Block of the month Prep

I decided that one of the projects that I wanted to take with me on retreat was the 2009 Mystery Quilt BOM that the Fat Quarter Shop offered. It uses Glace by 3 Sisters for Moda. I just love that line! My only issue with taking it to the retreat was that I wanted the fabric cut out first for easy piecing and I wanted it to be easy to take along.

Last month, when Barb and I were shop hopping, she was buying the block kits from a lot of the shops. They usually have the fabric and the pattern in a ziplock bag, but this year they handed out binders to everyone who signed up and the block kits were packaged in neat little envelopes to put in your binder. It was very cool!!

I remembered this little trick for the BOMs that I am working on and decided to put the Mystery blocks in the binder. First, I had to find the binder and get some 9 by 12 envelopes.



I cut off the top part of the envelopes to make them 9 by 11 and then put them all through the 3 hole punch.



By trimming the envelopes down, they won't extend past the top of the binder.



I then punched the instructions and put the baggie with the pieces inside the envelope. I tried to put the extra fabric in the envelope with the cut pieces, but it made the binder super bulky. I also put the instruction pages in the binder in front of each envelope.



And here it is all finished! This BOM has 12 blocks and is ready to be loaded in the car for retreat!



I can't tell if Maxie was more impressed with this way of organizing or his bone....

Stash Report Week 38, 2010

I was a little worse on the second day of Shop Hop than the first. Well, more than a little! lol





These were the most purchased. And I still haven't done anything with them. I was hoping to get a top assembled this weekend so that I could count another backing and binding bust, but that didn't happen.

I did use a half yard trying out the Curve Master foot. Any little bit helps! lol

Fabric added this week: 16.77
Fabric added year-to-date: 299.60

Fabric used this week: 0.50
Fabric used year-to-date: 183.62

Fabric Used: 115.98

Maisy wonders if there will be room her in the house with all of this fabric.

2010 Shop Hop Day 2

I know that you are all wondering how I am doing today and I am starting to feel better. My ears are clogged right now, but the snot production has definitely slowed. WOO HOO!!! This makes me happy! lol

OK, on to the meat of the post!! Day 2!

Our first stop on Sunday was Valley Quilts. I love this shop! There are always lots of things to look at and I found lots to bring home with me.



And here is what I brought home. I have something planned for every piece that I bought - either the Which Witch? wall hangings or a past shop hop quilt.



Next was Sulphur Grove. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pics in the shop, so there is no picture of their quilt. I picked up yardage for the binding on the Bento Box blocks.



Our next stop was Appalachian Quilts. We were running short on time and still had one shop left, but after walking around the shop, we didn't see anything jumping out at us so we got pics of the quilt and ran!



Sew A Lot was our last quilt and I think that we were both happy to be able to turn in our passports! Here is there quilt.



And we just kept finding fabric that HAD to come home with us. I think that we ended up leaving there at 4:15 and they were supposed to close at 4!

The monkey fabric was on clearance so I just had to pick that up. The Shopping Girls has doxies on it - you can see one right in the middle of the fabric. And the rest is Halloween fabric! ;)



I'm very happy with all the fabrics and I can't wait to start using it! :)

And on that note, I'm off to bed! lol

All about me...

1. Tonight, I deserve 50 Lashes with a wet noodle because in the last post, I failed to mention that Barb did me a HUGE solid while I drove us around the shops on Saturday!! While I dealt with the car and other drivers and navigation (courtesy of Garmin), she hand stitched my binding on the Santa quilt!! Considering all the driving I did, she was able to get to within 2 or 3 feet of being finished! Woo hoo!!

2. I planned on posting about Day 2 of the Shop Hop tonight until I read some of the comments today about the Curve Master foot. I had seem some posts about the foot, but I hadn't really paid attention to them. I was going to pull mine out of the box tonight and show some pictures of what it can do instead of the Day 2 of Shop Hop, but that didn't happen. You can definitely count on a post later in the week!

