Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Retail Therapy, Day 1!!


Two Days in Minnesota MID-WEEK with favorite female relatives? NO PROBLEM!! We have this agenda for when we get together….

Wednesdays are perfect for hitting every 2nd hand store and consignment shop in town, and Thursdays are reserved for yard-sale-marathons!

I am so worn out from shopping shopping shopping and bargain hunting and laughing! But we are headed out in the morning early for the yard sales, so I am recapping the thrift shop hopping before I head to bed!

What was on my “HOT LIST?!?” Why darling, don’t you know that EVERY woman needs a little black dress for a cruise?! See this little number in the pic above? I have no idea what this would have cost me had I bought it “at the mall” ----but this little must-have is ADORABLE on, and I got it for a whopping $15.00 bucks! Cha-ching! ((Yes, I know the top of my head is missing, but it was the dress that is the focus of this pic! LOL!))

We were at Savers in Bloomington…each of us pushing our carts around and searching for treasure….Mom has a purse fetish! She won’t admit it, she will justify it every time WHY she needs another purse…and we just laugh and nod and smile and let her indulge her every purse-whim!

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I was wandering around, not sure where to start digging, just looking --- when I came upon this wall of Barbies in plastic bags…..

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CREEPY!! But Barbies hanging UPSIDE DOWN in plastic bags is even creepier than Barbies hanging right side UP in plastic bags….

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And trolls in plastic bags?! SACRILEDGE!!!! ((Speaking of which..umm…Lorraine? I’ve been watching the mail every day for that package and it hasn’t shown up yet..and I’m so anxious for it to get to me, just wanted you to know!))

Growing up I used to envy and play with Auntie Joy’s trolls extensively! Joy is only 5 years older than me, and I literally worshipped her as I was growing up….Still do!

After a bit more shopping, we were joined by another partner in crime --- My Mom & Aunt’s COUSIN --- Janine!

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She’s another wild and crazy thrifter, and I was so tickled to see her! She shopped with us a bit and then spent time helping me pick out things to take on the cruise. Her fashion sense is fabulous --- She really helped me a lot!

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This little number? Cute on the hanger, terrible on me……it stayed behind!

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These two tshirts? They were the same style and I loved them both, but the orange one did NOTHING for my complexion and my hair color…but the purple one looks great with my eyes ((Thanks for saying so, Janine!)) And it was definitely a keeper! I’ll just have to save the orange color for use in QUILTS, not to WEAR!

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Here are the three lovely ladies after a lunch at Applebees! From Left to Right, Mom, her sister Joy, and Cousin Janine! I loved spending the day with these ladies!

Tomorrow it will be up and at it for the yard sale adventure of the year. I’m sure we will find some great bargains! If so, I’ll also be on the lookout for an extra duffel bag to haul all my treasures home in ;c)

Time for some beauty sleep..((These gals wore me out today!))

Sleep Sweet, Everyone!

Good Morning, Maple Grove, MN!!

Those of you who guessed I was going to Idaho to visit my mom only got it half right! I’m in MInnesota!

How did this trip come about? Well, I got a message from my Aunt on facebook when she saw that I was going to be in Storm Lake, Iowa which is “only” a 4 hour drive away, and we wiggled and weezled and tried to figure out a way to make it work to get together since my mom was flying in on the Saturday and I was flying home on Sunday.

I even thought that I could make a detour on my tickets, and come up here and see them for a few days, but besides it being extremely astronomically expensive, the time didn’t work. My flight wouldn’t get in until Midnight on Sunday, and the whole family was leaving Tuesday morning at 5am to go to Puerto Rico to visit my other Aunt Gail and Uncle Tony! It just wasn’t feasible.

But I had a thought, and called my Aunt Joy back and said…..”When do you guys get back from Puerto Rico?”

Turns out they were getting back on Tuesday, August 2 ((YESTERDAY!)) at 11:00pm!

I said “What if I come meet you at the airport, could I stay a couple days?” And the plan was put in motion on how/when/where ---- and we were keeping it a surprise from my mom!! And the excitement built!

