The Queen's Rambles

I bought Mike a GPS system for Christmas. He asked for it, but it is something I’ve wanted for a long time. I would love to explore the area, but I hate getting lost. I thought this would be a perfect solution.

Ugh.

So wrong.

I posted before that I really want to do something nice for my cousin’s new little girl. They sent Elsa a ton of outfits when she was born and I have been frozen with indecision. My cousin’s a doctor and they have been waiting for this little girl forever. My aunt said they have more outfits than the girl can possibly wear in her lifetime, so I didn’t really want to go that route.

I wanted to make a quilt, but my back is bad and my time is short so it felt like the only quilt I could make would be a simple one and that didn’t seem special enough.

I wanted to get a little Korean doll (the baby is from Korea) but there are very few Korean/Asian dolls out there and I have a feeling that my cousin has probably already bought every single one that money can buy.

The other day I saw a thing about ticker tape quilts and a plan was formed. I make a super simple quilt. I buy a doll (I went with a black haired Stella doll). I make a ticker tape baby quilt with the scraps. The doll and the toddler have matching quilts. It feels special. Win!

I went to the nearest quilt shop, but didn’t find any fabrics that I loved. I knew there was a super-amazing fabric store about 20 minutes away and with my GPS system I could get there with minimum trouble even though it is in middle of a big city that I hate driving in.

This is where I went wrong. I trusted the GPS.

It had me end up in a parking lot in middle of the city and the lady kept yelling at me when I would leave the parking lot. I would try to get going in a different direction, but it kept taking me back to that damned parking lot. Grrrrr!

When I finally found the store I was totally disappointed. I’ve been to the Virginia location several times and loved it. I was at their old Maryland location a couple of years ago and loved it. They’ve moved into a much smaller space and barely had anything. I walked around the whole place looking for the secret stairwell to all the fabric but never did find it. The only good thing is they were having a super sale, so almost all quilting fabric was $7.50/yd. Great price, but if they don’t have anything you want, who cares?

I came home and did what I should have done earlier this week–bought several fabrics from an online store. I want to see them in person, but that dream is done I guess. They are all from the same collection so I know they’ll match. I don’t know when I’ll have time to do all this sewing, but I am beyond negligent in getting this gift in the mail so it needs to happen within the next couple of weeks.

Oh, and did I mention what else that lying woman inside the GPS told me to do? She wanted me to go south on the main highway instead of north. I turned her off at that point because I was on my way home and I knew exactly how to get there. I don’t know where she was going to send me, but going south would have been a serious mistake.

Most useless Christmas gift ever? Possibly. Especially since it makes you feel prepared for driving around, but in reality it knows even less than you do.