Circling the squares

Hi everyone! I can't believe it's October, can you? The weather has definitely taken a cooler turn, which is nice, but we have no turning leaves yet.  We do have leaves all over, though, because our neighbors had some gigantic trees taken down over the last couple of days. When I say gigantic, I mean really, really tall. They brought in cranes and everything. It was quite the project.

 

I had a project, too, though it did not involve cranes or leaves, and only a tiny bit of drama. And it turned out much prettier than a pile of branches and sticks! Here she is:

 

 

Like I said, prettier than a pile of sticks! This is my second hollow 9-patches quilt, made from scrap squares for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I made the top in the "before times," in 2019, which seems like so long ago, doesn't it? If only we had known what was coming. . .

 

 

I am so happy with this quilt, and not just because it's so bright and cheerful. I rented free time (not lessons) on the longarm and quilted this up myself. (I also quilted another one at the same time, but that will have to wait just a bit for its debut.) As always, it was more fun than a box full of scraps, and I came home with a finished quilt, which is just the best.

 

 

Look at those great colors! I tried to quilt this all over with circles in various sizes, but some of them are more circle-ish or only suggestions of circles, more like ovals, really. Some of them overlap a bit, but most of them are separate. I had a little trouble in a couple of spots, since I quilted myself into a corner, so to speak, and had to make some very, very small circles to back myself out of it. But that's why we use blendy thread colors, right? Since this was my first shot at making circles, I feel pretty okay about how they turned out. If nothing else, it makes a nice texture.

 

 

When I was quilting this, there was another quilter using the other machine, and we spent some time admiring each other's quilts and encouraging each other. It was great! When I was feeling bad about my flat circles, she picked me up, and when she had to rip some backing that had folded over and gotten quilted in, I commiserated. I can't even tell you how good it felt to be with a kindred spirit. Plus, it helps to know that I'm not the only one who screws up when stitching. 

 

 

Every bit of this quilt except the backing is a scrap, including the binding. The backing is a really pretty gray and white print that I bought for something else, but that didn't work out too well, so it was available for this quilt. I know, I actually bought gray and white fabric, but like I said, it didn't work out!  

 

I am thrilled to have this one quilted up and out of the closet, and I am so, so pleased that I'm making so much progress in that area. I might be trying to make up for last year, when it feels like I got nothing done. Anyone else have that feeling? 

 

 

Hope you all have a lovely fall weekend, filled with fall-themed goodies. Is it cool enough for hot apple cider, or should I wait? How about pumpkin pie?  Maybe pumpkin donuts! Thoughts?

 

Sharing at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Brag About Your Beauties, Finished or Not Friday, Oh Scrap, and soscrappy for RSC21.

Nine patches for Paula

Hello all, and welcome to my stop on the blog hop honoring Paula Budinger. Paula was a good and gentle spirit who blogged about the quilts she made at Paula B Quilts. She made a lot of scrappy quilts for kids, and donated almost all of them. I got to know her through Angela's Rainbow Scrap Challenge, where Paula often linked up her creations. She and I sometimes chatted back and forth, like ya do, about her quilts, especially the antique quilts she collected. And she was a Wisconsinite as well, so we had a small connection there, too.

On February 8th, Paula passed away after a short illness. Her obituary is HERE, where you can read about how very awesome she was, from electron microscopes to art and design, all across the country. Paula would have been 79 yesterday, and a bunch of us are honoring her quilting legacy through this blog hop.  Because Paula's life and work made us happy, there are also some "presents" for her birthday, in the form of prizes for you! That information is at the bottom of this post.

Here is what I made in honor of Paula:

Yes, two tops! Both bright and happy and intended for children. Since Paula loved scrappy quilting and bright colors, I thought a quilt made in her honor should be the same. It happens that I had a bit of the animal fabric that I had intended to use for a quilt for my grandson. I didn't like how it looked with the alternate blocks, so I used something else, but I had already cut the animal fabric, so there it was, leftover in a strange size. It worked great for this project, though!

The larger quilt is a giant double 9-patch that measures about 45 by 45. The blocks I had cut from the animal fabric were 15 inches square, perfect for using 5 inch squares to make 9-patches as alternate blocks. It worked great! I chose the yellow and green to coordinate with the animal print, and somehow I managed to use them all up. Eagle-eyed readers will notice that some of those yellow and green squares are actually pieced together. Shhh! This quilt will be donated through Sarah's Hands to Help project.

