Let me tell you. Things have been so crazy and so hard around here lately. Not really hard, just a little minor irritation really. Miss Zebra has been sick, lab results came back, seems she has mono. Nothing to do about it but let her get plenty of rest. YEAH RIGHT! This past weekend she had a skating performance on Friday night, band marching competition on Saturday, youth function at church on Sunday. She is also supposed to be having softball conditioning three evenings a week. She has been sleeping a lot, which she needs, but then she had another skating performance on Tuesday night, helped work the church alternative to Halloween on Wednesday night, band plays at home football game Friday night, then another marching competition on Saturday. At least the skating is over, for a few weeks because then the rehearsal for the winter showcase starts up. After Christmas break we trade band time for softball practice and games. On top of all that, I am either just worn down and having allergy attacks, or...I have gotten her mono. I am just worn out and today was really hard to keep up with little Mr. M. Although, he was in a lovely mood and just wanted to sit in my lap most of the day.
Yesterday, I had my annual titty torture. Yes, mammogram time. You would think that they could come up with a more pain free method. I understand that they are important, don't dispute that. I don't know about other women, but I am so small busted that they really have to tighten that bugger up to even catch the girls, much less capture their glory. Ironically, after having my mammogram, visiting with my oldest daughter, I find out that last week she had a biopsy on one of her breast and is waiting for the results. I am praying that it is nothing, but as a mother I am really worried until I hear what they found out. Back to the main point though. I was going to just make my appointment then get Mr. M from his mom. When I called her, she thought she was going to have him all day so had planned on keeping him. I told her to call me if she needed me to come get him and went home, took a shower, then headed out for my own little adventure.
It had been so long since I had actually visited any of the local quilt stores that I decided that is just what I would do. OH MY WORD, has inflation hit in my absence! Good grief. The first shop was pretty much as I remembered it, for sure the place to go for novelty fabric, 30's repro as well. I walked around the store looking at the sample quilts. I wasn't supposed to, but when no one was looking I snapped a photo of a couple of the quilts. It just irks me to no end to pay $12 for a pattern to a quilt that if you give me a few minutes and some paper I could replicate on my own. I spent enough in the shop to make up for it. I found the perfect fabric, has little dog bones printed on it, to go in my grand son, Mr. M's, quilt that I am making. Well, thought I had it planned, until I went to Keepsake Quilting and found the red and black scotty dogs pre-cut. Now am thinking they would be perfect to applique to red or black larger squares and then use the other fabrics I have gathered in a four patch to go with it. Or...the scotty in the center of a log cabin on white fabric and then the red and black fabrics one either side of the cabin. That small amount of white would be okay. I am trying to stay away from large areas of white since this will be a quilt to be used by a little boy. Oh...maybe applique the scotty dogs on a grey tone on tone square. Now that's the ticket.
At any rate, as I said, I was in total shock at the prices of fabric, patterns, books and especially in shock of how proud they are of their machines. GOOD GRIEF! One machine was $10,000. dollars and she thought it as a great price. I mean come on, I just want to play around at home, not go in to business. I wouldn't even know how to go in to business, nor do I have time. The store did have two sample quilts that I think it would be worth the price to take because I really love the quilts. Besides, it seems that if I take the class then I usually complete the quilt. My only hold back to taking any classes is the timing. I was planning on holding off until after Christmas to start anything new, actually until after the first of the year, but will see how that works out.
The shop is called Strawberry Patch and they will do this as a block of the month, which is already sold out. You can see more about it on their Pinterest site. The quilt is called Sugar Kisses, I linked it to there site. The photos do not do it justice, the colors are so much brighter in person. I normally stay away from applique quilts, but this one just hooked me. I am thinking maybe if I make it, a little girl will show up in the family in the future that I can spoil with it. Actually, been thinking about making up some little feminine finery to stash away...just in case. I mean, my youngest daughter, Miss Zebra, will only be 16 next month. It better be quite a few years yet before I get grand kids from that one. This shop also makes samples of children's clothes, mostly girl stuff, but they had a little set made up for a toddler boy that I just couldn't quit looking at. Really simple, camp shirt and shorts, but the fabric they used had all these little camping trailers printed all over it. I wanted some of the fabric, already had a pattern (okay, a few patterns) for simple little button down shirts. Naturally, they were out of the fabric. I asked the owner if she knew what company made the fabric, was going to see if I could find some on the internet, so she went to the sample (where I and a clerk has been looking it over like crazy) and picks up a kit for it. Good grief, $24, for the kit, but it does come with the pattern. Yep, I bought it for the fabric. Of course, $12 of that was the pattern. But...I am pretty sure that I can actually get two shirts out if using the scraps with a solid, or maybe using the scraps to make a little pocket on the shorts. My daughter in law saw it and said, "the campers are perfect for the family reunion." Great, now I have to wait until summer to make it so it will still fit. LOL Oh well, little does she know that little Mr. M is getting a whole little wardrobe for Christmas, handmade that is, with some Dallas Cowboy fabric. Guess I might have to make a Packer item too, since his mom (and her family) root for them.