3. I still have another post to write about things that showed up in the mail on Monday. I am very happy with all of it and excited to put it to good use!! :)

4. I am not posting about the Day 2 of the Shop Hop tonight either. In case you didn't pick up on that by now in this post. :)

5. Speaking of the Shop Hop (I know! That is practically all that we have been doing for the past 3 or 4 days!!) ... Apparently, I picked up a Shop Hop Bug this weekend while out and about at 11 different shops and 3 restaurants this past weekend. I was thinking that my allergies were just kicking in last night after spending a few minutes near a shedding dog because my nose started running incessantly and the sneezing started. When I got home tonight, I basically crashed on the couch until I had the energy to move to my bed. I was out for a good long while and received a bunch of messages from Barb that she was having similar symptoms and the conclusion that we came to is that we caught a Shop Hop Bug and we better dang well win something for our troubles! lol Well, SHE better because there won't be a lot that she can take if it's a cold considering that she is preggers and all!

6. On nights like tonight, it really sucks that there isn't anyone else to help me out with the house or, more importantly, the dogs. How I would've loved to have just climbed into bed and slept through until day break, but alas! I had to rouse myself long enough to crawl back down the stairs, put on their leashes and take them out for their evening business. Could you have said no to these faces???



All is well for the time being and bedtime is imminent. I'm sorry for the interruption in the previously anticipated blog postings! We will be back on track tomorrow!

Decisions, decisions!

Gosh, so much to blog about right now! Do I share pictures of the shop hop or items from my mail today? Or do I post again about how it is soooo late and I am sleepy and you will have to wait another day? So much to decide upon!!

I guess that I will start with day 1 of the shop hop!

Barb was meeting me at my house so that I could drive all day. FUN! :) When she got here, we jumped in my car and hit the Dunkin' Donuts by the first shop of the day!



An egg and cheese wrap and Boston kreme donut for each of us!! Very yummy!!!

Then we headed to Sew Ezy. I didn't take pictures of the outside of the shops because I know what most of them look like and I have shown them before. :) (But Barb took pictures of the outside of the shops and she is actually thinking about blogging about the shop hop!!!)

I thought that this little wall hanging was adorable!!



And here is the Hop quilt from that shop. I got the block patterns, but decided against making a Shop Hop quilt this year. I'm sure that you can't tell on this picture, but the main Hop fabric is the border print and it is a green batik with reds and oranges and has the words Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana throughout the print with cardinals. It's actually very pretty in person!



And here are the goodies that I got from this shop... A curve master foot for my sewing machine, a couple of witch patterns, a hand towel and tiny, tiny ric rak for the spider legs on the towel pattern. The Which Witch? pattern was the only thing that I was really looking for and I squealed when I saw it at the very first shop! Really, I did... Just ask Barb!! lol



The next shop was Aunt Ruth's Quilt Shop and here is their quilt. You can see the words and cardinals on this picture a little better.



I had a $25 gift certificate from this shop so I planned on looking for a backing for the Bento Box quilt and I scored big time! I also found the Nearly Insane quilt book for 50% off and I just couldn't pass that up! I really like this fabric and I am sure that I will have some leftover for scraps. Woo hoo!



Next we hit Stitches in Glendale. Here is their quilt. We enjoyed looking around this shop, but nothing really jumped out at us. We left empty handed except for Barb buying the Hop quilt block.



We jumped in the car for a long drive down to Dry Ridge - about 50 minutes - and got to the Quilt Box. I didn't think that Barb would like this shop because they have a lot of reproductions, but I think that she liked it a lot. This was her favorite quilt for much of the day!



We also got to pet a feline friend!



I picked up some Halloween fabric to use in the Which Witch? pattern at this shop. The stars on the bat fabric are glow in the dark! The FQ, pen and seam ripper were our goodie bags here!



Next on the agenda... LUNCH!!! Chipotle! Yum!!



Next was Cabin Arts in Burlington. We saw lots of great fabrics, but nothing that we needed desperately! Here is their quilt.



