Show & Tell: Lace Enchantment Afghan

I decided I should have another Show & Tell linky party as I haven't had one in quite some time. I haven't been very enthusiastic about them any more as the most links I ever got was 4. Not exactly a great response. More often I got none. But then I'm not a quilting or crocheting celebrity or a celebrity of any kind. And I am not so well off that I can afford to offer giveaways on a regular basis. Although I really like giveaways - both winning and giving. However, I really hate to part with fabric. Or thread. Or books. And I don't have "connections" that will sponsor the giveaways. Anyway, I decided I would try another linky party before my inlinkz subscription expires in November.
As I was considering this linky party, I wasn't sure what I was going to share. The Unbroken quilt is not finished yet. I haven't put the lining in my Tunisian crochet bag, so it's not finished either (though the crochet part is). And I was sitting there pondering this with an afghan that I had just finished sitting in my lap. Duh! Yes, I finally finished the Lace Enchantment afghan. Here it is:

Somehow this afghan ended up quite a bit wider than it was supposed to, so I decided it could be a bit shorter than it was supposed to as well. It was plenty big enough already. The instructions said to end after a row 6 of the pattern. I had just started a row 4, so finished 4, 5 & 6 and fastened off. I think this was rated as an intermediate pattern. It had a 6 row pattern repeat, so it was a little more challenging to do while watching a video, which is how I usually crochet. I had to make sure I knew which row I was on and double check what the pattern was for that row. As a result, it took me longer to complete than an easier pattern, such as the Firecracker Throw. (You can see my version of it in this post). I'm going to try to resist the temptation to start a new project and finish one of the other projects already in progress. It'll be easier to keep my house tidy and organized if I don't have random totebags of crocheting projects everywhere.
I haven't yet shared some of my latest finds at my LQS:

First a note that Mystery was not found at my LQS - LOL. If you've followed my blog at all, you know that as soon as I put any fabric on the floor, he has to be right there. I'm kind of surprised, but very happy, that he didn't try to get on the afghan. My cats are not declawed and yarn catches on claws very easily, so I try to keep them off the afghans as much as possible. They get pretty insulted that they're not allowed on my lap if I'm either covered with or working on one.
All of the items on top of the fabric came from a basket labelled $3 each. That's right - I got an ergonomic 60 mm rotary cutter for $3, plus two extra blades for it at $3 each. Unfortunately, it's not a common brand (Martelli) and apparently only uses its own brand of blades. However, I did find them on Amazon.ca, so I can replace them there when I need to. I prefer not to pay shipping at all, but I'd rather ship from within Canada if possible. I'm not about to run around or call around to every LQS I can find to see if they sell them. Even if I couldn't find the blades, at $3, I could just consider it disposable when I use up the blades I have. The other things I got from the $3 basket are a quilting pattern, a 3-1/2 inch square ruler and a cutting mat scraper. I already have one of these scrapers, but an extra one will come in handy, especially at that price.
As for the fabric in the picture (purchased at two separate times), I'm assuming they're bolt ends, end of the fabric line, etc. Full metres (that's 39.37 inches, for those of you not on the metric system) are 4 for $10, half metres are 4 for $5. There are 8 of each in this picture, all good quality quilting cotton. At that price, maybe I should buy some more and offer it in a giveaway!
Finally, a quilting work in progress:

As you can see, I haven't sewn the rows together yet. This is the Australian Tailor's Quilt found in this book:
I love this book because I love quilting, history and learning about different cultures. This book has all three. I was upset because my copy went missing for awhile (too many moves, still not everything unpacked, moving furniture and stuff from room to room...), but found it again when I was looking for something else. (Right now the quarter inch foot for one of my sewing machines is missing, but that's small enough to have gotten sucked up by a vacuum cleaner :-()  I almost bought another copy on Amazon before I found it. Now that I've found it, I'm hoping to get this quilt finished. The background information for this quilt is that during the Great Depression in Australia, thrifty quilters utilized tailor's suiting samples to make quilts. The directions in the book tell how much fabric to purchase, but I actually had some suiting samples to make mine from, so mine is pretty authentic! I have to decide what I'm going to do with borders, binding and backing. I've got lots of samples left, but most of them are dark, so won't provide much contrast. I have an old sheet that I'm considering for the backing. I bought it at a yard sale because it was the duplicate of one my mother had. Mom passed away in 1998, so I'm sentimental about that sheet. On the other hand, I do have a lot of samples left, so could also make a pieced backing with them. As for the batting, I'm thinking of going with a wool since the primary fibre in the samples is wool. At least I'm assuming so - the tailor's samples I lucked into didn't come with content labels, but most good quality men's suits are wool, aren't they? Hmm, maybe there were some content labels many moons ago. I think I recollect peeling some stickers off some of them. Yes, I did forget to mention that I started this quilt years ago. How many years? Not sure, but it was while I was still with my husband and we split in 2006. So, it's high time to get this quilt finished. Actually, this is not the only pre-divorce WIP that I have. As the marriage deteriorated, I felt less and less like pursuing my hobbies. Thank God those days are over and it's all water under the bridge now. Back to the Australian Tailor's Quilt, the instructions say to tie it with wool yarn. While that may be more authentic, I don't really like tied quilts. So I'm considering quilting it with Aurifil Lana. I have one spool in a beige, but don't really want that colour for this quilt. Lana comes in some awesome colours. Alex Veronelli generously provided me with colour cards for both Lana and Mako. The Lana comes in some beautiful tweedy-looking variegations that I think will work well. The problem is finding Lana. And, as mentioned, I prefer dealing with Canadian vendors because of the shipping (and patriotism, too). My LQS doesn't sell Aurifil at all. Johnson's Sewing Centre, my Aurifil dealer in Edmonton, only sells Mako 50. Then I remembered Tristan Italian Threads, a vendor in BC that is clearing out all of its Aurifil thread. Why, I have no idea. They're now selling other Italian threads that I have never heard of outside of this website, but the Aurifil is on at bargain basement prices. Very little selection left in Mako 50 (mostly reds and oranges), but still lots of choices in other weights. And Lana. So, if you're looking for some Aurifil, hurry on over to Tristan's website and stock up! They ship internationally as well. Another great Canadian vendor for Aurifil is ByTowne Threads: good selection and prices.
Now that I've yakked on long enough, it's your turn to share your links of what you've been up to.

Show & Tell Guidelines

1. Link up any recent post that features your current creative project. And it can be a work in progress as well.
2. Please remember to link to your actual blog post, not your main blog page, so others don't have to search.
3. Somewhere in your blog post, you must link back to my blog or put the 'Show & Tell' button in your sidebar. 
4. Please don't just add your link and go. Check out a few of the other links and comment. The best idea is to check out the 3 or 4 links just previous to yours. That way every link will get visited. And maybe you'll pick up a few new followers along the way.
5. You don't have to follow me to post your link on my blog, but that would be much appreciated.
6. Have fun. This is a party after all.

Here's my button:

<a href=’http://catscrossing-laura.blogspot.ca/p/show-tell.html'> <img src=' http://i1331.photobucket.com/albums/w583/september59/CatrsquosCrossing_zps2b7e332e.png ' style='border:none;'> </a>

An InLinkz Link-up