The smaller quilt top was made with the scraps from the first one. Why not? It needed to be used!  This one used a different green and yellow, both polka dots. It happens that I made this in 9-patch form as well. I made four 9-patches with 6-1/2 inch squares and then combined them to make this 36-inch square top. This little quilt will go to Jack's Basket, an organization that celebrates babies with Down Syndrome.

I am very happy with how these two tops turned out, and they will be among the first things I quilt up when this crazy semester is over. I feel like Paula would understand! I have a few small scraps left of this fabric, but otherwise I am thrilled that it is used up and will help comfort some small people.




And now for the presents for you all!  Here are the prizes being offered:

Lorna, Sew Fresh Quilts, $50 gift certificate for her pattern shop.

Yvonne Quilting Jetgirl, 2 PDF patterns of choice.

Bernie Needle and Foot, $25 certificate for her shop.

A fat quarter bundle from Figo Fabrics

A set of quilty gift cards from Initial Thought by DMF  Note cards set 1

A pattern of choice from Karen, Sugar Free Quilts

A $30 gift certificate for Doris, Cactus Queen Quilt Co

A PDF pattern of choice from Joanne, www.etsy.com/shop/CanuckQuilterDesigns

$25 gift certificate to Fat Quarter Shop

(donated by Janice Holton)

"How do I get one of these prizes"? you ask. Here's how it works-- below is a list of bloggers honoring Paula through this hop. Every comment entered on one of the posts in the hop by Friday, May 15, will count as one entry. Winners will be chosen that day from all possible comments by Janice at Color, Creating, and Quilting. Then the winners get a happy package in the mail! International readers, you can enter, too, as many of the prizes are digital. So you get happy email instead of happy mail.

Thanks, all, for stopping by to honor Paula's life and legacy. Be sure to give thanks for all your quilty friends, too. As we've all sadly learned, life is sometimes too short, and it looks a little less colorful without all of us in it. 

Wednesday, May 6

Karen @ KaHolly
Kate @ Smiles From Kate

Wendy @ Pieceful Thoughts of my Quilting Life
Bernie @ Needle and Foot

Linda @ My Sew-Called Quilts
Cathy @ Crazy By Design

Sue @ From the Magpie’s Nest

Thursday, May 7

Kate @ Smiles From Kate
Diann @ Little Penguin Quilts
Rose @ Something Rose Made
Nann @ With Strings Attached
Mari @ The Academic Quilter
Louise @ My Quilt Odyssey
Susan @ Desert Sky Quilts

Friday, May 8

Janice @ Color, Creating and Quilting
Kate @ Smiles From Kate
Joy @ The Joyful Quilter
Susan @ Quilt Fabrication
Edi @ Edi’s Crafting Life
Carol @ Quilt Schmilt
Preeti @ Sew Preeti Qilts
Emily @ The Darling Dogwood

 

Simple, hollow, and pointed

Hi all, and hello to all the new followers I got this week! I don't speak Russian, and I have no need for "sexy ladies" at this time, but I really hope you enjoy all the quilts!  (I bet there are a lot of you who know what I'm talking about. Fun, hey?)

Hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving! We went to my daughter's and got to spend Thanksgiving with a tiny girl, and got to see some older grandkids, too. The weather turned out to be great, unlike other parts of the country, so I'm extra sorry for those of you who got stuck and couldn't get over the river or through the woods. Here's hoping the rest of the holiday season is better.

 So yesterday, after some nice leftovers, I finished up the first of the hollow 9 patch quilts.  Here she is:

Yahoo! I think this one turned out to be a beauty, and I am so, so pleased with it.

If you recall, I made 9-patches from 2-inch squares in the color of the month last year for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Since I stitched the colorful squares around a white center, I called these "hollow 9-patches." I got enough of those 9-patches to make two small quilts. I guess I could have gone with one larger one, but I think these will be nice for some small people, and they need small quilts.

The sashing is a white print called Glee from Victoria Findlay Wolfe which turned out to be so perfect for these blocks that I'm also using it for the second quilt. The setting triangles are a print from Kim Schaefer, which also turned out perfect. No backing or binding yet, but I definitely don't want any more of my quilts hanging out here longer than they need to, so I'm hoping to quilt this up over the winter break.