My flight got into Minneapolis about 8:20pm last night and I was picked up by this lovely lady who was a student in my classes in Storm Lake! This is Amy!

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We had a couple hours to kill before the Puerto Rico crew arrived, and we ended up going to TGIF to talk quilts, laugh, conspire, and spend some time. Afterwards, she dropped me back off at the airport and I waited…..and waited….and…..

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Do you see it?! Top of the list!?? THEY HAD LANDED!!! I hung around at the Baggage Claim, my heart was in my throat, the tears were already starting to blur my vision.

And I saw them. Mom was talking to Joy, just walking toward the carousel --- I stepped out from behind a pillar and started to walk toward them ---- and when the recognition hit my mothers face, I burst into tears—Of course I didn’t get pictures of this, but my AUNT was busy with her camera, and if I can get them from her I’ll post them.

It was about 1am by the time we got to bed, and that is why I didn’t post anything last evening. There wasn’t time!

But this morning, I was up early for a long walk/jog --- ((More on that later too!)) and when I got back, mom was up, showered and beautiful! We snapped this pic out on the deck before I got to go take MY shower ---

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I’ll be here until Friday, two whole days with my Mom and my Auntie Joy! And then the two of them will fly off to Idaho, and I’ll fly back to North Carolina ----

Isn’t this fun?!

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Can you Guess Where?!

Take a look at the pic to the left….Where am I!? Does this look familiar to any one of you?

Guess!

I have a couple of friends and whenever we pass through this place, we have to text each other pics of Nuts On Clark! Does it ring a bell to you?

Of course, getting strangers to take pics of you in FRONT of Nuts On Clark is a whole ‘nuther kind of funny! But I have a very close connection, and I’m not stopping to do that!

((Yes, this blog post has been pre-written to include photos of other times I’ve been through this same destination, and I pass through here A LOT! That’s another huge HINT for you!))

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Do you remember seeing this on your way through “this place”?? If you never leave the C/B terminals you might never find it…but since I fly from Greensboro in small commuter planes, we tend to always be parked in the cattle pen area E/F Gates! I can’t imagine actually fighting a war in this thing. The display has biographical excerpts of the pilot that this airport was named after. Are you still guessing?

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How many of these airports have DINOSAURS in them?! And if this guy could talk, what would he say? Do you know now?

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I’ve walked MILES in this space! The people movers are for slackers ;c) I plug in my ear buds and ipod on long layovers and walk the outside corridors, miles and miles and miles, up and around back and forth --- you can get a good workout just walking down here, under ground between the B & C terminals!

If you guessed CHICAGO OHARE, you are RIGHT!

But that isn’t my final destination! Stay Tuned!

Where Is She Going?!

Yes. I know I’m leaving for Alaska on Sunday. But a small window of opportunity, No---more like…a “grab it now or don’t go at all” thing presented itself to me and--- I couldn’t say no!

I’m off to visit someone very special to me, and she doesn’t know it! It's gonna be PRICELESS!

There are very few people who have been in cahoots with me, and even fewer in the “know” –So if you DO know…don’t spoil it!



I spent the afternoon with some of this:

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Just enjoying the foot treatment, and smiling over the pearly pink polish. Never too old to be a girly-girl, right?!

I’ve packed my bags….I’ve got my project ready! My kindle is loaded with all the freebie books I’ve downloaded recently….

And I’m packing my swimsuit!

Who am I seeing? Where will I be?

You guess! I’ll let you know when I get there!

Oh, and when I went to Iowa, I picked up one of these, and left it at Horace’s shoe shine stand….I hope to find out if he got it! And that’s all I’m saying!

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Aren’t I an awful tease?!!!

Monday, August 01, 2011

Sunday Sew Day!

Yesterday, about mid-morning, I got a call from Miss Lisa, telling me she was taking me up on my offer of a sit n sew day at my house!

