I am in love...

with Sarah Jane's new line Out to Sea. Living on a sailboat means I'm always noticing when new nautical prints come out but they are always in blues and sometimes greens but never pinks. And I have to say I LOVE pink. So I'm pretty excited and will be anxiously awaiting its release.



You can read more about the line on her blog SarahJane Studios.

Some things just make me smile....

and this is definitely one of those things!

Before coming back to the boat I made a big decision to buy half yard cuts of every Kona color that the Old Country Store had to offer since they have really good prices (they were $5.67/yd but I think they've gone up a little). In total I got 113 different colors. It was a hard decision because I spent about $300.00 but in the end I'm so glad that I did. I cry and complain about the cost of fabric in the US all the time and lately they just seems to keep rising but then I shop overseas and realize that we really do have it good. Here in Australia (and last year in NZ) fabrics are over $20/yd - usually between $22-25/meter. Can you believe it. I understand why so many people here order online from the US and pay the international shipping charges - it's still cheaper. Because of this I decided that I want to have a decent stash on the boat (I'm not really sure my husband is so keen on the idea but he says as long as I use it I can have it.) I decided that solids where the way to go because I can still have my fun shopping overseas and I can purchase small cuts of stuff I love and fill my quilts in with solids. I hope it all works out. I think I'll also be purchasing online so that I have stuff waiting for me at home to bring back on my next trip. I try to support local quilt shops when I can but I also have to watch the pocketbook and $22/m just doesn't calculate. So I'm glad I found the Old Country Store because I can shop online, get good prices, and still support a local shop.

Now I'm off to start cutting into that pile of goodness...