Shop Hoppin'

Shop Hoppin' - Day One:
Lucky Quilter that I am, DH woke up this morning and said, "let's get to some of your shops today!"
As fabriholics know, there are these opportunities that pop up from time to time called Shop Hops.  I've never participated before, but got the bug to do so this time - and so far it's tremendous fun!  In a Shop Hop, a number of shops are designated - this time there are 8 throughout the state - from Morris Plains to the North, to Forked River and Swedesboro to the South.
One receives a "pass port" from one shop and this is stamped at each shop you visit.  If you make it to all the participating shops there are amazing prizes in a drawing, and there are also drawings at each shop as well.
It's possible to buy specific packs of fabric and a pattern from each of the 8 shops to make a quilt - needing, I think, all the 8 packs to complete.  I didn't opt for that - for a couple of reasons, including the fact that I don't know if I'll actually get to all the shops, and, I wasn't crazy about the pattern.
I do wish to accumulate a charm from each shop we visit.
The day we picked up my passport from The Little Shop, I immediately grabbed up the next to last kit called Tea Time.  Our guest room is tea pot themed and this little wall hanging would be just the thing!
After breakfast we set out for Swedesboro - wasn't a bad day for a drive - in and out of small showers, but the temperatures were great.
Needles & Pins, 1438 Kings Hwy., Swedesboro NJ is a fabulous find!  My senses went into over-drive!  One of the main things I was hoping to find was a pattern/idea for using up my considerable stash of "homespun" and Larry and I found a gorgeous quilt displayed using black homespun and all the many plaids, of which I have tons.  It was beautifully machine quilted in variegated thread.  Couldn't be more perfect!  I took a couple of pictures with my phone of the completed quilt, since the pattern does not show it looking like the one the shop featured.  Got the black homespun, and the thread and I am so ready to go with that!
The charm for N & P is a rooster...also purchased the pin holder there.
Another plus for N & P is the staff...they were so friendly, helpful and warm with the crush of Shop Hop shoppers, I can only assume this would easily be one of the friendliest shops ever.
To check them out click here  N&P
Next up:  lunch at the Bistro in Haddonfield.  Going to the Bistro is like going home - we love the owners and they always welcome us with open arms. 
After a yummy lunch - with iced chamomile tea (!) we walked down the street to The Little Shop.  Next item on my list of "needs" was a white fabric with small black dots...this to border the tea cup wall hanging.  Score!  The charm from the little shop is a little Disney-type Castle.
       

Insert here that it has taken me about a month to get back to finish this post....sorry!

 

From the Little Shop we headed out for Pennington Quilt Works.  I bought several pieces of great fabric in the sale room, even buying the whole last-of-bolt of one beauty (50% off), and got an exciting Moda pattern for using up Christmas fabrics (30% off).  I got their charm, and this was one of the shops that put in their free pattern, Hexagon Swirl, without my asking.  Of the 7 shops we eventually visited, only 4 did that.
Leaving Pennington, Larry decided we should go on to Mt. Holly before going home.  I didn't argue!  The Village Quilter is a nice little shop, chock full of great fabric...but I was a bit overwhelmed by then - wanting/needing to think more clearly about what I actually "need" and what I just lust after!  So I only bought my first "Thangles" and we picked up a couple of NJ tea towels to take on our next international tour.  We were happy to get their pattern "Zen Plus" because it was one of our favorites so far.
Next day, being the last day of the Hop, Larry was up for driving to Howell NJ to shop at the Mouse Creek Quilt Shop.  I could have spent a full day at Mouse Creek!  It's a huge shop, with lots of fabric, kits, patterns, you name it, and it is so sunny and airy it gives your mind room to imagine!  I know I picked up a couple of panels for wall hangings...one of a tea pot...to go with the new tea cup wall hanging!  This shop is one I want to revisit - again, and again.
We made the decision to go further north to Fabric Inspirations in Manalapan Twp....and boy, we were glad we did!  Couldn't get more helpful, friendly staff....one lady spent quite a bit of time with me giving helpful advice on my new embroidery machine and guiding me toward the best interfacing products for my next project (hankies) and for other projects.
When we were about to depart, and starving (!) the staff also recommended a little Italian restaurant in the shopping center for lunch.  Again, glad we went!  They featured pizza slices with salad toppings...no sauce, no cheese, just a salad of your choice...we had the tossed salad.  It was really yummy!
Although we knew that the 8th shop, Aardvark, Morris Plains, was out of the question, we did opt to get to Forked River to visit Quilting Possibilities....another nice shop, about medium sized....and a great sale room!  If I weren't so tired, and slightly overwhelmed again, I might have left with many more bundles!  I'd like to visit them again.

Garnered 7 of the 8 charms!

Tea Cup Quilted Wall Hanaging

Embroidered detail for the corners

Used many tea related sayings around the border.

A mini-tea cup motif from the sewing program on my new Viking.

How About Some Cheese With That Whine?

One good thing about this blog....there is no audio....you can't hear me whining.
I've been sick for over two weeks - and there are times I feel that I have made no progress at all in the getting-better process.  Does it help to know that so many others have the same thing?  No, not really....I am too self-involved at the moment for that to matter.  I simply want it to depart from ME!
However, since just before falling victim to the unseen forces that beleaguer human kind with colds and malaise, we bought me my dream sewing/embroidery machine, I have had something with which to occupy my mind.
Enter the amazing Viking Designer Ruby Deluxe.
Star of the show!
Answer to my deepest yearnings.
And, in part, cause of some of my frustration at being ill.  I haven't actually been able to get at it and start creating.
I finally did get in my first class on Wednesday, and learned enough to boggle the mind!
I have blindly stabbed away at getting on  line and getting some free St. Patrick's Day patterns, and today made up exactly ONE dinner napkin.
Cool, eh?

