READ while he is sliding. Ah yes, there is a reward for getting all the way to FOUR years old - you no longer are required to be the anxious Momma at the bottom of these things, coaxing them along and making sure they don't stand at the edge of some drop off that for sure will be a bone breaker if they mis-step.
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All relaxing. Except the clothes shopping bit...

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*Long description of shopping bit follows here...*
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I think I've mentioned before, my son does NOT like shopping. Not only does he not like shopping, but he has absolutely no problem making his views fully known to anyone within earshot. Truly, a child such as he, is probably one reason why American mail-order companies do so well. Except we are in Canada. And by the time you pay the postage, import fee, tax, duty and customs agent - well, let's just say that the lovely luxury of internet shopping and having a nice little parcel delivered to your door a few days later isn't really an option for me. Canada still has Sears catalog service, and it will do in a pinch, but not my first choice.

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So, since we were away, and seeing that we live FIVE hours from the mall, we did bite the bullet and quickly, oh so very quickly, rushed through the stores in order to get the Growing Boy some clothes. Because - well, the fashion statement for pre-schoolers is NOT the Jackie O look with 3/4 length sleeves! I suppose it could be a good thing that I've learned to be a quick shopper under the circumstances. One sure fire way to feel instantly frumpy (a-hem, I mean outdoorsy in a wholesome way?) is to enter the mall, with store windows full of the very latest fashion and teens with nothing better to do than parade back in forth in their own sort 0f fashion contest, eyeing you up and down as they pass you by. Obviously they don't shop where I do. You see, I prefer the outdoorsy type of stores with clothes that you don't have to spend hours ironing. And it is all mix and match. And stands up through vigourous mud-puddle testing. That would be including the shoes! Nothing like a good pair of solid walking shoes, waterproof (well, waterproof to an extent). But anyway - this is how the mall trip works with us, with Boy Who Hates Shopping in tow - basically it works like this - go into the mall, buy a soft pretzel for him and when he is done eating it - our shopping trip is over!

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HE got 3 new turtlenecks, 2 pairs of cordoroys, 1 nice sweater, 3 pairs of socks, winter hat, mittens, winter neck band, 3 pull-over shirts and 2 fall weight jackets. Momma got 3 new pairs of socks which I happened to throw in the cart as we careened by, sigh. Such a fashionable Momma! I was a bit wistfull when I looked at the rack of turtleneck onsies and realized they stopped making them in size 3T. My boy. Growing up. NOT that I miss the sleepless nights of his infancy (I'm talking about the wonderboy who nursed every 2 hours for 9 months straight and then started to cut a tooth so abandened me - cold turkey - with no warning, no thanks, and certainly no last cuddle - nope, when he was done it was all over. But then again, I know people who had real struggles weaning their kids so I won't complain, at least not too much!). I don't miss the sleepless nights, heck - I don't even really remember them - too sleep deprived back then for my brain to fully function - which is of course, the main reason why everyone takes so many photos of newborns - so Momma's can look at the photos 4 years after the fact and say - oh what a cute baby! But you have to admit - those tiny clothes sure can pull on your heartstrings.

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I still need to get him an orange sweatsuit - or at least I am hoping to get him one. He always gets at least 1 sweatsuit a year and this year he has announced that he wants to be a bunny rabbit for Halloween - an orange one. Yeah, need an orange sweatsuit for that costume - something he can wear well after Trick-or-Treating is over. And, of course, he needs more than 3 pairs of socks, but they only had 3 pairs in his size that weren't white or red. And - with growing legs, what Momma buys bright socks - I mean, doesn't that just scream - look at my pant hems that are now 2" too short? And 1 pair of each color is absolutely out of the question because that is a sure guantee that the washing machine will eat 1 of every color.

