OUT OF BUSINESS?!?

I needed some buttons and rick rack for a few projects, so I decided to go to my favorite button store.  It's an outlet store that has been in my town forever (well, at least 29 years, which is how long we've lived here).  It has buttons, zipper, rick rack, fabric, lace, etc.  on one side and clothing on the other side.

When I got there, it looked strange.  Not as much stuff was there.  Then I asked another customer what was going on and she told me the bad news - they are going out of business!  All buttons were 2 cents and everything else was 80% off!  9" zippers are normally 35 cents, which means they were only 7 cents!  Rick rack is normally 10-15 cents per yard.  You do the math.  Unfortunately, the sale had been going on for a couple months already and we weren't here, so I had no idea, and the selection wasn't that good, but I managed to get 55 yards of rick rack for $1.15!!!!  32 zippers for $1.92!!! And 214 buttons for $4.28.  Do you think I did good?  I think I'll go back and see if there are any other things I can use...

You never know when you might need a purple zipper, or some buttons, do you?

On my trip I bought a pattern that I showed you here.  The skirt on this little dress is a towel and the top part hangs on your oven door.   

Then I remembered some other blocks that I made while in Oregon.  These Ohio Stars are made out of men's shirts that I bought at garage sales.  I have made 12 of them so far and plan to make them into a quilt for teen aged boys that are in the Children's Hospital.  I've got plenty of shirts to work with - don't know when I will get it made.

Texas has now broken the all time heat record and we were "lucky" enough to experience it!  107 on September 13!  Plus the most 100 degree days in a year (we weren't lucky enough to get in on all those days).  Hee Hee!

A PRINCESS AND 2 FINISHES

Is this a cute princess or what?  She is starting to play dress up already at 2 1/2!

Here's the latest civil war block finished!

While on our trip I was piecing as much as I could.  I made this little doll quilt and finished it this weekend.  I love the border fabric!

I rarely buy kits, but this one was on sale and I liked the fabric.  It will be gifted to my SIL/BIL.

Thanks for visiting!

CATCHING UP WITH MY CIVIL WAR BLOCKS

Except for today's, that is.  I wasn't able to keep up with the blocks because I didn't have enough reproduction fabrics with me.  Now that I've had some time to get organized, I decided to work on them today.  The current block's PDF file didn't come out at the right size, so I'm going to check Lillian's Cupboard blog to see what recommendations she has on cutting the pieces.

Some of these were finished already, but I hadn't posted them before.  Others, like the one with the appliqued star, was done except for the star, which I applied today.

I'm very happy with the last one, named the Indiana Puzzle.  I haven't done much curved piecing up till now.  

I'll have some small finishes to show soon.

CATCHING UP

I'm still working on getting all the "stuff" from our trip put away.  Here are a few patterns that I bought at various quilt shops along the way.  This "June Bugs" pattern is so cute and the dragonfly caught my eye because my GD in OR loves them.

I got this little "Cash and Carry" purse pattern at Quilters Destination in Arlington Heights, IL where Beth works.  I made one of them for my sister while at her house, but didn't take a picture of it.

This pattern caught my eye at a quilt shop we visited in South Dakota (I think).  The larger dress is a kitchen towel that you can hang on the oven handle and the smaller dress is a vintage style clothespin bag.  

While on the trip I blogged about making blocks for the "Gone to Texas" quilt and I managed to get some of them put together.  I haven't ironed them after unpacking, but you can get some idea of what it will look like.  Lots of different fabrics in this!

This fabric was a garage sale purchase - 4 yards of this fabric from Africa cost me $1.00!  I thought maybe I could use it for a backing someday.  We'll see.  It's kind of wild!

I was anxious to finish quilting my basket quilt, but when I started working on it yesterday I was having problems with my sewing machine.  The stitches kept skipping when I went over a seam.  I cleaned it, changed the needle twice and it still skipped.  I was fit to be tied.  

