Hello! And welcome to the Anal Retentive Crafters’ Corner. I’m Picky Fussybottom, and I’ll be your host tonight. Oh my! We have quite the snafu here. See the three fabrics in the photo above? Please feel free to click on the photo for a better view as a weird pattern emerged on the fabrics when I shrank the photo down to fit within this format. Well, let’s start with the one on the right. That’s a piece of Kona cotton in “Natural” left over from several yards I bought in 2007. It’s what I am using for my “Little Houses” quilt. Unfortunately, I’ve run out of it, and all I have left is that piece, which is probably about 10 x 24 inches. “Not a problem!” I thought and went to my stash to get another, much larger piece of Kona cotton in “Natural.” That’s the piece in the lower left of the photo, under the 2007 “Natural.” I bought that piece in 2009 to supplement that older “Natural” when I ran out of it. Only thing is, as you can see, it wouldn’t be a good idea to use both in the same project because they are totally different shades of “Natural.”

I forgot that Kona is dyed in lots, like yarn. Now, let’s take a look at the one peeking out from under all the others in the upper left corner of the photo. I purchased that piece about a month ago with a specific project in mind. It’s a good thing it has already been committed to one particular project, because there is no way I could use it for my “Little Houses.” It is a completely different shade from the other two. I would never have assumed from looking at the photo that it was supposed to be the same colorway as the others.

So fuck. I was going full-steam ahead with these blocks, and now I have to stop and figure out how to resolve this Kona quandary. As it is, I ordered a few more yards of “Natural” both at the 45″ and 60″ widths to see if maybe I can get a shade closer to the one I’m currently using. Then there’s the possibility that I mislabeled it oh so long ago. Maybe it’s some other color. Maybe it’s some other shade of off-white, like “Snow” (not the Canadian rasta-rapper) or “Ivory.” I thought it was “Natural” since it has the little freckles that are the only thing all three pieces of fabric have in common. I can only wait for my order of various shades of off-white to arrive so I can find the best match. Good thing Hancock’s is having a sale on Kona. Until then, I guess I can continue to cut & sew more trees and houses. It’s more productive than banging my head against the sewing machine, I suppose.