Ooooh-La-Lah!

 Aren't these just grand?  Kaffe shot cottons and plaids -- all nicely rolled up into one neat little package.  There are some indulgences that you just can't ignore when you have a craving.  Just like chocolate or strawberries or a diet coke.  You have to heed your inner voice and acquiesce or forever feel deprived.  Or that's what I'm telling myself anyway.

I had been on the lookout for a jelly roll of Kaffe shot cottons in the solids but it's a little hard to find and I'm not sure if anyone other than Grubers carries them (great shop if you've never been -- generally one of my favorites at any big quilt show as well!).  I know they cut these little strips and about 60% are in the plaids and stripes -- many of which I had never seen before.  

http://www.grubersquiltshop.com/

So, what does one do with such bounty?  Handle carefully for starters.  When you see this much fraying (even with wovens), you can be sure they are not cut completely on grain.  Therefore, you do what any reasonable quilter would do -- you starch them within an inch of their lives so you are in control. Works like a charm! 

And then - because there is so much in one's life that is out of their control (retirement in less than a month and no place to go), you decide to just sew and sew and sew for a while.  40 strips of fabric will end up as 2.5" squares that are sashed on two sides with 1" brown Kona cotton (love it!).  A simple quilt that will let the fabric be the stars and not the pattern.  And, I can sew whenever I need a fix without a lot of thought. This will take long enough that design is not likely to be an issue for a while.  I'll eventually make them into 4 patches in order to keep up with them (a 4 patch will finish at 5").

Here's a little Grubers story that is the reason I always keep my camera with me as I mentioned in this post:    http://iquiltforfun.blogspot.com/2011/07/just-passing-through.html   On a visit to the shop, I was turning down a side street and looked that street sign -- 2 1/2 Street!  All I had was a crummy phone with an even worse camera and I had no way of sharing that with the world.  I absolutely loved it and vowed not to be without a camera on my travels again. 

Keep piecing, Jan