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"Better late than never" is a phrase that has been around forever and it's a phrase that seems to populate my life. My DH has turned  "When you see it, buy it. Don't wait" into a mantra for me. Or another way of putting it is "He who hesitates is lost". That last adage applies very much to my fabric buying habits, although it's not always apparent to me at the time. The quilt you see is very unusual for me. It's an "out of the box" quilt meaning I had never worked with such fabrics or colours before and I wanted to relate its story to you.

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Awhile back I went to my local quilt shop with nothing particular in mind. I was wandering aimlessly when all of a sudden I spied the "Dick and Jane-1940's" fabrics line. They just lept out and stirred something inside me. I have never, ever had that happen to me before. I felt transfixed (odd but true). I felt happy to the point of giggling, to the point of saying "be still my beating heart". I had no clue as to what to make so did not know how much to buy. Since I had  fabric stored at home (don't we all)  I felt I needed to be prudent and only purchased 1/3 yard pieces. The car could not get me home fast enough. The "rush" was still with me when I started cutting. I had no pattern to work with so just cut squares and hoped for the best. Please understand that I am not the type of person who rushes home from the store and sits down to cutting and sewing. This was all very unusual for me. Suddenly my world came crashing down. I did not have enough orange fabric for the sashing. I went back to the shop the next day to find they had sold out of everything. For 2 years I searched off and on for more sashing fabric and had given up. As luck would have it I finally found some 2 weeks ago and was able to finish the quilt. As I was photographing it I thought this quilt does not look finished. What do I need to make it look complete? Does anyone have any ideas? In the meantime, you now know that "Better late than never" and "When you see it, buy it" are part of my quilting life that I am trying very hard to change.
 I want to apologize for Thursday's unlinked blog. I am still new to the computer/blogging business and I thought I had done the job correctly but found out after I published it was not. It took a while to get resolved and I think I now know how to link (I hope) so that it will never happen again.Thank you for understanding.

16" by 16"

We've all heard "better late than never". That phrase is very appropriate in my case. I found these 2 little quilts the other day when I was looking for something. They were handquilted and all they needed was their bindings put on. As soon as I saw them I fell in love with them all over again. I felt bad that they had been neglected all those years so I put everything on hold that day and sat down to cut and sew the bindings on by machine. I always finish the binding by handsewing it to the back of the quilt which brought forward another pleasure I had been neglecting and that was handsewing is very relaxing. I enjoy the rhythmic movement of the needle in and out of the fabric. It somehow grounds me,  slows my world down and takes me off to my own little sanctuary. These little quilts had somehow managed to stay hidden through 2 moves and countless cleanings and rearrangings of my sewing areas. "How many years?" you ask. It had been 25 years since I last saw them so that's why I think "better late than never" is very appropriate in my case. Some things are put on your path in life at the moment you need them or can deal with them. In this case these little quilts taught me to finish what you start, learn to use a thimble again, small things are beautiful and above all to sit back and smell the roses.

15 1/2" by 15 1/2"

On another note, I want to tell everyone how much I enjoy belonging to the "Blogosphere Club". There is a wealth of information at my finger tips and I hope to be able to repay in kind with the hope that it's useful to everyone.