And what I got from them. Orange and purple for the Halloween pattern and 4 FQs of a knitting fabric.



Next we ran to the Quilt Bug in Lawrenceberg, Indiana. We were running out of time to get to the 7th shop for the day, so we did a quick run through and then ran out. I liked the lime green that they added to the Shop Hop fabrics.



We climbed back into the car for another 50 minute haul to Pohler Fabrics. This shop was OK, but not worth an hour drive! I think that a lot of their fabrics were a bit pricier, too. Not somewhere that I would go again unless it was for a shop hop.



Another shop were nothing was purchased except for the Shop Hop block kit. We left that shop at 6 and didn't get back to my house until just about 7. What a long haul!! UGH!!!

I think that we were both pooped after the long day and were glad to get out of the car for good that night! I'm very pleased with my acquisitions from Day 1 and I can't wait to get started on my Which Witch? wall hanging!! I am hoping that I could get it hanging in my office before Halloween this year!! Probably not, but I will try! lol

No pics of the pups tonight. They are busy sniffing other dog smells that I brought home tonight. That will be a story for another evening since I had orders to post about Shop Hop!!

More tomorrow! Stay tuned!! :)

Shop Hop Posts

Ladies, I have a confession to make... I won't be posting the shop hop pictures tonight. You are going to have to wait until tomorrow.

I did take the pictures of all of the goodies that came home with me, but I have been vegging all night and catching up on blogs and emails. That left very little time to write anything up about the hopping.

I hope that you can wait patiently until I post tomorrow night! Right now though, I am going to pee the dogs and head to bed. I am bushed!!!

The dogs are pretty worn out, too, from their time in the cage today and playing with Lucy when we got home.



A good night's sleep will do us all some good!

May 2010 Accomplishments

I think that my quilting/sewing mojo is returning!!

1. Got a new blackberry and I love it!! (Holllllaaaa to Barb, my phone twin!!)
2. Finished cutting out the 2009 Thimbleberry quilt!
3. Met Amy and went shop hopping around Dayton!
4. Reviewed all my 2010 crafting goals - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. Quite a motivator!
5. Finished the Milky Way quilt!!
6. Finished the first sock in my purple pair! Started the second sock, too!
7. Signed up for a knitted sweater class. Also got the gauge all worked out!
8. Made the Reversible Table Runner.
9. Started my SIS quilt. I got the 4 patches almost finished and the HSTs ready to be made into pieces!
10. Had a sewing day at Barb's! I cut some kits to take with me.
11. Made an Easy Striped Table runner.
12. Made a take along bag
13. Made 3 sock knitting bags
14. Made a tool caddy
15. Made a dishcloth and started another one and a baby cap
16. Picked strawberries and made jelly with Granma, Carol and Meghan. (I have pics, but haven't gotten the post written up yet.)

I also got a lot of books 'read' this month!

1. Apple Turnover Murder by Joanne Fluke - I think that I can continue with the series, but definitely by manually reading the books. I can get through them quicker than listening to the book on CD.
2. The Endless Forest by Sara Donati - Loved this book! I think that this is a great series and I really enjoyed listening to them all! Very sad for this to be the last book, but at least they can all be re-visited in the future! :)
3. Precious by Sapphire - Ummm... Odd! But a very short book. I also saw the movie, but had to rewind it like 3 times in order to see the last parts. That's a few hours that I am not getting back!
4. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks - I wanted to read the book before seeing the movie. I enjoyed the book and actually cried during the last 30 minutes!
5. Hide by Lisa Gardner - This was the second book of Gardner's that I read and I really enjoy her writing and story lines! This one was very interesting!!
6. The Neighbor by Lisa Gardner - Obviously, I really enjoyed the series!!
7. A Drunkard's Path by Clare O'Donohue - I don't find this series as endearing as the Cobbled Court Quilt series, but it was a good read and a nice mystery.
8. Baby Proof by Emily Giffin - I enjoy this author also!! This was a light and enjoyable read!

