Gray day GIVEAWAY!

It was a gray day here.  Or grey.  How do YOU spell that color?  Does it matter?

Gray days aren't necessarily bad days.  They are good days to stay inside and sew.  So that's just what I did when I finally got home from work today.  I made my October Bee Blocks.

The blocks are Whirligig Blocks from a Quilt In A Day pattern

Yeah, I know it is still September, but the materials arrived and I LOVE making Bee blocks, so I always make them right away.  It is a chance to do something new and different without committing to a whole quilt.

I also made this little Gift Card Key Ring.

I used a ribbon instead of fabric to hold the ring in place.  Much easier, but I like the look of fabric better.  Live and learn.

Can you guess what is inside?

$5 Starbucks Gift Card

OK, that was easy.  But on a gray day, a steaming mug of coffee makes me smile!  You know what also makes me smile?  Comments from readers!  So, leave a comment, and this $5 Starbucks gift card and Gift Card holder could be yours.

To further brighten your day, I'm adding these 4 balls of bright #8 perle cotton to the mix.

The colors are off - after all, it is a gray day, and hard to photograph accurately indoors - pink, red, orange and purple

And, if your stash is anything like mine, you probably have little to no gray fabric.  When I made that discovery earlier this week, I set off to rectify that with some gray fabric purchases.  Little did I know that gray fabric isn't all that common.  I have only found two so far that I liked.  I bought a yard and a half of each - a yard for me, and half a yard for a reader.

half yard cuts of a DS gray dot and I don't know much about the other fabric except I thought it was pretty.

I head out on another work trip tomorrow morning - Little Rock, Arkansas this time - and I'll be back on Tuesday.  Leave a comment before I wake up on Tuesday morning, and we'll see who Mr. Random Number Generator chooses to win the coffee card and holder, the 4 balls of perle cotton and the 2 half yard cuts of gray fabric.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

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!