I've been reading on the Stashbuster list about vanloads of fabric, and someone who gave away 600 yards. I wondered what that would look like, so I grabbed two drawers of fabric and measured what was in there. This, my friends, is what 50 metres of material looks like. And it fits easily in two of my plastic drawers. I have 32 of those, and some are packed so tight it's a struggle to get anything in or out. I guess I have to admit tht I have a Lot of fabric, but not as much as some people.....

In an attempt to use up some of said fabric, I cut out 24 12" blocks for a new quilt. Each block uses more than a FQ, so I was gleeful that I'd used up 5.5 metres; then I realised that there are the equivalent of 10 similar quilts in that stack of fabric alone. At times like that I need to have a cup of coffee and sit in a corner trembling slightly.

The odd thing is that I would feel lost without my stash, so I could never get rid of it; I just wish it were better housed and I could use it more.

I have no idea of the name of this block, it was just drawn out in my graph book, complete with cutting chart, so on the spur of the moment I started cutting. There are 57 pieces in each block, and it takes a while to piece. I think I was a bit dismayed at how quickly I finished the Grey Havens top, and I won't be finishing This in a hurry! I'm a bit partial to red and green and cream right now, and it makes a change from the darker blocks I've been working on lately.

I don't need to do this all at once either; it's all bagged up neatly in little sandwich bags waiting for me to get round to it. I love kitting quilts up like that, and I aim to make one kit a week for the next month. Then when the hot weather comes and I have to stay in the A/C I can just pull out a kit and work on it.

DH is away for a few days, and we're living like gypsies, eating whatever we like, staying up all hours of the night and (this is the big thing) in control of the TV! I have not had to watch a single car being 'tricked out', or witness a workshop fight between two bearded prima dons (is that the masculine form of prima donna?) and it's been a huge relief.

DH likes me to sit and watch TV with him at night, but if I didn't have my sewing or knitting I would be climbing the walls. It's not even boredom; those shows just get me so angry and frustrated because I don't believe in any of that shallow claptrap. I can't believe that you will have a better life if someone steals your car and paints flames all over it as a treat for you. And even the interesting parts like how they fabricate the pieces is spoiled by the posturings and poutings and simulated crises "Oh no, there's a world wide shortage of charcoal grey metallic pigment paint.." "The engine is touching the firewall, how could that have happened!!!" The rubbish outweighs the interest for me, but DH likes to see the car at the end.

Meanwhile, on other channels that he flicks over to in the ads, are fascinating documentaries on lions in the Serengeti, Animal Hospital, art museums in Prague, folk music, and plastic surgeries of which I will never know the outcome! It's a good thing I have my knitting......