When Henry met Denise

It's Friday, so I had grand plans to have a finished quilt top to show off. Well you know what they say about the best laid plans.

So instead I am celebrating some mini finishes:
* my Henry Fish blocks
* sashing two rows of Henry Fish
* buying all the fabric I need to finish Henry Fish

(This all leads to an interesting debate as to what constitutes a finish, but let's leave that for another day!)

The last one is the big achievement. As the dreaded lurgy is still very much present, leaving the house is a Big Deal. But I felt compelled. Spotlight still has $6 discontinued fabrics and then on top of that, 30% off if you buy the bolt (I should market for them). So that is $4.20 a metre!!! But only until next Tuesday. Dramatic pause. What to do? Well I couldn't leave those lovely fabrics to be snatched up by the other crazy quilty people on the North Shore just because I am on my death bed, so I put on my big girl undies (literally, the baby won't tolerate anything else) and drove my diseased self to the shop. I bought a little teensy weensy bit of fabric. Including a lovely DS blue print to border Henry Fish and the matching blue and pink tartan to back it with. Hooray. That means the other backing I bought is now spare. Hmmmmm. And I may have bought some other bits and bobs just because I liked them.

So now I am going to have a chokkie bikkie and a nap to celebrate my intrepid journey. And will emphatically deny ever leaving the house, if anyone asks.

Here's another rubbish photo - of Henry meeting his new Denise Schmidt border and backing. I hope he's happy.

Distraction

Look what arrived! It is taking every ounce of my will power not to rip these babies open and start something new.

Internal monologue: "Finish Henry Fish, finish Henry Fish."

Pah.

Fabric, yummy fabric

There are lots of lovely things about living in a small country at the bottom of the world.  Great food and wine, sunny beaches and exciting outdoor living, nice people, and a great big garden for the kids to run around in.  But one small downside is a lack of extensive quilting fabrics.  Don't get me wrong, we have some lovely local quilt shops with great fabrics, but for a wide range of reasonably priced designer fabrics, we need to look overseas.

And shopping on-line for fabrics is something I can do VERY well, even as an amateur!  So I was very pleased to find the Missouri Star Quilt Co the other day - I was actually looking for jelly roll quilt pattern inspiration and was lured by their YouTube video for a quilt called "Summer in the Park" - looks cute by the way.  I found they had lots of lovely Moda pre-cuts and a discount on international shipping.  Shopping heaven!  But the best thing is that they have a sense of humour.  The shipping confirmation email is a real treat - although I am sure it will wear thin after a few orders.  I won't tell you what it says, in case I ruin the surprise for your own order.  In the meantime, I hope everything arrives as promised, so there is a next time.  I did go a teensy weensy bit crazy.

So while I wait for that to arrive, I need some inspiration for these wee treats in my stash - a lovely Moda layer cake, some Spoonflower deliciousness (love), various Gumnut Baby cuties and the gorgeous peacock fabrics.  Here's hoping this will keep me off Spoonflower and other online shops, at least until the baby arrives!

Fabric yum