Hours spent - quilting - 49.25; knitting - 23.75

What a month!! Now that we are getting into the warmer months, I'm not sure how much I will be able to spend in my sewing area. I might have to move to the first floor again this year! It's too soon to tell.

Maxie says...

"You need to make more snuggle time with us pups!!!"

It's all Linda's fault....

Saturday was the first day of the Tri-State Shop Hop. The day didn't start out strong, but it sure ended after a lot of customers and new faces. I think that I only sat down for a 15 minute lunch and 5 minutes after Barb brought me back a Frosty from Wendy's. And then maybe a minute to try and stretch my back out. Barb and I also may have found a way to start a new quilt, but more on that if it happens. We are very excited about it - that much I can say.

But that wasn't Linda's fault....

After Barb and I closed the shop, I headed up the street to Half Price Books. On Friday, I had finished a book b y Carolyn G. Hart. It was Design for Murder and the second book in her Death on Demand series. I loved it! I checked my library for the next few books on CD, but since the books were written in the 80's I guess they haven't all been put to audio. I actually bought all of the paperbacks that were in the store.



I've already started the next book, but that wasn't Linda's fault either...

When I got home from the shop and the book store, I started some potatoes for dinner. By the time they were ready, I was having trouble walking across the family room to the kitchen. There was nothing but pain and stiffness from my heels to my knees. And my lower back was very tight and sore. I decided that I would treat myself to a foot massage. I have a foot bath that I have used maybe once before and it was just lovely! I put in a bit of peppermint oil and just let my feet soak for 30 minutes with the bubbles, heat and massager. Then, I dried them off and put lotion on them. It was wonderful!!

I was so pooped from working all day that I went to bed at 11 and slept until 10:15 this morning! I was awake from about 4 til 5, but it was awesome to just sleep that long with minimal interruptions from the dogs!

Now, this is where Linda gets blame...

This morning, while I was reading blogs and working on my Stash Report, she IM'ed me and asked if I wanted to run to the local yarn shop to sign up for the classes that we had discussed. I tried to say no, but she wore me down and picked me up an hour later. We headed up and signed up for the Beginner classes and got information on other classes we want to take. I have always wanted to learn to knit to make socks. A lot of the blogs that I am reading are by knitters and I am very envious of the pretty socks that they make!

Here is the yarn that I got to practice with and to make something with at the end of the first set of classes. It is shades of purple and green variegated.



When we left the shop, we drove through Hamilton (yuck!!) and went to lunch. Once she dropped me off, the dogs and I settled in for a nap. When I woke up, I decided to work on a cross stitch that has been sitting around for a few years. All I have left is the back stitching and I figured that if I am taking up something new, I should finish something very old.

In conclusion, I am going to blame Linda for signing up for more classes and not getting anything sewing related done today! Thanks, Linda! I had a blast! :)

A contest from last year

We are gearing up at Best Friends, my LQS that I work at, for the 2009 Shop Hop. Since I am working at the shop, I can't participate this year. I have seen part of the Official Shop Hop quilt and I think it looks fantastic! I can't wait to see it finished!

I have experienced a certain amount of nostalgia the last couple of weeks remembering the last two years that I was able to do the Hop with some quilting friends. We always had a blast!

Last year, almost immediately after the Hop, I left for a Florida vacation to see my folks. I had posted about the quilts that were made by each shop and had a contest to see who could decide which one was my favorite and that I would duplicate. The ones who guessed my favorite would be entered for a drawing.

I enjoyed seeing the comments as they started coming in. To me, it was a no brainer which was the favorite. I believe that my mom even picked it out while I was showing her the pictures. And yet, I was shocked by how many people would read my blog on a regular basis and were fairly close friends, yet had no idea about my taste! Oh well!

As the week in Florida passed, I visited new quilt shops and picked up a couple of fabrics for the winner, but I held off 'closing' the contest thinking that someone else would vote and possibly vote correctly. It didn't happen. I left Florida, came home, shipped off the fabrics, but never mentioned the contest again.

