Orange - the fabric of the week.

Don't you just love this orange and purple fabric? Doesn't it remind you of the psychcodelic sixties? I have a friend who loves orange. Since I discovered this about her, I have been looking at the color orange in a different way. I have learned to appreciate its value as a color. Purple is still my favorite color, but if you notice, there is purple in this fabric. This design sort of reminds me of an ink blot at the psychiatrist's office. Anyway, I saw this fabric and thought of Barbara, so I bought two yards. One to send to her, and one to keep for myself. I thought seriously of just buying one yard, but I felt that Barbara needed at least a full yard, and since she was getting a full yard, I felt that I should have a full yard also. Yes, I could have purchased just one piece to send to her. But I always keep some of the same fabric I send to her. When I use that fabric, or see it in my stash, I think of sweet Barbara, and that makes me feel good. When I use some of this fabric, I will feel that Barbara is there with me, approving of my choice of fabric! I am not sure she will really "approve" of this one since it is so crazy, but she lives a little on the wild side, so it might be her most favorite. I seldom buy anything less than a yard, but since I have no room to house any more fabric (seriously), I have been trying to limit myself to smaller pieces. When I am cruising my stash for pieces for a quilt, like for my quilt class, it seems that there is never the right amount, or if I find the right amount, it is not the right color. I feel that my stash is too large, but I also feel that it is not large enough at times when I cannot find just the right combination of color and size requirements. I know, Bonnie and Tonya would say, "Use what you have. Find another fabric". I think these same thoughts when I am searching for just the right thing. Sometimes I actually do succeed. If I could ever get "really organized" with my stash I believe this would cut down on my cruising time. But I must admit, I like to cruise my stash. I like to pull out the fabrics and pair them up with other fabrics and see what combinations I like. Then I enjoy the actual handling of the fabrics. I stack them here, then stack them there. Its like Legos, I play with them and move them around. I attach them to other fabrics to see what I can build. It is visually stimulating seeing all the colors, and combinations of colors. It always amazes me when I see a different color combination that I have not thought would go together in someone else's quilt. I look at those colors and say to myself, "Why didn't I think of that?" That has been part of the fun of seeing all the Carolina Crossroads quilts on the mystery chat line. Well, here is a picture of my daughter's cat that has been living with us for nine or ten years. I call her Baby Cat. My daughter, Leslee, named her Ashly because she has so many colors scattered across her fur. Since I see so many cat pictures in blogs, I thought I should include a picture of Baby Cat. She looks sweet and calm here, but she is a holy terror most days. If she is not asleep or eating, beware. She has one snaggle claw that does not pull back into her paw. It is the one that always gets me to bleed. I have learned over the years some boundaries, but I am always pushing the envelope with her. DH is always telling me to be careful, don't aggravate her. But I can't help it! There is a little demon inside me that makes me do this. I really try to tamp those desires down, but sometimes the little demon wins. I haven't done much sewing this week. It has been cold and rainy, and I am still recovering from my cold virus. I did not even go to my quilting class this week. There is no heat in my sewing room, and there definately is no room for a heater. DH says I should put one of the little space heaters we have in there. I keep telling him I do not want to catch anything on fire. Besides, there isn't an electrical plug that I could reach that doen't have things pluggin into it. His response is to get rid of some of my stuff. What could he be thinking, get rid of some of my precious stuff? When he gets rid of some of his precious stuff, then maybe I will think about it. He also says I need to make more quilts. Then I would have less fabric to deal with. What a novel idea! That would make more room, then I could purchase more fabric. I like that idea! So, I better get busy sewing.

Thanks for stopping by to read my blog. Thanks to all the quilters who have left comments. I like reading someone else's thoughts and ideas on things I hold dear to my heart.

Happy Quilting