So, on to the next quilt store I went. They have a totally different look to their fabrics, but offer a lot more in the way of patterns. I love looking at their sample quilts as well, they just don't label them as well so usually have to ask about the ones you like. Which they may do on purpose. At any rate, this is the quilt store that has all the AccuQuilt products and where I can rent out their studio AccuQuilt at a nominal fee. One of my groups is planning a strip exchange, but has to be cut using the AccuQuilt. I was actually planning on buying that die, but then decided I would just take my fabric and go down there and use their big one. That particular die really needs the larger cutter anyway. I will be taking a class there in February. A lone star quilt. I love those quilts, just never wanted to tackle cutting all those diamonds. Then, seeing that the AccuQuilt has a die for that, I got the bug again. I even bought the Eleanor Burns book, the quilt in a day series, for the lone star. Just never got brave enough. This class uses the strip cut method and a special ruler. I just can't wait to make that one. Going to use bright red, blue and yellows in it. While I was there, I found a pattern for a cut quilt that uses 2-1/2 inch strips to make trees. At the check out, I came across the $3 basket and picket up a few patterns from there along with some pre-cut fabric. Apparently it was a kit that was caught wrong, so she just bagged it up to sell in the clearance basket. Well, I found out pretty quick, I couldn't even come close to buying the fabrics in that kit for that price. There is a focus fabric, pretty good size piece, and then two coordinating solids to go with it. I will be able to use it somewhere.
Needing to eat and take a bathroom break by this point, I headed to the house. On the way to the house, the thought popped in my head of JoAnn's so headed there, since it is on the way to the house. The night before, while looking at my last quilt magazines in the bathroom, waiting for the bath to cool off a bit, it struck me that the last time I bought any quilt related magazines was in 2011. Almost a year old. You guessed it, I forked out a small fortune. While looking over the selection, catching my breath at the prices of those magazines, I get a call that youngest daughter, Miss Zebra, is sick and needs to come home. Paying out I head off to the school, pick up some lunch (to go now, since I couldn't go sit down some where) and finally get home to find a package sitting on my front porch. I was so excited. Of course...I knew it was my Quilt Design Wizard software, I had gotten a text while shopping that it had been delivered. Technology, got a love it. Now to find time to play with it and see if I can learn how to work it. I really want to learn EQ 7, but for the money I feel this a good place to begin. It is made by the same company.
Now...to get this house cleaned up, the rest of my fabric out of storage and put away (hopefully finding all my blocks and charms) and I can start playing. I know that some where I have a ton of charms. I had gotten to where when ever I had scraps from quilts that I would go ahead and cut them in to the largest pieces I could on down. I would start with WOF strips, then squares. I especially collect 5" squares called nickel charms. Have two books for nickel quilts. I used to keep every little scrap, but toward the end had taken the attitude of anything smaller than 2-1/2 inches is tossed. Unless of course it is long enough to use in a strip quilt. Don't really like them, but is a good way to use up scraps and good to use for lap, isolet and other charity quilts. Am wondering what my "tightwad, not waste a bit, use it completely mind" is going to do when it encounters the scrapage from using the AccuQuilt cutter.
Oh, and speaking of cutters, I came across a blog of a lady that posted all about using her Sizzix to cut squares and hexagons. Said that when ever she makes a quilt or such, the scraps hit a basket full of all the left overs. She would then grab her Sizzix and the basket and would settle in a chair of an evening and just crank them out while watching TV. I can so TOTALLY relate to that. Not the Sizzix, although I am going to check and see what they have since I have the Big Shot, but the cutting the scraps in to usable scraps. That is why I know that I don't want anything smaller than a 2-1/2 inch square. I tried a postage stamp quilt, which uses one inch finished squares, just can't take it. Those pieces are just too small to work with. I do have a list I am working on of more dies to get, if I find I like working with it. Now, to just have it arrive.
Well, thanks for stopping in. Over the week end I will see if I can get some more photos posted. For now, I am headed to soak in the tub and head to bed. Hubby is off tomorrow, am hoping he will be busy with his building project and won't be under foot too much. Come back and seem me soon. Feel free to leave a comment for me.
Dianna, I admire your commitment to your quilting. I took a class once, and have taken sewing classes, and it just doesn't work for me! lol! I love reading your blogs, and hope you have lots of fun making quilts.
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