This morning, I got an email about my post (Hi, Gloria!!) and a request for a file of the picture of one of the other quilts. I realized that I had never 'closed' the contest.

So, this is me 'closing' the contest. The quilt below is my favorite quilt of the bunch! I fell in love with it! I bought the fat eighths that the shop was selling in order to finish the quilt. I couldn't wait to get started! And right now, all of the block patterns and fabrics and the fat eighths are stored together in a box waiting for attention!



So of all of the responses, Regina was right on the money! Linda, you were very close! I was pleased to know that you put so much thought into your selection! And for how short of a time that we had known each other then, I was happy that you were as close as you were!

Regina - there has been plenty of turtle fabric that has been passed along to you, but I do have another special something that will be on it's way with the fabric that is being held for you.

Linda - I'm thinking that you deserve an honorable mention prize and it should be ready by the time we go to Bonnie's classes!

And to everyone else .... a promise that I will never wait this long to reveal a contest winner! :) This will be important when I do my 750th post giveaway or my 800th post giveaway. Stay tuned!

Sunday's Events - Part 1

Sunday, I got up and the ninjas and I went downstairs to go outside. Max wiggled with delight when he found Mike sleeping on the floor with in face licking range! Turns out that Holly had an accident in the middle of the night and they had to migrate to the family room. I took all the dogs out and then Mike got ready to go and play golf. Jen and I bummed around a bit reading emails and blogs and sewing a little. I spent a bit of time ironing my millions of half square triangles for my Thangles Milky Way quilt.

We started to get a little famished and decided that we needed grub so we called Cindy to see where she was and then finished getting ready while we waited on her to show up. When she got there, we decided to try going to IHOP again and if they were too busy, we would hit the Great Wraps. After we ate, we ran back to the Lang store so that I could get some fuzzy shoes.

While we were in Lang, I was too lazy in a hurry to get the shoes and didn’t remove one shoe from the plastic piece that holds them together. After I almost fell and Jen and Cindy composed themselves, we decided that we should take some videos for prosperity.

Here's Jen:



Here's me on the left and Cindy on the right:



These are the pair that I ended up getting with some Muppets jibbitz.



Once we were done causing a disturbance at Lang’s, we headed to the Bits ‘N Pieces store in Jen’s area. On our way, Jen installed the jibbitz on Cindy’s and my shoes so that we could wear them and show the off.



We met up with Sherry who was going to run around and then sew with us at Jen’s. BNP was cozy, but they didn’t really have anything that we didn’t see at other shops. No one in our group ended up buying anything.

When we left there, we headed back to Patched Works. I think that I forgot to get a picture of the store’s front so you will have to take my word for it that it is a large building! And it’s all quilting! Jen directed me to find fabric for a Stitch’n Chix bag so that she could make it for me. I really wanted to get some Califon fabric to make a Courier bag out of, but all they had was the black and white. I am going to wait and get that from my quilt shop. This is what I ended up getting – sock monkey fabric for pants and batiks for the bag.



The Turtle enjoyed the notions here.



While we were looking at notions, the Jens (oh yeah, we saw Jen V at the shop while we were there) pointed out a couple of thread guides. I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to try them out.



When we were done at Patched Works, we headed back to Jen’s for some sewing!

J3’s Excellent Quilt Adventure – Stops 6 - 10

After we stopped for a very filling lunch, we headed to JJ Stitches. There is no picture of the front of the store because we didn’t want to cross the street to get a full view. And we couldn’t stand in the middle of the street due to the traffic. I have to say that I loved this store. They specialize in reproduction fabric and I am a sucker for it! And it looked like they had the full lines of most of what they had. The only issue was that they rip the fabric and don’t give the extra few inches to make up for it. I will have to mark my purchases and watch what I use them for. The other thing that I really liked was the simple quilting that they had on their quilts. It was mostly a crosshatch that followed the seams in the blocks and it was just stunning!



The turtle wanted some cake since it was National Cupcake Day. Then, they pointed this out to me and asked for a picture with it.