I realized as I was putting this together that these 9-patches are the same size as the Tiny Tuesday blocks, and now I'm kicking myself for not realizing it sooner. I could've combined them or something, though they are very different. And speaking of the Tiny Tuesday blocks:

Up on the design wall! Don't they look great? I think this is the final layout, but they sure are fun to play with. This is another of my "over winter break" projects, I think, though I may not be able to wait.

Hope you all are having a wonderful, restful weekend with lots of sewing time. Apparently we'll be getting nasty weather tomorrow, just in time for the first of December, so I'm might be doing some stitching myself. And I think there might be leftover pie, if the hubs hasn't eaten it yet!

Sharing at soscrappy for RSC19.

Bright spots for a gray day

Hi everyone! Are we all feeling motivated today? Hah! I am feeling a bit more creative than I have for the past few weeks, and I've actually pulled out a couple of RSC projects that I think I can get finished up pretty quickly. And hey-- I have a few days off next week for some small, obscure holiday, so I may have some actual sewing time, too!

The first little project I want to finish up is actually from last year's RSC. You may remember the hollow 9-patches that I made to use up some 2-inch squares. I ended up with quite a few of them, enough for two small quilts. Here is the first one:

Wow, nothing like a shot of color to wake up your creativity, is there? I've played with these for a while, and I think this will be the final layout. Maybe I'll move a couple.  I'm just going to use a plain narrow white for the sashing, and I haven't decided about borders yet. It will be small, but it will make a nice child-sized quilt.

Here's what I'm doing with the remaining hollow 9-patches:

Putting them on point!  This will be another kid size quilt, but it will still be a usable size. Thankfully, too, I know some small people who like colors.  The best part of these two layouts is that they mean that I have only 4 of the hollow 9-patches left over, and I just might stick those on the back.  Win!

So there's the plan for one set of older blocks. The other project that I pulled out to finish pretty quickly is from this year, and it's these blocks:

These are the Cut Glass Dish blocks, and I love them. I just don't want to make any more of them! The plan was to make 30 blocks, but I think a quilt made with just 20 blocks will still be a very nice lap size. Plus, the blocks will not be waiting in the closet any more but will get to be in a nice, happy quilt.

I need five more blocks, and I was thinking about using pink and purple, but what colors would you suggest? The red always throws me off, so I do need something to balance it. Do you think the purple would do that?  Plus, I thought I liked the layout shown above, but, wow, I really don't. It looks like I'll have to play with those blocks a bit more.  They do look like cut glass, don't they?

That's the update from here for now. I'll be stitching these together and trying to figure out a layout for the Cut Glass blocks. Oh, and then I might have to go to the grocery store. I'm wondering if it will be very crowded this weekend. Probably not, right?

Sharing at soscrappy for RSC19 (soon to be RSC20-- eep!)

Patriotic Tuesday

Hi folks! Today (Tuesday, November 11) is Veteran's Day in the US, so on this chilly, blustery day let me just start with a huge thank you to all of you out there who have served our country in any capacity. Many members of my family were drafted and my godson is serving now, along with several of our children's friends. Know that we appreciate all of you!

Over the last few days I made this patriotic medallion:

I think that this will become the center of a Quilts of Valor donation quilt. It's 32 by 32 right now, so it shouldn't be too hard to add some borders and layers to make a nice-sized lap quilt for a deserving veteran. This medallion was made from the Moda Love pattern, which is available HERE in 3 sizes (pdf). HERE is more information about Quilts of Valor, in case you feel inspired to make something cozy for a veteran yourself. They have a lot of free patterns, too.

I have started putting together the 9-patch quilt for RSC14.  Nobody laugh at this photo:

This is what we mean by "work in progress."  Actually, I put this corner together to test out the black and white fabric. I actually used a different black and white than I showed before. This one is a little more dense than the first one. I decided to use the black and white for sashing as well as the setting triangles, and I think it makes the 9-patches look like they're floating.

Also, what do you think  of the "cornerstones"? I'm still on the fence (ha,ha!) about the half-square triangles as cornerstones. Maybe when they're all together it will look better and I'll feel better about it. I've already made the hsts and I'm using them, darn it! (And yes, I cut the corner triangle too small. I know. I forgot to include the sashing strips when I figured the cut size. I promise to replace it in the finished quilt.)

Finally, in case you think I forgot, I finished the 4-patches for the Jitterbug quilt:

Since there are so many pieces individually cut from the jelly roll strips I decided to do a lot of the parts leader and ender style. It's just boring to sew 400 half-square triangles one at a time, but this gets the job done with minimal boredom. And now those 4-patches are done! With hardly any effort on my part!

