In Other Quilty News...

...Barbara Brackman of the 2011 Civil War BOW has decided to do another BOW starting this fall.  This time the history will cover the fight for women's rights...

...and blocks will be tied into the history as were the CW blocks.

I have missed the weekly Saturday morning postings of the BOW, studying the block over a cuppa coffee, pulling fabrics, and making a block...  then posting a photo of the block to the Flickr group and seeing others' blocks.

I've not committed 100% to this BOW but am seriously considering it.  One block a week is do-able for me...  I learned a lot with the CW BOW and would like to continue to improve my piecing skills.

I still find it hard to believe that I actually made the CW quilt (still in "flimsy" state as I ponder how to quilt it)...  it was definitely a growing experience!

Shop Hop Extra

On our Saturday Shop Hop, we found out about ....

The sales clerk said it had been at least 10 years since the Sewing and Quilt Expo had been held in Raleigh....   I 'm going to check out the classes!

And see if anyone would like to go with me...

Shop Hop Report (shop til you drop)

After lunch, we headed to Elegant Stitches in Cary.

In a lovely shopping center with a fun playground and a cool fountain out front, Elegant Stitches carries a large supply of heirloom sewing supplies as well as quilting stuff.

I tried to be strong but succumbed to a little Parisville....

...kept thinking about granddaughters in FQ pillowcase dresses and just could not resist.

The afternoon was moving on and we still had two quilt shops to visit....  so off we headed.  I think the big lunch boosted our energy levels very nicely.  Next stop.... 

...which turned out to be an "uh oh" shop for me.

This lovely shop has the largest selection of both 1800s and 1930s reproduction fabrics I've seen in one place.  "Shirtings" was on my list for my still-not-started hourglass quilt and guess what I found?

...a charm pack of 40 different shirting fabrics all ready to go!  I also picked up three FQs of lavender 1930s fabrics.... couldn't resist!

One more shop on the list.... could we make it?   Yes!   

The Quilter's Nest was open til 5pm (the latest hour of Saturday closing of all the shops) and we made it there in plenty of time to browse.   I was good at resisting all the fabrics and FQs but, having browsed their online shop, I couldn't pass up these 12.5" blocks...

... seven NC lighthouses printed on white fabric in black (also available in blue).  You may purchase one block of a specific lighthouse or a package of all seven lighthouses.... but only at this shop.

Five quilt shops in one day...  and we were done!  Sara and her fabric-shopping-trained son headed home and, after dropping MamaSpark off at her daughter's, I hit the road.  It was a 10-hour day made fun by the good company and all the lovely fabrics!

 

...and I survived!

Shop Hop Report (2nd stop)

Our second stop on our Saturday Shop Hop was Bernina World of Sewing.  

This shop has been in business a long time... and is where I purchased my Bernina 1230 many years ago.  This shop is also where I had the gears replaced on my machine over the holidays this past December/January.

The fabrics are arranged by color so it makes it challenging to find entire lines of fabric but it's so lovely too look at.  Mama Spark found Free Market Fancy and, with the help of sales staff, found some Joel Dewberry.

I did a good job of behaving until I found a sale section (50% marked price) and one of their "short bolts" where you get a discount for purchasing the remaining fabric (bolt end amounts.... in my case, 1 2/3rd yards).

An older Kaffe Fassett line, to be sure, but for $3.50/yard?  It was mine, all mine... and will be great for quilt backing.  I couldn't resist the blue/green leaf print...  Tropical Camouflage by Moda.  No idea what I will use it for but I love it nonetheless...

Next, was lunch at The Cheesecake Factory....

...where the "lunch size" portions were so huge, we had a hard time imagining what the dinner portions looked like.

...so large that there was no room for cheesecake, even a shared slice!

Shop Hop Report

What a fun day we had yesterday!  It was a beautiful NC day, warmish but with a nice breeze... the company couldn't have been better...  MamaSpark and Sara were great company and made the fabric shop hopping so enjoyable!  Another member of the party was Sara's four-year-old son who has to be the best-behaved young man ever.   You would not believe how much he seemed to enjoy fabric shopping and flirting with all the women he came across!  What a cutie!

