While "The children were nestled all snug in their beds"

It's late. It's dark. I'm tired. But I don't know if I will be able to fall asleep quite yet. I've been thinking about doing this post today and this project I just finished had something to do with it.

(Sorry, bad picture!)

I was thinking about how I have done quite a bit of trading in the last few years. I enjoy a lot of nice things in my life, but I am definitely a girl on a strict budget. It's a little hard when you have an addiction that is somewhat expensive. I go without a lot of new, trendy clothes, the high-tech electronics, we don't eat out and go on dates every weekend because quite honestly I would rather spend my money on fabric and quilting (for some reason it makes me feel better, because I know my quilts will LAST and well, I just love doing it!) So, it's nice to take advantage of people's services when money is tight for a lot of people. A lot of times you end up getting some extra pleasures in life that you normally might have to go without. So thinking back... I've traded scrapbooking for a haircut and color. I've traded babysitting for yoga classes. Babysitting for make-up. The most recent thing I've traded is "piecing" for machine quilting. I was so excited when I told my quilter that I was having withdrawals because I wasn't working as often and therefore didn't have much money to spend in the quilting department. She told me she'd be willing to trade. I said what do you trade for? She said, "sewing for quilting." I said, "I can sew!" So this is the second project I've done for her lately. Isn't it fun? I love all the fabrics she purchased. Most of the line is Whimsy by Michael Miller. There is a little bit of Mezzanine by Michael Miller and a little bit of All-Star by Riley Blake. In return I will be having her quilt my Fig Tree quilt (I'll post pictures as soon as I get it back) and maybe another project or two. It's a good way to "make do with what you've got." Doing this for someone else was mostly fun, but a little bit nerve racking too. You want to make sure it's perfect! It was very satisfying at the end to know that everything came out swell (gosh, I'm in the Annie mode still) and that I figured out all of the measurements by myself to ensure that the entire quilt would lay flat. I had to make the quilt bigger than the pattern gave instructions for, so figuring out the 3 outside border lengths was a little daunting at first, but I feel like a pro now :) I hope that those of you that are interested in quilting (but are a little scared to try it) will just give it a whirl. It will give you a great sense of accomplishment when you are done. I guess trying anything new will do that. But anyways. Trading can be a really good thing sometimes.

So, do you trade?

Well, it's late. It's dark. I'm tired. I'm starting to ramble and not make any sense. So - I'm going to bed. Goodnight.