She asked "Can I bring anything?" And it’s a good thing she did because with the trip to Alaska only a week away, we’ve been trying to eat EVERYTHING perishable from the fridge so that nothing will sit for 8 days while we are gone.

Why Old Mother Hubbard, your cupboard sure looks BARE!

Well, bare except for the watermelon we’ve been trying to eat, over the past few days! Amazing how much food STAYS in the fridge when there are no ravenous sons here to eat it! 2 people vs a watermelon sure takes a while--But I love summer watermelon. :c)

The dear girl showed up with cold beverages, a treat from Dewey’s local bakery, and bless her heart..M&Ms! We were set to go!

I’ve been really cranking on the machine piecing time, and other than the “sitting at the doc” time we had a couple days previous, I really hadn’t had much “feet up for slow stitchin” time. I think I needed a day away from the machine.

We found a couple of good movies on Netflix and set about to working --- me attaching the opposite side border to the hexagon medallion, and Lisa to working on her applique leaves!

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This might not look like much, but I also cleared out a whole TON of smallish neutral scraps by cutting them into hexagons for the neutral border areas. I’m going to need a gazillion of neutral ones, I know…so ….by my close guestimate, this is only about a quarter-gazillion. :cD

And then the thunder boomers started! There is nothing like watching a creepy movie with thunder and lightning going off ON the TV and surround sound from outside!

We opted to order in Pizza for dinner….and let DH help us pick a movie we could all watch in the living room upstairs.

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Supposedly “Changing Lanes” came out in 2002, but I’d never heard of it before, and let me tell you, it was a GOOD ONE! Much intrigue, interesting situations, mind games, and life lessons to be learned. I highly recommend it, and your men folk will like it too because it isn’t girly-fluffy. And you will like it because….well…who doesn’t like to look at Ben Affleck? :cD

Pizza and movies and couches with built in recliners and feet up stitching and a big booming thunderstorm. I love Sundays like this! I’m so glad Lisa and Shelby could come join us in our lazy day---

So what did I get done?!

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Little bit grainy, it’s a night time picture in the kitchen, and dark outside…BUT…do you notice that TWO sides are now squared off?! YAY!!

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Sadie Jane was helping me do the happy dance of joy! Okay…..maybe she was watching ME doing the happy dance of joy, and wondering what the heck it was all about…hmmmm!

Several have asked how big this quilt is going to be, and until I got this side squared off, I didn’t have an answer to tell you, but I can at this point! It measures 78” from side to side. And that’s as much as I’ll know until I can fill in the BIG sections to square the top and the bottom.

It’s back to the machine for me for now…..that is….until tomorrow….when I’ve got a special post to reveal! I’m going somewhere tomorrow!! And those of you who know, don’t you dare spill the beans. We are going to play…WHERE IN THE WORLD IS BONNIE!!

Stay tuned! I’m off to pack my bags!

Afternoon Edition–Free Kindle Book!


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Always double check the price before purchasing. Prices can change quickly and what is free now, may not be later!

A Wee Apology!

I was doing some moving of pages this morning, and pre-dating them so they would not show at the top of the news feed.

Inadvertantly, part 4 of Old Tobacco Road got sent as a NEW post, not buried in the archives like I wanted it to be...

I caught it in an instant, preventing it from appearing in the Quiltville Friends facebook feed --- but those of you who have me in google reader, I'm sorry! It will show up as a new post, and it isn't!

But I have rearranged all the tabs at the top of the blog! You can now find all the free patterns from my website listed here on the blog, all the hints, helps, tips, tricks, techniques AND the links to all the previous mysteries. ((Those that have not been retired and now appear in book form.))

It's been a lot of website cleaning this weekend, and it should all be better having it one place now!

That Nearly Insane UFO ----


It's still in a box. I haven't worked on it for at least 5 years. Will I ever get back around to it?

This is a grainy picture of where I last left off on it ---Poor Quilt. Someday, Maybe. Someday!

