Saving For A Rainy Day (Spokane, WA)

Saving fabric, that is...and we are certainly getting our fair share of rain.  We have been in Spokane since last Friday.  The weather has been decent up to yesterday afternoon when the wind picked up and blew in a cold wet front.  Time to dig through my stash and get started on some quilt kits.

5 new quilts to work on

I have been wanting to do this for a while, but you know how it is...I think about it before bed and forget about it by morning.  I finally wrote myself a list of projects I wanted to get setup into kits.  So, far I cut the Sunbonnets' borders, printed foundations and cut fabric for two Tumble quilts, cut fabric for another Crazy 8's quilt, and last but not least, a snowball quilt with a penguin theme (not in photo).

I have also been working on some wall hangings and mug rugs.

With the kits, I don't have to worry about all the time it will take to find the right fabric or to setup and breakdown.  I do need to spend more time this week putting a dent into my scrap bag that I just added to...again!

Here's a couple of photos of my last quilt project.  This quilt along with the kits (once they are finished) will be donated to a children's charity.  I am finally making a dent in my stash!

Ocean Blue

with otters, whales, and dolphins

I finished and just listed this morning a Nancy Halvorsen's "Let Freedom Ring" wall hanging in my Etsy shop.

I have been busy visiting entries in the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I have seen some gorgeous quilts.  I think I have seen about a third of the entries.  So many quilts, so little time.  On 24 May, Amy will open her link for voting, so I need to start taking notes of the ones I like the best.

The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

Gosh!  I'm a little lost for words. *Wondrous*Enchanting*Mystical*Magical....I found myself craving cakes and I'm not that big on cakes, but I could almost smell the sugar in the air...my mouth watering...mmmm.  Sarah's stories always ignite my imagination and she never fails to entertain me right to the end.  Her books are like a comfort food....so relaxing and she always leaves me begging for more!

17 year old Emily comes to live with her grandfather in a small southern town in North Carolina filled with unusual characters and secrets after the death of her mother.  Emily's mother never spoke of her childhood home or about her own father.  Emily sets out to learn about her mother's past and what the charming people of Mullaby are hiding.  All I can say is once you start reading this one, you will not want to leave..I mean stop reading it!

Sarah Addison Allen has a new book coming out this year called "Lost Lake" and I haven't read "The Sugar Queen" yet.  I'm saving it for later.

“Books can be possessive, can’t they?  You’re walking around in a bookstore and a certain one will jump out at you, like it had moved there on its own, just to get your attention.  Sometimes what’s inside will change your life, but sometimes you don’t even have to read it.  Sometimes it’s a comfort just to have a book around.” 

~Sarah Addison Allen, The Sugar Queen

The Peach Keeper and Shopping (Branson, MO)

I'm having a hard time getting back into my old quilting routine that I had going last winter.  Instead of quilting, I finished reading "The Peach Keeper" by Sarah Addison Allen.  I read another book by Sarah called "Garden Spells" with an apple tree that seemed to have a mind of its own and its owner Claire a talented cook with a flare for healing and comfort food.  People would claim her food had its own magic.  I think I gained 10 pounds just reading what Claire was making.  It sounded so yummy!  I find Sarah's books to be different from my usual readings.  I love the characters with their secrets and history of knowing each other with a hint of magic in the southern small town atmosphere.

"The Peach Keeper" is about four high school students meeting again as adults.  Their family's history of wealth, friendship, lost, and magic makes for a relaxing read.  I loved how Sarah included Claire from "Garden Spells" for a brief time.  I will be reading more of her books.

      

I had to visit Quilts and Quilts Country Store in Branson.  I have always loved the Ozark quilts.  The more traditional look of the simple country style reminds me more of my own childhood.  This quilt shop has been a family operated business since 1983.  Three generations have worked at the shop and now there is a fourth generation...well, she is only 17 months, but it is never too early to start her love affair with fabric, right?  The 7,000 sq. ft store has over 10,000 bolts of fabric, 1,000+ books, and 2,000+ patterns.  I could have spent hours in there!  Everyone was cheerful and helpful.  I had a great time quilt talking and browsing through the many aisles.

I need to use up a few yards of muslin and I thought the best way to use it would be in 1930s quilts or with some redwork.  I have been wanting to buy some redwork patterns, but I haven't seen anything that jumped out at me.  Well, I found what I was looking for at this quilt shop.  I have no idea how many redwork patterns they had on display.  I do know that I had a hard time picking out just one pack!  There were so many cute patterns!  

Now I don't know about you, but I always did the iron-on stamps for embroidery and redwork.  I knew that I could use my light box to transfer the pattern.  The question was "with what"?  Water soluble pen?  Yea, I can see that fading out before I'm done.  Permanent ink?  What if I goof?  Silly question!  I would slip up...it's a given, then I would have a permanent mistake.  I finally asked and two ladies behind the counter told me "I use a #5 pencil.  I have never used anything else.  It is the best way to transfer and it doesn't snag the material.  I just talked you out of a sale, didn't I?"  I loved their honesty and they are right.  A pencil would work and it washes out.  

That made me think of how I have let all the magazines and other quilters influence the way I have changed my quilting habits.  When I first started quilting, I made my own templates and I used a 1/4 inch wheel to make the seam allowance.  Later, I used store bought plastic templates.  All patterns were hand drawn on the material (not easy to do on dark fabrics) and cut out with scissors not with a rotary blade.  All the blocks were sewed by hand and then quilted in my small hoop.  I suddenly realized that I missed those quiet hours and I have let the business side take over.  Maybe it is time to get back to my roots and stop buying all the fancy tools. (Leaves more money for fabric)

This reminds me of a joke my husband told me many years ago about astronauts needing a pen that could write upside-down while in space.  Researchers spent thousands of dollars to make the perfect pen for the astronauts.  The astronauts rendezvous with the Russian Cosmonauts in space.  When it came time to write reports the astronauts showed off their expensive new pen. The Cosmonaut shrugged and pulled out his trusty low cost pencil.  Granted the government needs their reports done in ink, but I don't.  Lesson learned. :0)