Whew, Shopping

Every once in awhile, I break down and go shopping. I need a reason because my primary goal is to shop from my closet first, and realize I put off shopping as long as I can. Its not about money. And its not exactly about crowds.

I took 8 of my holiday orphans, paired them (somewhat), found batting, and backing, then pin basted & machine quilted the small-ish 12.5" blocks. They will make 4 totes. Of course, there is more work to be done, but this is a great start and a great way to use my orphans. Orphans are blocks that might be leftovers from a quilt, or might be blocks that didn't turn out as expected. They are perfectly good, but have no place to go.

I pulled out more of the holiday fabric stash for the middle sections of the totes. I don't want to make them too wide, and don't plan to put in pockets. Just simple. I am excited how they are coming together. I know that people outside of Cali do not need to bring their own bags, and these are clearly holiday themed, so aren't the kind that have to 'go' with a coat, but would only come out during holiday months. I hope they like them. 

I shopped both fabric stores in town. I got the 3 borders, binding & backing fabric at one store; straps, and a Best Press refill at the second shop. Claudia at 5 Heart Quilts stocks brighter colors as well as florals. If you tell her what you are looking for she can find it in a snap. She did.

Because the I don't know if the FQs I used in the quilt were pre-washed, I washed the 3 fabrics, even though they are not usually the colors to bleed. The focus fabric is stunning and has a lot of the colors from the center part of the quilt in it. I am quite excited with this one. It really has to be a priority over the totes.