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We actually lucked out with 2 pairs of boots (never mind that 1 pair is pink - he still likes pink and they DO fit him) and a wonderful snowsuit at the thrift shop a week ago - all that for $19! AND, he alerady has another snowsuit that was a hand-me-down from his cousin. Got to have 2 because 1 is always wet. I was beginning to dread the thought of snow boot shopping after last years drama at LL Bean. Ouch. One of my very favorit-ist stores! And I didn't get any clothes for myself that trip. Oh, I guess that is OK, I am still wearing the very same burnt orange down jacket that I've had for awhile now. Can't quite figure out if staying the same size for years is a blessing or not!? I never seem to realize how long I've had something for until I start looking at old photos, ha! Anyway a great thing about LL Bean is that their stuff is guanteed. Period. Did you see the period at the end of that sentence? My Mom bought me a great backpack there once and after ELEVEN years it started to shed all over my stuff - little flakes of... something? It must have been some sort 0f waterproof lining spray, but I didn't want it flaking all over my stuff. So, I sent it back - with a nice little note of course, detailing what a wonderful traveling companion the bag had made for the past eleven years, but could they please do something about the shedding part. And you know what? They sent me a brand new bag. Just like that. I WISH I had bought my sons snow pants there last year because 1/2 way through the winter the zipper busted - agh. And if it had been LL Bean they would have fixed it. We ended up having to make do and he has fully outgrown them now anyway, but still - that zipper was soooo fiddly and unreliable that I wouldn't hand them down to anyone else. And it wasn't the bib zipper - it was the zipper that zips all around the leg, from ankle to ankle. The bib zipper I could have dealt with a little better. But anyway - after our little shopping trip, that Growing Boy of mine is pretty much outfitted for another winter. Just watch us decide to go somewhere tropical for the winter this year, ha!

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But where was I? Oh the relaxing bit.
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Did I mention that the beach was deserted bit? Check out the difference a month makes (see photos below)... I just LOVE the beach this time of year - it is still warm enough to really enjoy it, which we did, fully! And, big relief - you aren't near 100 other families with kids who have sand toys which seem to be 101% more interesting than the sand toys your kid has. Or, someone else wants the one toy that your kid is really attached to and doesn't really want to share with a complete stranger anyway, thank you very much just the same - oh you didn't get the drift - I think I will just throw sand in your eyes then. Right. There always seems to be some sort of scuffle over beach toys. September beach days are just so much more relaxing - we bring 2 shovels, 1 big pail and 1 little pail. What more do you need to build a castle, complete with a moat? The only trick is to build the castle as the tide is coming IN so the moat will be filled with water. Otherwise your moat will be empty and how fun is that? Or rather, how fun is the temper tantrum that there is no water in the moat? Except you have to know enough to start far enough back from the shore so the tide doesn't come and eat your castle before your very eyes while you are still building it. Yeah, there is some sort of psychological science to building a simple sand castle. Is anyone wondering how I know all this stuff? OH - AND did I mention that I can actually relax a tiny bit about watching my boy (who just loves tearing around the beach as fast as his little legs will carry him) - because chances of him running 10 feet down the sandbar and getting hopelessly lost behind hords of people he can't see over- well that isn't an issue in September! He ran around and around and every time he turned around - guess what - he could see me! How novel is that? Told you - this trip was all about relaxing!

































Did I mention the price of gas bit? You know summer is at an end when gas prices spiral back down... all the way down to $102.1 a litre (that would be $4.084 a gallon for US conversion - 4 litres to a gallon). Considering we started the summer at $1.14 a litre... there must be some sort 0f gas company conspiracy to milk the summer vacation traveling season for all its worth because every Spring the price of gas is high and come Fall, it goes back down. Except maybe the price hasn't come down afterall, seeing that the Canadian $ is at a 30 year high so is actually worth more than it was this spring. But no matter - it does seem like it has gone down a bit when you look at the price board!

So I've had my annual end-of-summer rest, which believe me, with my schedule - I really look forward to. Time to shift into FALL gear! Wow, where did the summer go? I feel like I am racing along on the Audobon of Life! It is almost like sitting on a train and looking out the window and seeing the seasons flash by... Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall........ flash, flash, flash.
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Quick, someone take a photo! I want to remember.

Cutting the Stash!

This is a photo of my cutting project which I started last week.

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What you see here are 83 fabrics from stash. Actually, it is almost my entire stash except for some white/small flower prints, beige/tans, greens (very little), novelty, a small bin of blue strips - already cut, and very little yardage of slightly larger pieces, oh and that scrap bin that my son so loves dumping out all over the place. And, I've had these fabrics for at least 4 years, but some of them as long as maybe 6? years It is dated fabric, no where near as exciting as some of the fabrics you guys are buying/working with. Worse still, I feel like they don't "play" nicely with some of the newer designs out, so I want to use them - all by themselves - in quilts. As much as I would like to just start over with brand new and exciting to me fabrics - well, these are MY fabrics and I do own them without having to go on a roadtrip to get to a store. Honestly, I would rather spend my sewng money on long-arm quilting services than loading my shelves with more fabric. Oh, but once this fabric is gone - you better believe I will be buying some new ones!

