School of Life/Spotlight sale.

FFS

I left work in a flurry of excitement last Thursday, and then it took me almost an hour to get across 2 suburbs.
But absolutely worth it to get to the largest , cleanest and most organised Spotlight store I've ever seen.
That's not to say that it's very clean or organised mind you, just that it could be far worse.

Sadly though, there were no trolleys left when I arrived.

But that's my fault as I had stopped to set the world to right in the manchester section first, by rearranging all the NRL merchandise.
I routinely place all Roosters items at the back (sometimes even underneath the shelving), and replace those vile nasties with all beautiful South Sydney Rabbitohs merchandise instead.
Much better.

Little deeds of kindness and consideration such as this all add up and help with the overall energy and tone of this planet, I believe.
It's called taking one for the team, and you're welcome.

So, my moral quota fulfilled, I was free to mince on down to the quilting fabric section and jostle with the standard herds of aggressive menopausal cows for fabric.

Actually, it wasn't too bad.
Most likely that's because they were all snatching up wishy washy florals and plaids rather than the bright and colourful bolts that I like.

Anyway, no trolleys.
These robust women, most being clearly in the need of some (any) exercise, had taken them all - some now carrying only 2 or 3 bolts of fabric in them.
Pathetic.

Never mind. Trolleys are for the weak.
We're talking about cloth here FFS, not bricks.
Should the need ever arise, I could do 20 miles with 20 bolts strapped to my back. Easy.

Some time later, after grabbing maybe a dozen bolts and struggling to the checkout line...do I need to tell you that there were only 2 people cutting fabric on sale night.. .or did you assume that when I said Spotlight?

Well, I was about 6 people back, trying to balance 2 armfuls of (very nice) fabric, my handbag and my jacket, without dislocating my shoulder.

I thought I was doing rather nicely too. No pain, no gain.

But, I must have looked awkward enough to cause one of the ladies with 3 bolts of fabric in a trolley a little guilt though, because she kindly offered to let me share her trolley...

How nice.

So after thanking her and dumping my 2 arm loads of fabric (far more attractive than hers) into it, I retired to my spot, 2 people back to quietly and accurately judge people by their fabric choices. ;O)

A few minutes later, I realised with no small amount of glee, that just as I was checking out people's fabrics, they were checking out mine.
But, they were assuming that it belonged to her, poor thing.

I suspect it was rather a confusing and sobering experience for her.

My pile of bright 1960's reds and oranges, my dog print for Clair, my glittery white, my fire engine red flowers...you get the picture.
As one lady pushed past her, I heard her remark to her daughter, "OMG, look at that one!"

I glanced at my kindly and long suffering trolley friend, only to see her standing with her head bowed with the shame of being a fabric outcast for having chosen non-cottage themed prints at a Spotlight sale.
Um-ahhhhhhh!

I may make fun of it now, but she really did look a little put out and confused at all the attention our trolley was receiving.

I'm used to it.
Indeed, I enjoy it.
And it was really interesting to me to watch a completely different reaction up close and personal.

Of course, the moral to the story here, can be 1 of 3 things...

1) don't be so lazy as to hog a trolley when you're buying precious little
2) don't let anyone else's opinion mean crap to you
3) don't be so kind/guilty

I'm pleased to acknowledge that I indulge in none of these behaviours, but that I now own a good deal more fabric than I did last week.
And none of it has roses on it.
To Hell with roses.

Sewing updates.

I have been behaving.
Unless you count that little visit to Spotlight's sale last week. But I'll tell you about that later.

But, in terms of focus and completion, I'm doing very well.

The top pic is of my hexagons. I have all but finished the blocks and now have only (hahaha, did you get that?), only to sew a billion mud coloured hexagons, stitch them all painstakingly to the rest and then attach all the finished blocks.
Simple really.
But then, I've discovered that hexagon quilts don't finish with a straight edge, and therefore I must find a way to deal with this...
This is what comes from just jumping in and learning as you go.

But the biggest problem I have is that I must decide whether or not to log on and purchase more indigenous fabric and make the quilt huge. Then I won't have to worry about finishing it off until a lot later.

My extravagant creative instinct says go.
My even more extravagant creative instinct says, well, if you do that, then you won't be able to start on the multi coloured one, or the vegetable one one have planned...
Dilemma.

Oh well, so in the mean time, I'm doing Dad's jigsaw quilt and I avoided facing hexagon reality yesterday by pulling out all the friendship blocks I have received so far and sewing them together instead.

Since October 2006, I have been in a block swap with 3 other girlies and just a few months later, it became 4 other girlies.
The basic idea is that each month you make a block for someone and post it to them, and of course, each month, you receive one yourself.
There is a roster so that you know who you're sewing for, and have a basic idea of their fabric tastes etc.

I don't believe that I have consulted this list even once.
No, that's not entirely true.
I did notice that Clair doesn't like brown just before I chose to sew her a block with chicken drumsticks and eggs, which is all brown.
Pfffffft to Clair, I say.

Well, the first pic is a block I received from Vicki...apparently she thinks I like Souths...no idea what could have put that in her mind.

The WANKE hand cream block is from Clair (in advance) and refers to my first ever blog where I confessed to have 9 types of hand cream in my bedside drawer. Still do.
Make of that what you will.

The next pic is the whole lot so far.
Not one stitch done by me - except that border of Vicki's I had to fix up, and the seams of course.

It's amazing to see so many different ideas and styles side by side, and even more incredible that they look good together.

Down the bottom left there is a section that my Aunty Kitty contributed to.
I can pick her work a mile away. Technically perfect - strangely elegant yet naive cottagey stuff. She loved the idea of the swap and sent me a few for Xmas last year.

The centre piece is what started it all. Pretty good likeness of me too.
Originally, I had the idea to do a banner with all of us on it, that we could hang out the front of Bron's place, warning passers by that our group was in session.
But legally I think that puts us in a difficult position, like warning people of a vicious dog...

The last pic, is one that I received recently, from Vicki I believe (hooray for leopard skin), and it has all of our names on it.

I have no idea at all what I will ever use this thing for. Too big for a wall hanging, too encrusted with beads and buttons for a table cloth, too out there not to be displayed.

Maybe I'll use it on my sewing table.