The Shopping Part...

In 5 days we hit 7 quilt shops. Two of my favorites were new to all of us.

Quilter's Compass in Monticello, Wisconsin was an adorable shop that has been open only 10 months. Filled with the latest modern and traditional fabrics, we had a ball trying to decide what to go home with. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera to show you pictures of the shop, but it was darling. The owner and her daughter were as nice as can be and they do mail order fabric if you find something in their on-line shop!

Here are my goodies: Cloud 9 Organic cotton "Happy Garden".
And I was so thrilled to find this. "Free to Grow" is another organic cotton line that I didn't buy when it came out last Fall and I kind of regretted that!
The second shop that we all just loved was Tammy Tadd in Sycamore, Illinois. The shop has beautiful fabric, but the displays were pure eye candy. Pink was the theme and if you look close you can see a pink Weber grill on the right side of this display.
A wonderful selection of 30's reproductions.
This had to be my favorite - the pink bike!
Just an adorable shop!!!

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More Accomplishments...

I wasn't the only one who accomplished something on retreat.

Jean's "Short Story" quilt from Schnibbles Times Two in Fandango.
Cindy's quilt using Hope Valley.
Rene's "Gypsy Girl" quilt using Soul Blossoms.
Bonnie spent a bit of time appliquéing this one!
Wynema's quick table runners using novelty striped fabric.
Gayle's "Root Beer Float" table runner.
Wynema's Churn Dash in batiks.
Next up - our shopping excursions!

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Accomplished...

This was the scene out the back window of my home for the past week. Fern Hill Retreat, literally nestled in the rolling hills of Wisconsin. Sewing, laughing and eating cheese (OMG - the cheese - it's unbelievable!). We even improved our vocabulary.I accomplished 2 of the 3 projects that I brought with me.

All the blocks are completed and sewn together using Prince Charming by Tula Pink and the pattern "Birdbath" from The Practical Guide to Patchwork. I'm planning on adding a small border to frame things up.
I also finished the blocks and assembly of Urban Life by Crazy Old Ladies pattern company. The fabric is a Just Wing It layer cake.
I had a little time this afternoon to add a border. Loving this one!
Several others accomplished finished tops also. Pictures coming! We also accomplished a little shopping - no actually that was a big accomplishment. A report on that coming too!!

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Solids Challenge

Our St Louis Modern Quilt Guild members revealed their Kona Solids Challenge quilts today. They were all amazing, gorgeous, creative and more. I took pictures and here are a few. You can find more on the MQG Robert Kaufman flickr group.This is mine:

One of my favorites, probably because I'm such a Wizard of Oz fanatic and it's one of my favorite songs.





I made this cute top yesterday. It's made from AMH Loulouthi voile and a free pattern from Colette Patterns. I do love my Loulouthi; maybe because I love flowers, and vibrant colors and beautiful artwork. It has it all!
See you next week - I hope to bring you some pictures of our retreat projects!

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Hexagon Hexagon

I had trouble titling this post because I've written about my Hexagon quilt several times. I promise this is the last! It's done, quilted and bound!I took the easy way on this one and just made half hexagons so it would be super easy to sew together.
I followed the quilting suggestion in the book and simply did parallel zig zag lines.
Nothing like a striped binding to finish it off!
And in case you're tired of seeing hexagons ~ a few other beauties in the garden...

Montenegro Lily

And this cutie patootie just popped up!

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Cutting Boredom

We took a quick trip to the east coast to spend some time with family last weekend, so I'm down to the wire to do my cutting for retreat on Sunday. There's not much to blog about when you're cutting, cutting, cutting. In case you were wondering this is what 1000 triangles looks like.So to relieve the boredom this is what I'm thinking about...

I added a few borders to my Kaleidoscope quilt and now I have to figure out how to quilt it. Maybe straight diagonal lines emerging from the center???
I'm setting aside scraps to finish off my Josephs's Coat quilt. I have 3 half blocks to applique and add. Almost there.
Do you have favorite fabrics that you just don't want to use up? As I cut into these 3, I prayed there'd be a little left. Too bad loaves and fishes didn't work on fabric.
Thank goodness there's always something new and beautiful. Took a little cutting break to play with LouLouthi.
I adore bicycles and I'm eyeing my new stash...
that's been added to my old stash...
It makes me want to break the boredom and go for a ride!

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Panic...

It hit me this week that next weekend I leave on a week long quilting retreat. Oh no! I've been focusing on getting UFOs completed that I have nothing ready to bring. It's certainly not due to lack of fabric or ideas. It's a matter of merging the two!

I pulled out some newly acquired "Prince Charming" fat quarters and added some quieter basics from the stash. This line is so gorgeous and reminds me of Tula Pink's earlier line "Neptune". In fact my friend Rene has some "Neptune" left and told me the lines work really well together. Some smarties know when to save old fabric!
I thought I'd try "Birdbath" from The Practical Guide to Patchwork after my failed previous attempt at this pattern. I decided to use the print in the center to showcase some of the lovely prints in the line. One block...
Became two...
I also looked at my stack of grays, pinks and aquas and decided to make something other than the Asterisk blocks. A little tip here: You'll notice that my stacks are uneven. I'll be using less gray than pink or aqua. I think keeping the proportion of colors uneven makes a quilt a little more interesting.
We had a speaker at our guild meeting yesterday who showed a quilt using these blocks.I knew immediately that was what I wanted for my new project. I'm hoping it will give me look I'm going for.
Just thought I'd share with you my little garbage bowl. If you watch Rachael Ray at all, you know that she always keeps a food garbage bowl on her counter when prepping. I do the same at my sewing machine for snipping "dog ears" and trimming triangles. Makes it easier than bending over a trash can.
I'm feeling better about being ready for next week and enjoying the view...

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