Friday Finish

This quilt isn't the oldest UFO in the bin, but pretty close!

It was a row quilt from several (maybe 10?) years ago. When my long-time friend wanted a quilt for her niece, I invited her to look through the "pile." She picked this one, so I had to put the borders on it and get it quilted.

The fabrics are all batiks. Some of the blocks were paper pieced -- and look, there is an entire row of flying geese!  Cornelia did a lovely job on the quilting. This quilt is featured in my soon-to-be released YouTube video about Susie's Magic binding.

Here is Leah holding her quilt. Isn't she pretty? And her Mama raised her right -- she acted excited about the quilt, and gave me a thank-you hug!

I dropped the ball on counting quilts this year -- I have no idea what number this one would be!

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WIP Wednesday: Playing Catch Up

After taking the entire month of September off, I'm seriously behind with swap blocks, Jelly Roll Party Samples, and pretty much everything else!

So today I sewed like the wind, and I have my Front Range Modern Quilt Guild swap blocks finished:

Angela asked for Erica Jackman's "Simply Style Stacked Squares Quilt" blocks in warm colors. Orange is warm, right?

Both Emily and Peggy asked for wonky log cabin blocks. Wonky is not my best thing, but I think they turned out OK.

And the next-to-last block for the 2013 Quiltmaker Magazine Scrap Squad swap:

Carol asked for "anything that reminds you of the beach." I actually bought this fabric when I was on vacation at the beach last month. The block is "Storm at Sea," in honor of My Little Sailor missing not one, but two typhoons while he was home on leave (whew!).

And the flimsy for the November Jelly Roll Party sample:

The pattern is Parallel Universe from Cozy Quilts. The fabric is from Sweetwater, their new collection, "Elementary."

I have one more Jelly Roll Party sample to make, then I'll be more or less caught up. With the quilting that is -- the knitting and the housework? Not so much!




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Road Trip Stash and De-Stash

Road trips by car are dangerous for quilters and knitters.  All that room to fill with purchases -- even in the Mini Cooper!

Just for fun, here's a photo of Jack-in-the-Trees at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park:

Definitely a "bucket list" trip.

So did I buy any fabric on this trip?  Umm -- yep!

Stash

Enough Cotton + Steel deco weight to make a Noodlehead Super Tote for me.

Some "beachy" cottons from Creative Fabrics in Wheeler, Oregon. These are to make a block for one of the members of the 2013 Scrap Squad. She wanted "anything that reminds you of the beach." What's better than fabric from the beach?

I love to visit the shops in Quilt Sampler's Shop Hop magazine. We "happened" to duck into Boersma's Sewing Center in McMinnville (the GPS really, really wanted us to drive I-5 from Portland to California!). This is quite the shop -- at least a half-dozen long-arms in their basement classroom and at least as much fabric as Ruth's Stitchery! Their project in the magazine is my favorite, so how lucky that this is the one shop I got to visit.

The one place I wanted to visit in San Francisco was Britex Fabrics. So after touring numerous historic ships and Fisherman's Wharf, My Little Sailor followed me to Britex. Wow. Just. Wow. I was so overwhelmed, the only thing I bought was buttons for two sweaters, and big metal rings for Friend Mary to use on our next Abbey Lane Beatle Bag.

I missed one skein of yarn on Thursday's knitting post. This lovely thing is from Tangled Yarns in Tillamook. 

As is the lovely matching shawl pin on the left. The Julie Ueland pin is from the Latimer Quilt & Textile Center. Years ago, when I worked at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Julie also lived in Tacoma. Each season she had a special sale of her jewelry. So I had to buy this just for old time's sake!

Wonder what this is?

It's the ends of these glass knitting needles gifted to me by DD. Aren't they gorgeous? The "needles" are size 10, so I'll have to find some chunky yarn to knit a scarf using them.

Last purchases from our trip are not fabric, nor yarn. This Lucky Cat, or Maneki Neko, is black to protect family. Appropriate, as MLS returns to Japan tomorrow!

And I added a "few" Starbucks mugs to my "You Were Here" collection:

De-Stash

As a reward for reading all the way through this long post, I have 8+ yards of batik fabric to offer you! The first person who comments on this post with your PayPal email address and zip code, gets the de-stash for the cost of postage. It will fit in a medium-size flat-rate box, so US postage will be $12.65.

Think of me tomorrow as I make the early-morning trip to the airport to send My Little Sailor back to Japan for two more years!

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