Confession is good for the soul

I admit it. I am a ruler junkie. I love rotary rulers. All kinds of rotary rulers. I have no idea how many I have. They are hanging all over my sewing room wall - two deep in a couple places. I have three slotted ruler holders too. One sits on the end of my cutting table, and two smaller ones sit on one of my storage carts. I need to toss some of them because the corners are nicked from dropping and reckless driving with my cutter, but that would be like tossing an old friend. I used to use Omnigrid rulers because I could see the yellow and black markings so well, but now I'm gradually replacing them with Creative Grid rulers. I'm in love with these rulers because they have little "sticky dots" built right onto the back of the ruler to prevent it from slipping. As the arthritis in my hands developed I found it harder and harder to hold onto a ruler while cutting, and these rulers have solved the problem. It was just like Christmas this week - I got three new ones! Three squares - a 2 1/2", a 3 1/2", and a 16 1/2". (Don't you love 30% off sales?) I firmly believe that "the right tool makes the job easy", and "good tools will last a lifetime". I like to use a ruler that's just the right size for what I'm cutting, so I don't have to try to hold down any extra ruler. I figure if I'm going to spend much of my leisure time quilting I might as well have the best tools I can afford, right?

Any other ruler junkies out there? Time to confess. What's your favorite ruler?

I've been doing mostly appliqué for months now, but the urge to piece has been getting stronger and stronger. Both the Heirloom Stitches and the new Jan Patek mystery are perfect projects for me this year, because they have some of both. I spent yesterday piecing the first three blocks of Heirloom Stitches, and it was so enjoyable! There's just something about hanging a new, beautiful block on my design wall that fills my heart with joy. I keep ducking back into the room for another look. I love the way the colors and designs of the fabric play off each other - sometimes subtle and sometimes with much contrast. Many of you will think I'm nuts, but I love to piece complicated blocks. Sure, I love to piece simple ones too, but there's something very satisfying about getting dozens of little triangles, squares and other shapes to fit together into an aesthetically pleasing whole. These three blocks certainly gave me that. The simplest of the blocks has 28 pieces, and the most complicated has 87 pieces. They aren't big blocks either - two 9" and one 6". It took most of the day to cut them out and put them together, but that hardly matters. As Patty says in her Morning Ramble, many of us are rushing through life at too fast a pace anyway. It's so rewarding to savor each step of the block construction - the way the fabrics feel, the way they play off each other, and feel the joy of seeing all the smaller parts slowly come together to make a beautiful whole.

People who don't quilt just don't know what they are missing, do they?