Sunday, July 31, 2011

All Work & No Play--

First off, a special notice. When we ran Roll Roll Cotton Boll last November, I said I would keep it available until June 1st. It's now almost August, and I've still left it there. However, it's time for it to come down, so if you need to make copies, do it now! It's coming down tomorrow, August 1st, and will be unvailable until it is featured in my next book due out in 2012. Print it now, folks!


I’ve been working pretty steady on some projects that have big deadlines coming up. And I’m making GOOD progress.

See this picture above? This is over 800 half square triangles, cut, sewn, pressed, de-dog-earred! I would have sworn they would have taken up more space than this, looked a bit more significant effort wise…..but no, here they unobtrusively sit in a shoe box.

Do you recognize any of these older blue fabrics? I was being ruthless as usual, just going for color, not worrying about the age of the fabric or the print that is on it, there is even a blue fabric with green Christmas trees on it in here, but it's blue...so in it goes!

And so my brain went numb from sewing pressing trimming, to sewing these together, and when I went to press again….I had sewn 80 of them together pointing the WRONG direction! OY!

Never fear, a chick flick movie ((Usually set in the 1800s, with lots of British accents and fabulous costumes…..places where they actually break for TEA and have SCONES in the middle of the afternoon!)) became my oasis as I put my feet up and started unpicking seams.

My #1 rule?! NO WHINING!! My #2 rule?! My stitch length MUST be large enough to allow the tip of my seam ripper to fit easily under the stitches! And keep a good SHARP seam ripper. Those things wear out and go dead too. If you are having to fight with the blade inside the curved edge of the ripper, chances are it’s time for a new one.

In no time, the triangles were once again individual units, and I could commence to sewing them pointing the RIGHT direction.

But I was tired of triangles. I wanted something a bit more to shake things up. I needed more than TWO COLOR MONOTONY!

All work and No play makes Bonnie a grumpy quilter! It was Play time!

And this is when I KNEW I had gone over the edge…

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Remember I said I had even thrown stuff AWAY!??

Aw SHUCKS!!!

I remembered THIS POST from July 2007. That’s 4 years ago folks! ((Oh Yes, we’ve passed our anniversary of 6 years of blogging this June! Whooot!)) and THIS quilt that used to be the header pic for my blog:

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Oh I love this quilt!! See those fun rows of coins?! And look at the sashing and cornerstones..I LOVE that chrome yellow! And I also love how all the cornerstones are green, except for the last row on the left. Okay, and one more odd one on the bottom right. FUN!

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And these fabrics are all late 1800s to early 1900s, and I love them…..but I didn’t want to use specific fabrics for my blocks. I just wanted to see what I could get out of….ummm…yeah. That trash can! Tonya always said I did take the trash can approach to quilting, and I guess I am proving her right!

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I’ve got 5 blocks in wild funky scraps that came back OUT of that trash can! ((Is there a name for this quilt there? OUT of the TRASH CAN!??))

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When I looked at the top of that can, you would think there would be NOTHING salvageable in it…but…well, lets just say that I’m going to have to force myself back to those half square triangles, because I have a desire to keep sewing these little guys!

Strip size? 2” X 8” finished. Block size? 8” finished.

I know the "inspiration" quilt used much smaller pieces and narrower strips, but I have no idea what size THEIR blocks finished at. I'm taking these as they come..I'm not cutting them down, I'm just sewing them into rows and trimming at 2.5" wide. Triangles are being sewn into squares, other smaller units are added to make it measure at least 2.5" wide. They are sewn on as they are sewn on.

Dh & I finally got away last evening to see the last Harry Potter movie. I liked it, but I wished that I had seen part 1 again before going to see part 2. I was a little lost in parts, and couldn’t remember what had happened in the last episode. That probably has more to do with my age than anything else I expect, but still. I did like seeing how grown up those kids have become. I've enjoyed watching them grow over the past 10 years! I loved the last scene in the train station!

Enjoy your Sunday! Stitch something beautiful today!

Saturday, July 30, 2011

And it was Friday ---

And Miss Lisa needed some company while she had her hurty leg checked at the doctors…so off I went in Shamu to go pick her up and sit with her!