I went to Leah Day's blog to see if I could find out what kind of sewing machine she uses.  She has a video of her explaining about her new Janome.  It looks wonderful and I think I would like to get one some day, however, what do I do right now?  As she was explaining, she said that she never lowers the feed dogs because the tension is better when they are not lowered.  So, this morning I set up my machine to quilt and left my feed dogs up.  I also used one of those Sew Slip sheets that is supposed to make it easier to move your quilt around (I usually don't use it because I didn't think it made much difference), and what do you know, it worked.  No more skipped stitches!!!  I am so relieved!  So, now I know what I will be doing for the next few days.

Thanks for visiting!  Happy September!  I love fall.

FINALLY HOME!!

We finally arrived at home on 9/1/11 after being gone for 109 days!  We had a wonderful trip, saw lots of wonderful sites, visited family and attended my 50 year high school reunion.  We packed a lot into those days and travelled thousands of miles.  But, it is so good to be home and sleeping in our king size bed!!  I had to show you some more pictures of Jonah and Eli.

Jonah and Eli heading for the first day of Mother's Day Out

Mommy, Eli and Jonah at the church

Eli with  his new teacher!

DS#3, Jonah, Grandpa & Eli

While visiting my SIL in eastern Oregon a couple years ago, she was showing me some of the fabric & quilts that she inherited from her mother.  She also showed me some of the things from our MIL who lived near them before she died.  One item was a crocheted tablecloth that was never finished.  At the time, I was not sure, but the more I thought about it, I became convinced that it was the tablecloth that my MIL started for me.  She actually gave it to me as a wedding shower gift and then said she needed to finish it, so she took it back.  I never remembered getting it back, while she was sure she had finished it and given it to me.  

This is the tablecloth now.  It's about 4' x 6' and there are some squares finished but not attached.

 I'm not sure what I will do with it.  I doubt if I will ever finish it.  Any ideas?  It is lovely and I do love crocheted things.

I acquired a few things while on the trip at antique shops and/or garage sales.  If you have ever seen Blackbird Designs blog, this is my attempt to copy their design.  Now I need an old key.

I couldn't resist this cup - it's so delicate.  I'm amazed it arrived here intact after being jostled over the road all the way from Oregon.

I got 2 hens on nests at an antique mall.  I have a little collection of them.

 I also won a giveaway!  It is a wool applique pumpkin from Jampatterns.com .  She had the giveaway on her blog here.   Thanks, JoAnn!  I love wool applique and this one looks like fun!

My sewing room is a jumble of fabric, blocks I pieced on the trip and half unpacked boxes.  I hope to get some organization done in the next week.  In the mean time, I'm enjoying having a comfortable couch to sit in and a super comfortable bed to sleep in!  The added bonus is that it looks like the 100 degree temps for Texas have ended.  Hey, it's only 94 right now!!

TWO DARLING GRANDSONS

EDIT ANNOUNCEMENT:

4:00 PM  DS#3 just called to say that he is coming home instead of going to Iraq now!!!!  We are so happy.  Apparently, the ones in charge decided that no more personnel needed to go for the position he was to do for one year.  If he goes later, it will be for 4 months and would probably be in January - not as bad as a whole year.  Our DIL is very happy!  

The last leg of our trip we detoured to DS#3's home so we could see him before he deployed to Iraq.  Also to spend some time with our DIL & 2 GSs for the adjustment period after Daddy left.  The adjustment is hardest on Mommy and we hope we have been helping in some small way.  Tomorrow, both boys will start a Mother's Day Out program for 2 mornings per week.  At least this will give her time to shop and take care of some errands.  She is also looking for someone to come in to help in the evenings.

DS is actually in New Jersey for 3 weeks before he leaves for Iraq in order to get some training.

Saturday my DIL & I took the boys to the park for a little while - time needed for Jonah to run off some of his energy.  Of course, the only picture that turned out of him is while he is sitting down.  I can't believe the energy he has after supper!  We always go for a walk, but that's not enough.  We then have to hit the T-ball or throw the frisby.  Luckily, he chases it most of the time.  This Grandma is too tired by then!

