Afghan progress-asking for help

I went to the local Yarne Shoppe yesterday to see if anyone could help me with ideas for putting my afghan together. There were about 7 women in there, knitting away around a big table, talking and laughing. I may be going back there soon! I posed my question, and the first suggestion was to maybe put them together with black yarn, which was a definite possibility. It would have made the afghan have a stained glass look. Then one of the women suggested a "Mattress stitch". She grabbed a needle and yarn and proceeded to demonstrate. I liked it, and as I packed up my yarn and bought a needle, they all asked me to come back when I finished, so they could see how it turned out. I love communities like that! I sat and put two rows together last night. Eight more to go, and then I start putting the rows together. I see some TV in my future!