Continuing on and some retail therapy

The past few weeks I let myself go on a fabric shopping spree for the first time in over 6 months.

It started mid last week when I bought 3 Sisters Favorites jelly rolls to mix in with my grandmothers flower garden. Favorites includes Paris Flea Market prints which is the line I've been using and Seaside Rose which will coordinate well. Solid jelly rolls for the hexie table runner project I'm half way through & another planned project for place mats (these are what I originally went looking for) and a layer cake & jelly roll of Monkey Tales. Why this one? Well, I just love everything monkey related and this just looked like fun. All of this was bought online and is being shipped from British Columbia which translates to a two week wait for delivery - one more week before it arrives.

In need of instant gratification, I went to the local quilt store last weekend and bought Amethyst Royale and Vanilla Cream jelly rolls.  There are only 20 strips per pack, thinking that wouldn't be enough for a lap quilt I bought 2 packs of each. I have more than half the blocks trimmed and on the design wall, doing the math it's obvious I'll be able to make two lap quilts - a happy mistake! As I've been going I've been thinking of ideas on how to use the second set. Working on this quilt I've discovered I'm going to have to rethink where I moved my design wall last fall. I couldn't get a decent picture no matter what I tried. Here is a small sample of the layout from my cutting table along with the two unopened packs. I darkened the picture a bit too much - those blocks are actually the lighter tones but look like the mid range. I have no idea what this block pattern is called but I keep seeing it on other blogs. This was perfect! I needed something simple to get moving on my sewing machine again.

On to my latest purchase - last night I read Pat Sloan's blog post where she has started the String Bean Challenge. While I don't think I will submit anything, I thought why not give it a go. One of the requirements is to incorporate some fabric from any of her fabric lines. Seeing I'm planning on using the pattern I felt I should buy/use some of her fabric. I found One for you One for me fat quarter bundle on Amazon for a great price, once you factored in shipping & exchange rate it nearly doubled the cost. Hmm... plan b. Searching my go to Canadian online stores , I found The Sweet Life jelly rolls so I purchased that. This store is in the same province so I should have fabric soon. I won't start this one until the lap quilt is done. I doubt I will complete both tops by April 19th, but wouldn't it be miraculous great if I did!