Of course, both of us had our "busy bags" in tow--Any idle time is handwork time, and we came prepared!

When we arrived, the waiting room was quite full, and we both sat down with our Hexies to wile away the time, visit, sew, and make good use of otherwise wasted boring SITTING.

I hate sitting in Doc’s offices ---but somehow knowing that *I* wasn’t the one being seen, and I was there just in case Lisa was incapacitated enough to not be able to drive herself home made it somewhat better! I wasn’t nervous over what any medical person could be doing to me..I wasn’t being poked, prodded and lanced!

Waiting rooms are interesting places, especially if you are sitting there sewing. I was using the time to attach one of the border sections to my hexagon medallion --- and there were a couple of older gentlemen also in the waiting room who started talking about how they remembered how local community women “USED” to come round for quiltings in the winter months, all of them gathering together.

These were “Stokes County” boys, brothers as it turns out -- and one thing I’ve learned about Stokes County, NC, is that if you are FROM there, you stay there! The roots run deep in Stokes County.

Lisa and I just stitched and listened while these two brothers, one the eldest of the family and one the youngest ((There were two sisters in between, one who has since passed on)) described what it was like growing up in the Good Ole Days in Stokes County, and how they remembered quilt frames being raised to the ceiling on pulleys, and even straight back chairs were used to hold the quilting frame when all the ladies would come and sit around it.

We heard about how the only heat source growing up was a fire place --- and the oldest brother remembers sleeping up under the rafters under a PILE of quilts, waking up to see how the snow had sifted through the cracks in the roof boards, leaving a fine dusting of snow in straight lines across the top quilt of the pile.

And Lisa and I stitched some more and listened some more to the old stories of what it was like to graduate high school in Stokes County, NC and go straight to work after. Choices weren’t many, and college wasn’t an option for many either. You could choose from Coca Cola, Pepsi, Hanes, or RJ Reynolds ((Tobacco )) or you farmed. And you prayed for enough work to make ends meet.

The younger of the two brothers described how he remembered the ladies quilting in a “fan” pattern, and he traced the air with his fingers to demonstrate, asking if we were familiar with that pattern. “Yes” we both replied, smiling. Baptist fans are a favorite of mine, and this old guy was hitting every heart string right on!

Before we knew it, an hour had flown by, and we really enjoyed our conversation time. Quilting can be such a wall breaker. How many times have we sat in a room with strangers, thumbed through old magazines, played with our phones, read our kindles or a book and never spoke a word to the stranger next to us? We would have sorely missed a wonderful opportunity to meet these two brothers, and would not have been so enriched after hearing their stories. EVERYONE has a story! We just have to open up enough to get the conversation started --- and then LISTEN to what is being said.

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And in the midst of the talking and the visiting….one side panel has been added to the hexagon medallion…squaring off ONE side…

And the journey continues!

Friday, July 29, 2011

Summer Days in the Basement!

You know I spent the last few days conflicted…wanting to join with friends on a quilty trip to TN, passing on that due to an extremely close deadline list…wanting to sew on THIS, but needing to sew on THAT…and all around me, other things calling my name.

It seems when there are too many things on the “To Do” list, that the only way I can handle it without flying around like a headless chicken is to write everything down, pick ONE THING, put blinders on ---- and go for it. A little bit of progress on lots of things just does not give me the same feeling of satisfaction as much as BIG progress on ONE thing does.

Too many things, and I start to feel like the old rocker knob on top of my pressure cooker ----feeling like I’m going to blow at any moment!

So. It’s a GOOD thing I stayed home. It’s a good thing my feet hurt enough to slow me down a bit. It’s a good thing to knock these things off my list one at a time and SEE the progress! I’m a method girl….assembly line girl…pick one thing and go for it, and that’s what I’ve been doing!

I went out to dinner with Lisa the other night…this was inside my fortune cookie!

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See? The Universe is trying to tell me something!

