1320 feet or 1/4 mile, and counting . . .

Just an approximation of the distance I have cut with my rotary cutter in the last few days. Saturday morning, I awoke to a nice glaze of ice on everything. DH had been out to breakfast and back, and said there wasn't any reason to leave the house again. I said I needed to get my shower and get dressed, and he said I might as well stay in my robe and pj's all day, and be warm and comfy!

I cleaned up my Featherweight in anticipation of going to Miss Mary's Quilt Cottage on the 22nd. Not wanting to start another mystery before finishing Bonnie Hunter's Old Tobacco Roads, I have been saving the clues for Double Delight for a later date. Well, I peeked at the quilt in one of the later clues, and it was like an arrow right through my heart! I decided I could go through my pink scrap drawer and pull out fabrics to put into a container to save for it. I have a tote full of swatches from Mr. B's Fabric Club, and lately, I have been good about pulling things from that stash for these scrappy quilts. With those two sources lined up, it wasn't too far a jump to cut some to size, just in the interest of keeping the proposed quilt kit neat and tidy. Then, I found out there was a Monk marathon on television all day . . . perfect . . . I'll just cut until I get tired of cutting, or watching Monk, whichever comes first. Pretty soon, it was time to go to the blue scraps to select what was needed for eighty 3 1/2-inch squares. Put those in a little sandwich bag, and cut more pinks and neutrals. Then, I located some yardage, and four fat-quarters, to cut setting triangles. Had another actual quarter yard to cut setting corners. Might as well find a brown and cheddar. Found a perfect brown and cut it up . . . then, realized it was a bit smaller than needed, so I found a compatible brown to finish out. Had a perfect cheddar . . . but not enough . . . rounded up a light old gold, and cut what was needed from it. Now, I have a complete Double Delight kit to take to Miss Mary's . . . and my rotary cutter was just warmed up, and there were about 8 episodes of Monk to go.

What shall I cut next? I've been diligently working on the embroidery of my Santa's Around the World, so I could cut the piano key border, which would permit removing extra fabrics from the tote that one has been stored in, and have it ready to assemble, too. First, calculate size . . . then go through the scraps to cut as many "keys" as possible from scraps. That gave me about 40, and I needed 84 . . . on to the fat quarter stash put aside for this quilt, and cut the "keys" needed. That one is ready to go.

My Millennium quilt needs sashes and cornerstones . . . and star points, since it is getting a star and sash setting. Have about a dozen blocks sashed . . . so, cut prisms until the main setting fabric is used up. Will have to fill in with a couple of other Millennium prints to finish those out. Cut lots of half-square triangles for the star-cornerstones, and squares for the center of the stars. Also ready to go.

Get ready for bed, and think about work the next day . . . how dreary . . . think about my quilts some more. What else could I get ready?

Morning comes, and driving to work, re-think the Christmas quilt . . . it's going to be nearly square, and I'd like it to have some added length. How about a title . . . "Here comes Santa Claus" . . . now, I'll be singing that all day! A nine-inch border with words . . . won't Laura be proud of me . . . lunch hour, I cut two strips to make that border . . . can't decide if it should be on top or at the bottom of the blocks, but it needs to be inside the piano key border . . . cut six more piano keys. Went to the computer and did a banner in Printmaster of a swooping "Here comes Santa Claus". Started marking letter templates, and cutting some of them out while preparing dinner. Went through the fabrics again, and picked a red and a "peppermint" stripe for the lettering.

When dinner was over, and dishes were done, back to my post in front of the television to think about what else might be nearly ready. Really need to finish my perfume bottle quilt for my cousin, Diane. Have about 40 blocks set in attic windows, and another 80 blocks needed to be set. I'm using a black with gold confetti, and a gilded window-pane print from Michael Miller. Cut lots of strips, and using the large EZ Angle, cut all the attic window pieces to complete the remaining blocks. That will be ready to set together at Miss Mary's.

Already packed for assembly are two other projects. One is Somewhere in Time, a BOM from Block Central last year . . . all pieces are cut and ready to assemble. Also, have all blocks and pieces ready to assemble a Paducah Booth Hop from a couple years ago.

Still feel like cutting . . . need to start on my Farmer's Market, since it will be a BOM at Guild. Brought that tote upstairs . . . templates are all made, fabrics selected for the first block. Ready to cut the background, and launch the applique.

Cutting urge waning, but I can cut more pieces for my Old Tobacco Roads mystery, and get it out of the way. Have the four-patches all done, but need to make more pinwheels, and can cut the bricks needed. Might as well get that one ready to go.

Need to check on my Sweet Tea quilt. Started putting borders on blocks, and that could go along to be finished. Not much cutting to do there.

Wonder how much it will cost to rent a POD to have all this stuff delivered to Miss Mary's?