Few more memories from Thelma and Louise's saga......

I am still reveling in the memories of this great trip.

Waco to see Magnolia.

This is one picture that I did not share in the "silos" where a lot of the shopping took place.

Houston to attend thee quilt show.

Here's a upwards shot of a Chihuly chandelier that I thought was great inspiration for a quilt.

Then there was the vendor mall, of course.  

I didn't get away Scott free there, although I was very conscious of having to bring things back on the plane.

I purchased long arm rulers that I have been wanting. 

Just a little fabric for a specific quilt project.

A Christmas Wee One for the stand that I already have. It's a wool project.

A few "needed" doodads.

I couldn't pass up this shawl pin.  Unusual ones are hard to find and I just loved this one. 

Another Christmas wool project.

There were more things purchased at the show (shhh....they are gifts and there were purchases in Waco....more gifts)

Both of my wool projects are now prepped and ready to stitch, but that will be another post when I finally get around to finishing them.  

Then there was the plane ride home.  My sister-in-law and I had brought along knitting projects that we "saved" for this trip, but we found that each night we were so exhausted that no knitting took place until we were on the plane ride home.  

So, now I have my memories and my pictures and longing for time to slow down  so that I can find the time to be creative.   Hopefully my next post will be of my finished wool projects and my knitted project, too.  

There is quilting to do; and the holidays are upon us already.  So time will tell just how much I can get done.  

Can't go to a quilt show without......

No, you can't go to a quilt show without buying something.  I don't need fabric.  In fact, I tell myself I am on a fabric diet, but if you turned in your ballot at the show, you got something off the door prize table.  So I picked up a fat quarter bundle for Christmas.  

Yes....it's going into the stash, but at least I didn't have to pay for it.  

What I did buy was this reading light that I thought might work wonders when I am stitching in the evening.  Ya know....these old eyes just aren't what they used to be.

It hangs around the neck and the lights are LED.  I am hoping to appease my DH by not having every light in the house on so that I can see at night to stitch.  We'll see how this works.  I will let you know.  If for nothing else, I can use it for reading.

Then there was this intriguing pattern with all the hardware in it.  It's a collapsible .....whatever you want it for.....threads and snippets garbage can, tool holder, notions holder, etc., etc.  All you needed to add was a fat quarter and some iron on pellon for the inside.  I bought the small one, but it comes in other sizes.  

Well, I couldn't wait.  I found some fabric in the stash and since it said it would only take an hour, I thought I would whip it together.  

Well, I don't know if it took an hour or not as DH (who is soon to be retired  and this could become a problem in the future) wanted me to go to Walmart's with him.  So, I dropped the project in the middle and came back to it an hour or two later.  Anyways, I can see getting quicker and quicker at it.  It really was simple.  

Here it is all complete.  

What's nice about it for traveling, the pop-up wire inside collapses and you can close it up for packing it up. There is an elastic loop that wraps around it and keeps it pretty flat.  

I can see making more of these.  You can find them at 

FatQuarterGypsy.com

One other thing landed in my shopping bag, too.  

I tried to resist as they are really pricey, but since I won Best of Show, I made a last minute decision to treat myself; and I do mean last minute as they were already packing up their booth!  If you have ever tried DOVO scissors, you will know what I mean.  I have this thing for scissors anyways, but these were just adorable and they cut just sooooo fine!!!  They make me smile just thinking about them.  

Well, that's it for me.  I am sure if this were a bigger show that my purchases would have been a whole lot more, but I am happy with what I came home with.  Even got a quick fix on making the little pop-up container, so that was a plus.  

First retreat is coming up, so hope to get a lot accomplished at it and have lots to share with you, too.  

Have a great week!

I am back from Quilt Week or

Where to start?  Do I make this one post or two?  There was so much to see in Grand Rapids this week at the AQS Quilt Week show. 

 

 

Sandy from Alabama came up to my house and we drove together from here in MI to the show.

 

 

We stayed at the Amway which is connected to the DeVos Convention Center where the show was held.

 

 

We were impressed!

 

 

Our room was fabulous.

 

We took an excursion to Frederick Meijer's Gardens.

It is known for its gardens and it's sculptures. 

Awesome. 

I want to go back and see more.

 

 

This window was in one of the greenhouses.  It made me think of a quilt. 

 

 

Hanging in the cafeteria was this Chihuly glass sculpture. 

 

 

Last year they had these type of glass sculptures all through the gardens.  I wish I had seen them then. 

 

We, also, went to a lecture by David Taylor, an art quilter.  All I can say is his work is awesome!!

 

We were asked NOT to take pictures of the quilts at the show and then post them, but everyone is going to see the winning quilts in one place or another.  This was the Best of Show called Sushi.

 

 

...and this was another big winner.

 

 

Other than these two quilts, I really didn't take any more pictures, but there sure were a lot of beautiful quilts there to enjoy.

 

There were over 200 vendors, too. 

 

Here are some of my purchases minus some Christmas gifts that I have bought ahead of time.

 

These are fat quarters and backing for a quilt that I have been wanting to make called "Fancy That".

 

 

I bought a pattern for a cute little zippered bag and bought these fabrics to work with.

 

 

....and I bought several spools of thread for quilts that I have waiting here to be quilted.

 

 

The red and tan threads are for my Swoon quilt.

 

The two rosy colored threads are for my Home Sweet Home quilt.

 

The gold threads are for my sister-in-laws 9-patch quilt that I am supposed to quilt for her.

 

The two turquoise/aqua ones are for  my Vintage Modern quilt.

 

The gray threads, I think, will be for my large black/white and red quilt AND maybe for the wedding quilt, too.

 

I, also, picked up the teal thread for another friend's quilt (Rita's)  that needs to be quilted. 

 

Note sure if you can see it, but I have two long arm rulers (arcs) from DeLoa Jones, a show pin and a magnetic pin/scissors keeper. 

 

Ahhh....I think I did well this time around. 

Well, it is back to normal tomorrow. 

Today we worked some more on the planning of the baby shower that will take place this coming weekend.  If you didn't believe me that the "tribbles" were multiplying, you should see the pile of them on the pool table in the basement.  I will leave you with this picture......

 

  

 

Inspired!!!

I am back from Grand Rapids, MI and I may have only spent one day there this year, but believe me, you can't come away from one of the best quilt shows and not be inspired. 

 

This is the first annual AQS quilt show here, but I think the venue was perfect and I hope they have many more in the future. 

The new rules of AQS for not posting pictures are a little tight, but I took a couple close ups (hope that is ok) just to show you some of the great quilting and applique. 

Love me some circles.

Love feathers!

I love the variegation on those flowers.  

You can go to the AQS website and see all the winners.

I came away from this show feeling like it was "home town week".   I ran into friends from the Internet, friends from my guild, and people who I had taken classes with (Gwen Marston's and Karen Stone's) in the past.  

I didn't come away empty handed either.  

I had to pick up Gwen Marston's Medallion book because I personally know three people who were fortunate enough to get their quilts pictured in the book.  How exciting for them!

I think I finally have collected all the fabrics that I need for the Gathering Baskets, too; so it may be time to get that quilt cut out soon.  

Can't wait to try out these new "numbered" pins to be used as reminders as to which block goes in which order.  It will save on a lot of "stickies" for me.  

Can't wait for next year's show.  Hope to see you there.