We're back from a spur of the moment little vacation. Couldn't go to Reno because we were worried about snow in the passes stranding us like it did last time. Couldn't go to the coast because the timeshare didn't have any units available at the last minute. So, by process of elimination, we wound up in Central Oregon.



It's too early in the year to dig thunder eggs, because the beds are still under water, but we got to watch the peacocks and emus and chickens wandering around outside the gift shop and look at the polished rocks inside and we'll go back and play in the dirt later in the year.

So we wandered through the shops in Sisters, and Bill bought me a pie bird, which I've been wanting since we saw them on some Food Network show. Not that I bake a lot of pies.

At an antique mall in (I think) Redmond, I fell in lust with two old quilts and had to sneak my camera out of my purse so I'd be able to research the blocks later. I just got glimpses because I don't think I'd unfold a quilt I had no intention of buying and even if I wanted to, I couldn't while simultaneously wrangling a four year old.

I definitely want to make this one and I know I can make it once I pull the right fabrics. Anyone know what the block is called? It looks like it's related to a churn dash.



Can't make this one with the skills I currently have, but that doesn't stop me from drooling and collecting block patterns.



And, no big surprise, the thing I'm really really lusting after was at Walmart. It started to snow while we were eating dinner, so we stopped at Walmart and while Bill was looking up chains for the van, the kids and I drifted into the fabric department because even when you're not intending to buy a single thing, fabric and yarn is more fun to look at than car parts. We didn't drift far, because I wanted Bill to be able to find us when he was done, so I didn't see the big assortment of Jelly Rolls until we were walking away. They had so many choices and they were so pretty...

Now I want a pretty bundle of 2 1/2" strips. I was telling Mom about them later, and she told me about a quilt one of her buddies had just made where you sew the strips end to end and then sew the whole long thing together and cut it in half, then repeat until you've got a quilt top. She couldn't remember what it was called, but I googled with "sew jelly roll strips end to end cut in half" and actually wound up with a pattern.

Which makes me want a Jelly roll even more! (So does this one.)

I have fabric. I can cut my own 2 1/2" strips. I can make both quilts without going out and buying anything. I've got a whole bunch of ideas for things I can make without buying anything. If I make a bunch of those projects, I can buy a Jelly Roll without feeling guilty about it...

Living so far from Walmart and Joann's does make it easier to be good.