Today

I work the afternoon shift at Hallmark.  

It's ornament debut weekend.  

Hopefully the hordes of collectors were in first thing this morning.

  

;)

I spent the morning making a simple table runner for my SIL.

18 x 94 -ruffle is about 8"

I used Osenburg fabric for it.  Now I will need to get some more to finish my new living room curtains--I cut it wrong which is why I used it for the runner..he he.

Just doing simple panels for my curtains, won't take long...famous last words.

  I finished the binding on Granny Squares.  It seems like I've been working on the binding for weeks, well I have because it's been mostly sitting on the back of a chair, not being worked on.  I have to do a label for it.  I was shocked that I didn't do one before I quilted it, but I was trying to get all the tops I had done before vacation and HQ went in to the spa. 

Um, yes, that will be my official excuse.  

63 x 84

I do love this quilt. 

and I started the machine blanket stitching on Autumn Gatherings. 

sigh...some days I just don't want to go anywhere. 

It's usually on days I have to.

Fun times, fun times.

Life is good!

I finished the Winter Welcome runner this weekend and just love it-hated to put it away until Christmas decorating time. 
Today it was nice out, cloudy but warm-I didn't even need a jacket- so I got out in the flower beds and pulled out and cut off all the dead stuff, it looks much better and I feel much better being able to get that off 'the list'. 

Yesterday and today I sat out on my empty deck (had to drag a chair out) and cut out the logos on all the t-shirts.....a much more managable pile to work with now.  And it takes up much less room.  There are about 50 t-shirts!  Just getting this much done makes me breathe a little easier, now that I've started I'm getting a little excited about the process. I've never made a t-shirt quilt before and probably never would if my sister-in-law hadn't asked.  I'm only going to work on one quilt at a time and am hoping to have the pieces fused  and a layout started by this time next week.  hmmmm, crossing fingers, legs and eyes that I can do this.  I bought 9 yards of woven interfacing. I don't think that will be enough, but it will be a start. 

My other goal for this week is to load and quilt my Black, White and Red Circles quilt that I pieced a few months ago.  I have the backing ready and waiting....

Today I finished the little trivet that was our gift from visiting Calico Gals quilt shop on the bus tour last week. In back of it is a bag I made today as well, I'm going to keep my GPS in it in my car....disguised as a cosmetic bag...in-genius!

Oh, one more picture.  My friend Libby asked me to quilt a baby quilt for her.  It's an adorable Mother Goose quilt.  My photography skills are crappola so my apologies.  I just had a ball quilting it.
A good friend of hers hand appliqued the center and then Libby assembled it.  I only did a little quilting on the appliques, most of it was background stuff to help set off the design. She was very happy with it, so that makes me happy too.

The table runner

The table runner Winter Welcome is getting there.  I hope to have it sewn together today and maybe quilted.  I haven't done any embroidery for a  l-o-n-g time, in fact when I was ready to do this one, I couldn't find a little hoop to put it in...I looked everywhere. Well, everywhere I thought they might be....  Before quilting,  I cross stitched. I know I have several of those hoops, but where?  I had to run to the local craft store and pick one up (I got 2 just in case). 

 The 2 t-shirt quilts are starting to nag at the back of my mind.  For the past two weeks I've said to myself, "ok, next week we start...get 'em cut out, interfacing fused...one quilt at a time.." And the week ends and the boxes, full to the brim, sit and mock me from the corner of my sewing room. Just getting them cut out will probably cut the boxes in half (there are 2 for each girl!)  So that should be enough reason to get me going. My room is not big. I could be piling lots of other junk  important stuff in that corner!  Ok next week I start...

I'm back

Well, I've been home since Sunday afternoon. But 'whew' shopping for 3 days really takes it out of you! *wink*.  The Spooktakular Bus Tour was spectacular but by the 3rd day I was ready to head for home.

