a present from me to me

Today I went to the fabric wholesale district in Nippori.
This area is known as "Fabric Town" and one can pretty well find anything  ... except today, I was looking for more red felt for my Scouts to make patch vests. They had every color EXCEPT red!

I also purchased some printed panels needed to make a gift runner and something for the blog-hop give-away coming up in less than a week.

The big buy ... well, not in price but in size... was this roller shopping bag. I am too often carrying heavy or bulky things to the station and on the train. This past week I made a trip to town just to carry Scout history items ... patches and photo albums, a patch blanket and a signature quilt ... for display at our anniversary gala.

The two bags were heavy and I didn't want to carry them on the Saturday hike or rent lockers while hiking.
After returning from the hike I went directly to Training for Council board members, then the Gala, and still had those two heavy bags to lug home in the late night hours. I gave away the prize plant I won rather than add one more heavy item for the trip home.

Today I found a shop selling a variety of rolling bags. I took lots of time to study them all and their assorted features and prices. I had borrowed one carrier from the church when I had heavy items to tote to a Pack meeting, but the cart itself was quite heavy and often there is the issue of stairs.

This roller bag was quite light. It has a big compartment that will fit art supplies and even my big quilt if I want to take it to a meeting of my group. It also has a zipper pocket on the back and a large compartment to hold magazines or large flat items. There is an umbrella compartment, a handle on the side for carrying when necessary,and the main bag has a drawstring opening and is waterproof. There is a hook which holds my backpack, very handy, and the wheels do not make noise when pulled down our rough pavement.
It came in yellow and red and purple and black and a few printed canvass fabrics but I thought this one would not show the dirt too much .

My husband commented on all the features and said he could just see me standing on the street weighing the pros and cons of each bag design and color choice. I don't often spend money on myself but I think this will really change my u-haul life for the better.

Meanwhile, the colder weather is just right for quilting. I can quilt about two blocks in one hour...
at 7 stitches per inch, that is about 374 stitches per block (one stitch at a time the way I do it).
15 rows of 15 blocks ... That is 225 blocks. If I were better at math, I might figure out when to expect some degree of completion. Of course that is rather silly because life is forever getting in the way.

Maybe I should offer a fabric panel to the person who figures closest to the finish date. Hmmmm...
I do hope I can make a bit of progress each day. 14 blocks have been finished as of today. 211 left to go.
I hope you are having a productive week as well.