One thing that helps me stay focused when sewing is to listen to books on my MP3 player that I download from my library. Right now I’m listening to the Jack Reacher series. Awesome. Ex-Army Military Cop and a bunch of who dunnit scenarios as he travels around. I’m hooked on these, and I don’t know what I’ll do when I have listened to them all. The author is Lee Child. If you like action and intrigue, you’ll like these!

And I can sew and sew and sew and listen, and not have to look up to a TV, or get distracted by what MIGHT be going on in email or facebook ;c)

And I’m using my cheddar bowties as incentive to keep going on other projects! My pile is growing!

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These are turning out SO cute! And while I was cutting for these, a light bulb went off…we are talking 2” squares and 1 1/4” squares….what do I have in the stash that could really be used up for these? Oh Boy…

Out came the string bin….and the bin with hunks and chunks that hadn’t been cut into bricks or squares yet…pieces that were too short to be strips. Pieces that had been given to me by quilters with the challenge of “If any one will use this --- BONNIE will!”

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Do you SEE this mess!? And I know..there were a lot of other things demanding my attention, but if I could tackle this ONE THING I’d feel so much better! ((Yes, at this point I was technically avoiding the "to do" list...but I wanted to be in control of this ONE THING!))

I started pulling a few pieces that would work for the bow ties…just a few…and ironing them…

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See that one brown/cheddar calico?? It’s a 1970’s piece and I love it!! It’s going to be so cute…These pieces weren’t large, not long enough to be strips, and they ended up in WITH a bunch of strings because I didn’t know what to do with them…

I dug through and pretty soon had a whole basket of things just for bow-ties!

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I’ll pull from this basket as I need to, it’s sitting right under my ironing board…but I’ve got lots of fun vintage stuff in here as well as recycled pieces from shirts, and repros and old calicoes and just stuff that will be so cute as bow-ties. I keep reminding myself this is not a project with a size limit or a deadline. It’s leader/ender friendly and that is how they are growing. But it’s nice to see them coming together in between the lines of power sewing. I can use the bow-tie pieces as “markers” even in between long lines of chain piecing, sewing a bow tie piece every 10 or 25 units just to help me count how far I’ve gone.

But that wasn’t the end of it…..after I pulled the fabrics I could use for the bow-ties..I was still left with THIS STRING MESS!

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Do you SEE this mountain!?? I have no clue how it even stayed contained inside that bin! LOL!

I’ve been working on several different string projects lately, and it’s a good thing..because I want to sew this stuff up! But I needed a way to organize it better. Can you organize strings? Oh yes you can, and I did!

I sorted into color families! The quilts I’ve been working on have specific color plans, and it was a PAIN to dig through the strings having to find the color I needed. Is this a bit obsessive/compulsive? Maybe so. Is this going to lead to insanity? MAYBE SO!

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This is the contents of that messy bin…From left to right I’ve got “recycled shirt strings” then Pinks, Reds, Neutral, Brown, Yellow, Orange, Purple, Green & Black. Now the strings will be easily accessible for projects I’ve got in the works. And oh, the variety is SO FUN! When you are playing with strictly color, ANYTHING GOES as long as it is within that color family, so the weirder and more ugly the fabric is, the more fun it is to stick it in there.

And you also find out really quickly what you have MORE OF than anything else:

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Blues- Navy to Aqua/Turquoise! I see a LOT of blue string quilts in my future…which is okay by me! This whole Ikea bag is FULL of blues. I love Ikea bags. Note to self – I need some more!

Oh. And I threw stuff AWAY. Yes I did….anything questionable, or that felt terrible to the touch…it just WENT. Good riddance, no guilt. That big bin with the green flip top? It now sits EMPTY! I'll find a purpose for it, but it's nice not having the string disaster in there anymore.

But I won’t be stringing today…..today…..I’m tackling about 800 more half square triangles!

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Gotta use up more of those blues and yellows! Yes, each stack has 100 pre-cut pairs ready to be sewn together this morning! Like I said..I’m an assembly line girl, and I better get down to it!