That's what I'm doing this week, along with some more Drunkard's Path blocks. The more blocks I make, the better I like that quilt! We are in for some nasty, frigid weather, so it's just good sense to stay in and sew! Stay warm, everyone!

Linking to Fabric Tuesday, WIP Wednesday, and Let's Bee Social, and also the awesome Angela at soscrappy for RSC14. Stop over and have a look at all the great stuff others are doing this week!

Chasing the rainbow

Hi folks! How is everyone today? Hope you're all doing really well. So far this week, it's been great around here. We had our first snow on Friday, but it's warmed up a bit since then, so there is none on the ground now, though there probably will be some later this week. I really felt bad for the trick or treaters, but we had a record number this year, so I guess candy trumps cold. I'm pretty sure it would for me if I were a kid.

I have a few things to show you today. I'm getting excited about finishing up this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts. Coming down to the wire on finishing the blocks, so these are close to the last ones! First up are two light blue 9-patches for RSC14:

Okay, the one on the right is more of a medium blue, but it is definitely blue, even though it looks a little greenish.

Next, I made three multi-colored blocks from the leftover HSTs from the single-color blocks:

These don't have quite the same effect as the single-color blocks, but I think they'll be fine in the quilt.

I've been thinking of using this black and white for the setting triangles:

I'm not really sure about it any more. Going with white would be the super-easy choice, but I'm tired of white and want to do something different. I'll have to think on this one. There are a few more blocks to make before I'm done, so there's a little time.

Other than that. I'm still working on the Drunkard's Path blocks. Not sure how big this quilt is going to be. They are 16-inch blocks. I'm hoping to have 12 done this week.  I'm using the 4-inch templates and am finding this tiny rotary cutter very useful:

The one on the right is a 45 mm cutter, and on the left is an 18 mm one. It's so teeny, but it cuts those curves really, really well. So far I've only been able to cut two layers at a time with it, but it's still way better than scissors. 

That seems like a little, but there's really a lot going on here. At least it feels like a lot to me. And of course I went fabric shopping this weekend and planned another project using these fabrics:

What am I going to do with those? Well, here's a clue--do you want to build a snowman? (Some came from my stash--I didn't buy all of that, though it would be nice to be able to!)

Happy sewing everyone!

Linking to Fabric Tuesday, WIP Wednesday, and Let's Bee Social, and also the awesome Angela at soscrappy for RSC14.

Decisions, decisions

Well, hi there, folks! Hope you all had a great few days. I have hardly sewn a stitch! It was 70 degrees this weekend, so of course we finished up our work outside while dodging political phone calls. It was massive amounts of no fun, even though the weather was nice. Then I spent a long, long time in the library, which was productive in other ways. But I do have some sewing things planned for this week!

First, here is the Halloween hanging, all set up and ready to quilt:

Hey, if it's done by Halloween, it counts!

I laid out the blocks for RSC14, just to see how many more of each block I'll need. Here are the 9-patches:

Yes, that's the brown ruler print hanging off the edge there. Not to worry, I'm sure it will fit in just fine. I think I need 8 more blocks to finish this. I'd like to have the blocks be 5 across, with 4 in the alternate rows. I'm also thinking that I'll use the extra triangles I have to make 4 blocks that I'll put in the center. I'll probably use just a solid white for the sashing because there are so many scrap white-on-whites in here. I have a black and white print for the setting triangles, and I think I might want a multicolored polka dot fabric for the border. I could change my mind on that one, though.

And then here are the Odd Fellows:

Yeah, not the best picture, but it was so dark out when I was taking pictures at 5 pm. It just didn't work to hang them on the fence. Darned planetary tilt! And it's really hard to take pictures of big blocks!

Anyway, I seem to be missing a green. I'll have to look for that one. I decided not to make the brown block. Just not my thing. I could change my mind on that, too, though.  I think I need at least 5 more, because I want it to be at least 5 by 5. Odd Fellow's quilts are usually set without sashing for the secondary patterns to emerge, but I think I want a very small sashing to separate these blocks because the colors sometimes clash and don't really allow for those secondary patterns. It would also mean no matching, which is always good.

