Okay, so it isn’t actually cut out yet. That will happen tomorrow. Tonight I’m just washing my new fabric purchase – an assortment of icy blue batiks from Moda’s new Let it Snow line (plus a couple of extras for variety).

Aren’t they gorgeous? I have a new quilt design – a very simple one – that I need to put together by next Monday. Yeah, in a week. I may be able to stretch it to Wednesday, but that still only gives me one extra sewing day. Oh well, the deadline is good for me. Without it, I probably wouldn’t sew much at all. And how did this come about? Well, today was the final day of our local Shop Hop. Unfortunately it was also the only day that I was able to visit the shops, and I only had half a day at that. We made it to three of the five shops in two and a half hours, so we didn’t do too badly. Anyway, the first shop we went to was the one that asked me to do the Neapolitan quilt, and it’s hanging in their shop – I’m so proud! I bought some batiks there in shades of orange, gold and brown intending to use this same pattern. I was going to call it Sweet Potato Fries. Then we got to the second shop and I saw the blues and just fell in love. I’d done a different colorway in EQ6 and named it Icicles. The shop owner liked my illustration and thought it would be a faster, easier pattern to sell than the one she already had for those fabrics. I told her I could have it to her next week. She gave me some great pointers for writing patterns – avoid square quilts, provide different size options, write very clear instructions. She also purchased my Basket Case patterns to sell in her shop! I’ve pretty much decided not to sell the same patterns in the local shops. So one gets Neapolitan, one gets Basket Case and Icicles, and if the third is interested in my patterns, I’m thinking she has some gorgeous fabrics for the Christmas Cactus quilt. That may be a couple of weeks away, though. And I haven’t even asked if she would like to purchase some of my patterns, which she may not. That’s actually the most difficult part of it all for me – asking if they’d like the patterns. I feel so awkward! I don’t want to make them feel like they have to say yes, and I don’t want them to think that it will hurt my feelings if they say no. It won’t – it’s just business, and I understand that.

Anyway, I have tomorrow off and I plan to sew my little heart out. Or my big butt off… now wouldn’t that be nice?