Labor Day sales..................

Did you all spend way too much money buying fabric during the fabulous Labor Day sales? I certainly did. Boy, it's so hard to resist a good sale. Fabric just keeps going up, and it's unlikely to go down anytime soon, so when I can find a substantial discount on stuff I wanted even at full price, I jump. Thanks to Jan, I purchased these reproduction goodies from Fabric Shack. I love serpentine stripes, and wiggly coral-like designs, and they aren't easy to find. I also ordered waaaaay too many pieces of Kaffe Collective from Tennessee Quilts, because they had a dollar off each one yard purchase. I'll have to be exceptionally virtuous for the rest of the month, but it'll be worth it.

I got word from Lizzie that she had received my parcel, so now I'm able to show you what I made for my part of the exchange. Here it is:

Here in East Texas we have so many Cardinals, and they are our favorite to put out seed for. Australia doesn't have them, although they have incredibly beautiful, and exotic, birds of their own. At any rate, my thought was to send her a little bit of our nature. I hope you enjoy it Lizzie. I had fun making it for you.

Here is an early clamshell update. I am appliqueing the last two setting triangles simultaneously, so that when I'm finished I will be able to see my square center completed. You know, it's far trickier to get them all alike than you might think from just looking at them. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will all come together satisfactorily. Your comments were very welcome, but showed a whole lot more confidence in me than I have in myself. I'm just flying by the seat of my pants, and saying a mantra for good luck.

  

Lastly, here is the current status of the center medallion. I confess to being worried that it is too drab. I am giving much consideration to what comes next. What will be next border be? I am leaning toward applique. Stars would be the obvious choice, ending with the clamshell borders, but I prefer applique to piecing, so as I work on these clamshells that's what my brain is grinding over. So hard to know in advance how things will end up looking...................for me that's the terror, and the fascination, that makes quilting so compelling. What does it for you?

I hope you got some goodies during the sales, and I'll be looking to see what you all are up to. Happy stitching, Michele