IQF - Friends and Finds

Toward the end of the class that Regina and I took, the "Southern Intruders" arrived at the show. They came to our class to see us and then went to wait for us so that we could go into the show for Preview Night together. As soon as we were done with class, we ran our supplies to the car, gobbled down some dinner and rushed into the Quilt Show!

Thursday night, we concentrated on the vendors and got a little more than halfway through the rows. I think that we were all pretty worn out though and by 8, we were headed back to my house to set up the beds, do a little show and tell and then hit the sack. Regina and Sue had air mattresses set up in my room on the floor and Carolyn and Marj were in the spare bedroom/current stash room. I told them that there were alarms on the stash and since none went off all weekend, I believe that this was enough of a deterrent!

Here is all of us in front of the photo quilt at the show. From the left, there's Marj, Carolyn, Sue, Regina and me.



On Friday, the Southern Intruders had an afternoon class and we all decided that it would be best to drive separately so that Regina and I could come back and start making dinner for us and the extra guests. Sue, Marj and Carolyn headed down to the show and Regina and I made a lunch for us to enjoy. It was so much sweeter that we didn't have to pay $10 or more a meal! Regina and I shopped a little before lunch and finished the vendors after lunch and then started looking at the quilt before we headed back to work on the food.

In total, we had the 5 who were here at the house, Jean (her name is Lois when she comments), Kelly from I Have a Notion and Barb and almost 2 month old Charlie.

Kelly and Sue here. And can you see how excited the pups are to have new people to pay attention to them? And the piles of goodies in the background on the floor? I'm surprised there was anything left at the show! lol

And Jean and Marj.

And that was the extent of my pictures from Friday night. Although, once we were finished with dinner, a group from Indianapolis came over with Jennifer and Carol, Jennifer's mom, and they enjoyed dessert with us. Most of the ladies were excited to be able to see Charlie and most everyone got a turn to hold him. Barb seemed happy to have a little relief from that. :) Sue was able to get some valuable experience since she has 3 grandbabies due this fall - twins and an 'extra' - within 3 weeks of each other!

Kelly brought me a quilt calendar and it is already hanging up in my kitchen. Great quilts in the calender! Thanks much, Kelly!!

Sue, Marj and Carolyn supplied the rest of us with little goodies from their city and Guild. I think that we were all very surprised when they pulled out the little baggies and passed them around. The gals also surprised me with a quilt kit of dog fabric that they said was for the hostess with the mostess! I think that the pups like the fabric and want it made ASAP!



Sue also made Regina and I totes that we used during the show. They were large and held lots of goodies that we bought. Here is mine! Thanks, Sue!! I am still using it to lug things to and from work!



Saturday, we all went back to the show and split up. We saw Joan Hawley of Lazy Girl Designs before we went into the show and made plans to have lunch with her and her mom and friend.



Then, Regina and I went off to finish looking at quilts. (There will be a special post for the quilt pics!) Once we had eaten and finished looking at quilts, Barb was done working at her shop's booth, but hadn't seen any of the show. Regina and I met her, helped her pick up Charlie when her hubby dropped him off and then Regina and I took turns looking after Charlie and helping Barb shop.

When we were done at the Quilt Show, Regina, Barb, Charlie, Sue, Marj, Carolyn and I headed out to Waynesville and Fabric Shack. We went to the local diner first for a quick bite and peanut butter pie so that we didn't have to shop the Shack on empty stomachs. Luckily, the Shack had extended hours for the show and we ended up just about closing the shop again.

After we bye to Barb, our tiny group came back to my house and had show and tell and some leftover snacks. It was a nice and relaxing end to a great day!

And without further ado, here are my goodies! From the Quilt Show... the only thing that I was really looking for were the thimbles and I was lucky enough to find two.



And the Shack! One yard cuts for $3 each! And some Valentine hunks for pillowcases!! And Fresh Flowers charm packs, layer cakes and yardage. I already have the pattern picked out for this!



And everyone left on Sunday. :'-( It was a great visit and the dogs and I missed everyone as soon as they left! I'm sure we will do it again!

Shopping with the Girls - Part 1

When Barb picked me up with Lucy, we had to get food and we were both pretty burnt out on IHOP, so we headed to Cracker Barrel - the next best thing! After a meal that was served by an over eager man, we headed to the Super Joann's!



