My Twosey-Foursey Quilt by Cathy Wierzbicki using the all-in-one ruler ! Fun and easy project.

Yesterday I was thinking... I should start knitting or crocheting again. I was trying to work on my grandmothers flower garden blocks but it was getting dark and I didn't want to put the light on and seriously the pieces are about 1/2" across so its not like working on a "mega" quilt. I must have been crazy the day I planned to start this quilt... had to be a full moon or PMS or something. I will stay with it, but for the moment I need a break and so, in the mean time, I might crochet something... I will research that! (translated, that means for the next week or two I will be sitting watching the ball games thinking.. oh yeah, I was going to find some crocheting to do, then I probably will let that feeling pass and get back to grandma!)

I got some new OLFA FROSTED RULERS yesterday, it was like Christmas... opening the box and touching each ruler, running my hands over the little numbered bumps, appreciating each sharp point on each corner. I had to do that, because I know I will eventually not have those corners so it is nice to enjoy them while they are still with us. I love new toys, and silly as it sounds getting something new, never used before, brightened my whole day. I ran into the sewing room stored the rulers in their new homes and sewed 3 blocks in my BOM. Now that's living!!!

The spring version of hay is attacking my eyes and nose right now and I am reluctant to go too far out of my house. With it came a little case of vertigo and all though my husband says I am dizzy all the time, I am not enjoying the dizzy I am right now. I was hoping to quilt some quilts, but unfortunately, standing is not great when you are not sure which end of the room you will land in when the spell subsides. So maybe crocheting is the answer.. more pondering... hmmmm.

Back to the tools. Believe it or not I had to think about what to talk about for a very long time. After all I only have ten more days left and it seems to me, I still have lots of gadgets left to talk about. But I finally decided to share some of my Value tools. Another 3 in one day.

First off... I love my value finders. Some people don't get it at first, but once you see how easy it is to tell whether a fabric fits into your quilt project scheme, your value finder will become your best friend. What happens with a value finder is, that it takes colour out of the equation and only leaves you with lights and darks. The most stunning quilts I have ever seen are usually made by someone who has a full understanding of what a dark valued or a light valued fabric will do in a quilt.

The value finder is easy to use. Choose your fabric and lay them beside each other, place the value finder up to your eyes, (its best very close) and look at your fabric. What you will see is lights and darks... no colour. If all your pieces look like one fabric, then you have no value changes in your fabric. When you make your quilt all your piecing will be in vain because there will be nothing to distinguish the pattern. A stunning quilt will have many value changes even if the quilt itself is 1 colour.

The other two products take it one step further. The Kaleidoscope to the right, is a great tool for seeing how all your fabrics will work together by chopping up a pile of fabrics visually. When you place it to your eye, it will create a beautiful Kaleidoscope that will immediately show you if your fabrics will be effective when placed next to each other. The Quilt and Print viewer to the left, is great for placing blocks into a quilt. Once you have your blocks on the wall it helps you "Step back" to see if everything is working right. Sometimes, the slightest shift will change the whole appearance of a quilt (or a block) and being able to see the whole picture is always a benefit.

Not everything is black and white, but in quilting, it should be! (with a whole lot of colour thrown into the mix!!!)