Why can't these things happen ever when the dishes and laundry are all caught up and the shopping has just been done? But I suppose if they did happen then, the laundry and dishes wouldn't last. And if I'd done my shopping earlier in the day, I would've had groceries piled between the rose bushes with my car seats and everything else.

We finally got the van back. It took them three tries to get the bumpers to match the rest of the car. And I'm crossing my fingers and praying that they got the mechanical stuff right.

Having the van back meant I could go grocery shopping yesterday, two and a half weeks past the point where I really needed to do it. (Bill has been running to the store for me, but as much as I don't like grocery shopping with four kids, not being able to do it is worse.) On the way, we stopped at the quilt shop that I've been trying to get to for the past month.

I found some great greens for the quilt I'm going to make Quinn, and a couple of pinks that will work for a quilt of my own because the fat quarters are a dollar each if you buy them in multiples of five. I'm not totally sure if it's "quilt shop quality," but the price was right and it'll do.



The books were half off, so I picked up Eleanor Burns' new one. Ages ago, I fell in love with a barn pattern and searched out just the right reds. Now I'm thinking I might like these barns better. And the price was right. Now I've just got to figure out if I have (or can borrow from Mom or can manage without) the rulers I'll need.

When I'll do that, I don't know, because since our trip to Walmart I've barely been limping from one end of our little house to the other. Have you ever counted how many times you have to go from one end of the house to the other just to keep up with four kids?

Mom loaned me her darning foot and, although I've only been able to try a couple of spirals, it doesn't seem to have made any difference in the jackhammer sound of my machine.

sigh

I think I'd feel better about not quilting if I knew the machine was ready and waiting for me.

I do have this --



and this --



both from Mom, who knew how much I've been wanting to get my hands on a jelly roll and cut them herself from her own stash. The pinks are going to be (I hope) Hugs and Kisses. The other one, I'm not so sure about. I'm debating either trying Avignon Picnic or one of the patterns from the two Jelly Roll books I've got from the library. Same things I was trying to decide with those Moda scrap bags, but now I've got more fabric to play with.