We looked at card stock and a few little other things before Lucy and Barb headed to the potty and I stopped at the pattern tables to figure out my yardage that I would need for my 2 secret quilts. It was much easier to figure the amounts before Lucy came back and it was, "Jill! Jill! Jill!" every minute or so! lol

Eventually, I figured out my amounts and we moved on to do some more shopping. All of the clearance fabric was another 50% off, so we spent some time perusing that aisle and we came away with some great, good quality fabrics. Then, I found a great pair of fabrics to use as borders on the smaller secret quilt and an awesome fabric for the backing on the larger secret quilt. You will all have to wait until some time next week to see those. ;)

Lucy kept us entertained while we shopped. She asked me to teach her how to hula hoop ... with a quilt hoop!!



I think that we ended up spending about 2 hours in Joann's! Here's the spread that I can show you... A knitting/crochet book by Vanna White for St Jude Children's Research Hospital, some thread, a couple of quilting notions for the 1,000th post giveaway, some knitting needles, a pig pancake pan for my granma who collects pig items, and the fabric. This is the clearance fabric and not the secret quilt fabric! I with held those fabrics for obvious reasons... Regina! ;)



This purchase is starting to cause some serious issues on my stash report!

After Joann's we headed to the Peanut Butter Pie place in Waynesville. We really spent that much time at Joann's!!

Maxie says...

"Just bring Lucy here! I have something to show her!!"

Black Friday and Swine Flu

I got up early and went shopping on Black Friday! I was waiting at the door to Joann's at 5:40 for them to open at 6 AM. I was pleasantly shocked at how awake I was! I had a list of things to get that were on sale and when I was hearing that everyone was looking for a Cricut, I knew that I was safe with what I wanted! I picked up a gingerbread house kit for a co-worker and a rolling sewing machine tote for Barb. I also decided that since batting was 50% off for the weekend and another 20% off with an early bird coupon, I got a bunch! Woo hoo! This will last me for quite a while! And is cheaper than the bolt I got last year when I got the frame. AWESOME!!

Today, there were some other sales that I wanted to check out so I went to a different store. They didn't have everything that I wanted so I went to the Super Joann's in Mason and got everything else. Here is just a sampling of what I got. Some things will be sent in Christmas boxes so they aren't included here. :)



I had to get the replacement ruler because mine has been chipping when I have taken it to classes and on retreats and the chips can be very sharp. That one will now be designated as the travel ruler! ;) And of course, who can pass up 50% off thread and blades when you can take an additional 20% off of that, too! Great deals!!

Once I got home, Max decided that he wanted to help fight the Swine Flu. I hope this helps! lol

Stash Report Week 43

OK, let's just say that I had to celebrate yesterday! Yes! That's what my purchases were! A celebration of the ribbon at the quilt show! :)

First, I got this! It's the Judge's Choice ribbon - one of two given for the almost 150 quilts that were judged.



Then, I picked up a Glace by Moda Jelly Roll and Charm pack. They were 20% off for the show and since this is my favorite line right now, I just couldn't pass it up! Then, I found this brown FQ that I need for the dog quilt. It will be used today!



I saw this - Clearly Perfect Angles - and I just had to get it. It was a pretty good price, too, I think.



And then I stopped at a small booth and the lady who was there looked awfully lonely. I talked to her for a few minutes and saw this panel that I have liked since it came out and I picked up the charm pack to use with it for a wall hanging. Maybe I can actually get this worked up for this year! LOL



And I didn't use anything because I didn't do any sewing this week after I finished the radiant star top.

Fabric added this week: 3.67
Fabric added year-to-date: 296.39

Fabric used this week: 0.00
Fabric used year-to-date: 162.60

Net Fabric Used: -133.79

Now, I'm off to cut some fabric and bust some stash!

Notion of the Week

Or maybe month. Or this may be a one time thing. I am not sure that there are enough new notions that people haven't tried for me to spotlight. We shall see.

Anyway, the notion that I was finally able to put to the test is the Rotary Cutting Mat. The one that I have is a Fiskars brand, but I am sure that they all work the same.



I like to make half square triangles. When I make them, I try to always make them a little larger than I need so that I can trim them down to the exact size. This usually means that I am always moving the squares around when I trim them. It's a hassle.

This is where the rotating cutting mat comes in.



It was very easy to line the ruler up and make the cuts that I needed, turning the mat as necessary.



For the pattern that I am making, I needed to cut 5" squares into 2 1/2" squares, also. This was very fast using the rotating mat.



I laid out 4 squares and then made the cuts one way and turned the mat to cut the other way. Very quick!!



So if you like to make things that involve a lot of cutting of pieces into smaller pieces or trimming up HSTs, I would definitely recommend a rotating mat!