Eli swinging at Park

Jonah digging at the Park

Big brother helping feed Eli

Grandma & Grandpa (us) are getting ready to go home next Monday.  We are looking forward to sleeping in our king size bed again!  The trip has been wonderful, but in the future, I would prefer shorter trips - maybe 5-6 weeks at the most.  We'll see, because I don't see any long trips in our future for a while (except to visit little grandchildren).  

Thanks for all the sweet comments.  

THE HOUSE I GREW UP IN

Since we are here I decided to do a short post about the house I grew up in.  My Dad, Grandpa and uncles built this house in 1948.  Some of the electrical and plumbing was done by contractors.  When I was five years old we moved in and I lived here until I got married.  It was a great house to grow up in and a great town - Villa Park, Illinois - just 20 miles west of downtown Chicago.

My sister bought the house from my parents and she has been working hard at fixing it up.  She has a real green thumb (taking after our Dad), loves to work in the yard to grow flowers and loves to have fresh flowers on the table when they are available.

I'm in town to attend my 50 year high school reunion!  Very hard to believe - Hee Hee!  I got in touch with one of my good high school friends and we went out to eat on Friday night.  What fun!  I has been about 47 years or so since we saw each other, so we had a lot to catch up on.  Her DH is very nice too - we double dated before we got married (and they got married one week after we did)!  BTW, today is our 49th anniversary!

I set up a sewing area in the room that was my Mom's.  Hanging on the wall is this cross-stitched Lord's Prayer.  It has been hanging there as long as I can remember.  I took it off the wall and on the back it says it was stitched by my Grandma's sister. She died in 1941, so that makes the stitchery at least 70 years old!  I asked my sis what she will do with it and she didn't know.  She didn't know if anyone would want it.

I think I'll have to talk my sis and let her know that I want to keep this - she usually reads my blog, so I guess she'll find out.

SHOP HOP WITH BETH

Yesterday, I got together with Beth of My Creations.  She is one of the members of the APQ blogging buddies!  What a fun day!  I drove to her house yesterday morning and we left right away in her car to visit some shops.  The first one was Material Girls in Crystal Lake, IL.  Below is a picture of us standing in front of the Civil War department with a scrappy civil war quilt hanging to my left.  Please notice that I am wearing my T-shirt from the Sisters quilt show.

This is a large shop with a huge selection of fabric.  I didn't want to spend all my pennies in the first store, so I just bought a couple small things.  

I saw the 2 table runners on the table next to the sewing machine and decided that I might make a couple of them.  They don't have any batting in them and go together in about 30 minutes.

Our next stop was at Pieceful Gathering Quilt Shop in this old house.  This shop specializes in reproduction fabrics!

I think Beth has been to this shop a lot, because she knew everyone that worked and shopped there!  This quilt is going to be a BOM and I love it!

This is a wool applique BOM that Beth is making.  It's gorgeous!

More civil war quilts and fabrics.  Why do we have to live on a budget?

Next was A Touch of Amish in Barrington, IL.  I saw this quilt store in the Quilt Sampler magazine and have wanted to visit it since then.

Again, Beth seemed to know everyone!  Hmmm, she must shop a lot, don't you think?  I love the log cabin quilt on the right (and the quilt on the left)!

Here's another log cabin with 1/2" finished logs!  A good way to use up those skinny strips.

Last was Quilters Destination in Arlington Heights, IL, where Beth works.  Must be tough to work one day a week in a quilt store, huh?  Very tempting.  This shop has lots of samples and a large variety of fabrics, but not many reproductions.  However, I ended up purchasing more from this shop than any other.  Of course, I hadn't planned to, but they had some fabrics that I really needed.  Here's Beth in front of the store.

I love the Flag medallion quilt in the middle.

This store really packs in the fabric and notions.

They have a large selection of batiks.  The employees were very friendly.  What a fun place to work!

Thanks so much for a wonderful day, Beth!  After the shopping we went back to her house and she showed me her sewing room, her projects, finished tops, etc.  This lady is a prolific quilter aka "quilting machine"!!!!!  I didn't take pictures of her quilts, but you can see lots of them on her blog.  She does beautiful work and has great taste.  I am very inspired to get busy.  I can't wait to get home so I can really hunker down and quilt, quilt, quilt!