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And, as boring as each one seems individually, I happen to know that these fabrics do make up into very lovely quilts. I just have to ignore the beginning boring parts and plow on through to get to the quilt part. And for me, it is very exciting to have quilts around - completely finished to snuggle under. Did I just say snuggle? Oops - I meant to spread out all over the couch and anchor onto the coffee table to make tents and tunnels and secret openings. Well, at least they aren't getting fold lines from being folded up in a closet!

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And, surprise! The stash is getting smaller and smaller! Not sure how that happened as most of you have ever growing stashes; mine must be defective because it doesn't seem to grow in dark closets all by itself. Whaaa!

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So, I am cutting. ALL of it. Yup. I needed 3 1" strips from 83 different fabrics for a lattern pattern and why stop there? I asked DH to pick up a new iron (the old one was luke-warm) and some clear containers at the hardware store, I have them all labeled (1", 1.5", 2", 2.5", 3.5"). Each tote also has a list of patterns I can make with that size strip - and since I have more 2" patterns than any other size, I cut a few extra 2". I also need about 10 fabrics at 6" so I've cut those too. AND, I needed 2.25" strips to finish another project, so I've got those cut too. Slice, slice, slice - feeding those bins. Some of the fabrics had very little yardage, and others had a full yard. I have about 1/2 of them cut now. All ready for sewing. I MUST remember to get some neutral sewing thread, because can you believe I am almost out of thread? Dire, I know. But please don't laugh - remember, I live hours and hours away from shopping so running out of thread can be a problem! Unless I mail order. And since I'm in Canada - well that can be a bit expensive for just thread. Much better just to remember when I am near the stores.

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A funny thing about my cutting plan though - after about 10 fabrics I was hit with a moment of panic - but what if I NEEDED one of these fabrics and I had it all sliced into smaller pieces? LOL, like fabric stores don't sell fabric!!! I must admit though - I was a little surprised to see how small my stash is - it will seem very strange indeed to have the bulk of it cut into strips. I definately have done a good job of using it! I've made lots of quilts over the past 4 years - kind of scarry to think that most of the quilts I made came out of my stash - oh sure, I've added some fat quarters here and there, bought yardage for borders and backings... but most of the tops were made from stash. Except - I haven't used my stash exclusively either because sometimes I buy fabric 'specially for a quilt. I mean, a girl just has to try out some of the newer designs once in awhile, right? But still, my stash is diminishing!

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Oh -and can you see the wall behind my fabrics? It is green linoleum. Yup - the kind of stuff that you are supposed to put on the FLOOR, not the wall. This is my laundry room - the green walls are growing on me. But the green astroturf carpeting? Hummm. Obviously redoing the laundry hasn't been high on my list of priorities! Oh, well I did have the carpenter raise up the BIG folding area to the perfect height for cutting fabrics. Smart. Guess I do have priorities. The green astroturf carpeting can stay.

The Right Tool

Sometimes, the right tool makes all the difference... here is a photo of Little Boy, very happily beating an egg - never mind the fact that the cake we are making doesn't call for beaten eggs - as we are making a pound cake where you seperate the yolks from the whites, beat the whites to stiff peaks, fold into batter, etc. etc. That doesn't matter here - what matters is that Little Boy has a NEW tool, the right tool for him, to beat eggs. He has had his eyes on this beater for some time - at the hardware store. He would carry it around the store and show me how very easy it was to whirl. Oh yes, he absolutely needed this egg beater and finally, one day, I put it on the list before we left the house and told him - if it was still there that he could get it. The list thing works wonders because he fully understands the concept - well, almost always anyway. Lo and behold, the egg beater was still there - not surprising - I mean, who else would have their eyes on such a gadget? At the hardware store, nonetheless?

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In case you are wondering - he stands on a large, upside down cooler to be at the right height to reach the counter. It is sturdy, not wobbly and just the right height. Oh - and see, he is wearing pants I made for him - I am getting creative in using the left-over fleece for decorative stripes.

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Anyway, take a close look at the photo below - the egg beater on the left is his - mine is on the right. They look very similar, but see how his handle is off to the side instead of on top - easier for him to hold. Also, his is a little shorter than mine. These little differences make a huge difference for him. I guess he was right - he "needed" this egg beater. Just like Momma "needs" a certain knife, LOL!

