Local Fabric Shop . . . kinda . . .

Today was the day we were all supposed 

to shop at our local quilt shops . . .

Well, I had to work . . . in an office.

But . . . this past weekend I was visiting my family north of Boston

and we (I) did a little fabric shopping.

We visited Portsmouth Fabric Company, one of my faves!

Whenever I go north I try to con the family into a trip up to Portsmouth.

(There is a great brewery there too!)

This shop is a distributor for Kaffe Fassett,

so they  have all the new lines, but they also carry all the

golden oldies that I love.

The colors and yumminess are almost overwhelming!

I'm not even going to admit to how much I stocked up!

I usually stick to the fabric, but the quilts caught my eye this time around.

Then I turned the corner and saw a little "show" by this quilt artist.

Beautiful appliqued paintings of scenes under the sea.

I just love these!

And they remind me of a block that Helen did for one of our Bees.

It wasn't all fabric shopping . . .

I saw this lovely little cameo in a consignment shop.

I didn't buy, just taking the picture was enough.

While my aunt and uncle looked at couches at the Crate & Barrel outlet,

I found fabric!  Haha.  I always do!

I got four yards of Marimekko fabric for some backings.

Retail $45.00 a yard.  I paid $5.95 a yard!  Score!

We also did a bit of walking around Boston too.

This is Faneuil Hall with all the twinkling lights.

So while I did buy fabric, it wasn't "local" to me per se.

I'm hoping to do a little of that this upcoming weekend! Hehe.

What are you doing this weekend?

Sweat Shop Monday

Another successful sweat shop day spent together!

We all had today off, so we decided to spend it together working on our projects.

There is always plenty of silliness!

And no one wants to be photographed!

Gidget wanted to make a larger version of this bag she made a while ago.

It is pretty funny to see our three sewing tables,

cutting table and ironing board set up in my small living room,

but it is very cozy!

Gidget's bag will be huge, 

but she is very pleased with the way it is progressing!

The kid started a new quilt using bali strips.

It is moving along quickly and she is pleased too.

Of course after 5 or 6 hours of sewing,

sometimes a few curse words escape 

and the seam ripper comes out.  Another reason to giggle!

They told me if they had to get their pictures taken, so did I.

Okay . . . hummmm, maybe I won't make them take pictures next time.

Here is the kid's quilt top so far.  

This is going to be a beauty!

And I made pretty good progress on my scrappy trip around the world.

17 blocks so far.

I'm going to keep making blocks and then play around with the placement.

I love this!

What did you do today?

What's Next?

So now that I have finished an old top and it is happily in it's new home . . . .

What's next?

I, of course, I had to try a couple things before I could decide.

I did finish a Triangles Galore Bee Quilt in the fall and gave it to the kid.

Do I want one for me???

Then I have been seeing this Scrappy Trip Around the World Quilt-A-Long

ALL over the web, flicker, blogs, everywhere!

So I tried them both out . . .

I do love a good paper piecing project.

I will always love this block, but . . . 

Maybe not this time around.

So then, I had my hand at the Scrappy Trip Around the World block.

I can see how it is addicting.  Easy piecing, clever un-piecing and voila!

A block in minutes.

I believe this block has won for the next project!

Here is the tutorial and the flickr group.

So off I set on cutting up fabric and laying out colors.

I need to mix in more large prints, I think it gives it an extra wow factor.

I might just have to be a bit of a control freak and make sure a dark

value color is in the center row.  Does this take the scrappiness out?

We'll see as I progress, I can always mix it up as I go along if I don't like it.

I have decided to take a cut of most of my fabrics for this one.

Here is my yellow/orange pile waiting to be cut.

This is going to take a while . . .

But totally worth it!

Here is a Quick Trip Around the World quilt

that I made for my Mom in 2007.

I used the Eleanor Burns book for this one and it uses the same technique

as described in the tutorial above.  

This quilt for my Mom was done in a Kaffe Fasset fabrics.

I also got a tardy Bee Block done this week.

It for Chrissie D in our Metro Mod Modern Bee.

Going in the mail tomorrow!!

This would make a cute scrappy quilt too . . .

Hummmmm.

I know my next finish has to be an old top!

This is actually prodding me on to finish them!

Carrot and stick!!  Hahaha.

A Resolution of Sorts . . .

Happy New Year . . .

a few days late.

I'm not one to make resolutions,

I always feel I'm setting myself up for failure.

If it's something I want to do or change,

I should just do it right?  No matter what day of the year it is.

So this year I decided that I am going to finish the tops that I have knocking around.

There are six or seven, and I have decided that I will try to

finish one top for every new project I start.

