Its a Quilt-Along!!

Have you seen this quilt?? Its the finished design of the Quilt Along by Michele Foster at Quilting Gallery. Doesn't it look like fun??? I have always been drawn to quilts that have different sized blocks; I just think it makes them so interesting.

Not only am I going to join in on this Quilt-Along, I have also donated a prize. More on that in a bit.

I love Cherrywood Fabrics (who doesn't???) so I intend to use them on this project. I had originally planned to pull from my stash, but where's the fun in that? *grin* Instead, I'm using a combo of the Cherrywood I already own along with these colors:

My background:

My main colors for the blocks:

And a few Cherrywoods from my stash to add a little "pop." Unfortunately, the photo makes them look dull--trust me, they're not!

When Michele asked for prizes to be donated, I decided to donate my quilting. It was only a tiny step from donating my quilting to wanting my own quilt to quilt. So, if you win the prize I donated, you can have a free edge-to-edge pattern on this Aiming For Accuracy quilt or, if you love it as much as I think I'm going to love mine, you can have custom quilting for 50% off.

The actual instruction begins tomorrow, so there's still time to join in the fun. If you do participate, let me know. I'd love to see the colors you choose. There will also be an additional prize for my followers that join in.  Come on now...you know you want to!!

I got a present!!

Remember the Machinations quilt I did for Marei? Remember the backing fabric she used and how I was trying to figure out if she'd notice if I switched it? I love red and I loved that red fabric so much!!!

Our Guild meeting was just the other night and guess what Marei brought me???? My very own bit of that fabric!! She went back to the store and bought what was left on the bolt for me...I have almost 2 yards now to call my own.

Its all pre-washed now and proudly added to my stash. I'm thinking of making a log cabin in blues and reds...this will be in there! Isn't it pretty??

Thanks, Marei!!!!

Dory

Help...Do you have this Fabric??

On Wednesday nights, I take a class at our local community college.  I use the term "class" loosely, as it is basically just a bunch of women getting together to sew with a "teacher." Carolyn teaches the class and for those of us who've been quilting for awhile, its just a get together. For the new quilters, she's absolutely the best person to learn from. I am often granted the privilege of quilting for her and her piecing is perfect!

I'm working on a table runner in her class now and here's the problem. I raided my stash for this project and realized that I don't have quite enough of my focus fabric.

This is what I'm looking for: (sorry for the lack of clarity--I took the photo from a website)

It's a Deb Strain design called "Bistro." If you have some you'd be willing to part with, please let me know! At this point, you could practically name your price!!

Does anyone really buy food with Per Diem?

As you know, I'm in Sacramento for training.  I couldn't let a trip to Sac go by without visiting a new quilt shop and, of course, buying fabric.  I found Bearpaws and Hollyhocks only about 15 minutes from my hotel.  Its in a smaller strip mall on El Camino.  Its a great shop with tons of fabric displayed so you can actually see it.  I dealt mostly with Elaine, who was a huge help in picking out fabric, and with Lindy, the owner, whose opinion we kept checking.  This is the fabric I ended up with--I'll be using it to make the Pioneer Sampler by Quilt-in-a-Day. 

Since I've been in Sac, I finished putting the blocks together from my retreat quilt.  The colors aren't true at all in this picture, its purple with yellows/orange.  It looks much better in person.  When I went to square the blocks before assembling the top, I realized I hadn't brought a ruler that was large enough.  No matter though, now I'm working on a red/white/black Turning 20! 

And in case you were worried, I am learning things at my training.  Today I learned how to interrogate people and better yet, I learned the tell-tale signs that broadcast when someone isn't telling the truth. 

So, back to the original question...Does anyone really use their per diem money to buy food?  I bought some food, but buying fabric is way more fun!  I can eat when I get home.....

This might be fun...

Have you seen this?  This is the logo for the Cross Country Christmas Quilt Designer Shop Hop.  It gets underway next Monday, November 9; they will have free patterns, prizes and "loads of goodies for the good boys and girls."  There are 12 designers lined up to visit each day and each of them has designed a special project to share. The projects are all themed around gift giving, quick and easy to get done before Christmas. Click here to go to the first blog and to get more information.

And I have to share.  Buggy Barn just came out with these fabrics called Buggy Barn Basics...  I keep hearing Gollum in my head saying, "My precious," over and over.  Thank goodness its payday!  Here are just a few that I love:

Look What I Found....

We have a store here in town that has been closed for a number of years, but the inventory was never sold. The owner got sick, but would on occasion be well enough to open so her daughter didn't have the heart to sell the business. It was called the Quincy Emporium and was the only fabric store in town. It recently opened again (with the same 10 year old fabric) on sale for half price. I was just there today and look what I found!!!











Its flannel and beautiful. I'm very picky about horse fabric; I don't like it when they try to make the horses look authentic, but they end up looking all wrong. These horses were done in a style that looks terrific. I even have a good idea of what quilt this will be backing for.

Fabriholics Anonymous

I am the President of this influential group...currently, I am also the only member! Even though I did quite good and didn't buy anything from Fabric Depot this weekend; today I got an e-mail from eQuilter.com and I just couldn't resist. I love Kokopelli fabric, I couldn't help it. I'm sick, its an illness, but its less destructive than cigarettes and better for me. See...I can justify anything!
Of course, I had to buy a few others to go with...