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And finally, a photo of our masterpiece - a hot buttered rum pound cake with walnuts on top. It is a great cake for a crowd because you can easily get about 18 slices out of it. Looks a bit boring, but believe me, the inside it a perfect light color - and it is rich and creamy - it has enough sourcream in there to guarantee that! After the cake cools for about 10 minutes you put it on the plate and poke it full of holes with a shish-ka-bob stick and then pour very hot glaze on top. It is an easy cake to change around depending what glaze you put on it - we also like to make it with an orange/lemon glaze. Yummy with pureed peaches and strawberries. Want to get really fancy - send your fresh fruit mixed with a bit of jam through the food processor and put it in one of those clear squirt bottles you can get at the Dollar Store (I think they are for ketchup/mustard), squirt your puree across the serving plate in a zig zaggy design, put a slice of cake, garnish with whipped cream, some fresh fruit and a mint leaf. Me, well, I like this cake just the way it is - with my morning cup of coffee!

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Oh, and what did we do with that beaten egg? I made him a scrambled egg snack!

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Yeah, ok, so we are a bit old fashioned - I still use an egg beater for SOME things - and you got to admit - it IS safer for him to use an egg beater than the food processor!!! Oh - but he is pretty good at that mixer thing - see? A bit blurry, but he is in constant motion. Here his is earlier this summer - helping me make a crepe batter for an apple dessert - the batter is actually in the blender thing on top, not in the mixing bowl! His job here is to be in control of the speed dial. Not that you need to make crepe batter in a blender, but this way he can help me. Yup, the right tool does make all the difference - keeps one Little Boy very busy anyway! And that, my friends, is part of my goal here!

Dollar Store Fun!

Often times, it is the most basic toys that will provide hours of entertainment. Here are some photos of Dollar Store fun - and I'm talking a true dollar store here where every item in the store is $1 (or less!).

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We like to buy the 3 pack of glider airplanes - they come with a rubber band slingshot thing - here are photos of Little Boy and me shooting off the gliders (the photo collage feature chopped off the blurry glider in the photo, sorry!). And down bottom - the fun part of the entire toy - a big game of "chase" with Momma to see who gets to the fallen gliders first. Click on the photo collage to enlarge because you just got to see the pure joy on my son's face - he loves this game! 3 gliders for $1, how can you go wrong?

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Another favorite is the noise tube. It is a plastic tube that makes a humming type noise when you swing it around. Little Boy loves to whirl it around and around. He is pretty good about making sure other people stand back for this demonstration and I prefer that he only play with this thing outside. That is an old lobster pot in the photo, in case you are wondering. The fishermen don't use this type anymore.

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And, who can resist a green pail? If the tide is out Little Boy is happy to squat by the shore, with his pail very close by, and pick periwinkles. At high tide, it is perfect for carrying water and making sand castles/paramids/etc. And at home, well, he has tied one of those metal helium ballons to the handle and has made a hot air balloon for the ever-present Elmo and what ever other pal wants to go for a balloon ride! Multi-purpose pail!

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Dollar Store Fun!

Bargello Progress

Well, here is my Bargello - all ready for borders! It is about 40" X 60". The pattern is from Big Horn quilts - it is free at www.bighornquilts.com and for a first try, I don't think it is bad. I have 1 little oops but close to the edge so I didn't bother to fix it. And if I do another one - I will make a steeper curve just for the fun of it to see the difference.

So, some hints if you decide to do one of these yourself...

1. When I first laid out the strips, I numbered each row at the very bottom edge (inside where the seam would be) with a fabric marker. With Little Boy - I never know what can happen to my nice orderly piles - in a mere instant. So, I thought I better number them right away.

2. Instead of sewing 1 row to the next to the next... I pinned row 1 and 2 together, 3 and 4, 5 and 6 - well, you get the idea. Then I could chain sew at my sewing machine. Press. I always pressed the seam toward the larger number so the numbering idea was great for pressing too! Then I pinned the segments together and sewed the seams in the opposite direction. In otherwords, when I sewed 1 and 2 together - all the seams pointed down. When I sewed 1/2 and 3/4 segment together - the seams pointed UP. Alternating which way you sew helps prevent wavy seams when sewing strips together.

3. PIN. Did I say pin? I am used to abutting seams together but with this pattern you want the seams to be mid-way between the pieces. At first I didn't pay much attention, but then I realized that some of the pieces were pretty far off-set. Ah well, I trimmed them all with the rotary cutter after the fact and I think that looks just fine (not yet trimmed in the photo, but I did get it all trimmed tonight!).

