Circus Fun at the Shop Hop

On Saturday I joined my friend Becky, Gretchen and her mom on a very abbreviated (for me anyway) shop hop. I met them at Little Quilts in Marietta for some circus fun. Since I my machine had been recently repaired I was trying not to do too much fabric damage. However, I can always find something that I like at Little Quilts. I went armed with a list, and only bought one thing that wasn't on my list. Last week I got a really cute pincushion pattern, I needed pale green wool for the leaves, found it plus some really nice floral for the actual pincushion. I did buy a fat quarter bundle of shirtings. It wasn't on my list but I really really needed it. From Little Quilts I headed to Tiny Stitches, while Becky, Gretchen and her mom stopped for lunch. I bought a couple of fat quarters and a pajama pattern at Tiny Stitches. I can honestly say it was one of the few times I have been in there and didn't want to buy everything that I saw. It would have been great to do more than 2 shops but I really need to get some of my kits completed, plus all of those other patterns that I have been saving.

Fabric Found

After much searching online last week, I finally found the fabric that I needed to finish the borders on my quilt. I found it at an online only shop in Louisiana. (the fabric actually came from my friend Becky's home town. ) Thanks to everyone who sent suggestions of where I could possibly find the fabric. I have learned a valuable lesson, either make sure you have enough fabric or don't keep the project in a UFO state for so long. I didn't get too excited because I couldn't get my hopes up that it was exactly what I was looking for until the mail came on Friday. It was a perfect match. I was able to get the borders on and finish a UFO. So far I have finished one project a month. This was my project for March. I had to spread it out on the floor of my sewing room, which after looking at this photo I definitely need to clean my sewing room. You know when you get involved in a project you don't always take time to clean, however I think I need to do some major cleaning before I start another project.

Thimble Finger Salute!!

I had so much fun last Friday night at Thimbles. I was great to have our exalted Thimble leader back, she is the best even when she is on pain meds. The project for the month was her pattern for a full body pillow. I managed to get the top done, now I just have to do some quilting and make the back for it. (this is Pat's sample). I told myself I could only buy one kit a quarter, and I had already bought one, but I decided to give this to someone as a present, that way it doesn't really count.

Pat also shared with us the quilts for the next quarter. I kept my promise to myself and only ordered one kit. I fell in love with the one for June. Here are our kits for next quarter. The first one is the kit I decided to purchase. It is from one of our local quilt shops, Little Quilts. The other two kits are from Sweet Home. Which is your favorite?

Need Fabric, Help!!

Don't you hate it when you are almost finished with a project and you run out of fabric. That has happened to me. That is what I get for holding onto fabric for too long. I only need 1/2 yard of this fabric. It is called Jacobean Garden Caffe, by Bernatex. I bought it last year so it really isn't that old. Please look through your stash and see if you have any, I bought it at Tiny Stitches. If I can't find more I will have to take two borders off of my quilt and find something else to use. I would love it get more, am willing to pay for fabric and postage. Please, please look through your stash. Thanks.

Taking a break

I have been working on a project for school most of the day, and I decided to take a break and check out some fellow quilter's blogs and update mine. I had to get my hair done this morning, I was getting that "skunk look" as my husband calls it. The roots were definitely showing. After a visit with Kristine, I had to drive out to Conyers and pick up my sewing machine. I dropped it off last Saturday. Thankfully it wasn't anything too major, the bobbin case and a fuse had to be replaced. Of course since I was in Conyers I had to drop by Sweet Home, I got out of there without spending too much money. I picked up some batik for sashing, a couple of end of bolt pieces and a gorgeous piece of cotton that looks and feels just like linen. I have an Indygo Junction tunic pattern that I am going to use with it. I also finished block # 3 of the Bunny Hill baskets. Here it is.

Now it is time to get back to work on my action research project. My topic is the Importance and Benefits of Reading Aloud to students. It has been a great opportunity to work closely with two classes at my school. I am going into each class twice a week and reading aloud to them. There has been a definite increase in the number of students that say they like being read to. I just have to put the final touches on it, read over it and submit it to my teacher. Wish me luck

I have the best job!!

I have said before that I have the best job in the world, but today confirmed it. Today we had a guest author at school, Carmen Deedy. It was the most fun I have had at work in ages. Carmen is a local author so I have heard her speak several times before, but today she outdid herself. The kids and teachers did not want to leave the media center, they were begging for more. I know how they felt, I could have listened to her all day. If you are not familiar with her work you should check out her website: http://carmendeedy.com/ . We were lucky enough to get a sneak peek at her new book which will be coming out in the fall. It is the one of the most beautiful picture books that I have ever seen, 14 Cows for America, based on a true 9/11 story. I love all of her books, but my favorite is probably The Library Dragon, of course I would never, ever be a library dragon. My second favorite is The Last Dance. It was after reading this book for the first time that I made my husband he would dance with me every day, and we do. Some days our dance is in the kitchen before we eat breakfast, some days it is when I come home from work, and some days we have on our jammies and are ready for bed. Some days we don't feel like dancing but it is a promise that we made to each other so we dance and feel better for it. If you ever get the chance to hear Carmen please take advantage of it, she is a wonderful storyteller and author.

TGIF!!

I am so glad that today is Friday. This has been an incredibly long week. We did inventory in our media center this week, plus I had a huge presentation for my class on Monday night. I also had a wall hanging for school that had to be finished by today. We are doing a classroom extreme makeover. I finally finished it last night, much to the dismay of my machine. Now my machine no longer works. HAHHHHH! However the wall hanging did turn out nice. It is hard to see, but all of the students in the classroom signed a piece of fabric along with the administrators. I am really glad to be done with this project.

I also finished two other projects, an Easter bucket for my new great niece, Vivienne, and a hat for a great nephew. (believe it or not it will be a Christmas present. I am trying to get a head start on my gifts this year.