Gadgets, Bargains and Fabric

Naturally a girly weekend wouldn't be complete without some form of shopping.  One of us did so much in fact that purchases had to be posted home in order to avoid excess baggage. Guess who?

Before Little Miss Sunshine arrived, I expressed a wish to learn to crochet while she was here. When she arrived she presented me with this gift. I think she was being incredibly optimistic or possibly practicing blind faith.

It says 20 easy projects on the front cover.  Let me say with the benefit of hindsight  -that's bullcrap.

But before I knew that I raced out and bought these because I believed a granny square blanket would be easy. It said so right there on the cover. Aren't those yarns pretty? In fact they look so pretty I'm thinking of leaving them like that forever and putting them in a basket with crochet hooks somewhere highly visible so it gives the illusion that I know what I'm doing.

Unusually for me , I resisted buying a jelly roll in these fabrics and just stuck with  the fat 8ths and coordinates. As you'll see later -that was fate.This is the the Pom Pom De Paris collection . Not my usual fare are they? Man , I'm hoping this doesn't end in disaster like the pastel quilts I've attempted. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it - any suggestions?

A fantastic quilt store has just opened up 5 minutes from my house called A Quilters Odyssey. The weekend wouldn't have been complete without a trip to at least one other quilt store.  They sell some pretty fabrics including these pieces which didn't cost me much and are perfect stash builders. Notice those girly bits on the bottom left ? Again , I ask,  what was I thinking?

Since I'm as classy as all get up, my threads have formerly been stored in ziplock bags like this...

I lashed out and bought one of these....makes it look much more like I actually know what I'm doing.  

It's OK don't panic - my black and white threads still live in this little old lady op shop tin.

 And I bought one of these too....which is just about the best invention ever. You should all rush out and buy one so I can kid myself I'm a trend setter.

We did pop into a couple of op shops Monday and I found this.  How fast can you say "quilt backing"? Probably about as fast as I snaffled this up- elbowing two German tourists and a little old lady out of the way to get to it .  I'll get at least two backs out of this and it'll be perfect for one of Little P's quilts. Crazy bargain. According to Sara's theory of fabric logic (which is a universally recognised theory just like Newton's Law of Gravity) this doesn't count as actual fabric because it's a doona cover.

And I found this  too  and thought it would be great to work into a quilt border or something  at some stage. It's the bottom of a linen dress and there's 40 inches of it and I can use the white linen dress part for a cushion front or something. Not bad for a buck.

And I acquired these two jelly rolls as well...this one was a gift from a friend. That's the bit that was fate because it's Pom Pom De Paris to go with my weekend purchases. Sometimes the planets do align.

And I bought this Lilac Hill fabric just because it was pretty-the more I look at it the more I love it. Again -I'm clueless about what it will end up as...oh the possibilities!

And I was totally kidding about leaving my yarn in balls...Marg actually taught me how to do crochet  while she was here. She uses aversive teaching techniques which helped me learn really fast because she threatened to slap me every time I made a mistake.. So I learned really fast that I can do it !

Mr. P and I will be living on two minute noodles and dry bread for the next two weeks. I really need to get a second job since I cannot stop buying craft related paraphernalia....anyone want to hire me?  

P.S.  Haven't touched the crochet since Little Miss Sunshine left. I'm thinking about unpicking it and knitting a scarf. I can knit proficiently. Or perhaps I should do some more of those poor neglected stitcheries. Or start my paper piecing blocks. Or finish the zig zag quilt....