I was a bad blogger.  I had my camera, weighing my purse down the entire trip but didn't take pictures at the first 2 shops.  The first shop was the The Quiltmakers Cottage in Hershey, PA. Our fearless tour leader Ruth, divided the bus by sides and half of us ate lunch first while the other half shopped and then we switched.  The lunch was great and the shop just lovely.  The employees were helpful (as they were at every place we went-made us feel at home, and not only helped with fabric selections as you would expect, but chatted with us about where we were from our families blah, blah, blah.  It was just like being at your local quilt shop. 
I must say our bus driver, John, was also fearless--he had never taken a tour group of quilters. At every shop we taught him something about quilting,  by the end of the trip he had purchased a 'fat quarter' of a bright bali batik with peace signs on it, which he tied around his neck.  He would get on the bus after each shop visit and tell us what he learned.  He was a hoot.

Then we were off to Quilting Possibilities in New Jersey.  WOW-a Quilt Sampler Magazine shop! This is a huge shop, one of those that you walk in and literally your jaw drops (well mine did) and you don't know where to look first. 
The large fabric in the back is 6 yards worth for a One Block Wonder quilt.  

   We were 1/2 mile from the Atlantic Ocean but cautioned  not to take the bus for a peek.  The roads are narrow and Friday night it would be crowded---we'd never get turned around to get out.  I would have loved to have been able to just listen to the surf for 5-10 minutes. 

Saturday morning we were up and on the bus before 7am. (groan). Charlotte got on last and in her halloween attire, handed out treats for all of us. A little bag of chocolate goodness to help us through the day. 

 Our next stop was Endless Mountain Quiltworks. This is also a Quilt Sampler Magazine shop from 2007. 

Two kits, a wool pincushion, 2 wooden plaques for my sewing room and a bundle of fabrics. The 6 fat quarters bottom right of the picture. I won those too!  I guessed closest without going over the amount of $$ our bus spent on day 2! I will not put the amount of my winning guess.  What happened on the bus tour....stays on the bus tour. 

Oh I just looked out my window (the sun finally came up) and there is frost on the ground, I did a double take--thought we had a dusting of snow.  It's in the forecast for later this week.  I can't wait. 

I almost bought the kit for this quilt as well. In addition to our bus tour they were having a shop hop and this quilt was their "shop hop quilt". I stood for many minutes holding that kit and discussing with myself whether or not I should.....and didn't and now that I'm home I wish I would have. 

Then back on the bus and on to Syracuse, NY to Calico Gals.  They had just moved to a new space and the bus tour was their first customers.  Again a Quilt Sampler shop from 2005!

 If you spent $25. you got the insulated lunch bag as a gift in celebration of their grand reopening. (I picked pink, they also had lime green).  A bundle of 8 wool pieces; for that table runner I mentioned earlier, a charm pack, couple fat quarters and a kit of 12 mini Christmas quilts with a yard of homespun fabric included.  The clothes line and glue stick was a free gift from the shop.  Janet, the owner demonstrated how to and the kit has enough for a coaster or trivet.  Libby and I worked on ours that night in the hotel while watching You, Me and Dupree. 

I may get mine finished today or tomorrow. It was a short trip to the Hampton Inn where we stayed that night and then Sunday morning we got a little reprieve--didn't have to be on the bus until 7:30am!  Millcreek Sewing & Fabric Center in Erie, PA.  Judy Fenton, the owner, got on the bus to welcome us.  She's one of those people who as soon as you meet her, you feel like you've known her forever.  She also was a Westie owner, a huge plus in my book! 

Ok, I'll admit by this time I was ready for home...and feeling a little like "what else could we see".  And then we walked into the shop. Jaw dropping again (I must get that checked by a doctor, it's embarrassing).  I did take pictures but they fail to do justice to the size of the store the amazing array of samples, fabric, kits and decor. Here's one wall, no it's not even half of the one wall.....just their "fall quilt section".  Of course I didn't take a picture of the quilt that I purchased a kit for.  It's a pinapple wall quilt.  Libby snatched up the last pattern so I just have the fabric bundle to show. 

  

We returned to our home shop The Quilt Company (also a Quilt Sampler Magazine shop) at 4:15 in the afternoon, a little ahead of schedule.  Many of the ladies went in and shopped as it was a new shop to them.  Libby got something and then we loaded the car and went home, to dinner, a shower, jammies, a quiet evening of TV and a good night sleep in my own bed. (Heaven.)