3. I used light spray starch when I pressed. Yes, I did. Probably a rule against that somewhere, but it works for me!

4. Try to keep your outside edge strips wider. One of my outside strips is very thin so will probably be lost when it comes to binding.

At first I was a big boggled to pick out my colors, but then I hit upon an idea... I would copy Nature's color - I went with fields of flowers (yellow, orange), dirt roads and plowed fields (browns) river (blues), trees (greens), purple mountains (3 rows of purple), fog (black), clouds (white and blue) sunset colors (pink, yellow). I had my 20 different fabrics in no time. And look at the photo of some of the old prints I used (se below)! Little Boy wants this for his bed - since I used his favorite color orange in there!

Still not sure exactly what I will do for borders - I am thinking about it... not that I will be at a fabric store anytime soon, but it is nice to have an idea in my head so that when I finally do get a chance to go shopping - I get something that I can use!

I must say - it was a fun stash-buster pattern! By the way- Big Horn has several other stash-busting strips of fabric type patterns posted too. Big Horn Quilts is one of my favorite on-line quilting store and when I was browsing the other day I was intrigued by this Bargello pattern - I am glad that I gave it a try!

Little Boy Logic

Little kids have their very own sense of what is logical. For example, it is perfectly logical for Monster Truck to think a mixing bowl full of chocolate cake batter is a wonderful mud pit. And isn't it great to see said monster truck make muddy tracks along the floor, up the walls, across the counter? Of course. Bye the way - this is a photo from AFTER I got that Monster Truck all bathed, scrapping out batter from each and every tread on all 4 wheels - and don't you know - he is right back on the counter looking for any last remnants of MUD that Momma hadn't swipped off the counter yet because I was too busy cleaning the floor!

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And, Momma, don't drink out of your water bottle, ok? Ummm - why? Turns out there was a squished dead spider in the water bottle. Little Boy thought it perfectly logical to squish the spider and then put it in the water bottle to drown it. This coming from a child who was bitten by a spider last summer and his arm swelled up 3X in size and his skin turned all red and rubbery in a perfect circle radiating from that bite - all around his little body. Yes, I rushed him right over to the clinic thinking his breathing might be affected, but fortunately he was ok. But really, must we go messing around with squishing spiders?

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And, there is a cricket in the batter bowl because he is hoping the cricket will sing him a song. Thanks for telling me before I go about using that bowl!

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And, there is a trail of cookie crumbs along the floor to feed the friendly bugs. Friendly bugs? Do tell! Hey, didn't I just vacume that floor in the morning???

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There is hand soap in his sippy cup. I am not exactly sure why, but I am absolutely positive that if I asked him - he would have his very own reason.

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These are just the few things that come to the top of my mind from the past week. I guess what I am trying to say here - if you have Little Ones underfoot, always ask them their reasoning behind any questionable behaviour, because trust me, chances are they will have a perfectly logical reason and if you can find humor in the situation, you will be laughing about it for years. Believe me, I don't think I will EVER look at a mixing bowl full of chocolate cake batter the same way again! Mud pit indeed!

Checkerboard Log Cabin Finished/Quilty Post

You might remember that I was working on this top last summer... and here is the finished result! I must say, I am really pleased with it. Typically, I make my log cabins fairly big with no borders... with this one - I switched sewing machines somewhere along the way and due to a slight variation in seam allowance... these are the blocks that went together. Too small. So, I added the solid red border, the checkerboard border from scraps from another project, bought yardage for the outer border fabric (I almost always have to buy yardage for borders as most my fabric is smaller pieces)... decided I wasn't so sure about the border fabric and let it sit for awhile longer, finally decided that just about any border fabric would be better than an unfinished top so I used what I originally purchased. I debated about the width of the final border and finally went with 9.5" - I like it. At the end of the day - the border fabric I bought seems like a perfect fit, so now I am not so sure what my original doubts were! It fits my queen sized bed with a nice overhang on the sides (I have a footboard so that is always an issue, but if I make a big pillow tuck it usually takes care of extra length and I like extra wide to hang over since my bed is high). NOT like I don't already have a log cabin on my bed, because one of my older logs is a true favorite.




By request - a photo of my 3rd Shakespear, all pieced! Until I figure out a better photo method for tops, you will just have to imagine the top row because right now it gets draped over a fence!









And finally, a photo of 1/2 of my current project - I will let you know how it goes as I make more progress.

It is a very busy time of year for me right now... but a lull is on the horizon!