One Step Forward, Two Steps Back (or more)

I taught a class at Cottage Quilts over the weekend. It was a lot of fun... nice people! One brand new quilter in the bunch... we did our best to be a bad influence on her. The newbe and two of the other girls even signed up for my retreat! Whoohoo!

I couldn't help myself when I found this pattern over the weekend! I had seen Sherri at A Quilting Life working on this and it looked like fun. I had some Aviry fabric in my stash and was able to get it all ready to go... because I am almost done with the Fig Tree Turnover project.

I just need to get these rows sewed together and the borders on and wha-la!
Here is another project spinning around in my head that I want to get to. It's Pam Kitty Morning's new purse pattern. I thought I would like to try it out in some of the vinyl covered fabric in Shangra-la and the coordinates to it. I can see that it will be cute in any fabric group!

I don't know what I am going to do with these yet. I started collecting the pink and just added a little to it with some fat quarters that were on sale at Cottage Quilts. I'm kinda of leaning towards basket blocks... what do you think?

Here's a little bundle that might work for the purse pattern too!

A plethora of directions to go in! I have this sweet charm pack of Bunny Hill fabrics that Cottage Quilt made up. A Snibble might be the answer but I am really getting into the Dresden Plates also... decisions, decisions!

So as the weekend ended... I was ahead with my Fig Tree shop sample project but I seem to have a bunch of projects to add to my list!

Time Out!

I should have seen it coming when I read this quote this morning...

"The illusion is to believe that COMMUNICATION has just taken place" George Bernard Shaw. Okay maybe not a direct quote but you get the idea.

But I've got one of my own for you...

"Negative people make me want to wash out my ears"!

I'm just sayin'

So after some prayers and a couple Aleve I thought some breathing techniques would help. And what is better than just breathing in air? Breathing in fabric! Let's go take 5 at the LQS!!!

These books are going on my want list I think I have all the Kim D. books. I haven't made any of the patterns but I love them!
There are some really cute things to make in this book. They have a couple samples in the shop... let's go take a look.

Look at these sweet little jelly rolls. Snippets is going on the want list too!

I already have the Sizzlin' Sixties book... and there's my American Jane quilt(the things you can do with a 60 degree ruler!)

Hummm, I like this quilt made from the Fig & Plum group. Easie peasie pattern that is a free one on the United Notions web site... theirs done in the Sultry group by Urban Chicks. I think this pattern might be fun to do at my retreat.

Here is another one of mine. I should have quilted this one!

Okay, I feel better now. Hope you do to:)

Abundance, an abundance of give-aways that is!

I was just over at Miss Punkie Pie's blog and read about this little give-away:

Now that is a sweet bundle of goodies! Jane over at Laniejane's is having a give-away! This is a sample spree souvenir! Hot off the press! The line is Simple Abundance from Thimble Blossoms which Sherri over at A Quilting Life has already gotten her hands on and is working with right now! Now go on over to her blog and try to win this and then... go over and check out her gorgeous on-line shop. She has lots of fun fabrics and patterns.

Then I suggest you go over to the extremely talented Jennifer at Sweet Liberty and enter her give-away! Jennifer has lots of goodies from Spring Market and from her "person stash" too!

Now if that isn't enough fun Vickie E, Mid Ohio Knitter, is having a give-away also! Woohoo! She has a great blog that you might just want to go check out anyway. But if you enter... hands off that pincushion! I am going to arm wrestle Miss Punkie Pie for it! Okay... I'm just kidding about that part.

This day just keeps getting better & better:)

A Nice Weekend for Me

I had a really nice weekend. I hope that you did too! We started off by going out to dinner with this group of people on Friday night. You can see me at the end of the table with the ice tea in front of me... the ones at the other end had the wine... can you tell? LOL!

That is my sister's husband acoss from me (lefties snag the table ends) and my sister is across from my hubby. We were having a little get together before she had to go in for a "procedure". She left for San Francisco today and tomorrow is the big day for her. Briefly: skin cancer- and she gets a nose job. Which isn't so fun when you like the one you started with.

I finally caught up on the holiday decorating which should have been up for Memorial Day... but I like the flags up all summer. The 4th of July is my favorite holiday, so I approach it like Christmas decorating!

You can see that my flowers didn't do so well while we were gone last week... I'll add a little color this week:)

I was putting things together for a class I was going to teach on Saturday and I ran across this magazine (Quilt Almanac) so I snapped a picture of my quilt that was featured on the last page of the issue.

So, while I was teaching at Cottage Quilts, the owner Carolyn and I tried to discuss the plan for the Fig Tree Club. It is going to be so much fun. She is going to offer the club on line as well as in a classroom setting for local people. We are going to have food and a trunk show, prizes and that is just the start! But while I was there I got to pick out my next store sample to make... so what else but Fig Tree:

Joanna has some cute projects in this book using Moda precuts: turnovers. The projects where larger than I expected. There are 6 quilt patterns to make with variations on a couple of them. So I got my fabrics (from the Patisserie group) picked out right then and there and got it all cut out Sunday and even a little sewing done on it ta' boot!

Now that was a nice way to end the weekend.