Thanks to everyone for their comments on the Drunkard's Path blocks. I think we all agree on the Wedding Ring layout, but I have to change the fabric. That green is just not working for me. Instead I have these:

This will be a much, much better green. The other was just too light. I essentially had two medium fabrics, which made for a really boring quilt. The only real goal I have for this week is to make some blocks and get this quilt going. If I have time, I'll also quilt up some of those projects I have basted.

Finally, because this post was full of boring pictures, enjoy this lovely fall picture from our front yard:

It was beautiful, but all those leaves are on the ground now. Ah, well.

Hope everyone gets some productive sewing time this week! Linking to Linky Tuesday, WIP Wednesday, and Let's Bee Social, and also the awesome Angela at soscrappy for RSC14.

Short week

Hello everyone! How was your week? I love and hate short weeks. I love them because, hello, an extra day off. I hate them because all the work has to be compressed into fewer days. And there's never less work!

This week had a couple of finishes. No finished quilts, but I finished two sections (8 blocks) of the Ocean Waves quilt.

 I almost always construct quilts in sections rather than trying to put it together row by row, which is boring and unwieldy. It's going really fast. I did have all the units already made, so that helped a lot. Here's a tip if you're making this quilt yourself--don't cut down the pieced 9 patches before you cut them in half to make the triangles unless you're a perfect piecer. I'm finding that I wish I had a little extra wiggle room when putting the final blocks together. Plus, they have to be trimmed at the end anyway, so why trim twice?

I also finished two more blocks for RSC14:

Man, orange and white is a really happy combination! They would make a really great quilt all on their own, because I don't have enough projects already. But I'm putting it on the spreadsheet!

The last thing I finished was one test block for the Burgoyne Surrounded quilt:

Wind was bowing this out! Not actually curved!

In theory, all solid scraps work together, but I needed to try it in fabric to be sure. I think it worked! I did pull out all of the darkest purples, the navy, and the red scraps. I thought they were distracting. I'm using this book, that I got from the library, for basic directions:

I don't know why I thought for so long that this was a very complicated quilt. It's just squares and rectangles. These are 15 inch blocks, and 16 of them will make an 85 by 85 quilt, with sashings and a small border. So only 14 more to go!

While I was out taking pictures for this post, I ran into a friend:

I can't believe he sat there and let me take his picture!

Finally, my post on Monday was my 50th post! I promised myself I would assess how it was going after 50 posts. I think it's going okay, don't you? I think I'll keep going for a while. Thanks to all who have stopped by so far! I think we may have to have a small giveaway on Tuesday to celebrate. Hmmm. . .

That's it for me this week! I think it was successful, even though my floor is covered with all kinds of colorful confetti. Those solids are very thready. Everyone have a great weekend!

Linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, crazy mom quilts, and SoScrappy. Stop on over and say hi!

Let's go dancing!

Friends, I could weep.

Seriously, I feel the tears forming.

Dancing Nines is now a finished quilt top! Take a look:

The sun came out just as I was taking this!

I love it!  And really, I could weep. These pieces sat in a drawer for more than 16 years. (Original post is HERE.) I packed them and moved them to a new house. I considered finishing the quilt several times. I lost some of the fabric. The instructions became outdated and incomprehensible. I finally pulled the pieces out a couple of months ago, during the red month of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I found one of Bonnie Hunter's free patterns and finally went for it. And now it's done!

The finished size of this baby is about 58 by 68. I have only a small handful of random pieces left. (Happy dance!) I like the way the checkerboard border turned out, but I'm not eager to do another one any time soon. So many seams! Stretchy! And I wasn't sure about the green, but now I like it a lot. Gives it just a little zing. I might even use it for the binding.

I learned a couple of things while making this. First, I am MUCH better at sewing now than I was 16 years ago. I guess I learned a few things in between. Some of those 9-patches are a little off, but I left them anyway. Would you have ripped every one of them apart to fix them? Yeah, me neither. Another thing I learned is that the fabric has definitely gotten better too. The red fabric in this quilt was first quality fabric, purchased at the shop where I took the class, and it is quite thin and very ravelly (if that's a word). Ripping some of those smaller pieces to make the checkerboard pieces was difficult because the fabric would actually tear. Today I would reject it as poor quality. So I guess we're getting some good value for our $12 a yard.

And look what I got out of the leftover green border-- a bright green Odd Fellow!

He looks happy. (Oops. I see a star point cut off. I'll fix that right away.) And here's the second red Odd Fellow's, which I also finally finished this week.

