Thursday, June 12, 2014

This and That on Thursday


I said it’s going to be a busy week, and it certainly has been. 

Tuesday morning, DH and I hit the road to go to Homestead Hearth, shopping for some more red for the connector hexies for my Martha Washington’s Flower Garden and for fabric for T#4’s spiral log cabin.  After a lot of search and a whole lot of help from the clerk, I found a couple of reds that aren’t perfect, but if I mix them up with my original red, they should be ok.  And I found fabrics for the log cabin … there was a whole lot of searching going on, especially after we discovered that a couple of the fat quarters I chose (I selected fat quarters as they were easier to carry around to compare) were the last of those fabrics in the shop, so we had to come up with other fabric choices or a mix of fat quarters.  I don’t think I could have come up with the fabrics without the help of the clerk … choosing fabrics is one of the most difficult parts of quilting for me.  My accountant’s OCD-ness rears its ugly head, and I really have to try to fight being too matchy-matchy.  She understood that a controlled scrappy is about as much as I am comfortable with, but she encouraged me to choose a few fabrics that I never would have chosen but that I think are going to be perfect!  I wish I had gotten her name … I would have loved to have written a note to the shop, letting them know what a HUGE help she was. photo (1)Note:  not all of that is fabric I purchased yesterday … much is from my stash … there’s enough fabric there for probably 4, maybe 5 quilts.  I still need to press all that fabric and then start cutting so it will be ready to take to retreat.

We got home just in time to head to the first summer swim meet … they were able to get in 6 events before the storms came.  Everyone took shelter in the pavilions until the meet was cancelled.  There’s another meet this evening … and there are more storms that are supposed to be rolling in a couple of hours before the meet is scheduled to begin. 

This morning the gals I walk with and I went over to the Missouri Botanical Garden to see the Nature Connects Lego display.  It was amazing what they could do with Legos.June 11, 2014If you click on the picture, you should be able to see close-ups.

When I got home, guess what I found had been delivered in the mail?photo Katy over at KatyQuilts stitched together 3 mug rugs from some leftover fabrics … she thought they were ugly, and I vehemently disagreed … and she graciously offered to send me the “ugly” mug rug of my choice.  Not only did she send me that adorable little mug rug but she sent along 3 bags of green tea!  Isn’t that just the sweetest thing? 

I spent the afternoon and a good bit of the evening in the sewing room … I now have 13 almost complete rows stitched together … only 4 more to go!  Of course, then I have to add that 17th block to each row, sew the rows together and then add the borders.  I even pressed the rows so they’re looking rather presentable  now (well, except for the random loose thread … when I had finished pressing that last row, I was ready to be done for the day).  photo 1Given how busy this week is going to be (including the weekend), I don’t expect to have the top together and ready for basting until the end of next week.  Which reminds me, I need to wash and dry the backing fabric, so at least when the time for basting gets here, I’ll be ready to go.

Have a fantastic Thursday!
Kathy

17 comments:

  1. And you call me busy! You are making great progress on your quilt - little bits of time sure do pay off!
    Love the fabrics for the log cabin. I'd bet a note to the store with the date and time of the visit and they can figure out who the helper was and thank her. =)

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  2. So glad you got all the fabric you need. I also think choosing fabric is hard. I can find lots that I like but putting it together is always difficult. What a neat Lego display! Thanks for sharing. ~Jeanne

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  3. Love your zig zags in progress...and what a fun mug rug with green tea!! Yummy! Love your piles of fabric, there is just nothing better.

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  4. I know just how grateful you feel when you get a good clerk to help you out. The quilting store I go to is huge and wonderful, but they are forever moving things around in addition to getting in new fabrics a couple times a week. Walking all over the store carrying my bolts of fabric is soo hard for me what with my knees. So I almost always have help from one of the gals who not only know where the colors and styles I am looking for are, but usually carry the bolts as well. They have been sooo helpful. Not only with the fabric choices (your right...a REALLY hard part!) but when I have been stuck or just needed an opinion as well. Not sure what on earth I'd do without them. No comparison between that shop and Joannes. I went there yesterday to get flannel for baby items because it was on sale for 60 percent off and spent over two hours hobbling around carrying TONS of fabrics and bolts trying to match things. Never got one second of help.....sooo much harder. Makes you appreciate good help even more. Your fabric selections look soo good, and your week-end sounds soo fun. Your coming right along on your quilt for your daughter. Won't be long and you'll be at your favorite part. Enjoy your day my friend!

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  5. What lovely fabric! Your making me miss St Louis! I love the botanical gardens there, we would go several times every year.

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  6. Those Legos are amazing. Isn't it incredible what they can build with them?

    It's nice to have a quilt shop that provides such great help. You'll have fun sewing all of that fabric into quilts.

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  7. Kathy, Love the mug rug you got gifted.. I don't find it ugly at all.. you dd's quilt will be a flimsy in no time :) Glad you found some substitute fabric for that out of print now fabric... I love that and am sorry they quit making it! Kathi

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  8. I am so glad you liked the mug rug! We will be traveling to Missouri to see my inlaws this summer and I hope to take a detour to Homestead Hearth as well! Have a great day!

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  9. You are definitely making progress on your chevron quilt! I hope the T's swim meet doesn't get cancelled again. I recently received an order from Homestead Hearth. I ordered one of their 'grab bags', I was very happy with it and used the fabrics in my 'Garden Path' quilt. The mug rug is very cute!

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  10. Those legos are just amazing! I thought they were the real thing!!

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  11. Glad you found a helper at the store...that is not always the case!
    I agree...the mug rug is cute and that is a nice idea...I might could do that! Hope this meet doesn't get rained out! :-)

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  12. Busy as a bee as always, I see, Kathy, but I think that's a GOOD thing! Summer has been busy for me, too. Never a dull moment, that's for sure! We've had our share of thunderstorms here...another is predicted for later.

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  13. you have been busy! love those gardens! now sit back and de-stress from the fabric shopping with a cup of green tea :)

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  14. I loved the Lego exhibit, it's amazing! The mug rug is pretty neat, too :)
    Happy stitching!

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  15. Beautiful fabric. Picking it would be the hardest part for me too. The Legos look awesome! My daughter and I plan to go see them this week and take some pictures! Have a great weekend.

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  16. When I see a pile of fabric like you show, I just want to dig in and play. Having a stash of fabric is so much fun.

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  17. Your picking out fabric reminds me all the "picking out" I'm about to have to do with our new house. Ugh! hope I'm up for the task.

    You are so, so busy but they say "busy hands are happy hands" so you should have some super happy hands. :o))

    Have a great weekend!

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I am SO glad you stopped by! No proving that you're a robot here ... I want to hear what you have to say! ;-)