No rainclouds, but fodder for Allietare

My sister-in-law and I set out for our favorite quilt shop this morning, looking for a little stash enhancement.  (It's the pre-holiday sale.  Everything in the store is 25% off.  Including sale items and clearance.  This could be considered a form of entrapment, I think.)
My primary goal was to look for that raincloud fabric that I found on-line.  I try to support my local quilt shops when I can, because I appreciate them being right there handy where I can fondle the fabric see exactly what I'm getting.  Unfortunately, they didn't have what I was looking for, so I'm going to go ahead and order it online.
And I feel that I did my bit to support them...

 
*ahem*

I did find a few things with Allietare in mind.  Which I needed anyway, of course.   Because who has enough reds, blacks, golds, and creams?
And pigs.  Had to buy the fabrics with pigs.  Because pigs.  And because I didn't see any monkeys.

And somehow I found myself checking out with this.  Because I am a sucker for rulers. 

Not because I'm going to start a hexie project.  Absolutely not.  No hexies for me, no way, unh unh, no sir.
I just liked the ruler.  Honest.

How Now, Brown... er... Star

Brown is the color for October, and since I'm finally home with my stash, I can make a brown Ohio star or two.

The smaller one is for my rainbow Ohio quilt, and the larger one is an experiment that got away from me (geometry is usually my friend, but will sometimes betray me...), so I went with it and ended up with a larger star.  It will end up in my growing pile of orphan/digression blocks.  (There'll be a quilt in there eventually.)

And as a Public Service Announcement -

When Lee Anna recommends a quilt shop, run, do not walk.  While I was on vacation, she told me not to miss a visit to Capital Quilts.
I'm ever so glad I listened to her.  I found a couple of things.  8)

My daughter and I spent a happy chunk of the afternoon looking at everything (and I do mean everything), gathering treasures, and enjoying all the pretties.  And, oh my, were there a lot of pretties!

You might notice a kaleidoscope ruler in that pile.  I wasn't going to buy that.  But I'd been drooling over some kaleidoscope blocks (I'm looking at you, Cathy), so when I saw it, I picked it up.
Then I thought about how many quilts I have already in progress, plus the ones in queue, and I put the ruler back.
My path through the store took me past the ruler section again.   I thought that by the time I was ready for that ruler, I might not be able to find one.  So I picked it up again.
Then I thought about how I'd want to play with it as soon as I got it home, and I'd end up even deeper in diversions than I already am.  So I put it back and wandered off to look at other things.
Then I found myself back at the ruler section again. I thought about the fact that it will be more expensive in the future.  So I picked it up again, because clearly that's the sensible path.
Then I thought about the fact that I would have to hide it from myself in order to stay on task, and then I'd forget where I put it and it would be gone forever, so there was no sense in getting it at all.  So I put it back.
And then somehow I found it back in my hand as I was headed for the checkout line. 

I know when I'm licked.

Okay, I give up - I'm making a Monkey Quilt.

I counted the blocks today.
I have 43.

If you have 43 blocks, you have officially started a quilt.  Especially if there are parts already cut for more blocks.
Maybe I'll even make two monkey quilts.  That'll show 'em.

While I was at the AQS Show last weekend, I spied a little ruler that I couldn't resist.  It was 2.5"x6.5" - and seriously, when would a 2.5" wide ruler not be useful?

It's very clearly marked, and best of all, the 1" markings run along the edges of the ruler,  with the half inch down the center.  Which makes measuring 1.5" segments a piece of cake, whether cutting 1.5" squares

or 1.5" segments for Silly Monkeys.

Since I've many many times cut with one end of the fabric aligned with the 1.5" line and the other end aligned with the 1.25" line, any help I can get is gratefully welcomed!
(This ruler was a mere $5 at the Hummingbird Highway booth.  Later, I saw the same ruler imprinted with a different shop name in that shop's booth,  priced at $6.99.  I'm glad I bought the first one!)

And since I'm now officially making a Silly Monkey quilt, here's a couple of blocks from today's sewing:

I'll leave it to you to guess which one was Right Brain's favorite...


I'll be linking up with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework.  Come see the fun!
And also?  Linking to Mrs Sew and Sow's Scraptastic Tuesday.  Because you can never have too much fun.