It sounds confining at first, but really it's about balance.

So here is the first top I have finished this year!

Ha!  I love when  you can say that 6 days into the year.

I started this quilt 6 years ago and lost steam

pretty quickly.

Then a friend gave me this great fabric.

She was cleaning out and gave me lots of great fabric actually.

So this is the first of many of her cast offs you will see.

Seeing this fabric inspired me to finish this quilt.

Also, I have the perfect person to give it to.

He is someone who has helped me greatly over the past year,

and I want him to know how much I appreciate it.

Yesterday, I was in the city for a quilty event.

I got to see lots of lovely women, we laughed, we hugged,

we enjoyed each other's company imensely!

My friend Chris showed some blocks she was working on.

Orange, yellow and navy blues.  

I loved the way the colors worked together.

It reminded me of a "Goldfish" quilt I wanted to make,

and have been collecting fabrics for for the last few years.

So when I went to the City Quilter and saw

this blue lobster in a fat quarter pack, I just knew I had to have it.

And so maybe this will be my "new project"

before my next "old" top.

The other fabrics just jumped in my arms.

You know how that goes . . . 

So are you a resolution maker or not?

Making a Terrairum

Being an apartment dweller these days,

I decided I needed a little terrarium to brighten up my place.

It was quite easy to put together.

First I found a glass jar with a lid.

I layered the bottom with sand and then big rocks.

This photo should have been first, I don't know why blogger

rearranges my pictures.  I guess it thinks it knows best.  Ha!

Here are my supplies gathered from the beach

and the local greenhouse.

So back to the layering.

Sand, rocks, shells, sea glass . . .

Potting Soil . . . 

I love the look of the shells and sea glass in there.

I had a big bowl of sea glass from all my gatherings 

at different beaches around the world.

My BIL will laugh at this, but the glass is being put to good use now.

Little plants and ferns and succulents added in.

And a couple of shells in the midst.

The kid thinks is needs a tiny gnome.

I think I agree, will need to hunt one done.

So here is my little peace of heaven.

Life.

Be grateful. 

Bambi Shapiro Returns!

It has been a very sad few days here in Connecticut . . .

and for the whole world I suppose.

When innocence is lost, it seems that nothing will ever be the same again.

There must be a greater plan, but right now it is hard to see.

I guess that is why we have faith.

I was very lucky to spend Saturday with my good buddy 

Bambi Shapiro (not her real name of course!)

It was comforting to have a friend to talk to,

to contemplate with . . . .

And the distraction of sewing was a nice respite from the sorrow.

Bambi is working on a beautiful quilt-as-you go piece.

Don't you love those colors?!

Yum.

She was practicing her free motion quilting and

she is so good at it!

It's hard to use someone else's machine and

keep the grove and figure it out,

but she did an amazing job!

She got many rows sewn together . . . 

I decided to work on a quilted scarf.

I just love the ease of flying geese, and paper piecing.

I made 13 four geese rows and put them together.

Changing the direction of the geese for variety.

Then of course you need to pick all the paper off the back!

Mindless work that was gratefully accepted at the time.

I cut the batting a quarter of an inch small on all sides

so that I could sew this together with the back and turn it inside out.

A little spray bast kept is all together until I turned it and quilted it.

Bambi advised me to go light on the quilting 

or it would be too stiff to wrap around a neck.

She was right of course, and I did very simple straight line

quilting up and down and around the edges.

Here is my lamp modeling the finished product.

It is warm and cozy and bright and cheery!

Bambi & I also went to the luncheonette 

across the street and had a late lunch.

I love this place so much!

The owner hangs a million decorations from the ceiling

for each holiday.

It's hard to photograph, but it is wonderful 

to be there in person!

So, at the end of this weekend,

I will continue to think about the things I am grateful for, 

and I will pray that the families in Newtown Connecticut find some peace.

Please put them in your prayers too.

Catching up . . .

Where do the days go?

I seem to be quite distracted these days,

and haven't been doing a lot of sewing.

 I did finish my Whites-Lights quilt in time for our 

Metro Mod Guild meeting last weekend.

I love the way it turned out.

The quilting took a while, but was totally worth it!

This quilt is off at it's new home,

and was greatly appreciated by the special person who received it.

I also finally got my November Bee block off in the mail!

Sorry Dorothy!

I made you two, and they were fun!

My Jack Frost wreath got a bow and was dropped off

at the Nature Center for their auction.

I hope it did well . . . 

And now onto a new project!

I should really finish one of the 8 tops I have, but . . .

Look at all that yummy color just calling to me!

Ha!  Hope you are enjoying the weekend and the holidays.