Do you know what this means? For the next 48 hours, I am completely caught up with RSC14! I plan to enjoy it while it lasts.

 It's Labor Day weekend, so everyone enjoy the last weekend of summer. Hope you're inspired to pull something old out of the closet or the drawer and give it a new life!

Linking to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, crazy mom quilts, and the awesome Angela! Visit sometime this weekend for some more fun projects.

Red blocks

It has been a disappointing week for finishes here, folks. Probably because I keep sitting on the sofa watching movies and eating Lemon Oreos instead of actually working on anything.

Ha,ha! Of course I'm kidding. I'm really cleaning the basement and garage. Fun times.

I did manage to finish a couple of things. First, there were these babies:

These are the triangle blocks for my RSC14 quilt. Red and white always look so happy together, don't you think? I also did the cutting for the Odd Fellow's blocks, but haven't assembled them yet. I'm not sure I'll keep the polka dotted block on the left. Looks a little too "Raggedy Ann" to me.

I also made up one test block for the Dancing Nines quilt:

This block is much straighter than it looks in pictures!

I think I like it. I chose the more open cherry fabric as the sashing. The more packed cherry fabric is very nice, but I like the look of this better. Not to worry! I'm sure the rejected fabric will get used somewhere. I was worried about the width of the sashing because my blocks are smaller than those in the pattern, and I ultimately cut the sashing 1 1/4 rather than 1 1/2 inches. It's a little bit, but it made a big difference to me. I have enough 9 patches for 20 of these blocks, and plenty of leftover cuts if I decide to make more for a few more blocks.

Finally, our cool and wet summer has had some good side effects:

This astilbe hasn't bloomed in years (literally), but has tons of flowers right now. I forgot how pretty the blooms are! I think I even forgot what color it was supposed to be, but I'm loving it right now.

I want to take just a second here at the end of the post to say how much I appreciate all the comments people have been leaving on this little blog. It's very gratifying! I try to answer every one (sometimes a couple of days later because life gets in the way).  If you are a no-reply blogger, please know that I appreciate your comments too, but sometimes can't find you online to reply.

Thanks for stopping by, and everyone enjoy your summer weekend!

Linking to Sarah, Amanda Jean, and Angela -- stop by their link-ups for lots of happy inspiration! (Or some fun time-wasting. Either way!)

Home again, home again

It is good to be home!  What is it about travelling that makes you appreciate your own home more? We arrived home to find that it no longer feels like July here. It's 60 degrees! Should be 85 or so. I'm liking it, but it sure is weird not to be sweating.

Perfect place to think up quilting ideas! (Presque Isle State Park in Pa.)

 While we were gone, I had a lot of time to consider possible patterns for those red and white 9 patches. I'm going to use Bonnie Hunter's Dancing Nines pattern (found HERE, free!). I think they'll make a good center, and then the 4 patches and other parts can be incorporated into a pieced border.

The problem has been finding a fabric to use with the red and white. The red is an older Jinny Beyer fabric in a real rose red, which is impossible to match. (She still has the same basic fabric print, but in very different colors.) I thought about green, but I don't want it to look Christmassy. Joy at the Calico Patch Quilt Shop in North East, Pa., was VERY helpful and we chose these great cherry prints:

Print A, more open

Print B, more packed

I can't decide which one to use! I like print A much better, because it is more open, but the sashing strips will finish at 1 inch, so the print may get lost. Print B is a little busy, but will probably cut better. (If you have an opinion, let me know!) Either way, I think it will turn out nicely. Thanks again Joy! Her shop was really nice, with a lot of fabrics and some original patterns and samples. It's not hard to find from Interstate 90, so stop by if you're passing through.

While we were travelling I convinced the Mister to stop at several other quilt shops, where I got some more  nice goodies:

Don't know why, but the oranges and corals really attracted me this time. I'm ready if the next RSC fabric is orange, that's for sure! And wait until you see that bird panel made up--it's very cute!

I also picked up some Row by Row patterns, and some shops had little giveaways with their patterns, like 4 2- inch squares or a button. I collected some of these patterns, but right now making them is definitely on the back burner.

Anyway, I feel like I made progress even though I haven't sewn a stitch, except for the bindings I stitched down while we were in the car. Hope you made some progress too!

Made some new friends on vacation!

 Happy sewing everyone! Linking to Linky Tuesday, Fabric Tuesday, and WIP Wednesday!