Our first stop was Wish Upon A Quilt in NW Raleigh... and we were there just before the shop opened.  Let me tell you that there were other folks waiting besides us!  This is one dangerous shop but I was good about sticking to my shopping list...  two light tone-on-tone fabrics for throws I will be making.

One cream/tan with a white clustered-feather print and a white with white snowflakes...

This shop has more FQs than any other store I've been in... sorted into trays by color.  You could spend hours looking through them all.  I was good but when I came across a bin of 1/4 yd cuts (with a discount for buying 10) I succumbed.

MamaSpark and Sara found lots of goodies as well!

This is a great quilt shop... in addition to tons of blenders, lots of FQs, good prices, friendly staff, and toys & books for tag-alongs... definitely a shop that I need to visit more often.  The only negative is that it is 1.5 hours from my house to this shop....  hmmm...  maybe that is a good thing.   *lol*

Up to Mischief

Yup...  I'm up to mischief again!   I've been planning a....

.... to five different quilt shops in...

....tomorrow!    And I'm taking Mama Spark,  Cynthia, and Sarah with me!   I hope they have some of these....

...because we're going to...

Bibs

I was able to finish the bibs yesterday...

I've not worked with microfiber anything before but.... boy!  Does that stuff clings like a magnet to fabric!  Just like it was right out of the dryer and full of static cling.   I almost didn't have to use pins... but I did "just in case"...

These will go out in today's mail.

Cuteness Alert

A friend had twin daughters this spring....

...and both girls and mom are home and doing well!

I wanted to send them a little something and decided on bibs made with microfiber towels.  This weekend, I picked up the materials...

I will use a pattern from this site to make the bibs.  Hope to have them in the mail by the end of the week.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Postscript:  Sue was thrilled with her pearl and amethyst necklace.  I was thrilled that it fit her the way I imagined...

When we left work late yesterday afternoon, she was headed straight home to see the necklace with her dress.  The wedding is a month from today...

Wedding Gift

A friend is getting married in late June at the beach and I wanted to give her a little something...

The bride-to-be has selected a soft, dusty violet dress.... so I chose an amethyst tear-drop pendant and fresh water pearls for the jewelry.  She is five-foot-nothing so I needed to keep things on a smaller scale than I tend to make...  a challenge for me to be sure!

I wire-wrapped the pendant, adding fresh water pearls... and also added a starfish charm and a larger freshwater pearl dangling thingie.    I kept the earrings simple, using freshwater pearls, amethyst glass beads and a silver spacer.

My apologies for the less-than-stellar photography....  need to get some tips about photographing jewelry from my friend Cynthia at Sea of Glass...

The Next Project

I'm down to three UFOs but the urge to start a big (or long term) project is strong within me.... so I've succumbed to this...

I have a lot of fabric left from the tumbler quilt and the Civil War quilt...

...and I've picked up a couple of charm packs on sale.

This Scrappy Hourglass quilt (designer: Kathie Holland) is intriguing...

..plus it has some built-in fun!  

There are several odd blocks like this solitary nine-patch tucked in among the quarter-square triangle blocks for folks to find and ponder if that was a mistake.... or was it planned?

The directions are somewhat intimidating...

...yes, that is well over 600 finished blocks in this quilt!  However, there is no deadline on this quilt and I will be making as many blocks at a sitting as I wish.  

  

Takes a year to finish?   *shrug*   Some folks have leader-and-ender stuff going on.... and that's what this quilt will be for me...  I'll get there!

A little sewing...

...all you need is some fabric....

...a tutorial...

...and you're in business!

Of course, a model is nice to have around...

Praying for a Miracle

Please help Michelle's sister-in-law!   Spread the word...

Gift Card Holder #2

I needed to make the gift card holder for my DDIL since I had to mail it but I finally finished up the one for my DD last night...  along with the coffee cozy.

I tried FMQing the top of the bag and, since the thread blends in so well.... you can't really see all the "omg...now where should I go?" areas.   I even "wrote" my DD's name in the quilting on one side!

I just need to decide on what color ribbon to put on the zipper and wrap it up and I'll be all done.  Good thing because DD and family arrive after lunch today!