Meredith from Quilt Threads mentioned on her blog that she didn't particularly like the new format of Quilters Newsletter. I haven't even seen a copy yet, it will take a while to filter through to Newsagents here. But it made me realise that I haven't bought a quilt magazine for a very long time. The highlight of my existence used to be getting a new quilt magazine, it was such a red letter day. Coffee, chocolate biscuits, comfy chair, DO NOT DISTURB ME!

There is just too much on offer these days, and my tastes are quite defined, and I have so many books and magazines already. Plus there is a never-ending stream of quilts and images on-line. Magazines don't hold the same high place in my life any more.

I still love the old Ladies Circle Patchwork Quilts, and Country Quilts. They are such old friends that I know every caption to every photo. I also cherish my old Country Living magazines, for the quilts that figured in the interior shots. Priceless now, seeing that tastes have changed and there isn't the same emphasis on quilts as decoration. I would sacrifice all my modern magazines in order to hang on to my old ones.

I have forced myself to stop work each afternoon and make a pot of tea, which I have on the deck in the late winter sunshine. I make sure I use my good English china teacups, and have a dainty biscuit or two. It's a very soothing ritual, and I am working my way through a pile of recent magazines and books, deciding what to keep and what to give away. There's not a lot on the To Keep pile. Which is a good thing; someone will find them at Goodwill and be glad to have them.

I finished the binding on two quilts this weekend, which is quite an achievement. I made the bindings late last year, so it's only taken me months to actually sew them on. I may even cut out some more bindings this afternoon, and package them with the quilts so that I can keep up the good work of finishing, whenever I have a spare moment. I have the wrong mindset; I feel a huge thrill of accomplishment when I finish a top, but relatively little excitement when I finish the binding and it's actually usable. I have my priorities wrong. I think it's because finishing the top gives me permission to start something else, whereas finishing the quilt just means I can put it on a bed or on the pile, give it to someone or send it off to a shop. I'll have to work on changing that.

See how many containers I have emptied? They held remainders of projects, (remember my problem with over-cutting!) so I sewed up all the strips, recut them into slices and made 4-patches, or cut them into half-square triangles and bagged them ready to sew. It's been fiddly work, but I kept at it all week, and there is progress at last. It didn't help that I sliced into the top of one finger early on in the proceedings; I've been vewwy, vewwy careful since then. I could show you a picture, but Mereth went 'Ewww!' when I sent it to her, so I will spare you the gory details.

My drawer of orphan blocks is crammed full, and I think I will rummage around in that and see what comes to light. Maybe my 25 extra blocks will make a nice border to pull all the orphans together.