Naughty Turtle!! hee hee

Here is what I bought:



We also went into a small store that was next to JJ’s. It had some yarn, cross stitch and quilting fabric and patterns, but the store wasn’t much to speak of. Plus, there was a creepy guy that was following us around. We got out of there fast! No time even for turtle pictures.

Before I even left town, I had remembered that Jen had been to a Crocs store and I said that since we were driving to Madison, we should stop at the Crocs store on our way back. So we stopped in Jackson Hole (aka Johnson Creek) at the Crocs store.

**As a small side note, while we were driving to the Crocs store, Mike, Jen's hubby, called and asked if he should let my dogs out. I said that he could and to just put them back in their cage if he didn't want to deal with them before we got back. They hung up and after about 10 minutes, I said, "I guess that he didn't have any problems with the little dogs." Just then, Jen's phone rang. My heart stopped! He let us know that he let the dogs out and Maisy got loose and then Max got loose, but he got them back in the house and they were back in the cage. He was not thrilled!**



The Crocs store didn’t have anything that we wanted and nothing that Cathy requested so we didn’t stay long. (Sorry, Cathy!) We had other shops to hit! We did stop for a potty break next to the Crocs store. We walked in and there was a little girl playing with the hand dryer. The dryer was loud and the girl seemed to be standing under the dryer. The Jens and I went into our stalls and commented on the noise of the dryer. Jen finished washing her hands before I did and got to use the dryer first. We then understood why the little girl was playing around. Not only was the dryer loud, but the air was a force not to be reckoned with. It was a bit of an effort to keep your hand in the air stream and when you held your hand steady, it blew all the extra skin around. Awesome! And we forgot to get video of it. It wasn’t until we were halfway to the car that I thought of blowing the air in our faces so that our lips and cheeks would flap around. Jen V wouldn’t let us go back. *Sigh*

Our next stop was Ben Franklin’s. Growing up, we had Ben Franklin’s around here, but they weren’t the greatest stores. I can’t remember when the last one even closed because it’s been so long. On the way to Ben’s, we broke a rule and had cupcakes in Mike’s beloved truck. I mean, it was National Cupcake Day. We really couldn’t not celebrate National Cupcake Day. It would have been close to blasphemy! Of course, Jen didn’t eat her cupcake since she was driving, but Jen V and I certainly enjoyed ours. *giggle*

When we got to BF’s, Jen parked at the back of the lot next to a truck with a dog in the cab of it. I was having another giggle fest over ‘Waun-A-Bowl’ again (really, that got a lot of laughs from me the whole weekend!) and was having a hard time communicating with the Jens. Then, Jen V slipped when she got out of the truck. She was OK, but it didn’t help me at all. When Jen asked from the driver’s side of the truck if Jen V was OK, I turned to her and found the dog in the next truck barking hysterically at Jen and then he threw himself at the door next to Jen. Again, it wasn’t a good combination for me and by the time we got into BF’s, tears were streaming down my face and I was almost hysterical with laughter. It’s a wonder that the Jen’s didn’t take turns smacking me to help me get myself under control.

The BF's had some great quality fabric! Moda Marbles on sale for $5.97 a yard! Unfortunately, I didn't see anything worth buying. But we did manage to sneak a picture of the turtle with some fabric.



There was also some issues with the BF's workers and whether cutting fabric was something that a person who is working in customer service should do it. I was ready to compliment the girl who helped us, but the Jens didn't want to wait for a manager. They were eager to eat in the truck get on the road!

Once we were in the car, Jen called her quilt shop, Patched Works, to let them know that we were on our way since it was close to closing time. By the time we got there, they had already closed the register so we chatted a little and made plans to go back on Sunday. We left Patched Works, dropped Jen V off at her house and then headed back to Jen's place to save the dogs and sew.

