Quilty Road Trip

 My friend Pam and I headed to Connecticut this week to drop off quilts for an upcoming show. If you are in the Northeast next week, don't miss Flights & Fantasies at the New England Air Museum. It runs all week, September 22-28. This is the only quilt show that my husband actually enjoys.

Of course, we had to stop at some quilt shops along the way! Our first stop was Quilting by the Yard in Vernon. I found the yardage in the clearance section for 50% off. They are not my style, but I need it for a secret gift project. The charm pack of Figurines was an impulse buy for me. We had to have lunch at Rein's Deli, conveniently located in the same plaza.

Our next stop was Sew Inspired in Simsbury. As soon as I walked in, I saw the huge display of Cotton & Steel and was blown away! I hadn't seen any of it in person yet, and it really wasn't appealing to me online. Boy, do I love it in person! Since I wanted it all, I picked through the fat quarter basket and restrained myself with only 11. The green Joel Dewberry doesn't go with them. I need that color for the wedding quilt.

 After a quick stop at Michael's for glue and hardware for an upcoming class, we arrived at Jackie's house. I ordered some Kona solids and black & white prints during the Canton Village Quilt Works sale last weekend. It was able to pick up my package and see Jackie's home-based business.

These bandanas arrived in the mail from The EGA Shop. I'm planning to make a pillow for Pete's bed with the red and black ones. They are 100% cotton, but fairly light. I might need to add interfacing to make the fabric more durable. The camo print might be made into key fobs.

That is just too much fabric coming in without any finished projects going out. I need to get busy!

Decisions, Decisions

 Sample wedding rings will be stitched as soon as I decide which fabric to use. 

Gradation Option 1:

Gradation Option 2:

 Sometimes is helps to take the color out. In this case, not so much.

What do you think, quilty friends? Should I keep shopping?

WIP Wednesday

 I hope this Wednesday finds you all well. There's not much white stuff on the ground this morning, but the sleet and freezing rain woke us up several times during the night.

Finished this week:

A tote for Mom's prayer books with a zippered pocket for rosary beads will be gifted for Easter.

A label was finally added to 9-Patch Swing, so the quilt is now ready to be donated to the Music Boosters' raffle.

New Projects:
My father-in-law has been moved into an assisted living facility and he needs a lap quilt. While we were at MQX, Bill and I went on the hunt for garnet and gray fabrics, Union College colors. This gray pack from Sew Fresh Fabrics is perfect, but he was being rather picky about the garnet (maroon/burgundy).

A squishy package arrived in the mail with my Modern Quilt Guild challenge fabrics. I haven't even thought about what to make with these. For now, I'm just happy to admire these fun and colorful prints.

Ongoing:
I'd like to get back to the Farmer's Engineer's Wife blocks soon.

On hold:
My WIP pile doesn't ever seem to get smaller! You can see the entire list here.

Enjoy visiting WIPs around the world!

Sunday Stash on Monday

 A whopping 27 yards of fabric has entered my house in the past week. Yikes! There is a plan for all of it, so it will be used soon. My LQS had a sale on Friday, then I went on a shop hop bus trip on Saturday.

The shopping started online with the blue and orange floral from Kate Spain's Sunnyside line. It will be the border fabric on the 4th in my series of wedding ring quilts for my nephew and his bride. The other blues and greens are possibilities for the arcs. Lots more shopping to come for this quilt!

These 1/2 yard cuts of batiks will become guitar straps using this tutorial by Amber at One Shabby Chick for an upcoming craft fair.  If you are local, come see me at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Charlestown, RI on April 12, 9am-2pm.

 These sweet florals will become table runners or mug mats.

These amazing Phillip Jacobs prints had to come home with me. Garden Party (on the left) has been a favorite of mine and I love the bold colors of Gertrude. One or both of these prints will become a One Block Wonder.

I picked up a few fat quarters just for fun!

 These fat quarters will become a gift. I'm thinking about jumping on the churn dash bandwagon.

 I bought this Fons & Porter ruler for squaring up half square triangle units and the polka dot scissors were a free gift for completing the shop hop.

And the sneakiest of peeks at a birthday gift.

The wooden checkerboard was made by Pete last year in wood shop class. We're praying for him today as he starts the Basic Reconnaissance Course. It has been his dream and goal to become a Recon Marine for several years, and now he is 3 grueling months away from completion. OOHRAH!

