Just five more days...

 Just five more days until spring break...I can make it!  I am tuckered out and in desperate need of a break!  I didn't sew nearly as much as I had hoped this week, but I did manage to finish my March Bee Blocks 

as I made some progress with the scrap pile.  Of course, the bag doesn't look any less full, but I've cut quite a few more block components for my various projects.  I think I'll pin pieces together so when I have a few minutes here and there this week I can get some blocks sewn up.  I'm the type who usually just cuts the pieces for one block, then sews them together, rinse, repeat, not the type to cut out a whole quilt and then sew it all together, so having a bunch of pieces cut already is novel to me.  If I sew up everything I have cut out already, that's quite a few more blocks to add.  We'll see!

In other crafting news, I belong to a Buy Nothing Facebook group, and look at what I scored this weekend!  I tied a quilt some years back with buttons, and have been itching to do that again, so I was keen to get more buttons, but some of these buttons really make me want to knit up a garment to feature them.

Some of my favorites:

I love big buttons on hand knits

I can see this holding a cape closed at the throat

I'm ready to knit up a cabled cardigan just to use these beauties!

Can you say baby sweater??

And who is this cute little critter?  Reminds me of a Sandra Boynton character...

So retro! I see another cardigan in my future.

I'm linking up with Oh Scrap and Monday Making.

Calle del Algodon

Calle del Algodon - do you know what that means????

Street of COTTON!!!  I was wandering around the historic part of Quito that houses the Centro Comercial, and happened upon this street sign.  Above the sign was...

...wait for it...

A QUILT BLOCK MADE FROM TILES!  (Sorry, no photo.  When I am wandering around alone, I never bring the camera - don't want to mark myself as a tourist any more than necessary.)

I thought for sure, I had found heaven on earth.  I looked down the street to see storefront after storefront of FABRIC!

But it wasn't heaven on earth.  It was like purgatory.  A teaser for what could have been.  There were lots of beautiful fabrics, but NONE were 100% cotton.  Not a one!  I felt everything that caught my eye, and got very good at asking, "No tiene tela de cien por ciento de algodon?"  Unfortunately, they all shook their heads no, and proceeded to show me some lovely knit or shiny cotton/poly mix.  Oh well.

In between the fabric stores were tucked little stores of trim and thread and buttons.  I was drawn in and pored over the buttons for quite a while before settling on these big black ones that remind me of wheels - I can see using them to embellish a kid quilt.

The coin is a dollar coin, placed there for reference - these are big buttons!

And then I saw the perle cotton.  Lots and lots of perle cotton.  I've been wanting to buy some, but I haven't found it anywhere near me, and it seems silly to me to pay postage for it if I buy it online.  So I inquired about the price.  Sixty-five cents for a ball of 95 yards of #8 perle cotton!  I've never bought it before, but that seemed like a steal to me!  I was drawn to the variegated ones, so I picked out five to buy.

I've never heard of Rose Brand, but frankly, I don't care!

Back in my room, I looked online to price them, and I'm finding them for anywhere from $2.29 to $3.50.  Can I just say I'll be headed back to that part of town to pick up some more in solid colors!  Some for me, and some to share in my little "help me figure out how to quilt this" giveaway.  If you've not yet put your two cents in, I encourage you to visit that post and comment.  Not only will there be chocolate covered coffee beans, but now there will also be #8 perle cotton for the winner!  And I'm not done shopping yet!

I did pick up some more trinkets to share around the office at home and put into some Christmas stockings - some colorful leather change purses

I'm not sure yet which one I'll save for me.  Maybe the black and orange?  Or maybe the green and brown?

and some more earrings (I love cheap earrings!!!).  These are made from Tagua, some kind of nut or seed that is indigenous to Ecuador.

I love the ones with the trees!

OK, off to bed to do some more quilting before I sleep like the dead.  The air is thin here at 10,000 feet above sea level, so I yawn A LOT and sleep very well.  Just three more nights until I get to sleep in my own bed!