We have started work replacing the ceiling of my office/sewing room, and I've been banished upstairs to my husband's office area. I'm suffering from fabric withdrawal, so I've been going through photos instead. Found this one of the Troy fabric warehouse in Chicago, which I visited in 2002. I could have stayed there all day.



This is me, at home on my verandah, with some of the fabric I bought at Troy. Aaaahhhh, fabric!

The quilt over the railing behind me is one I bought from Ebay for $17. It is a lovely blend of late 1800s fabrics. I intend to make my own version in reproduction fabrics; I bought the yellow and green, and several shirtings, and will have fun making the scrappy strips.

I've been collecting cadet blue FQs for years, and I will finally get to cut some up when I make this quilt. They've been on my too-good-to-cut-up list for all that time, but after I've made this quilt the leftovers will be relegated to scraps and they'll be fair game for my other projects.

I'm still doing designs, still not really enjoying it. I look at a lot of photos and books to get my ideas. I saw The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe recently and was blown away by the designs on the boys' armour. Which made me remember the armour display at the Chicago Art Museum, which I went to see with Meredith's son John. John is an incredible artist, but being a guy is also fascinated by weapons; I doubt if I would have gone to see it on my own, but it was fantastic. The level of ornamentation was unbelievable.

Look at this helmet, with a beautful clamshell design. Great quilting idea.

Unfortunately the lighting was so dim that my camera had trouble focusing, and no flash photography was allowed. It's a permanent exhibit, so we will definitely revisit next time we are in Chicago.