 
Earlier this week - from 3 AM to 6 AM - thank you meds, for the wondrous hours of non-sleep during the night, and deadly slumber during the day.... I made up this St. Patrick's Day mantle cloth.  I quilted it with some of the fancy stitches on the sewing machine.  Imagine when I get comfortable with the embroidery!

 And remember that Quilter's Star I was so mad at?  Well, he's chugging along doing piecing and things for which he was designed, and doing them quite well...now that he knows the high tech stuff will be handled by his "brother."  They are sharing the load...and I am a really happy camper.
Except that I am sick.  Whine Whine Whine.

Happy Heart Day

Today I received a few Valentines - one of them from a cousin I've never actually met in person.  Chris's mom was my Dad's sister.  Her parents are both gone now, and she lives with her sister and brother in law.  It took Facebook to find them.  I'm so glad I did!

I made this card to thank her for the card she made me.  And by the way,  Happy Valentine's Day to you, too.

Twistin' the Day Away

Been seeing a lot of projects done with the Twist (Let's Twist etc) technique, and to be perfectly honest, it boggled my mind!  Just couldn't get into my head how it was done.  So I bought the book and the template and received an invitation to a baby shower - decided, perfect time to learn!
First, you sew blocks together - I raided the pink stash pile since I found out baby is a girl.  I used 10" squares.

Once all the squares were sewn together, I added a 6 1/2 " border all the way around.

Press it well, and then the "fun" begins!

By aligning the cross marks on the template with the intersecting seams, you cut around.
The little feet on the template really make it stick!  Unfortunately, however, they started out being too high for a good cut with my rotary cutter!  I marked with a fine pencil for a while, and had to resort to re-cutting with scissors for about 6 squares...with heavy pressure, over time, it seemed the little feet had given some and by the end, I was getting decent cuts.

This pile is what was left of the quilt top in the third picture -

And this is the end result!
For just a few dollars (most of the fabric I already had - just have to count the batting) I have a shower gift almost ready, and I learned a really fun technique!
The project so far has taken two days!  Gotta love it!

I Have Decided to Stick With Love.....

 "An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."

 "We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive.  He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.  There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us.  When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies."

" I have decided to stick with love.  Hate is too great a burden to bear."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Not For the Faint of Heart!

On Wednesday this week, I once again participated in the monthly meeting of Charity Quilts - the tops we tied were among some of the most gorgeous I've seen and all donated to help warm the lives of someone living in an old aged home.  The most recent recipients are residents in a Philadelphia area facility that accommodates elderly and infirm at no cost.  We have received letters from the nuns running the facility to express the appreciation they all have for the quilts.  Warms the heart!
Our Chairwoman, Mary, will be resigning her post in May, and therefore, we are scrambling to ensure the survival of Charity Quilts - something so many of us care for deeply.  We are hoping to set up a team of folks who will pull together to do the many aspects of the job - which for many years have been done by just two - two very dedicated individuals.  
Anyway - during the lunch break, Mary introduced us to a project with which she has challenged us.   
Through a lottery type drawing, we each (those of us participating) got packets of fabric and directions to follow in cutting it up and sewing it back together.
I picked yummy fabric in purples.
My pattern is called Basket Weave.
Here's the kicker.
In most instances, the fabric provided is Exactly the yardage needed to make the top!  The project is also called A Five Yard Quilt.  As in, you NEED five yards, you GET five yards, and if you screw it up - too bad!

Here are the fabrics I drew - as well as the directions.
They sat on the table as is for three days - taunting me....terrifying me.  I know me....I know how often I "think" I know what I'm doing...and then find out I didn't!  I was itching to get cutting...and sweating that I'd mess it up!
And then the e-mails started coming in.

"Ooops, I made a mistake in the pattern!  Don't worry if you have already begun cutting - it won't make a difference there."

And then another e-mail:

"Uh, Oh!  Made another mistake -  you don't need NINE squares - you need 35."

Huh?  What?  I'm pretty sure that if I'd "thought" I needed only 9 squares, I'd probably been pretty lackadaisical in my cutting....and since some of the yardage was EXACT, I might not have been able to cut enough pieces.
Thank goodness I had a healthy fear!  By waiting - waiting until the last of four e-mails came in, I may have saved a lot of aggravation.

 And so, it is cut and carefully numbered......

  laid out
and two squares are sewn together.

So far, I don't like them, but perhaps, when all are laid together the basket weave will show and I'll be happy.
Looking at the pictures, I can see that they don't show the true colors....they actually do look better than this in person.
And I am no longer as scared!

Nice Way to See in the New Year

 

 Well, finally feeling more like myself! Had a virus of some kind for a week!  And what a super way to celebrate feeling better than having a visit from my sister!  We made ornaments together - she made the one on the left, wanting it to hang during the year, rather than just at Christmas...mine is on the right, almost the same as one I made to give away - Lar loved it and wanted one of his own!

I finally got a couple of decent pictures of this year's tree.

 And Carol brought down a little quilt she'd made for a friend's grandchild, and an even smaller one for the child's dolly!  I made up labels for them, and they will be presented as first birthday gifts.  Good job Carol!