Sunday Stash

This luscious Free Spirit voile arrived in the mail yesterday. These pieces will soon become Spring infinity scarves. I was so lucky to find them on sale at Stash Fabrics.

Anna Maria Horner Field Study Voile, Mind's Eye in Tambourine and Samba; and Tula Pink Birds and Bees voile, Bees Knees in Lapis

 

This fun pile is for an upcoming guild class with Jackie Kunkel. I purchased the Riley Blake florals not too long ago and found a bunch of coordinating solids in the stash. They will be perfect for a Spring/Summer table runner.

 

Riley Blake Flutter by the Quilted Fish & Kona solids

I'll have lots to show you next week. I ordered some Kate Spain fabric for the next wedding ring quilt, and I'm going on a shop hop next Saturday. That could be dangerous!

Linking up today with Work-In-Progress Girl.

WIP Wednesday

It feels great to make progress on sewing and home projects, but it is hard for me to maintain a high level of productivity for long. Balance is a buzz word that might play a large part in my life this year.

Finished this week: Crackers quilt for charity.

In progress: 
Clamshell pillow cover. I should be able to finish this today, and then start another one.

 Ninigret Friendship Star Swap. We had our second round of swapping last night.

Take it All with you bag. I'm going to a class this weekend to make this amazing bag with 42 pockets. There was a lot of prep work (cutting and fusing) so we can get right to work with bag construction in class.

Random:
I just got this gorgeous Riley Blake fabric in the mail. I have no idea what it will become, but I love it!

My friend, Kate, made this cute basket for me. Thanks, Kate!

And now, it's time to surf!

Sunday Stash

 Julia and I were in desperate need of some retail therapy yesterday, so we headed to our local quilt shop, Folk Art Quilts.

I had signed up for a New York Beauty block of the month, but hadn't picked up my kits in a few months. I thought I might be 2 or 3 months behind. Imagine my surprise when Mary brought out 5 kits! It's not that I haven't been to the shop for that long, I just forgot about them. Julia and I have always wanted to work on a New York Beauty together. Now we have to!

While we were in the shop, we realized that Julia will be free to attend our quilt weekend retreat in March! We originally thought she would have another commitment. We'll start the NYB then, but we also needed fabric for the Saturday workshop. The blue Bali Pops are hers, and the yummy Tonga Treats are mine.

We couldn't stop there. The navy blue batik is for the binding on the San Diego top from last week. Julia couldn't resist the Philip Jacobs petunias. And I needed to replenish my low volume stash.

That was one expensive trip to the quilt shop, but worth every penny!

Road Trip

The Ninigret Quilters hopped on a bus yesterday for the 3 hour drive to New Hampshire for A Quilters' Gathering. I had never been to this show before, so I ignored my loathing for bus rides and joined in the fun!

With a half-quilted quilt at home, I was on the hunt for filler quilting inspiration. This amazing modern quilt by Rose Orr knocked my Red Sox off!

There was a lot more appliqué in this show than we're used to seeing, with lots of cool filler quilting around it.

This anniversary quilt by Carol Smith glows!

And then there's the haul from the fantastic vendors!

V and Co. yummies,

some necessary tools, including a Sharon Schamber Quilt Halo, 

aqua for Julia, plum and mustard for the mini swap, and I could no longer resist a bit of The Boo Crew.

On the way home, we stopped at the Quilted Crow, a really lovely shop.

 

 It was a wonderful, inspiring day!

Fabric Shopping / Sew Every Day 17

Furlough be damned, I needed to buy some fabric! I felt completely justified in buying fabric to complete this star quilt. I am planning to give it away as a wedding gift, after all. That blue/purple (not as bright in person) will be a small inner border, followed by the green/blue leaf print as a wide outer border. The soft neutral print will be the back and the stripey green will be the binding. The white Aurifil thread was an impulse buy. My first spool is almost empty, since I've been piecing with it every day.

Here's an iphone view of my LQS's batik wall.  If you are ever in southern Rhode Island, stop by Folk Art Quilts.

If modern prints are more your style, check out the opposite wall!

 

In these days of tightened budgets, I can no longer afford to be a fabric snob. I picked up this print at JoAnn's (with a 50% off coupon) for the back of Ninnie Niner.

 

This sweet print from Hobby Lobby (40% off) will be the back of another top-in-waiting. And the big chunk of Kona white used another 50% off coupon from JoAnn's.

Sew Every Day 17: I only had time to piece two album blocks. 

 

OK. Time to sew something!