Happy to be Home

As I said last week, I have been in Illinois on business.  It was an interesting week full of planning, training and networking.  I was out of my comfort zone and it was good for me. I learned a lot for work but nothing for my quilting career. That being said I am really happy to be home.

I didn't get very much done on marking the squares for Viri's quilt. I think I managed to get 4 squares marked. I did make some jewelry in the evenings. It was easier to do that than trying to mark the squares in the hotel room.  That was due in part to the ruler I bought.  It was too long for the area I had to work in.  I should have stuck with the first ruler I picked up.  It was shorter but I already had one just like it at home. I really didn't want 2 rulers that were exactly the same.

The new ruler was recommended to me by the shop owner. It is a 6" by 24" non-slip ruler. It's made by Quilter's Select. When they say it is non-slip, they mean it.  Once you set it on the fabric, it isn't going to budge. At least not without some effort.  So when I laid it diagonally across the the 10" square, I had to have it set just right or pick it up and reset it.  There was no sliding or nudging it into place.  I can see where this will really be wonderful in cutting long strips or trimming quilts.  But for what I was doing at the time, it wasn't so great. So I gave up on marking the squares.  I will get back to that this week or next.

Last week I said I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to fit the ruler in my bag. It was a really tight fit. I had to angle it a bit to get it in.  I carefully packed all around it with clothing. Until I unpacked my bag yesterday, I was convinced I would find it broken.  It survived the trip. It came out a little bowed but in one piece.  I flexed the ruler in the direction a few times and it seems to be as good as new. I think I need to find a place to hang this ruler in the studio.  I am supposed to be careful not to scratch the back.  I don't want to damage the non-slip feature.  My other rulers are either in a tool pouch or stacked with the cutting mats. I think storing this ruler the same way would result in scratches. So I will be putting up a hanging hook this week.

Hopefully, I will get more quilting done this week. One never knows after being out of the office for over a week how much time they will have to put in.  I am hoping there isn't that much to catch up on. Winry is already 3 weeks old and I am no where near being done with her quilt. I haven't really started on Viri's quilt either.  Kim is thinking we will go visit around the beginning of September. That leaves me only a month and a half to get two quilts done.  So much to do and so little time to do it. Will I ever learn to not bite off more than I can chew?

How did your week go?