J3's Excellent Quil Adventure - Stops 1 thru 5

Saturday morning, Jen, Holly, Max, Maisy and I got up and saw Mike off to his golf outing. We were taking Mike’s truck since it has OnStar and I believe that he was rambling off a list of Don’ts for his truck as we were closing the door on him! Once he was gone, we scrambled to get our final preparations done for our daylong excursion.

Our first stop was McDonald’s. Since I was getting up early on my vaca after too many days of working too many hours, I demanded begged for some greasy grub! MMmmm … an egg and cheese biscuit … YUM!!! Then, we headed onto Jen V’s house to pick her up. She had quilt blocks laid out on floor and we ooohhh’ed and aahhh’ed while we scarfed down our food. Then, we hit the road with all of the awesome treats that Jen V supplied! Jen V navigated from the back seat and I watched for the signs in the front seat while Jen drove. We made a great team!

Stop 2 was Stitcher’s Crossing in Madison, WI.



This shop was interesting, to say the least. On their website, it says that American Patchwork & Quilting has selected the shop as one of 20 of North America’s favorite shops. Well, it definitely wasn’t one of ours. The selection of fabric was OK. Not great. Half of the store was yarns and cross stitch so it didn’t leave a ton of room for the fabric and quilt supplies. We each found a few things that we could get and we moved to wait at the cutting table to get our fabrics cut.

And we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

I walked away to look at something and when I came back, a lady was finally there cutting Jen V’s fabric. Then, she started on Jen’s fabric. Then, she had the nerve to ask if we minded if she cut a yard for someone else. Jen said, “That’s fine,” with a wave of her hand and she turned to me. I said, “Gee, it’s not like we haven’t been waiting forever already! What’s a yard for someone else?” Then, she cut the rest of Jen’s fabric and then the yard that I wanted. Now, Jen only had like 3 bolts to be cut and I only had 1. The lady was about done cutting mine before the ‘someone else’ moved to the register. SERIOUSLY???? It was so important for you to get your measly little yard cut that you have to butt in to get it cut and then you don’t even rush to get to the register???? I guess that the customer service wasn’t taken into account for that Top 20 ranking. All I know is that when I start working at my quilt shop, this won’t happen!

Anyway, at this shop I got a yard of purple fabric, a FQ of sushi, and a pattern and kit for a pot holder. The kit has the Smores fabric in it. Very cute!



I also got a pattern for this cross stitch wall hanging. It says 'Trick or Treat Smell my Feet.' Cute!



We also had our special friends, Regina One I, Moneik, and Regina the I, with us. Playing the part of One I, Moneik, and the I was the One Eyed Purple Turtle. They enjoyed the Beatles fabric at this shop.



Our next stop was Mill House Quilts. Well, technically, our next stop was the ‘One and Only Waunakee in the World’ sign. Jen pulled over so that we could take its picture.



At this point, I was thinking about all of the names that sound so much alike in such a close vicinity. I was thinking that it was odd how there were a few syllables that were used in different variations to come up with so many names – Kenosha, Milwaukee, Waunakee, Waukesha. I think it was the ‘wau’s that got me. Then, I look to the left and see this:



I just cracked up. Seriously? That is what they named their bowling alley? How cute! (And if you don’t get it, just say it fast a few times. Or say it to someone and see what their reaction is.) I said it out loud to Jen and she laughed, too. Really, it still amuses me as I type this!

Anyway, back to the adventure…

Mill House Quilts was very cool!



We immediately found what the One eyed purple turtle would like - a tea towel with udders!



They also had a very neat quilt made with Califon!



This was a really neat shop with some awesome fabrics and kits and ideas. They also had some really neat little plaques that we got a kick out of reading while we perused the goods. I picked up a couple of fat quarters for Maddy of music fabric and a yard of a really neat purple that starts light at one selvage end and goes to dark at the other. I also got another Miss Rosie's quilt pattern. I am really digging these patterns!



At this point, I was getting hungry as were the Jens and we stopped at a very cool diner that was on our way to the next shop. I had a cheeseburger that hit the spot and the french fries were fabulous! A great meal to get me through the rest of the stops and shopping!