It's hot and unpleasant today, reason enough to stay inside and tend to things in the sewing room.  The 12" thick stone walls are keeping the heat out, so it's no hardship to be in here, and I'm happily cutting and kitting, and making real progress at last.  It will be a different story later on in the season; once these old buildings heat up they stay hot, but it takes many days and nights of high temperatures for that to happen.  It's deliciously cool for now.

 This is the basket block I've been working on, and I'm really happy with how it's turning out, it looks just the way I wanted it to.  The original quilt block had a square on top, and the basket was made in one fabric, but I just had to put a touch of dark pinky-red in there.  The tones of the green and red are very similar, so it reads as a square, but adds a little spark to the block.

As I said before, this has been waiting many years for it's turn, and finding this material was the catalyst to finally start it.

 I'm just in love with this fabric, I want to have enough of it to use as a backing as well.  I never saw it in the shops as a new release, I stumbled across it on an American site while I was looking for something else. 

I wonder how much fabulous material has passed me by, while I've been virtuously No-Buy?  It doesn't bear thinking about.

 I don't cut large setting squares across the middle fold of the fabric if I can help it; sometimes that fold persists even after washing and ironing, and I don't want it being a distraction in the finished quilt.  Here's hoping my calculations are correct and I'll have enough yardage, so I can put these bits in the scrap bin, where I will enjoy using them in lots of other quilts.

This is also a favourite fabric, from the '90s.  I bought many metres of it then, and I'm down to the last quarter metre.  I'll be so sad to use the last bit, but's in practically every scrap quilt I own, so it's not as if I'll never see it again.  It's been a lovely hunk of fabric to have in the drawer of cream fabric, I'll miss it.  It's just perfect with the olive/brown greens in the baskets.

 I've kitted all the basket blocks I need, and it's taking all my willpower to leave them in the box and not sew them all up immediately. 

But that would be somewhat counter-productive.  There's still lots to cut before I can call this properly kitted; setting squares and the bits for the infill triangles around the edge, and the border strips. It's not time to play just yet.

Mereth and I have been discussing our plans for the rest of this year, and we are going to concentrate on finishing some tops, and not start new projects all the time.  There's only 6 weeks left for 2013, and my new rule is that I can only start one new project if I've finished two old ones.  Maybe that will encourage me to dig out the tops that only need borders added, and I'll finally be able to move them onto the Completed list.

I have quite a few sets of blocks that only need to be set together, and I'm going to start off with my 16-patches. 

I just can't find a sashing fabric I like, and I don't like the blocks enough to actually pay money for more fabric for them, so I'm going to use this sprigged cream that we have a bolt of.  It's modern, and most of the blocks are reproductions, and that irks me.  Part of me wants the perfect material, and the other part just wants this done; I'm ignoring the voices and just cutting the sashes.  Done now, move on, make another set of blocks for the 'perfect' quilt, whatever.

I think I have a problem with this because it's so light; I can't have anything light on my bed because of the dog that owns the bed (or so she thinks).  If she jumped on this with dirty paws I'd have a fit, so I'm a bit reluctant to go ahead with it.  Which is rubbish; not every quilt is for me, or my bed, and this will find the right home somewhere.  Sigh, I still spend far too much time talking myself into things, don't I?