That seventeen yard dent I was worried about? I compensated for it by buying 14 1/2 yards of fabrics that will go perfectly with the rest of my favorite lights and darks. It was $2.95 a yard and exactly the stuff I haven't been able to find at the Joann's sales.

I've started North Pacific, the quilt that I've been lusting after for a year now. It has lots and lots of pieces, most of them triangles. There's a center section made up of sixteen Ocean Waves blocks, and that's surrounded by twenty-some pieced ships and whales.



So far, I've gone from completely overwhelmed to feeling like I might be able to pull it off but wanting to get those center blocks done as soon as possible so I'd know for sure, to not feeling like quilting at all.

The goal here was to slow myself down a bit. I made eighteen quilts start to finish last year, and pieced another eight tops. Seven went off to other loving homes, but if I keep ten of my own quilts a year and Alex makes her own quilts and Mom makes quilts for the kids....

I know, you can never have too many quilts, but it could add up very very fast. Not like sock knitting. A knitter could totally justify two hundred pairs of socks, or at least keep them neatly tucked away in one drawer.

Since I don't feel like switching from quilts to socks at the moment, I decided it makes sense to tackle some of the more intricate quilts I've been drooling after, especially if I already have most of the fabric I need in my stash. (Not that finding a great deal on twenty-some other prints that will fit in nicely is a bad thing at all!)

I've been stressing about our Quilts for Kids package for a couple of weeks now. The three quilts from the kits they sent were done and ready to go, along with two quilts from our own stuff. It was the fish quilt that I couldn't seem to get finished. I'd plan to do it, then stuff would happen, then I'd find myself awake at night worrying about it because the deadline was getting closer and closer... It didn't occur to me until Tuesday that I could just mail the five quilts we had finished and send the fishes along when they're ready to be done. They are now on their way and I'm breathing much easier.

Another quilt made it to Give a Kid a Quilt. And now that it looks like I've found a local group to make some baby quilts for, I'm not going to have to deal with postage and packaging anymore.