Odds and Ends

     Have you ever had a week when you flitted around, starting and stopping different projects, never completing much of anything?  I had one of those last week.  We had a lot of family here for Easter, so I had some housework calling my name.  Then, for the past few weeks, I have been contemplating some changes in my sewing room, but since it involved carpentry and power tools, I had been hesitant to move on it.  Just not quite as comfortable with those tools as I am with rotary cutters and rulers.  But last week, I decided I would never know if it would work until I tried it.  So I said "I'm goin' in".
I had a folding cutting table that was about 25 years old, I bought it about the time I learned quilting with a rotary cutter.  It was frustrating me because it took up so much space with all that wasted space under the table.   So, here is the finished product.
      I bought two of those 6 cube closet storage units, removed the folding leaves from the old cutting table and put them on top of the cubes.  I have plenty of cutting space and storage underneath.   The cubes are 36" tall, so just the right height.
 Success!!
     I only bought 4 of the canvas drawers until I made sure my scheme would work,  but plan to pick up more when I am at Target.  By the way, Target has the cubes, but I found mine on sale at Michael's.



 To the right is one of those unfinished projects that haunt all of us.  This was a kit purchased in Florida appoximately 6 years ago.  I took it to Florida with me in January and put the little "puss in the corner" blocks together, as well as doing the center applique'.  So now it is laid out, ready for sewing together.  It is set on point, so will take some time uninterrupted by daily life.  Hopefully, tomorrow.  I love the colors, so am anxious to get it together and quilted.

Last Friday, Paula and I went to "The Gatherin'" in Stover, MO.  This is a great event, approximately 30 shops represented under one roof, most of them quilt shops.  Then, little bitty Stover boasts three quilt shops in the town.  And... about 10 miles from there is a Mennonite area with two more shops.  I went with a list to avoid just buying willy-nilly.  I needed small florals for our stash builder fabric swap at Guild next month.  >  

 My neutrals and backgrounds were getting a little sparse, so found these great fabrics at one of the Mennonite shops.
<

I must confess, I did succumb to one willy-nilly.
Just couldn't resist at 1/2 price!

< Our guild does birthday blocks, so I bought this fabric to give each participant making my blocks in October.  Hopefully, my blocks then will all coordinate.  Although, I'll have to say that last year's blocks went together surprisingly well. ( I'll leave that for another day and another post.)




                                                   
                     
These two projects are some of what has been distracting me from that kit quilt mentioned earlier.  I had to have these carrots for Easter...  
                                                                                                                                                                       

And this strawberry has been calling me from one of Maggie Bonanomi's books for quite some time.  

She used cotton velvet for it, but I couldn't find any cotton, only nylon or rayon, so used fine wale corduroy.  I still like it. 

    That's all for today.  Quilt Guild meets tonight, so maybe I'll have something interesting to share with you tomorrow.